Two Perkins Road bars sold

Two Perkins Road bars that were brought back from the past now have new owners. Brian Ott and Jeremy Tucker have taken over the Happy Note lounge and Uncle Earl’s after the original owners sold the properties last week. Brad Watts, who reopened the Happy Note and Uncle Earl’s, says he and the other owners wanted to get out of the bar business. “It was a lot of fun, but we all have other interests,” Watts says. He reopened the Happy Note in 2006 next to Juban’s Restaurant. The next year, he brought Uncle Earl’s back and put it next door to the Happy Note. Ott, who is partners in the Sangria bar and grill on West Lee Drive, says he and Tucker were regulars at the two bars. “Those were our usual weekend locations,” he says. Ott says they’re talking about doing “different things” with the two bars, such as expanding them or making a facelift. “Nothing is set in stone,” he says.—Timothy Boone