Near the 54/Hope Valley Rd. amid the ever growing strip malls, grocery stores and fast food joints, lies a not-so-hidden treasure, City Beverage.

I used to think of City Beverage as a small bar with a funky vibe and fun cocktails, but recently rediscovered it thanks to a friend’s recommendation that we meet there for dinner.

First off, the newish (I think the Lava Lounge/City Beverage expansion was over two years ago) expanded room is bright and welcoming with a kitschy lounge atmosphere. Second off, the menu was a surprisingly, eclectic …

HV Bottle Shop doesn’t look like much and the name doesn’t really make sense (as in Hope Valley), but further investigation reveals a much needed spot for more casual wine drinking and two very helpful owners.  Thomas and Drew have been around the block for a while (having worked at Nana’s and Foursquare(?) or the like) before opening their welcoming bottleshop in Woodcroft Plaza.

All of the Carpe Durham squad has been there by now and the results are officially tallied: it’s a great place.  They have a handy-dandy wine dispenser for …

Although folks in northern Durham County (Bahama) still need to drive 15+ minutes to get bread or Windex, at least they can now get a cheap ice-cold Bud right down the street.  We’ve done some checking, and as of its opening two months ago, Moe’s Tavern (12911 Roxboro Road) in Rougemont holds the county’s northernmost beer license.

Looking for a quiet place to do some afternoon drinking because we are out of school study for the bar exam, we drove by Moe’s and stopped in for …

At Full Frame this weekend, RPP and I had the chance to sample a couple of the beers from the hopefully-coming-soon Fullsteam Brewery.  The brewery is still in the pilot phase and in search of a building somewhere near downtown Durham, but they are churning out some interesting beers already (and so far just serving them for free at events).

We tried one of each of the beers on tap (where by “tap” I mean this steampunk-looking contraption that fits the brewery’s mad scientist attitude very well):

We started off …

World Beer Festival is fast approaching (Oct. 4th).

Tickets ($40) go on sale today at Alivia’s, James Joyce, and Carolina Ale House.  Online sales start Wed. 

There are very few legitimate excuses to miss this event.

The Tavern (map) is a kind of dive-y bar in a hidden pocket between New Hope Commons and 15-501. Although there is, technically, a view of Office Max from the bar’s patio, it feels strangely isolated (and is strangely hard to find) for being adjacent to a giant strip mall.

It seemed like the kind of bar with a lot of regulars and where it would probably be easy to become a regular yourself–everyone was extremely friendly to us newcomers.  There are two floors, pool tables, …

I had read that Broad Street Cafe (1116 Broad St) was getting an overhaul, so I decided to check out the results. I will totally be going there more often now, mainly for the beer selection. They’ve got a few North Carolina beers on tap, my favorite being the Triangle Brewery Pale Ale (which I think is SO MUCH better than the Triangle Golden, but which seems much less commonly found …

After that depressing news about Orellana’s closing, I was cheered up to read at Eat at Joe’s about something to look forward to: a new brewery (and tavern) in Durham.  This could be good!  I know things move slowly but I will probably be checking Fullsteam’s site daily for possible news about location and dates.

The guys at Triangle Brewery are organizing a pub crawl through downtown Durham this Saturday to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Here are the details, straight from Rick and Andy:

“The Crawl will begin at 2:30 at the Down Under. We have arranged $3.00 beer specials at the Down Under, Fishmonger’s and Satisfactions. We are still working on the prices with James Joyce and Alivia’s. We do ask that you plan to pay with cash at the Down Under, Fishmonger’s, Satisfaction, and James Joyce. It will be …

Big Boss brewery in Raleigh is having a tour at 2 pm on Saturday, June 14th.  Check out the website for more info.  No reservations needed – just show up and drink free beer.

Triangle Brewing Company is also doing a tour on Saturday at 1 pm here in Durham – according to their website, they have a new Belgian-style white ale, and they’re also selling growlers, cash-only. (Thanks to awesome commenter Melanie for the info!)