For awhile, a long, over-priced drinks, waiting half hour for the bathroom, danger of being vomited on while, I thought my options for Raleigh nightlife were confined to Glenwood Avenue South between Tucker and Jones Streets. The draw of young people, seemingly like me, kept me returning weekend after weekend to five or six bars within this small epicenter of established nightlife.
But how sorely I was mistaken.
Coming out of N.C. State, I allowed the Cardinal Cabs, which seem to be on set tracks like cars at an amusement park, and OVERLY enthused friends to create a monotony in my social options.
It wasn’t until the reopening of Fayetteville Street from failed mall to “burgeoning” main street, that I discovered there was a creative class in Raleigh AND they knew how to go out and have a good time.
It was a welcome surprise that I could go out without necessarily needing to listen to overplayed hip-hop songs and drinking cheap beer that would end up being spilled on my shirt, rather than in my mouth.
Bars like The Raleigh Times and The Burough do something a little different than any other in Raleigh. Instead of making people wait in long lines, charging too much for drinks and judging me by my shoes, bars like The Raleigh Times and The Burough cut through the stereotypes of what it means to be a big city bar.
They do not push the idea that Raleigh is on the cusp of becoming a metropolis and so I must naturally accept this idea of exclusivity when all I want to do is go out and relax after a hard week. No, bars like these borrow a different page from the big city playbook. They skipped past the chapters on stereotypes and ‘80s Yuppie-culture and created bars that are actually the most popular in big cities.
While creating bars with true metropolitan charm, they incidentally did what every other bar in Raleigh should do. They opened their doors physically by allowing patrons to drink, eat and socialize on the sidewalk and, by creating a welcoming, comfortable environment, opened their doors to the city as a whole.
Raleigh now has bars and restaurants with the international feel of the Roman and Parisian cafes that turn into hotspots of activity and cultural exchange at night.
At bars like these, it is easy to feel like I can drink with friends, listen to good music and be drawn into conversations with complete strangers.
No longer do I feel like I may have to wait to get in, know the secret password or make sure I have all the membership cards for the different bars I may have the audacity to want to visit.
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