Everybody’s Living Room

by Kurt Epps, a.k.a. The PubScoutMay 6, 2026North Brunswick, Pub Scout, Restaurants

Photography by Matt McGraw

The PubScout scopes out the scene at the eighth anniversary party for Local’s Tavern in Leland.

The smoke alarm in my living room chirped its last chirp the other day. And it was put in just eight years ago, about the same time Sharon Evans was opening up her new “living room” in Leland.

The living rooms most of us live in can’t accommodate 100-plus people, bustling food and drink servers and a full band. But the one owned by Sharon Evans can.

And it had to be gratifying for Evans to watch her creation — Local’s Tavern and Stage Right — fill up with revelers to celebrate her eighth year in business on January 30.

The vehicle for that celebration was a party for her customers with a hot dog and hamburger theme (this year) and a favorite band, Code Red, to perform.

The logistics, however, required the youthful-looking proprietress with a bubbly personality to do some fancy footwork as a pending snowstorm with freezing temps loomed for her original date. But she made the necessary arrangements and her eighth anniversary party saw a packed and satisfied house.

The Stage Right space began as a dry cleaner adjacent to Local’s Tavern and now serves as the performance room for the many quality entertainers Evans brings in for her customers.

She knocked down a wall to create that space and hinted that there may be more walls to fall as she grows her business.

Evans’ customers all seem to know her. The line of patrons, friends and family (and she considers all her employees in that category) who stopped to say hello and chat was never ending. The good Father Dave, who is known throughout Brunswick, Pender and New Hanover counties, and I also got to hobnob with them all.

Take Brenda Bozeman, Leland’s mayor for 16 years, who had a seat between yours truly and Evans. A charming, down-home, old school gal from my Boomer Generation, Bozeman is as friendly and as Southern as can be with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. We hit it off wonderfully — she with her red wine and me with a Flytrap Beer from one of the 16 taps — as we lamented that today’s young folks would likely not know the joys of having grown up when we did.

Then there was the peripatetic North Brunswick Magazine Publisher, Justin Williams, sprung from a recent hibernation, to visit Evans, who he has known for perhaps 20 years. Then again, he has known most everyone in Leland for 20 years, including Mayor Bozeman, who bought his first advert when his magazine publishing career was a-borning.

Even many of Evans’ regular patrons were on hand to celebrate.

Take Gordon Nagle, who allegedly stops in two-to-three times A DAY. When Evans introduced me to Nagle, the affection between them was real. And Nagle was the craftsman who built the impressive cabinets behind the bar — gratis. Friends like that should generate real affection.

Evans’ staff, some of whom, like Corey and Amber, have been with her almost from day one.

Amber was hard at work, but Corey was at the bar with us on her day off. That speaks volumes about her connection to Evans, especially since it’s not just reserved for celebrations.

That’s because Evans takes care of her “family,” especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The particulars of that care will remain shrouded in mystery, but it’s enough to generate great loyalty to the woman who works seven days a week in Everybody’s Living Room.

The only downside to the visit — which did not deter us or the many who came for the party in any way — was the line of traffic exiting the area where Local’s and Stage Right are situated. Seems that some construction on Ocean Gate forces everyone to use West Gate to exit onto Highway 17.

I inquired of Mayor Bozeman and Evans if they knew of a “back way” to avoid that traffic. The look they shared told me I would probably be enjoying a longer stay in The Living Room.