Oh Doyles, my home away from home. Doyles is certainly a dive bar, if you are the type of person…read morewho is not okay hanging out with some locals who are a little rough around the edges then you might not like it. But learn to love Doyles and it will become your second living room and the perfect place to play some bar games and drink. If you want pool, darts, ping pong, shuffleboard, fooseball, pinball they have it all. Depending on who is bartending (if its Chris you are in for a treat) there are often movies they picked out playing on the TV at the bar that you can chill and watch. Sometimes there are even video game systems available to play. What more could you want? Oh yeah drinks. Affordable drink special every night, though unfortunately that is somtimes domestics like coor lights. Fortunately their bottle selection is solid (highland gaelic, sierra nevada/torpedo being my favorite options) and they are always affordable at like 3 bucks a pop. If you want go stronger, their bartenders pretty much universally pour a drink that packs a punch. You won't be disappointed. Doyles is the place where you can go, get a buzz going and just relax and be yourself. There is no pretension here. They have a crowd of regulars who know each other but don't let that scare you. The bartenders are friendly and will make you feel right at home. Some problems I'll acknowledge are their drafts have been broken for a while and even while they were running they often had issues. Also If you want music you have to put money in the juke box which can get pricey if you come as often as we do. But overall, for a friendly dive bar they do it the way it should be done and I've seen many people I've brought get over their skepticism and fall for its charms. It should fairly be a 4-star, but I'll admit I am biased with my local watering hole and I can't not give it a 5.

It's an ok bar. There are better dive bars around the area. The owner was cool and let me and…read moremy buddy have drinks despite them not being open while they watched the UNC game. I have learned a couple of things about NC since moving here and from my experience at Doyles: 1)White Irish folks have other teams they like other than Notre Dame 2)Don't order a Bud Light Lime. Apparently, Bud Light Lime is the drink of choice for gay men here and ordering a Bud Light Lime will send the owner into a tirade and call you all sorts of homophobic names for some odd reason.

This place is fine--decent tacos and I enjoyed the special--but nothing exceptional. Ingredients…read moreare definitely not the highest quality which is fine if it weren't for the price point which is not as I'd expect. But it was nice to sit outside and we enjoyed the meal.

Had a big takeout order from here tonight. Everything was good abd reasonably priced. Tamales…read moremight be our favorite though chicken tacos pretty darn good. Fish tacos were only downer, but that may be because we don't like tilapia.

We came in for a show and loved the dive bar vibe. The show we saw was a NOLA style brass band and…read moreit was so fun. My only complaint was not having more seating. Everything else was great. We will be back to catch more shows soon.

Must-Visit Bars for a Night Out in Durham…read more This bar has an excellent selection of music, and the vibes are always on point. I really enjoy the themed nights--they're a blast, and it's great to see so many people get dressed up. I feel completely safe and comfortable here, making it one of my favorite spots.

Yum! My boyfriend and I split some dishes at the Federal and thoroughly enjoyed our experience. We…read morechose the classic cheeseburger with Swiss cheese and sauce on the side, a cubano, and the fried artichoke salad. Both the cheeseburger and cubano came with hefty servings of French fries fresh out of the fryer. Despite being a little salt heavy, they were flavorful and complimented the sandwiches well. The cubano and burger were both 3/5 for me but I enjoyed both. I'm not a huge meat fan... My boyfriend said they were excellent though! The fried artichoke salad is where I feel like I found my peace. The olives, tomatoes, salad dressing, and all other salad components were awesome. It tasted fresh and the ingredients complimented each other. The fried artichokes were a nice crunch too! I would be back to the Federal for the hot food and good vibes. Service was excellent here as well.

Pretty meh bar food. Maybe I didn't order the right thing, but when I asked which side I should get…read morewith my chicken sandwich, it was highly recommended that I order their twice-fried Fed Fries over their other fried options, as they are made from scratch, rather than being shipped in frozen in bags. I had high hopes, but there is reason why fries made from fresh potatoes aren't widely offered at restaurants and it's mostly bc they have so much water content and easily come out soggy. And these came out exactly that way - soggy and limp. The chicken sandwich I ordered was a special, limited time offering, and it was also ok. It was advertised as having a slaw on top and that's a strong word for what was served. When I think slaw, I think robust, crunchy veggies with some vinegar bite and while I got a bit of that, it wasn't enough to balance out the fried, savoriness of the breaded chicken patty and bbq sauce. Service was friendly, but I wouldn't say they went above and beyond. I was eating alone at the bar, and I'm usually accustomed to more touch points than I got here, but it wasn't bad. I they checked in more, I may have felt more comfortable bringing up my dissatisfaction with the fries. Beer selection (on tap) was only ok. Definitely a personal preference but I wouldn't say say they had a wide variety of beer styles to select from - at least while I was there. Giving two stars bc I won't come back here on purpose - especially by myself.

We stopped by to watch the Army-Navy game. Prices were reasonable. Our bartender, Ryan, was…read morefriendly. My nachos were delicious. It is really low-key and gives off a dive bar atmosphere without the smoke. It looks much smaller from the outside it actually is. I also e joyes their selection of local beers/ciders/seltzers. Only Suggestions that I could think of for improvement was the amount of toppings on the nachos. The ratio of toppings was way too large for the amount of chips you got. I had to leave half of my toppings because I ran out of chips. This is super close to our new house though so we will be back for sure.

I came here last night for the first time and I think I found my new hangout spot. This place stays…read moreopen until 2am. Don't be fooled, it looks a lot smaller from the outside but on the inside it is spacious and has it all. Plenty of parking spots right next to the entrance. I sat at the bar and as it was my luck, they had Karaoke . They have pool tables on the main floor with some arcade machines near the stairs, which lead you to the second floor. The second floor has more games including darts. Everything is spaced out great, so no one is on top of you as you are enjoying some games. I ordered some drinks and food. Got the cheese curds and the fried pickles. They were pipping hot and yummy. Got to chat with some of the locals and the bartenders were hilarious. Plenty of options on the beer and drink menu. The prices are super reasonable. May this be why this place was happening last night. Oh, and I got up and sang 2 karaoke songs. One with a regular patron who I just met there. Why not, right? Everyone was having a great time. Definitely will be coming back. Worth checking out!! Karaoke is Thursdays and Saturdays!

Downstairs has been less dangerous than upstairs, but still not a great experience. There's…read moreconstant staff turnover, so service is inconsistent. I've been served and then aggressively carded right after, which feels unnecessary and unprofessional. I went in there around 10 o'clock on a Thursday for food and was told their kitchen was closed... mind you they close at 12AM.... There was a woman in the kitchen. It seemed like they just didn't want to take my order... Then I had a friend text me later and tell me not only did they stay open after saying that they were gonna close early... But that they usually serve people food. Those people usually do Coke though. As a young Black woman, multiple times I've come in and they have less than 10 people in the room and STILL it's difficult to get acknowledged or served, it is a small space. So being ignored by the bartender when they could barely minimum acknowledge me It's a bar like if y'all don't even have food why can't I get in contact with the bartender? I went in with one of my friends from out of town and she told me they were being racist. This is a white woman I went in there just to ask them what time the upstairs dance floor was opening not only did they ignore me they acted like they had move around and disappear to the hallway not making a drink at all just to make it look like you're busy so they don't have to answer my question. Upstairs, the environment feels unsafe and even more poorly managed, with serious boundaries being crossed and ignored. I watched a female on their staff get groped and nobody cared. You will never catch a black woman bartender there. It's by design. Overall, this place is not the safe, welcoming space it used to be. Please be careful. #RIPANGELA

If you like dive bars with sticky tables, this may be your place. I had the jackfruit tacos which…read morewere ok but nothing special. The bartender was friendly and efficient, though.

Aight, 14 years after my last glowing review I have to say Surf Club has lost all lustre and charm…read more Are you a woman who enjoys listening to shit music of only male vocalists? Then you might still enjoy Surf Club. The rest of us who have a limit in how much nonstop male Ken doll singing at us, time to check out the many other bars with better vibes. And yes, I did ask a bartender to put on any song with a female vocalist and he said "No requests" to which I said "Any women, no genre or song, literally any women vocalists" and he responded again "No requests." Got it, women vocalists are special requests in his world. I guess this is the America we live in now, but I don't have to support it.

Relaxed spot. Decent indoor space and outdoor space. A dive for sure. But a dive with personality…read moreand a story. Good beer selection, cocktails, cider, THC-Bev, wine.

LGBTQ ‍ FRIENDLY…read more They have small bites, though I wasn't interested in them! I was star struck after reading their creative cocktail menu! I had a Sazerac and my friend had a high passion or something like that! These drinks were worth the price had me feeling really good and tasted very good! I should've taken pictures of the drinks, but they were really good. I just drank them. The mood lighting, sets the vibe for pictures and close interactions They host burlesque shows, dance classes, talent shows and so much more events. Follow them on Instagram!!! Also, their bathrooms are very clean!!! Right next to viceroy Indian food

Drinks are unique and the events are amazing! The collage craft night was so fun and Arcana is…read morereally great community space for LGBTQ+. It's so rare to have a dedicated lesbian bar, even in a place like SF. To find that in Durham was such a pleasant surprise