Hi all, Moving down to the Raleigh area on Friday. What are the "must hit" spots? I've already been to Bond Brothers, which was pretty good. Also looking for good bottle shops in Holly Springs area......
Bhavana and Burial are cant miss spots especially for IPAs ( Bhavana has killer food as well). Crank Arm has good stuff very nice kettle sours/gose recently. Trophy is solid, the pizza place has awesome pizza. Clouds is pretty sweet, good lagers and a pretty stellar rotating guest taps list at the downtown restaurant.
Yep, Bhavana is great. Good IPAs and Belgian styles. I've heard you need to make reservations for evenings. Burial's Raleigh spot is small, but they get good stuff. Usually they do new can releases on Saturdays. I agree with Trophy: good beer, great pizza. It is in the research Triangle halfway(ish) between Raleigh and Durham, but Barrel Culture & Blending is great for fruited sours.
I don't know of any great bottle shops in Holly Springs (I just don't visit the area), but If you stop at Barrel Culture, The Glass Jug is nearby; which usually has excellent taps (and brews their own stuff) along with great bottle/can selection.
Already mentioned but check out Burial and State of Beer, great bottle shop downtown. I might be in the minority on Bhavana but that’s not a place I would hang out at often, it feels like more of a date night type of place than a place to relax and grab a beer. The beer and food was solid but there’s better spots downtown.
Besides Burial and State of Beer which have already been mentioned, what other places in downtown Raleigh do you think are 'better' spots downtown? I am always looking for new places, but Bhavana hits a ton of the marks for being an interesting place with great beers and a interesting atmosphere.
I was referring to the food which I suppose it off topic here but there’s Garland and Bida Manda are fantastic. I always recommend Foundation, they have a small tap list but a great selection of bourbon and cocktails. I’ll mention Beer Garden if you’re looking for stouts, you can’t be the selection but the food doesn’t look good.
Yeah, I typically don't eat at Bhavana, the food is a bit overprices and not all that amazing, but the beer is good. I usually drink at Bhavana while waiting for a reservation at Bida Manda. mmm
Have to disagree with you about Bhavana's food. I think it is excellent and have never quibbled about the prices, though I can see why some might find it overpriced.
I guess going to places like even the Hong Kong restaurant over in Durham on the weekend has really spoiled me to the dim sum experience, and the prices are much better. But I do love the beer and atmosphere at Bhavana.
So my wife and I went to Clouds when we were in our house hunting trip in February. Sat there for 10 minutes before someone asked if we could be helped. Asked for something, don’t remember what, the guy disappeared. 10 minutes later, someone else asked if she could help, we ordered again. 10 minutes latter when we hadn’t seen her anymore, the first guy walked by us without even acknowledging us. We got up and left. So ya, we won’t be returning to Clouds.
