The Lawrence Puts Dinner Before a Show Less Than a Block From the Arts Center

"We set out to create a hotel that feels distinctly connected to Lawrenceville, one that welcomes travelers while giving residents a new place to dine, celebrate and gather." Greg Winey said that when The Lawrence Hotel opened. He is President and Principal of NorthPointe Hospitality Management & Development, the company that developed the hotel and runs it.

The quote mentions travelers, but for anyone who already spends evenings downtown, the hotel is mostly about timing. The Lawrence sits at 120 E. Crogan St., less than a block from the Lawrenceville Arts Center, home of Aurora Theatre. Its restaurant, Bellfire, and its courtyard bar, Old Nick's, run on hours that line up closely with the theater calendar. This fall the Arts Center's schedule is crowded from early October through December 23. That makes the next three months the first real test of whether one block can hold a whole night out.

What Replaced the Parking Lot

The hotel opened on August 28, 2026. It has 120 rooms and belongs to Hilton's Tapestry Collection. Urbanize Atlanta reported that the brick building and its parking deck took over a full city block. The block had held a large parking lot and two commercial buildings, one of them a formerly grand home. Winey called it "a vision nearly eight years in the making."

The block's history comes before the parking lot. The site was once home to the Lawrenceville cotton mill, which later became the Genesco shoe factory and operated into the 1970s. The new building was designed to recall that factory, with brick, wrought iron and oversized factory-style windows.

The hotel opens onto a downtown that has been building toward this for several years. The $45 million Lawrenceville Performing Arts Center opened in 2021. Large residential and mixed-use projects, including the 600-plus-unit SouthLawn, have gone up within blocks of the historic square. Mayor David Still called the opening "a tremendous milestone for Lawrenceville."

Bellfire's Dinner Hours Fit an 8 p.m. Curtain

Bellfire is the hotel's main restaurant. It mixes Southern roots with Mediterranean influences, and most of the menu runs through a wood-fired grill. The name honors Lawrenceville's historic bell tower and firehouse. The kitchen is led by Chef Dominic Simpson, an Atlanta native with more than 25 years of culinary experience.

Dinner runs 5 to 10 p.m. every day, and breakfast runs 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. Reservations are on OpenTable.

The 5 p.m. opening is what matters for theater nights. Hairspray, staged by Pretty as a Penny Productions, plays the Lawrenceville Arts Center from October 2 through October 24. Friday shows start at 8 p.m. and Saturday evening shows at 8 p.m. That leaves three hours between Bellfire's first seating and curtain, and the walk takes less than a block. A dinner that used to mean picking a spot and then working out parking near the square now happens next door to the theater.

The dinner menu includes:

• Fried green tomato with crab and smoked pork belly
• Wood-fired lamb meatballs
• Harissa-glazed shrimp

The opening announcement listed Stuffed Bramlett Farms Trout with Crawfish Succotash and a Fire-Grilled Châtel Farms Prime Ribeye as highlights. The kitchen uses Georgia Grown and regional products. Named suppliers include Ellijay Mushrooms, Plantation Quail, Comfort Farms, Joyce Farms and Anson Mills.

Old Nick's Suits the Matinee Crowd

Old Nick's works on a slightly different schedule. It is an open-air courtyard lounge serving craft cocktails, fine whiskeys and shareable small plates. Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 5 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The lounge also pours wine, local beer and zero-proof drinks.

Since the doors open at 5 every day, the lounge fits best on either side of Bellfire's dinner hour, or at the end of an afternoon downtown. Hairspray has 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. A matinee followed by a walk around the square ends right about when the courtyard opens. On Sunday the lounge closes an hour earlier, at 9, so an early drink fits better than a late one.

The menu covers small plates, kebabs, sandwiches and flatbreads. Items include lamb kebabs, a Bellfire burger and the Old Nick's Old Fashioned.

The name comes from town history. In 1903, city records mention Old Nick, Lawrenceville's town mule. The hotel says he pulled buggies, hauled firefighting gear and "kept the town moving forward." The hotel's own description calls the lounge a place "where neighbors and travelers gather."

The Fall Calendar, Lined Up Against the Hours

Hairspray is only the first show. The Arts Center and the nearby Lawrenceville Lawn have dated events almost every week through mid-December. The table below sets the published dates and times next to the two venues' hours.

October is the busiest stretch for the hotel's neighbors. Aurora Theatre's Haunted Happenings runs from September 18 through November 1. It includes ghost tours, cemetery tours and a 21+ pub crawl. BOO Fest is a free family event on the Lawn on October 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. Aurora closes the month with The Halloween Magic Show on October 31.

November slows down before the holidays. Dad's Garage Comedy is on the Aurora calendar for November 6. Then Christmas Canteen 2026 opens November 19 and runs through December 23. That means the hotel's first holiday season falls entirely within the run of Aurora's longest show of the year.

December puts the most events into the fewest days. Downtown Lawrenceville's calendar lists Holiday Happenings at 70 S. Clayton Street on November 27, December 3 through 5, and December 10 through 12. The weekend of December 5 and 6 is the busiest of all. Aurora has The Holiday Science Show on December 5, the Gwinnett Symphony plays Holiday Pops on both nights, and Christmas Canteen and Holiday Happenings are both running. The Holiday Magic Extravaganza follows on December 12. On a weekend like that, a 5 p.m. Bellfire reservation through OpenTable is worth making early.

Private Gatherings Have a New Downtown Venue Too

The calendar above covers public events. The hotel also adds a new option for private ones. The Lawrence has more than 6,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space and can host up to 260 guests, with custom menus and on-site event planning. Old Nick's has its own "Host an Event" inquiry on its page. A holiday party in the courtyard is now a short walk from the theater and the square.

Two things on downtown's usual fall calendar don't have confirmed dates yet. The city pages found for the tree lighting and the Harvest Festival are 2025 listings, so check the City of Lawrenceville calendar for 2026 dates before making plans around them.

At Laura Delgado, we follow what opens in Lawrenceville because new places like these shape what a regular evening downtown looks like. If you have questions about how the area around the square is changing, or you'd like a local opinion on your favorite part of the city, we're always happy to talk in English or Spanish. Let's Connect.