32 Best Nightlife in North Carolina, USA

Part music venue, part burger joint, part nano-brewery, this Lumberyard Arts District destination serves as a hub of local culture. Bluegrass, blues, and soul bands play the intimate stage most nights. The pilsners, lagers, and barleywines at in-house Noblebräu Brewing are among the state's best.

Mountain Layers has a cozy bar on the first floor and a larger space on the second floor, plus a rooftop deck with nice views of the mountains. It serves its own ales, porters, and stouts, and there's often a food truck parked out back.

For a classy yet quirky evening out, try this wine bar--café. Outdoor patio seating (on the street and back patio), North Carolina wines, local brews, and frequent DJ dance parties make this a fun gathering place in the heart of the Arts District.

The combination of a movie theater, pizza joint, and a brewery makes this a popular spot to catch new releases while lounging on a sofa, drinking a microbrew, and scarfing a slice. Kids and dogs are welcome, but movies are often sold out, so buy tickets before the show.

Six-packs of Boojum are ubiquitous in beer aisles across the region for good reason—they brew some of the state's most creative and flavorful ales. Their downtown taproom serves next-level pub grub, including vegetarian options like Korean BBQ maple-soy tempeh tacos. Downstairs, The Gem bar has pool tables and foosball, plus a weekly schedule of karaoke, trivia, and live music.

In a city of breweries, this is the place to bring your friend who only drinks wine—although there's also one of the city's best European beer selections and a few charcuterie plates. Sit inside the brick warehouse interior or snag a picnic table outside by the river.

The Triangle’s premier live-music club since the late '70s, this legendary venue hosts local and regional bands as well as nationally known indie acts.

There's no sign outside this speakeasy serving both classic and off-the-wall cocktails. It's equally dark and shady inside, but the bartenders are top-notch. Order a signature cocktail or tell the bartender what you like and trust them—they won't fail you.

Burial Beer Co. transformed their Biltmore-area production facility—once the building that housed laborers constructing the Blue Ridge Parkway—into this casual hangout spot known for wild and sour beers and a kitchen dishing out entrées like cassoulet and pan-roasted sea trout. 

The large comfortable tasting room at Waynesville's original brewery shows off with exposed brick and natural wood accents. In warm weather, the outdoor seating by the creek draws a crowd. There's a busy schedule of live music and yoga classes.

This club near the university combines dinner with a night of laughs. Past performers include Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Ellen DeGeneres.

Name your brewery Innovation and you'd better hold yourself to high standards. This Jackson County staple exceeds expectations with seasonal delights like a beet and basil saison. There are three locations—Innovation Station in Dillsboro, the original brewery in Sylva, and an outpost in Cullowhee. In Dillsboro, the Tuckasegee River runs directly under the porch, so sipping comes with a view. There's usually a food truck in the parking lot. 

Located on lively South Elm Street, this tavern keeps a dozen beers on tap, including several that it brews in-house. The bar food here's done right, including the potato chips and a generous tuna steak. Upstairs is a sports bar with pool tables. In nice weather, you can sit on the patio along the main drag.

Run by the owners of nearby Spanish tapas hotspot Cúrate, Nightbell is combination lounge and mid-tier restaurant. While sipping and snacking the night away in an interesting second-floor warehouse space, you can try savory and sweet snacks, such as a lobster roll, steak tartare, and petits fours. The drink menu shuns standards, with lots of obscure rums, agaves, single malts, and ryes.

One World's wide-open space hosts live music nearly every night of the week. Order a pint and boogie onto the dance floor for Grateful Dead covers and Latin Night dance parties or kick back for the Sunday Jazz Jam.

Faces of early-20th-century newsboys stare out from a 20-foot photo mural covering one wall at this 1906 newspaper office, artfully restored into a gastropub. The bar features a great selection of Belgian beers and thoughtful wine and cocktail lists.

Offering creative craft cocktails and a classed-up cool atmosphere (though it's still Asheville casual), this is one of the city's best spots for locally sourced farm-to-glass delights. The light-filled space boasts high ceilings, large mirrors, locally built furnishings, and a huge array of spirits. Servers and bartenders are friendly and knowledgeable.

This speakeasy is one of Asheville's best-kept secrets; there's no sign on the door, and inside it's so dimly lit you could go incognito. The bar offers more than 600 whiskeys, and a ragtime band makes surprise appearances.

Setting the standard for craft cocktail bars in North Carolina, the Crunkleton has a knowledgeable staff of mixologists ready to stir and shake drinks. You can also select from a pages-long whiskey list—it includes antique spirits that seem to taste even better in the dark, parlorlike surroundings, with elk and deer busts lording it over the room.

This venerable Asheville institution features popular regional and national bands on its intimate stage, with contra dancing and patio concerts on certain nights. During the day the space doubles as a taqueria.

Bob Dylan, Modest Mouse, and the Beastie Boys have played at this now-legendary venue. There's a great dance floor with springy wood slats, two bars serving wine and beer, and a speakeasy-style bourbon bar, PULP, on the bottom floor.