After 16 years, Robert Burrage prepares to say goodbye to Lil’ Robert’s Place
Burrage plans to close the beloved downtown Concord hangout Sept. 1, but he remains hopeful someone will step forward to carry on the community he created.
Robert Burrage has seen it all during his 16 years running Lil’ Robert’s Place in downtown Concord.
He’s hosted birthday parties, birth announcements, weddings, anniversaries and even funeral and memorial services.
“You name it, we’ve had it,” Burrage said.
Burrage, a Concord native, opened Lil’ Robert’s in 2010, initially as a craft beer bottle shop inspired by funky, eclectic spots such as the Fat Pelican at Carolina Beach and Common Market locations across Charlotte.
Over the years, though, Lil’ Robert’s grew into something much bigger — a downtown hangout and community gathering place that, aside from the pandemic, has been open 365 days a year.
The quirky, colorful dive bar is packed with eclectic décor, including an airplane hanging from the ceiling — one of countless unusual touches patrons have come to appreciate over the years. But beyond its distinctive atmosphere, Lil’ Robert’s has also become a refuge and gathering place for many people.
“Somebody asked me one time how did you come up with all this, and I said, ‘Well, walking in here is like walking in my brain. This is the way I think,’” Burrage told The Independent Tribune during a 2024 interview.
Keeping it going has come at a cost.
Burrage, 54, said the demands of running the business have worn on him mentally and emotionally for several years, particularly as Lil’ Robert’s weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and years of construction surrounding the new Cabarrus County Courthouse and Concord’s downtown streetscape project.
“It was an uphill battle from day one,” Burrage said in a candid interview with The Cabarrus Compass, calling the construction of both the courthouse and the streetscape, which he said lasted about two and a half years, “devastating” and much worse than the pandemic.
Burrage seriously considered closing during the construction. Although the business is now on more stable footing, he acknowledged that money remains tight.
Now, after years of pushing forward, he has decided it is time to step away.
Burrage plans to close Lil’ Robert’s at the end of the month unless someone steps forward with a way to keep the business going.
Burrage broke the news on July 24, describing the hangout as “a monster that needs constant attention.”
“I am aware that I am not doing this ‘place’ justice,” he wrote in a farewell message shared on the bar’s Facebook page. “Before it is too late, I will be closing, selling, handing over, or any other way to put it. Unless someone steps up or we are in negotiation.”
In his first interview with a media outlet since announcing his plans, Burrage said his priorities have changed. He wants to spend more time with his parents as they get older, while other personal family matters have also demanded his attention.
The problem, he said, is that Lil’ Robert’s does not easily run without him.
There is no manager or defined hierarchy among the roughly nine employees, leaving Burrage responsible for making sure the business operates properly even when he is not physically there. In fact, he said he has spent more time at Lil’ Robert’s this month than he had during the rest of the year.
“I’m everything — I’m the orderer, I’m the scheduler, I’m the fixer, I’m the maintenance guy,” he said. “It’s just gotten so big I cannot do it all, but I don’t make enough money to pay somebody else to do it.”
That is why Burrage wants to step aside while Lil’ Robert’s, which also includes The Mullet Thrift Store next door, is still in a positive place rather than waiting until the demands become too much.
For now, the plan is to close Sept. 1, a date Burrage noted on Facebook carries its own bit of significance: “Irony or not that is the day Jimmy Buffet died.”
But Burrage is not convinced Sept. 1 will actually mark the end of Lil’ Robert’s.
He believes someone could still step forward to take over or find another arrangement that allows the business to continue. And Burrage is open to remaining involved in some capacity — just no longer as the person responsible for everything.
“I’ve met with the staff and I’ve told them that I truly feel like something will happen to keep us here, but I won’t be the one fully in charge,” he said, noting that he is receptive to still have a role with the business in some capacity. “I don’t want to go away, I just can’t be responsible for all the decisions, and all the finances and all the liability all the time by myself.”
Until that happens, however, Burrage is proceeding as though the end is coming. He has even had shirts made for what amounts to a celebration of life for Lil’ Robert’s Place.
And if Burrage ever wondered how much the place has meant to people, the overwhelming response to his announcement has provided an answer.
His July 24 Facebook post announcing the planned closure received 132 comments and was shared more than 85 times, with longtime patrons reflecting on what Burrage and Lil’ Robert’s have meant to them.
“First and foremost, THANK YOU to you and your team for everything you have done for all of us patrons over all these years!” musician Greg Ragan wrote. “I have so many great memories from standing on your stage playing for family, friends, strangers who became friends etc.... Keep your heads held high!”
For Robert Pappalardo, what made Lil’ Robert’s special was never simply the building, but the community that formed inside it.
“The thing that made it special were the people who hung out here,” Pappalardo wrote. “It’s just a building of wood and brick. It just happened to be the place in the universe where many cool people came to chill. It will be missed and possibly never replaced but may all those people continue to enjoy each other’s company.”
Concord City Council Member Lori Clay reflected on what the business has brought to downtown Concord over the years.
“Well, I sure hate to see you go. I love the charm and character you add to our downtown with your crazy little funky vibe and I think Concord will be remiss without you,” Clay wrote.
For Burrage, the response has been difficult to put into words.
He said he’s been “honestly speechless and overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support and positive messages.
“I knew a lot of people liked me, but I had no idea how many people,” Burrage said.
Asked what Lil’ Robert’s Place has meant to him personally, Burrage struggled to answer. He gets choked up thinking about the business and the people it has brought into his life.
For someone who has struggled with self-confidence and often felt overlooked in the past, Lil’ Robert’s became proof that Burrage had created more than a business. He created a community — a place where people could gather, celebrate, grieve, make friends and simply be themselves.
Along the way, the place changed him, too.
“It brought me out of me and I’ve found a community that accepts me,” Burrage said.
Just as importantly, Burrage said that sense of acceptance has gone both ways.
“I found a community that accepts me but I’ve also learned to accept way more of the community than I used to,” he said.
For more information about the business, visit lilrobertsplace.com.