Celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities with these Pride-inspired bevs in Raleigh.
“Be you, do you, celebrate you”—and cheers to you with these Pride-inspired cocktails and beers from bars and breweries around Raleigh. Ah, we love love… and another reason to have a drink this month!
Twist and shout your love of all humans from the The Willard Rooftop with its Twist & Out cocktail in partnership with the LGBT Center of Raleigh! The special cocktail—made with housemade creamy limoncello, raspberry and rainbow sprinkles—will be available Friday, June 17, through Sunday, June 26. The cherry—er rainbow flag-pick—on top? A portion of proceeds from the cocktail will be donated to the center.
Show the LGBTQIA+ community they’ve got a partner in you by snagging a four-pack of the local-fave brewing co.’s returning Trophy Partner brew—a medium-bodied IPA with a classic dry-hop selection of Citra and Cascade—in celebration of Pride Month. With each four-pack sold, $1 will be donated to the LGBT Center of Raleigh!
Drink ale month long with Crank Arm in collab with the LGBT Center of Raleigh. Its special-edition P(RIDE) pale ale tastes as good as it looks in its colorful Pride flag-inspired can (!).
Cheers to Pride Month—martini- or shot-style—with Libations 317’s Rainbow Lemondrop, a refreshing sipper with lemon vodka, fresh lime juice and simple syrup—plus a rainbow-sugared rim, natch. We’ll drink to that!
Cloud and proud! The brew spot’s newest Silver Linings charity collaboration, Cloud and Proud—brewed in partnership with Stonewall Sports and Crape Myrtle Festival—is an easy-drinking, juicy kolsch with a generous amount of grapefruit, with 20% of all sales donated to the two LGBTQ+ nonprofits.
Waraji adds izakaya (Japanese bar) with specialty cocktails and apps.
Folks who frequent Waraji for its extensive selection of sake (the largest on the East Coast!), sushi, sashimi and authentic Japanese cuisine know the hip sup spot has always been sans hard liquor—until now.
Upping our spirits, the concept’s new izakaya (aka Japanese bar) is now serving up signature cocktails, specialty liquor, beer, wine, sake and small plates in its expanded space after acquiring the spot formerly occupied by now-defunct wine/bottle shop The Pedaler.
While the intimate izakaya serves as a hip new spot for happy hour in Northwest Raleigh—NTM the perf perch for patrons to wait for a table in the main dining room—the recently debuted cocktails will also be on offer in the dining room (banzai!).
The special small plates menu, though, will be served izakaya-side only. Think yakitori skewers (chicken and scallion skewers grilled with a teriyaki sauce), takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings served with a vegetable and fruit sauce, bonito flakes, seaweed and ginger), gyoza, and spicy chile and garlic edamame—plus smaller sushi items like spicy squid salad, nigiri and sashimi.
Beyond spirited cocktails, Waraji owner/operator Reuben Rodillas also hopes to expand the concept’s offerings of Japanese whiskies, sakes, gins and vodkas. “My goal is to make [Waraji] the first Japanese sake and whiskey bar around here,” he says. The izakaya will also offer flights. So essentially, you’ll get the chance to experience two restaurants/bars in one. Let the good times roll.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of bourbon! Toast to National Bourbon Day June 14 with bourbon selects from some of our favorite Raleigh bartenders and local bourbon aficionados.
“I am a new fan of Nikka From the Barrel. Nikka has been producing whiskeys for years, and only recently have I been able to get this expression (limited availability in Raleigh). This whiskey is full and rich, and comes in at a little over 100 proof. I waited four years to find it—and it was worth it.”
Dorothea Dix Park is one step closer to becoming a world-class destination park—especially for the kiddos (!). Last month, Truist Bank donated $2 million to help the city build the Gipson Play Plaza Picnic Grove, which will cover 18 acres of the park and feature a play space, art installations and an adventure playground, while the historic homes on the property will be turned into cafes.
“We’re hoping Dix is living up to its mission of being a park for everyone, not just in Raleigh but from around the region and the state,” Dix Park Conservancy President and CEO Janet Cowell told WRAL.
Truist Bank’s donation makes it one of Dix Park’s 21 founding partners. (The play plaza was named after the Gipson family, who donated $10 million to the park in December 2021.)
A large part of the city’s $275 million parks bond will also go toward paying for the play plaza. ICYMI, this is Raleigh’s largest-ever parks and greenway bond and the money will go toward building and fixing parks around the city. Raleigh voters will have to vote for or against it on their ballots in November, and if it’s passed, the city’s property tax rate will be raised between 3 and 4 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Construction on the Gipson Play Plaza Picnic Grove is expected to begin this summer, around the same time when Dix Park’s sunflower field is going to be in full bloom (save the date for mid-July and start working on your flower field poses!).
“Let me tell you ’bout my best friend…” On the heels of Best Friends Day June 8, we present the “best” ways to spend time with your BFF(s). So gather your soul sister, brofriend, wingman, homie, confidant, ride or die, bosom buddy, and/or loyal compadre, and dedicate a day just to spending time with them—because there’s no one more worthy of celebrating than your bestie. Cue the awws!
I Love You A Brunch
Besties who brunch together, stay together. Cheers to your BFF over a long, leisurely lunch chock full of mimosas—and waffles a la Parks and Rec’s Leslie Knope.
Not only can you and your bud enjoy a decadent Southern brunch at this Five Points mainstay, but after brunch you can also make your way upstairs to the gift shop and treat each other to local coffee or chocolate, jewelry, local goods, and more. (Obv, though, the true gift is each other.)
Show your bestie you like them a hole lot by treating them to a doughnut at this new “bright spot” from the creators of Benchwarmers Bagels and Boulted Bread—two other great brunch ops FYI.
Sharing is caring, and who else would you wanna share Wye Hill’s signature rainbow mimosa flight with than your right hand?! NTM the spectacular skyline views make for the perfect backdrop for the ’Gram.
You Keep Me Rollin’
Post-fuel, go on a little afternoon Raleigh adventure by bike. The area offers plenty of great trails for kicking it into gear with your true soulmate.
The bike-friendly Art to Heart Corridor begins at the NCMA and lands in Downtown. So while it certainly counts as exercise, no one’s stopping you from making a pit stop at one of DTR’s many coffee shops, bakeries or lunch spots (!).
If a picnic is more your final destination, launch your bikes at Meredith College and ride through NC State’s campus—veering off into Dix Park to set up a spread of charcuterie, cheese and wine. It may sound cheesy, but we promise your bestie’s gonna love it.
If you’re really looking to sweat it out, Umstead State Park is right up your alley—er, trail? Choose from a variety of multiuse trails or BYO kayak to launch in Big Lake.
Barcelona Wine Bar makes for the perf friend date thanks to its extensive wine selection (you can and should split a bottle) and tapas that are great for sharing—aka more food you get to try!
Head to the Downtown location to pop a squat on the cozy porch swing—which just so happens to perfectly fit two people—with a bottle of vino and a charcuterie board.
Why save Scott Crawford’s uberchic Jolie restaurant for date night with your SO? In the name of friendship, you and your best deserve to treat yo’self too. Bring on the macarons and wine!
