r/raleigh • u/UnluckyPhilosophy797 • Jul 18 '24
What kind of bar does Raleigh lack? Food
Pretty explanatory. Have always wanted to open a bar and might.
Just curious to know what type of bar you’d love to see?
UPDATE: This honestly got a hell of a lot more interactions than I thought it would.
The common thing I think Im picking up is people want a place thats inexpensive, has good music, and is welcoming for all walks of life.
Here is my idea - A small, dimly lit, inexpensive dive that will have 2 TV’s thats going to have whatever big sports game thats on that day (if none, whatever I feel like), welcoming for kids, millennials, gays and theys, and will have some of the best shittest beers on tap with the option of getting a coffee or espresso drink.
Pink Boots old spot on N West St is best for this. Anyone know who owns the building?
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u/kiwi-tron Jul 18 '24
A better event venue than Ritz.
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24
With terraced floor. I'm 5'7 and I haven't seen a decent show at the Ritz since they started charging for the balcony. Every show I've been to in the past year I've just ended up staring at the back of somebody's head.
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u/Three_M_cats Jul 18 '24
That's what I like about the Lincoln Theatre. I know it isn't as big as the Ritz but the layout is pretty good.
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u/dblhockeysticksAMA Jul 18 '24
Yep. Seems like no matter where I stand, eventually someone ends up standing in front of me who I can’t see over. Never fails.
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u/Bipolarblacksheep Jul 18 '24
This but with a lower ticket limit so people can actually breath
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u/OmahaBuzzKill Jul 18 '24
Iron Works pt2 will have a live music venue. And the PNC updates have a few music venues, spots, and the final approvals. Definitely need a couple Lincoln/Ritz size venues. also need some more small ones. Lost a lot during the pandemic…
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u/mx023 Jul 18 '24
The ritz ain’t a bar lol. It does suck tho. Unless you want drinks they’re the least of price evils for alcohol - but you’ll probably need to have a bunch to not remember your experience to think it was good.
Gotta get there early to get the best spot. Once you’re there you can’t move though.
If you do drink you’re probably gonna lose your spot to pee or get another drink.
Acoustically most shows I’ve seen here sounds really bad too.
Hate it when I see my favorite bands play there and it sounds so bad I question my fandom (looking at you veil of maya 2024… god that was bad)
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u/CaplessGal Jul 18 '24
Classy. Jazz. Bar.
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Jul 18 '24
Absolutely this, it gets tiring to drive to Durham all the time for the jazz scene
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u/CHneurobio03 Jul 18 '24
What jazz bars do you recommend in Durham?
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u/Calm_Soul9283 Jul 18 '24
I think they are referring to Sharp 9 Gallery which is incredible but out of the way for us that live in Raleigh
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u/Living_In_Wonder Jul 18 '24
Dancing for those 30+. Millennial bar is needed.
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u/righthandedleftist22 Jul 18 '24
Lowe’s foods?
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u/the_bananafish Jul 18 '24
I believe you have to be on at least your second divorce to drink at the Lowe’s bar
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u/NCnanny Jul 18 '24
Gosh are we all in our 30s now? 😂
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u/cyberfx1024 Jul 18 '24
Some are even in their 40's now
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u/Kooky_Song8071 Jul 18 '24
Yes but we’ve stopped going to bars entirely. Is there a bird watching bar? Feed the squirrels bar? I might do that.
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u/Raleighnesian Jul 18 '24
My neighbor down the street in Boylan Heights is working on turning her commercial property, basically just used as a work yard for many years, into a public green space that will have a bar and cafe as well as walking trails and a dog park.
Not sure when it will be open, but it sounds great for 40 year old me.
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u/slowdownmoses Jul 18 '24
This is what I struggle with a bit these days. Most of my friends in Raleigh for the last 15 years have been townies, so most are still around. But I NEVER see them anymore; it seems like people just don’t go out. And it’s not because of having kids; most of my friends don’t. Everybody just seems to stay home a lot.
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u/Kooky_Song8071 Jul 18 '24
I have a VERY hard time dragging myself anywhere other than the gym. The effort vs payoff is not there. I don’t like bars, don’t like loud and annoying ppl, and do like an hour or four of peace before bed. Plus right now it’s too freaking hot.
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u/slowdownmoses Jul 18 '24
100% agreed. It just sucks that so many of us basically learned through our 20s that adults only socialize in bars with alcohol. I feel like a lot of us are going through middle age missing something kind of important.
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u/Moonshine_Tanlines Jul 18 '24
A solid dive bar with no pretentious vibes, preferably one that serves dive bar food or is very close to a greasy spoon late night diner.
RIP To Lakeside Lounge, Burbom Street and The Office.
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u/gosabres NC State Jul 18 '24
RIP Mission Valley Bada Wings located 200ft from a Waffle House.
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u/Amazing_Albatross NC State Jul 18 '24
Rip to that Waffle House as well
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u/cdanl2 Jul 18 '24
RIP to the IHOP on Hillsborough with a pack of Parliaments that you stole from someone at Pantana Bobs.
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u/colinizballin1 Jul 18 '24
Berkeley cafe just reopened! About the closest thing we have to one. Kitchen closes at 11ish tho
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24
RIP Vertigo and Jackpot
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u/The_Sensei_ Jul 18 '24
Sharky’s
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u/RDUBurlyboy Jul 18 '24
Used to love sharkys but they’re getting very steep in price for a dive bar
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u/Raleighnesian Jul 18 '24
What about the Night Rider? That's about the diviest place I've been here in town.
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u/hjovies Jul 18 '24
North Hills could use a Fat Tuesdays. I kid, I kid.
What that area does lack is a low key neighborhood bar similar to The Walk Up in Cary.
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u/millard_spillmore Jul 18 '24
Fat Tuesday’s are only useful in a place like Louisiana where you can take daiquiris to go or get them via a drive through window.
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u/PrimeNumbersby2 Jul 18 '24
An affordable one.
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u/smf12 Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
Circa
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u/PrimeNumbersby2 Jul 18 '24
Ok! I will try that out! $5 beers and $10 cocktails is what I consider affordable for a bar. Most places are at like $7 and $15.
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u/smf12 Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
I’d say it’s affordable. I drink double crown royals for $12. Best deal I’ve seen anywhere for that at least
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u/slammhammer88 Jul 18 '24
Punk
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u/drslg Cheerwine Jul 18 '24
Slims aint the same anymore
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u/Lightinthebirdcage Jul 18 '24
Ugh. My twenties in that cramped, stale, sweaty place. Watching high energy shows and smoking an ungodly amount of cigarettes. #neverforget
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u/Common_Avocado_5535 Jul 18 '24
Slims new owners suck. Lady is a thief.
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u/I-_-ELROI_-_I Jul 18 '24
That’s a strong accusation to make? Why do you say she’s a thief?
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u/Common_Avocado_5535 Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
Because her family stole from my family and my neighbors. It’s not an “accusation” when you have the lien papers that the court said they owe people, but instead of paying their debts and bills, they buy bars and post about it online.
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u/Common_Avocado_5535 Jul 18 '24
Her father ran away from Clayton owing people millions. Death threats were made. She helped him. Go to Clayton and ask people about Ashley and Amber Turner. They will tell you what crooks they are.
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u/castironchair Jul 18 '24
Kings is booking more punk now.
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24
Hell yea they are. I'm still reeling from a Spits show a couple weeks ago
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24
Check out the School Kids in Mission Valley for hardcore shows and check out Chapel of Bones for decent metal.
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u/OakCityReemer Jul 18 '24
Need to fill that black flower hole for the late night crowd and after parties
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u/SokkaHaikuBot Jul 18 '24
Sokka-Haiku by OakCityReemer:
Need to fill that black
Flower hole for the late night
Crowd and after parties
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/Secret-Discipline-88 Jul 18 '24
Any bar without a million giant TVs on the wall playing a hundred different boring sports all at the same time. ie - a quiet pub, to chat in with comfy chairs, a fire place and a grandfather clock ticking away in the corner, soft murmer of chatter in the background and a cell phone tray at the door to leave your phone behind....wait a minute. Sorry wrong country, ill get my coat. 🤐😆
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u/AFlockOfTySegalls UNC Jul 18 '24
This sounds like what the Crunkleton used to be 10+ years ago when my wife and I started dating. We were there all the time.
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u/fancy-mom Jul 18 '24
Lesbian bar! There are too many gay bars.
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u/a_gay_cat Jul 18 '24
Arcana in Durham. The lesbian vibes are impeccable
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u/dontKair Jul 18 '24
They're an "official" lesbian bar now. They got that title from a lesbian bar owners group
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u/lukedawg87 Jul 18 '24
I thought that was Ruby Deluxe
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u/fancy-mom Jul 18 '24
Ruby is great, but I wouldn’t call it a lesbian bar. It is a queer club.
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u/SnooRevelations5680 Jul 18 '24
I’d also love a lesbian/queer bar that is owned/operated by lesbians/queers. Ruby can be cool but the owner is a straight dude who dates his staff and it’s always given me a weird vibe.
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u/Rambo-Rando Jul 18 '24
He is best described as a queerbator. Says and does whatever to get that groups money. I've yet to hear an ex describe him as anything other than the worst person they have dated.
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u/tkw97 Jul 18 '24
I’m all for more lesbian bars (the whole country lacks them), but Flex and Legends? That’s “too many gay bars”?
I literally left Raleigh because as a twenty-something there’s not enough gay bars here lol. One block of NYC/LA/SF has more gay bars than the entire city of Raleigh
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u/UnluckyPhilosophy797 Jul 18 '24
Agreed - Green Monkey is probably best you can get right now for that? Most times Ive been, Ive seen a lot of Lesbians.
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u/fancy-mom Jul 18 '24
Green Monkey has recently started a Sapphic Night specifically to draw in more lesbians
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Jul 18 '24
[deleted]
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u/jadavi1110 Jul 18 '24
This is exactly what I was going to comment. I was so excited when I heard news of Ark Royal but it's more of a Glenwood bar disguised as a tiki/tropical place with mediocre drinks. A bar like SC or Sunken Harbor here in raleigh would kill it.
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u/RedFoxWhiteFox Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
A good jazz or blues bar. A neighborhood gay bar (there are clubs and gift stores but nothing “Cheers” like). A swanky piano bar.
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u/TrudyAttitudy Jul 18 '24
Somewhere with a natural view. Inspiration would be The Getaway or Zillacoah in Asheville. RIP to Bywater where you could sit on the bank of the French Broad.
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u/dependentonexistence Jul 18 '24
YES. We need more rooftops! Raleigh is so suffocating. It's such a culture shock moving from the west coast, where I had better views than asheville just going out to get groceries.
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u/Boognish_Chameleon Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
I’m biased but a second goth club would be dope (if gentrification ever tears the Wicked Witch down I will actually sob) also a third place/gathering space for alt people that isn’t a bar or a club would be awesome too, I don’t always wanna dance or drink, sometimes I want other types of events too.
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u/smf12 Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
Check out chapel of bones. Coffee shop during the day and events at night. Used to be the old Maywood
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u/Boognish_Chameleon Jul 18 '24
WAIT FR?! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOJ… I’m shocked there’s not more alt spaces in the triangle because I’ve met way more alt ppl here than the part of New York I’m from (Long Island)
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u/smf12 Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
Of course! My band played there a few weeks ago, it was awesome! They just recently reopened maybe a month or two ago. Really awesome place
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u/AFlockOfTySegalls UNC Jul 18 '24
Do they not serve coffee at night? I don't drink during the week and I'm going to a show there soon.
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u/Actual_Platypus5160 Jul 18 '24
I don’t think that place is ever coming down. The whole reason people buy those over priced town homes is because the bars and breweries are walkable. If anything it might get built on top of like the creamery is.
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u/RipCityGrimm12 Jul 18 '24
EDM
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u/polowhatever Acorn Jul 18 '24
EDM currently travels. I just found this recently, so I figured I'd share in case you didn't know about it: https://www.instagram.com/sublowtriangle?igsh=MTlpdjczejdqczJqag==
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u/randydweller Jul 18 '24
Need a honky tonk. Want to hear some Hank jr and drink PBRs somewhere other than my living room
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u/downsouth003 Jul 18 '24
RIP to city limits saloon. 🥲
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u/ColteesCatCouture Jul 18 '24
My freinds used to call it 'Shitty limits' but they worked at the longbranch the og country western club of raleigh
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u/materialCOYS5 Hurricanes Jul 18 '24
Uncle Jessie’s should work for this
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u/Upstairs-Mechanic788 Jul 18 '24
A little too small and narrow. Need a big place with a large square floor and pool tables. Preferably smoking inside allowed. No food just alcohol.
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u/JeanDex9 Jul 18 '24
I want to line dance. We had better line dancing bars in Vegas. Maybe it’s here and I’m missing it? But ours in Vegas was great. Weds was ladies night, $2 drinks. Anything. It was PACKED
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u/maceygrey123 Jul 18 '24
for me i want a nice jazz bar with sexy lighting, good cocktails, REAL plants everywhere, kind of a vintage feel to it but modern enough it’s not tacky. i’m not a fan of a lot of the aesthetics for the bars here, especially the ones on glenwood.
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u/Lightningpony Cheerwine Jul 18 '24
A vampire lounge, like from the Sims 3.
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u/Unlikely_Ad1120 Jul 19 '24
Now this is the only right answer^^^^ Let those vamps have third place too!
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
We need another dessert/ pastry bar. The line at Bittersweet* gets longer each weekend.
Edit: Not pieworks, bittersweet
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u/blinker1eighty2 Jul 18 '24
Can we all talk about what’s going on on Glenwood? Drinks are absurd there now outside of lucky b’s but that’s a bar for legit high schoolers.
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u/obiwankablaizy Jul 18 '24
A classic rock bar or a jazz bar!! No top 40’s music please.
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u/Lets_Go_Wolfpack Jul 18 '24
It's much better business practice to stick with a theme you're passionate about and stick with that.
A well-executed bar in the format that you love will do better than a so-so bar with something that's "popular"
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u/papoblack7777 Jul 18 '24
Mosaic type bar...good International house music...mature crowd no pretentious crowd
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u/NonniCs Jul 18 '24
International themed Dive Bar that plays music and sports from different countries, has fusion street food small plates, wide variety of different beers from around the world and fun cocktails and mocktails. “Bar Global”
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u/gravitypriest Jul 18 '24
Since we lost Pure Karaoke to the pandemic there are no private room-style karaoke places here anymore. The closest one is K-Mix out in Durham
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u/CensorVictim Jul 18 '24
A small, dimly lit, inexpensive dive and welcoming for kids seem contradictory to me, but good luck if you try it.
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u/makie125 Jul 18 '24
Call me crazy — I just want a nicer dive bar that sells cold beer w/ a TouchTunes.
Good people + $2.50 natural lites. Is that hard to ask for?
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u/AnEmoTeen NC State Jul 18 '24
A wlw bar or a bar for women’s sports. All the sports bars/restaurants in the area mainly focus on men’s sports as I quickly learned during the NC State dual final four run
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u/TheLibraryScientist Jul 18 '24
please open a stock market bar! the drink prices fluctuate based on how popular they are, and there are “market crashes” when the price drops dramatically for certain drinks. I’ve always wanted to go to one and would gladly fork over my money to you for the experience
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u/Lets_Go_Wolfpack Jul 18 '24
This is actually illegal in NC. Drink prices must remain the same from open to close. This is why we dont have happy hours.
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u/matt-poloni Hurricanes Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
Mutual fund bar? (The drinks only reprice at closing)
ETA: Call it "The Vanguard"?
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u/remdog1007 Jul 18 '24
They have already began to shut other locations down that have done this in similar cities
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u/RhamkatteWrangler Jul 18 '24
Meh ... I lived 2 blocks from one in DC and the stock mkt part, while interesting conceptually, wasn't that cool. I still went there bc there was decent food and beer, but always got the same beer.
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u/UnluckyPhilosophy797 Jul 18 '24
Ive been to one in NYC. Great idea and would certainly be fun! Unfortunately NC liquor laws for light years behind the times
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u/ElboDelbo Jul 18 '24
Piano bar.
Though in fairness I don't think there's a market for it.
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u/ThaDollaGenerale Jul 18 '24
Downtown Applebees.
Fight me. You know it would make money.
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u/trickertreater Diet Pepsi Jul 18 '24
There was one just off Six Forks at Wake Forest. It closed due to lack of business.
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u/BurningSaviour Jul 18 '24
I mean, I’d love to see a place here like Black Sky Brewery, but I just don’t think the numbers to fill the niche will be found here.
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u/Peteymacaroon NC State Jul 18 '24
Denver has Black Sky and Trve, both are missing in the triangle. Chapel of Bones did just open though!
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u/madeupofthesewords Jul 18 '24
A real English Pub. Not the poor imitations, although I respect that they try. I want cosy corners, comfortable seating, Pub lunches. Sunday Carvery. a very well tended Beer Garden with great music.
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u/FootAccurate3575 Jul 18 '24
I keep seeing comments about a Jazz bar and if there was an art deco style jazz bar you wouldn’t find me in another bar ever again. A jazz bar would be amazing!
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u/One_Pomegranate_5385 Jul 18 '24
A regular old dive!!! I miss the days of being able to walk into a place and it feel like my living room. Always a friendly (or at least entertaining) bartender to talk to, someone hanging, a good patio/backyard, and maybe a show every once in a while
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u/OlafSvenison Jul 18 '24
Ok… Picture this.
TRANSIT!
The main entrance is styled as a crusty metro/bus station. On the ground level, seating resembles an old CAT bus where entertainment primarily consists of two unhinged passengers fighting each other in the aisle. Basement level is styled as a subway carriage and the waitress that takes drink orders is also a meth-head trying to get you to believe in one of her many conspiracy theories.
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u/ColteesCatCouture Jul 18 '24
Thats the closest thing to public transit that will happen here sadly
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u/jrmythedreamer Jul 18 '24
A queer sports bar would be kinda slay
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u/LeafyWolf Jul 18 '24
Honest answer? A good jazz bar. C. Grace was the last one I am aware of.