Eat at the Angus Barn for a steak!

Angus Barn is good but farther away near airport. For ease, there is a Asian place called David Dumplings on the corner near the HI. Right next door to that is the Players Retreat. It is Raleigh's original sports bar from the 1950s. Lots of locals and pretty cool and walking distance. Hillsbourgh Street is right there and if you walk toward the university, about 4 to 5 blocks up, is Porters and I think Frazier’s is still there. Good places. For the counter culture sandwich place, there is Sadlack's Hero across from the Bell Tower about 2 blocks away. Now I will say, it should be safe but I always tell people to be aware of their surroundings in this area. Especially late at night. Safe but some street traffic in this area. I see people walking at 1:00am and appear safe. If just going to Players Retreat (PR)area, should be no problem as you can throw a rock from the HI to PR.

Your best bet for restaurants is DT. A short cab ride to the different locations DT. Could walk if wanted to but about 12 to 16 blocks. There is Glenwood South area which can be younger crowd but cool. Restaurants include Natty Greens Brew Pub, 42nd Street Oyster/Seafood, and 518 West (Italian). Also down the street is Sullivan’s (expensive steakhouse) along with Solas (cool place). Also, Cantina South, Red Room and Draft (foodie sports bar) one block closer to Peace Street,

If you go DT near the Capital (Capital District) , there are several bars and restaurants. My favorite is Sitti (Lebanese) and Gravey. Also, Buku (international street food). Cafe Luna is great. The Mint is high end fare right DT. Tons of cool bars like Raleigh Times, Foundation, Busy Bee, Landmark, etc. They are all around Fayetteville Street. Right off of Fayetteville street is Moore Square where Tir na' Nog is located. Also several other bars and restaurants in this area.

If you go to the Depot district, there is the World famous "Pit" restaurant along with Humble Pie which has great Tapas. Also Jabarro and a few others.

In the middle of this if you really want High End Fare, there is Second Empire.

Another area of DT is the Seaboard District which has a couple of good restaurants like J. Bieski's and I think another called Seaboard 11 or something.

The key to DT is to ride the Circulator or R Line. see website below. It is a free bus that circulates all these areas. They usually run 2 of these and there is an app you can follow on your phone on where the bus is. So if you were to take a cab to Glenwood South and wanted to go DT, you could walk the 8 blocks or so or take the Circulator.

A couple of other good bars are Boylan Street Brew Pub during the day for a view of overall DT, Mosaic for a Turkish feel or Armas for an older age crowd. (Might see some legislative types).

There is a new place in a very cool building called Babylon which I have no idea of how good the place is but I like the building

http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/sporkthis-babylon/

Cool pizza places are Mellow Mushroom and Moonlight Pizza. A couple of other places on Glenwood South. Another Glenwood South Foodie place is Zellie and Ritz. Sushi places include Sushi Blues and Soon on GS and DT has a place near the WTVD studios on Fayetteville Street near The Oxford.

I encourage you to do a search on these places to see menus and see what you like. DT Capital District might be the place to go but depends on the night. Weekends are packed and not all places are opened on Mon/Tuesday.

Also, if interested in visit one of our local designers, Holly Aiken, right next to Raleigh Times off of Fayetteville Street is her store-- Stitch ! ----- pocketbooks and stuff

http://www.hollyaiken.com/stitch.php

or Raleigh Demin

http://www.raleighworkshop.com/

One last thing to remember, if a bar does not serve food,and serves liquor, it is private and should have memberships. Now, this old outdated law is not always followed and if you just walk up and in, they will usually not say anything. Not too many private clubs but some mentioned are private.

Some websites

http://www.visitraleigh.com/visitors/listing.details.php?partner=16568&name=R%20Line%20(free%20Downtown%20Raleigh%20circulator)

http://www.raleightimesbar.com/

http://www.sitti-raleigh.com/

http://www.foundationnc.com/

http://bukuraleigh.com/buku/

http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/

http://humblepierestaurant.com/

http://dtraleigh.com/
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=downtown+raleigh+restaurants&pbx=1&oq=downtown+raleigh&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=1&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=9938l13235l0l15391l16l7l0l6l6l0l250l1312l0.3.4l11l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=fe49d561ad75bea3&biw=1058&bih=434

http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/first-friday-raleigh/venues/first-friday-restaurants-and-bars

http://goliveworkplay.com/raleigh/downtown/tags/4-nightlife/explore

http://www.raleigh.com/nightlife/

http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/

live Music in and near DT Raleigh

The Lincoln Theater
http://www.lincolntheatre.com/

The Pour House ( a dibe but amazing what bands go there)
http://the-pour-house.com/

Kings Barcade
http://kingsbarcade.com/

Many bars and clubs have music like Deep South and maybe Slims (True Dives)

Brew Pubs DT
Natty greenes
Boylan Street Brew Pubs

The bars are full of local brews. Just ask for what is local

Local Brews to Drink
Big Boss (Raleigh). Bad Penny is my fav
Lonerider
carlina Brewing (Raleigh area) Carolina Pale Ale, Blonde
Duck Rabbit (Kinston)
Foothills (Winston Salem)

http://bigbossbrewing.com/
http://www.loneriderbeer.com
http://www.foothillsbrewing.com/seasonal.html
http://www.redoakbrewery.com/home.php
Red Oak (Greensboro)


Check back on the week you are here for music in town and clubs/bars. Also has many other things to do
http://www.indyweek.com/