The former Flounders restaurant at 90 Pottersville Road is expected to open again, albeit under a new name, two years after it closed.

Roger Wilkie Jr., one of the property's previous owners before its 2022 closing, re-purchased the property, which had been under the care of a state-appointed receiver, late last month. Wilkie is also the current owner of Roger Wilkie Jr. Builders Inc. in Tiverton.

Formerly the site of the old Crowther's restaurant before Flounders came along in 2021, the property will likely now be known as the Stalking Horse Tavern, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bidding process Wilkie said he and his new ownership group went through to buy the property, which was in receivership. The deal went through two days before Thanksgiving after months of negotiations and at least one cancelled public auction last year.

Wilkie said the next step is to begin the renovation process.

“It needs a new kitchen, it needs a new dining room, it needs a new bar. It’s demo'd inside,” Wilkie said.

Still, he has already taken steps toward reopening the restaurant, including securing the liquor license, and has begun the filing of permitting with the town.

The building was built in 1920 and the land on which it sits covers 3.2 acres. The property was valued by the town in 2022 at $721,900.

The sale spells a new chapter in the property’s culinary story, which began when the late George Crowther, of the Commons Lunch family, opened the original Crowther’s restaurant on the site in 1982.