Hey--I don't necessarily know which of these establishments have websites--like does Hell have a website? Anyway, if you see some place missing you think needs to be added, write me!
Send me the street address and phone number in an email--it'll get added alot faster than if you just sit around and wait to see how long it takes me to find the free time to look that shit up! Websites not necessary for inclusion, but you know, they're nice to have to link to.
= live music and ETOH = alcohol.
bars
music clubs
(with an etoh focus)
[NAV] [TOP] Hell
157½ East Rosemary
Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 919.929.7799
A private club,
they got the hard stuff, and a good selection of imports and beer-snob
quality domestics. Excellent jukebox. Cough up the $5 and get the
membership. 4 pool tables, 1 René Pierre foosball table, some
pinball machines, and more than half a dozen prime 80's arcade video
games--Ms. Pac Man, anyone? Lots of local bands come here and hang out after
they've finished their gigs in the beer bars. Hell has never had
any live bands perform that I can remember, but sometimes they have
parties with djs.
^^^ Orange
County Social Club
108 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.933.0669
The west end of
town's uptown answer to Hell. OCSC is also a private club.
I think the average age of the clientèle here is slightly higher than Hell.
Another excellent jukebox. There's a Centipede™ video game
there that I keep forgetting about until I'm on the way out. They
also have a pool
table, and lots of little cozy nooks big enough that you can stretch
your social butterfly wings, if you're in the mood. The patio
out back is quite nice, too.
^^^
The Library 
Franklin Street,
Chapel Hill, NC
Some new private club that's
opened up in same place where the old Taco Bell used to be on Franklin Street--they
had Saunter play there the other night, but for now, that's all I know about
this particular joint.
^^^ Tyler's
102 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.929.6881
Someone else
should write something for Tyler's. I've only walked through it,
around to the back to find the foosball action in the speak easy
:)
^^^ The
Speak Easy
100 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.967.1131
I've been here
to play foosball a few times. We went into Tyler's, and around
to the back. There were at least 2 maybe 3 pool tables.
And the René Pierre foosball table. It's a fairly clean
well-kept foosball table. (<<< written 12/2002!)
^^^ La
Rez 
202 West
Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.967.2506
I've been to La
Residence for dinner, but I haven't been to their kinda new casual
bar, yet. I know they're having some musical entertainment, and
some of my friends are hanging there. Sometimes they go to La
Rez instead of Hell. I'll end up checking it out
eventually. Because it's an off-shoot of the restaurant, you can
get things like fries and appetizers to go with your etoh, rather
late--you know, 11pm and such.
^^^ Henry's

403 West
Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.967.4720
Since Henry's
is a full service restaurant, they also happen to have a full service
bar, and as you may have noticed in other links on this website, they
have live music several days a week. They also serve
appetizer/burger/fries type food till pretty late.
^^^
The
Cave 
452½ West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.968.9308
The Cave exists
for music and beer. And pool. There are 2 pool tables in
the back "ball room." They have some pinball machines,
too. Mouse and Dave keep a healthy variety of beer, ale, and
stout on their menu, and the Cave has been the pulse of the local
music scene since before I arrived in town, back in 1985. Often
the unsung hero in the Chill community, the Cave is the
pre-eminent champion of local music in this town.
^^^ Local
506 
506 West
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.942.5506
John Dzubak,
bar manager, bartender, and kick-ass guitar player for cockrockers
Leadfoot proudly described Local 506 as the "rogue" music
club of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro scene. It's the only club in
Chapel Hill or Carrboro where you can have a shot of bourbon while you
get your maximum daily dB requirement served up in hearty protions of
live punk, blues. alt. country, indie, rock'n'roll, even hip-hop and
funk 'n' soul. If you don't already have your Local 506
membership--what's the hold-up? ...liquor...beer...live bands... oh,
and did I mention, that annual southern summer rite,
Sleazefest?
^^^ Go!
414 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.969.1400
Ah, does anyone
else remember the Turning Point? Man, what a place that was--and for
awhile, anyway, there was all kindsa cool musical equipment just
sitting there, to use, communally, for free. Of course that
didn't last long. But apparently the back half of the building
that houses Sparkle Car Wash just has music in its soul. Derek
of local bike shops and Cat's Cradle had the opportunity to acquire
the space a few short years ago--he had this notion of providing
rehearsal studios, given the density of musicians per capita in this
part of the world. Within this space, there was the
"main" hall, and hey, ya know, you could schedule some shows
for bands to play in there to supplement the income of the rehearsal
space! Voilá! Go! rehearsal studio was born, and the big
main hall with the nice loft got called "Room 4" and the
rest is history.
^^^ ArtsCenter

300-G East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.929.2787
I
honestly don't know exactly why I put ArtsCenter under bars, except
that I know I've had a right good many ales with my concerts
here. It's really more of a gallery/community artschool with an
auditorium, and they happen to sell etoh during the show. It's
been awhile since I've been to an ArtsCenter show, tho', so I don't
know what their policy on alcohol is these days.
^^^ Cat's
Cradle 
300 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.967.9053
The Cradle is
here because of music, but you knew that already. If there's no
performance scheduled at the Cradle, they aren't open. This
means they're closed, what... maybe 2 days a month? They have a
pool table, and also a buncha arcade video games from the 80's, so you
can find something fun to do while the bands break down and set-up.
I'd go through the four previous locations of Cat's Cradle, but I
think that's a trivia question somewhere, and I don't want to give the
answer away :)
^^^
[NAV] [TOP]
not
bars
(tho'
some form of etoh beverage may be available)
Coffee houses, tea houses
...grocery stores!?!?
[NAV] [TOP]
Caffé
Driade
1215-A East
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514 919.942.2333
Here's an entry for the east end of
town--conveniently located at the midpoint of the big hill on East Franklin--if
you have a bike, and live east of Plant Road, you know what hill I mean!
They've been around, locally-owned, almost 7 years as this is being written
(January 2003). They have live music outdoors during the warmer months of
the year (May-October), and it's known as a kick-ass Espresso bar, in addition
to providing hues from the beer and wine areas of the etoh spectrum. Sean
suggests one might call it an Espresso/Wine Bar Teahouse! He further
volunteers: "There is no other place like it in the Triangle, period.
You instantly feel like you are in Europe... Beautiful patios and cool
interior, not to mention that Margaret White, who played in the Comas, works
there."
^^^
Silk Road
456 West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.942.1533
I love Silk Road. It
is one of the absolute coolest places not just in Chapel Hill, but on
earth.
Known originally as a tea house, recently they added a full-sized grill to their
kitchen (see
below).
Silk Road is a perfect place to study, play board games, engage the ontological argument, or
simply chill to the truly outstanding tunes. Whether provided
live or via recording, you'll hear a cornucopia of Turkish/Sufi/Middle
Eastern tunes, sometimes accompanied by belly dancers, and sometimes,
you'll hear some regular old indie rock, too. The indie rock isn't
live, however, nor does it come with belly dancers.
Oh, and yes, you can get a gazillion different teas, and tasty
baked goodies.
Tuesday night is Go tournament night. (Othello is kind of a
pre-school/toddler's version of Go.)
^^^
Skylight Exchange
405½ West Rosemary
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.933.5550
Dennis got his start
trading used books and LPs in that building that currently houses a
pizza delivery and a laundromat in front of Artscenter (incidentally a
space that together with Amante's and Cat's Cradle was a grocery store
at the time). I can't remember if Dennis had that whole little
building, or just the half that's now that pizza place. Was it
called the Record Exchange? I can't remember. Anyway,
around 1987, he upgraded, and acquired the space that had been Rhythm
Alley (and before that, the original location of Cat's
Cradle--pre-Frank Heath, even). One of his goals was to provide
a venue for music in an etoh-free setting, while maintaining his used
record/book exchange business. He installed skylights to let the
sunshine in. In addition to etoh-free beverages, he added a
sandwich menu. You can browse the books and LPs (and now CDs,
too!) while listening to music or other performance art. They
could use better promotion for all their shows, but checking the
Independent/Spectator gives one some idea of what's going on.
^^^
Temple Ball
307 East Main
Street, Carrboro, NC 27510 919-929-1208
Look,
it's a brand new place! Just opened up Fall 2002. A labor
of love by Rick Ramirez, he describes his new space thusly:
"Temple Ball Gallery features a diverse collection of international folk
art, unique glass creations and other forms of thought provoking independent
art."
"The gallery's permanent collection features works from Nepal, Tibet,
India, Indonesia & Mesoamerica. Also part of the permanent collection are works by
Nemo." In addition to visual art, Temple Ball stimulates
the auditory senses, bringing musicians and other performance artists
in to their "middle" gallery, the De La Luz performance
space. Temple Ball is also linked below
in "other busineses."
^^^
Weaver Street
Market
101 East
Weaver Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.929.0010
Birkenstocks amuck!
A roommate-past once called the Weaver Street Market regulars
"crunchy," and it's a description I'll never shake.
"You know, crunchy, as in granola," he explained. It's
quite the relaxed, casual atmosphere. People into rolfing, yoga,
and adjectives like "holistic," and "organic."
that kinda thing. When it's warm, they are forever having all
sorts of fun community events on their expansive lawn, and they cater
to a diverse array of acoustic and jazz acts. The fountain in
the middle of it all helps keep a good balance of negative ions in the
atmosphere. Sit close to it if you're feeling stressed.
^^^
Open Eye Café
100 East Main Street,
Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.968.9410
I haven't spent much time here. I suspect my complete
disinterest in coffee is why. I watch my very cool
coffee-drinking friends mill in and around the place, and I'm always
seeing the people who work there out at the best shows in town, so if
you have a need for coffee, I think this is probably one of the best
places to get your fix. In addition to booking the best known
local acoustic performers, they also bring in nationally-touring acts
from across the country to provide entertainment with your latte,
several days a week, in the early evening.
^^^
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eating
establishments
that lend
themselves to socializing beyond mere food consumption
[NAV] [TOP]
Pepper's
127 East
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514 919.967.7766
Pepper's used to be
Schoolkids Records. I can't remember which side came first now, but
once upon a time, one half of Pepper's was all there was to Schoolkids. Then Schoolkids expanded and opened shop in the other
half, too, so all of Pepper's was once all of Schoolkids. Then
my memory gets fuzzy, but for awhile, I swear Pepper's was half the size it is
now--I think that back side room was closed off, or maybe they were
still selling records there or something. I remember buying a
pristine new copy of Bruce Cockburn's Sun and Sand LP for something
ridiculous like $3 when Schoolkids was clearing out to the other side
of the street. Anyway, in
Pepper's, that back side room, man, for a long time, there was the
coolest fucking graffiti back there. You could go in there and
get your pizza (or calzone--I always get the calzone) and expand your
mind all at the same time, and if you remembered your sharpie, you
could contribute to the art work/philosophy. Then suddenly, for
some reason, they painted over all the graffiti. Why? Why,
Pepper's, why? That was a sad day. Pepper's is still
very cool, and lots of scenesters from every era of the Chapel Hill
music legacy still congregate there to eat and swap tales.
Naturally, Pepper's plays the best music of any sit-down pizza joint in
town. I just wish they still had the "graffiti room."
^^^
Silk
Road

456 West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.942.1533
I love Silk
Road. I mentioned
above
that they now have a
full-sized grill in their kitchen, so you can get complete
meals--vegetarian and/or carnivorous--with
chicken entrees, etc. They always have catered to the vegetarian
crowd--the grill allows them to easily add menu items to appeal to the
meat-eaters, as well.
^^^ Hector's
201 East
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514 919.942.9420
If you're needing burgers
and fries after your night of Chiller carousing, allow me to strongly suggest Hector's. I can't advise on
vegetarian options, carnivore that I am, but that double cheeseburger on
pita will surely hit the spot, especially when coupled with those
delicious Hector's fries. Some people like the cheese
fries. Some people like the chili fries. Some people like
the chili-cheese fries. I just like 'em plain. The single
cheeseburger on pita will do if you think you're not up to the
double, but no matter what, get it on pita, not on the
bun. Trust me on this one. Hector's is always my first
choice for late night food on the fried side of town.
^^^
Cosmic
Cantina
128 East
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514 919.960.3955
Are you vegetarian?
Then Cosmic Cantina can set you right at 2:35am. Actually Cosmic
Cantina can set you right whether you're vegetarian or carnivore, and
pretty much anytime they're open serving food. You'll be hard
pressed, regardless your eating habits, to find larger portions
for less than the totally delicious fare they serve up at Cosmic
Cantina. They could maybe bus their tables better, but for the
price, man, Cosmic Cantina is great. Maybe it's the economics
but it's been my experience that l usually run into at least one of my
friends while I'm there, if not a whole table full.
^^^ Time-Out Biscuits
133 West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.929.2425
Back in the day, when
Billy was working the counter, I swore by Time Out biscuits, due to
the raucous carnival atmosphere that transpired at 2:35am.
Several of my friends still swear by the grease, but personally, I
prefer Hector's. The main thing for me is, when I go in Hector's,
despite the wonderful world of fried foods they offer, I never
come out smelling like I was immersed in a vat of chicken lard.
Conversely, I have walked into Time Out to use the restroom and walked
back out, and my hair and clothes reaked of rancid grease. Could
be my sense of smell is sharper since I don't smoke cigarettes.
Anyway, these days, IMO the selling point of TIme Out is 24 Hours a
Day, no cover charge, ever. It is presently the only 24 hour
eating establishment in Chapel Hill. If I'm that desperate for
someone else to cook my food, I'll just convince a friend to go in
Time Out for me and get it to go, ya know. Anyway, the big thing
is, many people I know and love swear by Time Out--you might,
too. That's why I put it here. And it is open 24/7.
^^^
Breadmen's
324 West
Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.967.7110
Suddenly it occurs to me
that of all the "ancient" hip places in town, that is, the
places that were here when I got here in 1985, only the Cave and Time-Out Biscuits (and Kinko's--see below) are still in business, and in
their original buildings. (Sorry--He's Not Here and Spanky's
draw a different crowd, and are therefore disqualified.) Wow. So
yeah, that means Breadmen's has moved, too. I think the building
they're in now used to be a Western Sizzlin' steak house. It was
some brand of steak house. I'm pretty sure it was Western
Sizzlin'. The building Breadmen's used to be in is the one
that's kinda catty-cornered across the street, and it's some kinda
home health agency or something. So, I didn't really say
anything about it while I was writing up Pepper's, but one of the
reason's Pepper's is so cool is because it employ/s so many people who
were/are musically active. The same can be said of Breadmen's,
although obviously, Breadmen's has a more conservative dress code for
its staff than Pepper's. The obvious factor aside--that being
anytime I go to Breadmen's I always see someone I know musically--my
first reason for including Breadmen's here is that they serve
breakfast the entire time they're open. The second would be for
the sweet tea--ya know, Breadmen's is the only restaurant where I
often (almost always) chosen sweet tea over diet Coke.
^^^
[NAV] [TOP]
other
businesses
that are fun to
hang out in
[NAV] [TOP]
Internationalist
Books
405 West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.942.1740
As I begin to write this,
I'm aware that this might be not so easy. Bob Sheldon was my
friend, as he was to just about everybody who ever met him.
Internationalist was Bob's baby. When Bob's life was so cruelly,
abruptly, and unexpectedly halted in 1991, the future of the bookstore
was tentative indeed. Aside from having created a wonderful,
social atmosphere in his bookstore, virtually all the information
about how to go about stocking and running the book store was
exclusively known by Bob alone, despite the volunteers and friends who
were involved in the Internationalist at the time. People pulled
together, though, and 11 years later, the Internationalist thrives
once more. If you care about things like justice, peace, and
positive, healthy social change, the Internationalist is a good place
to volunteer and just generally hang out.
^^^ Haz
Mat
405 West
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.967.7540
OK, OK, I don't really
hang out in Haz Mat, but I know it's a nifty place, because I've
wandered in there with my dog a couple of times, and I've wandered
in
when I didn't have my dog, to pet other dogs that were hangin'
there. It was a very friendly vibe. So I suppose I have
hung out there--I guess I'm just not a regular. They've got
clothes and buttons and incense and smoking paraphernalia, and I think
comics? I guess I should wander back in there so I can give a
better description :)
^^^ CD
Alley
405-C West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.960.9272
Yep, we're all
in the same block here on this one. Kinda convenient, don't ya
think? (And nobody make any cracks about getting a
massage!).
^^^ Kinko's
114 West Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516 919.967.0790
Maybe it's 'cuz
I worked for Kinko's when I was a teenager, and again a couple of
years ago, but yeah, I have been known to hang out in Kinko's.
Here in the southeast, anyway, it's a fairly well-established fact of
life that if you're a musician, at some point in your life you will
probably work at Kinko's, or at the very least, someone in your band
will--or some band member's girlfriend or boyfriend will.
Kinko's in Chapel Hill was at it's ultimate cool when Chuck was
working nights--Chuck of the 10,000 tattoos and body piercings, who
was totally into the Butthole Surfers, at least before they sold
out... He eventually moved to Atlanta to work in a tattoo shop,
shortly after he got that rather substantial rod through his septum.
It was at least a ¼" in diameter. Anyway, you may have
noticed that Kinko's has become more corporate of late: gone are the
days of walking into Kinko's and seeing someone with a chain connected
from their ear to their nostril and a chinese dragon tattooed along
the jawline on the other side of their face, but the musicians are
still in there--even if they are in-semi-corporate-cognito. Ya
know, it's a damned shame Paul Orfella sold the company.
^^^ Schoolkids
Records
144 East Franklin
Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514 919.929.7766
Originally,
Schoolkid's was located across the street where Pepper's
is now. Once upon a time, Schoolkid's had a store open down in
Columbia, SC in Five Points, and I swear I think they had another one
near Columbia Mall, maybe. There was at least the one in Five
Points.
^^^ Temple Ball

307 East Main
Street, Carrboro, NC 27510 919-929-1208
Temple Ball is
also linked above
in the "not bars" section, due to their De La Luz
performance space and art gallery. I put 'em down here 'cause
they also sell CDs, and a variety of other items. Check 'em
out.
^^^
Glenn's
Tattoo
110 West
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.933.8288
I know some of
you hang out here. Me, I got an extremely low tolerance (i.e., no
tolerance) for pain, and further, there's no inked image I can think
of that I'd like to have on my body for the rest of my life, so I got
no personal need for a tattoo/piercing shop. But that's just
me. So if you have a need for this kinda thing, zip over this
way.
^^^
[NAV] [TOP]

^^^
Hell
157½ East Rosemary
Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 929-7799
1 René Pierre
Hell is underground. Enter in the rear.
^^^ Bub's
157 East Rosemary
Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
2 René Pierre
Bub's is upstairs, the top floor, of the building possessed by Hell
down in the basement
Not a scenester bar. But they do have the foosball tables.
^^^
Sportsbar
It looks like a
René Pierre,
but I think it's really the RP clone that used to be in Local 506.
^^^
Speakeasy
100 East
Main Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510 919.967.1131
1 René Pierre
^^^
bw3
West
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
1 Tornado
^^^
Sitterson
Hall
UNC Campus
1 Tornado table in
the Computer Science grad student lounge.
So make friends with a Computer Science grad student and you'll gain
access
to one of the the absolute best maintained Tornado foosball tables in
the country.
Plus, if you're like me, and you don't smoke, the added bonus of a
smoke-free environment.
^^^
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