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The Bottletree Cafe was a beloved Birmingham indie music club and vegan-friendly cafe that opened in 2006 and closed at the end of March 2015. The space will become home to a Mr. Harry's Chickin De-Lux restaurant. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)

Bottletree Cafe, the beloved Birmingham indie music club that closed at the end of March, will soon become home to the fast-casual, family-style restaurant Mr. Harry's Chickin De-Lux, the building's new owner said today.

Birmingham restaurateur Nick Pihakis of the Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q chain and the Fresh Hospitality restaurant group told AL.com this afternoon that the new restaurant should be open in about three months.

Pihakis and his partners bought the space from the Bottletree Cafe owners after he found out they might be interested in selling the property.

Merrilee Challiss and her brother, Brad Clalliss, owned the Bottletree business, and their parents, Stanley and Suzanne Challiss, owned the building.

"We're 90 days or less out on getting it open," Pihakis said. "We're moving pretty quick on it."

It will be the second location for Mr. Harry's Chickin De-Lux, the first of which Pihakis and his partners opened in the former Stones Throw Bar & Grill space in March in the Town of Mt Laurel in Shelby County.

The menu at Mr. Harry's Chickin De-Lux features chicken about every way it can be served, including rotisserie chicken. (Photo courtesy of Mr. Harry's Chickin De-Lux)

The former Bottletree Cafe location at 3719 Third Ave. South in Avondale is an ideal fit for a second Mr. Harry's, Pihakis said.

"I think that area from Regions Field all the way to Avondale is awesome, and I want to support it," he said. "I like the fact that Bottletree has a great history of people going there to hear music. Now we're going to give them another reason to come back to it.

"I think Mr. Harry's fits into that area," Pihakis added. "It's down-to-Earth food. It's comfort food. It's fun."

The Mr. Harry's menu features chicken just about any way you can serve it - including traditional Southern-fried chicken, Nashville-style "hot" chicken, rotisserie chicken, chicken fingers, chicken wings, chicken-on-a-stick, chicken salad, chicken noodle soup and chicken and dumplings.

Chris Harrigan - the "Mr. Harry" in the restaurant's name - is the executive chef at the Mt Laurel location and a partner in the new Avondale location. Harrigan is the former executive chef at Stones Throw and at Birmingham Country Club.

Pihakis founded the Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q chain, which has more than 30 locations in seven states. In addition to Mr. Harry's, he and his Fresh Hospitality partners also own Little Donkey, Big Bad Breakfast, Taziki's Mediterranean Grill and Octane Coffee.

Bottletree Cafe opened in 2006, and during more than eight years in business, it became a trend-setting music club that featured cutting-edge artists on the verge of making it big, including Band of Horses, Alabama Shakes and Birmingham's own St. Paul & the Broken Bones.

In addition to the music, Bottletree included a cafe that was best known for its vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes, including black bean burgers, tofu hot dogs and vegan chili.

Its closing was mourned by Birmingham music lovers, who crowded into the intimate space to say their goodbyes at a Farewell Fest at the end of March.

Brian Teasley, who booked many of the Bottletree shows until he left last year, has since opened his own music venue, Saturn, at 200 41st St. South in Avondale.

UPDATED at 11:48 a.m. CDT on Friday, May 22, 2015, to clarify who owned the Bottletree Cafe and who owned the property; also to clarify the timing of the sale of the building.