Get down with your bad self at these live music bars in Downtown Raleigh.
Tunes and booze? Name a better duo—we’ll wait.If barhopping for live music is your, well, jam (!), you’re gonna wanna bop Downtown each weekend to bop with a drink in hand. Get the party started in the afternoon—then sway your way into the night. Here, your guide to groovin’ and boozin’ in DTR.
Looking to switch up your next drinking sesh? As one of the oldest and most consumed alcoholic beverages a la Japan, sake is having a moment—and we are here for it, ya know, for the sake of it (see what we did there…). Here’s where you can sip—or grab a juice box!—around town.
Sake by the juice box? Yes, please! In addition to a stellar gin, vermouth and absinthe collection, this hidden Morgan Street Food Hall gem also boasts a Lucky Dog Sake juice box. … But don’t be fooled by the packaging. This light sake with hints of ripe apple and honeydew melon is not too sweet, nor too dry, and packed with plenty of flavor—and, of course, character. Why should kids have all the fun?!
Waraji is home to the largest selection of sake on the East Coast, with 100+ varieties from which to choose. Order it hot or sparkling, go for the lightly filtered sake, or sip on one brewed with traditional Japanese techniques. Can’t choose? Opt for the sake flight to taste your way through all the ops. Additionally, each month, the chef handpicks four sakes that differ in both taste and style—so you’ll always get to experience something new.
This aesthetically pleasing modern Laotian and Taiwanese restaurant boasts a sake menu that reads like a four-star wine list, with intriguing names that are guaranteed to pull you in—think Golden Treasure, Dancing Gold Flakes, Drunken Whale and more. Pair your sake pick with one of Heirloom’s delicious Asian-inspired dishes to elevate your next happy hour.
At this longtime Hillsborough Street resto, sake stars in a variety of tasty sake cocktails—see the Fizzy Apple (Fuji apple sake with Moscato d’Asti), Sunset Jewel (Living Jewel sake, blood orange syrup and lemonade) and Blood Orange Sunrise (pear sake and orange juice with blood orange syrup and cherry juice). David’s also carries a robust list of standard sakes and sake flights—NTM those stellar dumplings that make great pairings.
It might seem odd that Jason Howard’s country music-blaring honky-tonk would have sake on its menu—and well, it sort of is. But, still—don’t sleep on it. If you’re not feeling a beer, shooter or cocktail, go for a shot of cold or hot sake (pro tip: Add a flavor to the hot sake to jazz things up!).
Somewhere over the rainbow—er down North West Street in Downtown Raleigh—you’ll find Jason Howard’sThe Rainbow Luncheonette, opening next Tuesday, Nov. 8. The six-days-a-week breakfast, lunch and dinner counter will be dishing up elevated greasy spoon plates in what he dubs a really cool-looking, colorful (hence rainbow floor) Waffle House on steroids. Of course, the unique vibe is no surprise—Howard, after all, is known for his purposefully simple and unique concepts (think The Cardinal and The Atlantic Lounge, among others).
Jason Howard (Food Seen)
Belly up for comfort foods such as corned beef and hash, biscuits and sausage gravy, pancakes, steak and eggs, and build-your-own breakfast sandwiches. And for quick fuel, a to-go coffee station and a grab-and-go biscuit and hash browns station allow you to pop in for a quick bite without having to stick around (though you definitely should).
“So you literally can stop going to McDonald’s to get a biscuit—you can just come here,” Howard laughs.
Oh, and did we mention alcohol (think mid-grade-shelf liquor, beer and wine) will be served starting at 7am? “There’s just not many breakfast places [around here] where you can get alcohol,” says Howard. “And I don’t see nothin’ wrong with a bourbon and Coke with your steak and eggs.” We’ll cheers to that.
For lunch, dig into the likes of a fried chicken sando; Brasstown Beef burger; pork belly and collard green open-faced sandwich; and a rib sandwich, a knockoff of the Golden Arches signature—plus a daily blue-plate special (fried chicken, fried catfish, lasagna). But be sure to save room for dessert, as Howard promises the pies (made by his mom), and pound cake (slathered with butter, sauteed and served with a scoop of ice cream, just like his mom used to do) are “f*cking insane.”
“It’s really short-order food, a little more thought-out, in a fun atmosphere—with alcohol” says Howard. “I really just want a simple place for people to feel comfortable in, and get a good meal at a decent price.”
And if the joint hasn’t already piqued your interest… on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the diner will be open from 6 to 10pm with just one thing on the menu: a handcut New York 12-ounce strip steak from Brasstown Beef out of Western NC, accompanied by a deep-fried baked potato, a house salad and Texas toast—with a beer or a half-bottle of wine.
“And that’s what you get,” says Howard. … The steak nights were inspired by The Beefmastor Inn, which, like The Rainbow Luncheonette, serves just steak with a baked potato and a salad (the “salad bar” being on a Lazy Susan in Tupperware bowls). And that same Wilson mainstay served as inspiration for him to get into business, period. If you’ve ever been, you’ll notice a crazy resemblance to The Cardinal, says Howard, adding “it’s the most simple of simple things.”
Because it’s a Jason Howard concept, the steak meal will be wildly affordable, despite the fact that Brasstown Beef isn’t cheap. “I don’t necessarily like paying $65 or $70 for a steak,” he says (and, well, who does?). “I just want things to be simple and fun and cool. … We’re just a bunch of short-order cooks who have worked in the business a long time.”
And, as to be expected, The Rainbow Luncheonette will boast a casual, come-as-you-are vibe. “There’s nothing really like that Downtown—everything is so serious and chef-driven and branded by somebody’s name,” he says. “These things are classic old-type concepts that can last forever because they’re not really pinpointed to a certain trend. That’s my business model. … Over time, they’ll always be there.” And you can bet his new spot will leave the same lasting impression.@therainbowluncheonette
Exclusive: Bar and restaurant owner Jason Howard is opening two new spots in DTR that you will either love or hate—either way, it won’t bother him.
Photo by Food Seen by Felicia Perry Trujillo
Photos by Susan Holt Photography
Jason Howard isn’t particularly concerned with what people think.
“I find it better when you put your blinders on and do what you think you would like,” said the Raleigh bar owner and restaurateur in our exclusive sit-down interview. “Just open up something you like and see what happens.”
Howard, a service industry lifer who’s worked everywhere from Applebee’s to Pittsboro’s Fearrington House, is the man behind the Downtown members-only speakeasy Atlantic Lounge and hot dog dive bar The Cardinal. And, now, he’s unveiling several other projects around the same time in DTR, its exurbs and beyond.
One of these projects, which will be located up the street from The Cardinal, is a 23-seat “diner-esque country kitchen” called Rainbow Luncheonette. It’s the opposite of the many chef-driven places that are opening (or have recently opened) around the city, focusing instead on more modest classics.
“It’s basically a Waffle House on steroids—with liquor,” Howard laughed. As always, he’s having fun with it. In addition to diner staples, Rainbow Luncheonette will serve breakfast and lunch, and, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, handcut steak, baked potatoes and salad will grace the menu.
“I’m either going to get laughed out of town, or just the opposite,” said Howard. “But either way, it doesn’t matter to me. There’s nothing else you can do these days with bars, so you just have to be as against the grain as possible.”
It’s that take-it-or-leave-it mentality that frees him up to be different, opening decidedly untrendy concepts like the forthcoming Pink Boot. The country music-blaring, domestic beer-slinging honky-tonk will be “the smallest, weirdest bar” in Raleigh, he said—the kind of place where Yoo-hoo, vanilla Stoli and Godiva come together in just one of the many “trailer trash” cocktails.
The only food offerings at Pink Boot will be pickled Brussels sprouts, peanuts and Lunch Lady Pizza (literally the same mass-produced square ’za shipped in from New Jersey and made famous in public school cafeterias nationwide—which also serves as a nod to his mom, who was Howard’s head lunch lady and school bus driver from elementary through high school).
“Everything’s getting a little too complicated for me,” Howard explained. “There’s just so much going on in Raleigh, you’re just missing some simple stuff.”
Instead of chasing trends, Howard hopes to open restaurants and bars that can last a generation. “The simpler they are, the more longevity you have,” he argued.
And, despite arguably being on the cutting edge of the Oak City’s food and beverage scene, Howard rejects the idea that anything he’s doing is innovative. “These kinds of places have been all across America your entire life,” he said. “You’ve just got to find them. They’re not front and center.”
He’s also expanding The Cardinal to Clayton and Wilson, and he’s working on a taco place called Lil Hombre that emphasizes smoked meats, tequila and frozen margaritas. But previously announced plans for a barbecue restaurant were tabled—at least for now.
Howard isn’t turning away from Raleigh; after all, he’s about to open two new businesses here, and others will likely follow some day, he said. But his sights are set beyond the Triangle, as he muses about reaching into places like Rocky Mount or Winston-Salem. He’s particularly excited about his plans for Wilson and Clayton.
“I’m banking on small-town America,” he said. “These small towns are ripe for the picking. Clayton is awesome. It reminds me of [Pittsboro], where I grew up. Wilson may be the most beautiful downtown in the state. Go see it before all the growth happens.”
At first blush, Howard’s concepts seem dissonant. A speakeasy where patrons need a key to enter, and then a honky-tonk? A taco place and a Waffle House on steroids? Expanding to Wilson, nearly an hour east of his Downtown empire?
But on closer inspection, there’s a through-line. These establishments are neighborhood-oriented and hyperlocal. They aren’t designed for the zeitgeist or the limelight, but play on a humble kind of nostalgia. They’re small—usually really small—and follow a clear philosophy. And the disparate styles reflect their creator, a man just as likely to be listening to Run The Jewels as Waylon Jennings. “If you like it, you like it; if you don’t, you don’t,” said Howard. “We want to make money while keeping our integrity.”
Howard’s approach to opening bars and restaurants is, in many ways, the reverse of his peers. “I don’t ever go looking for a space for a concept,” he said. Instead, when he finds a spot that interests him, Howard likes to stand in the space, feel it out and study the neighborhood to decipher what would make sense.
“Sometimes you need to let the building tell you what it wants to be,” Howard added.
That’s what happened with Atlantic Lounge. For The Cardinal, he passed the building so many times on the way to his friend’s business across the street that he eventually decided to think about what he could turn it into. Same for Rainbow Luncheonette. When he saw the tiny adjoining space, Howard mulled it over until the idea for Pink Boot was born.
It’s not that he isn’t interested in scaling his success—after all, he’s replicating The Cardinal beyond city limits, and describes Lil Hombre as a very similar format, only taco-based.
But he’s too creative, and maybe a little too impatient, to ever be satisfied with just one idea. “I get bored too quickly,” he said. “I like to do a lot of different things.”
Howard maintains that part of the key to launching so many different businesses, especially in an industry with high turnover, is to keep it small. (That—and he gets by with a little help from his friends: “I couldn’t have done any of this without my partners,” he said.)
“I don’t think I’ll ever do anything over 1,500 square feet,” he said. It isn’t manageable enough. You lose that strong relationship with employees. And the costs multiply. By denying his businesses any elbow room, it’s easier to iterate, and to care less if it fails, Howard added.
“I don’t have that much to lose with these small spaces, which lets you get a little weird,” he said. But weird perfectly fits Howard’s MO—and Raleigh sure seems to love it.
