Best Bars in Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, North Carolina — updated August 24, 2026
Raleigh's bar scene runs from whiskey lists downtown to taps in the north-end strip centers. Here's what the research actually supports, ordered by how well each one holds up as a bar.
Listings verified
This guide started life as a list of Raleigh dive bars, but the research behind it turned up almost no verified dives, so we are not going to pretend otherwise. What the brief does support is a short set of Raleigh bars with real ratings behind them, from a whiskey room at the corner of Glenwood to a tavern on Hillsborough Street. Everything below is inside Raleigh, still operating, and actually serves drinks as a main event.
1. Dram & Draught
The only place here that is a bar first and everything else second, with a list of more than 300 whiskeys according to the bar's own Instagram. It sits at 1 Glenwood Ave, Suite 101, at the downtown end of Glenwood, and the menu is organized around cocktails, classics, flights and zero-proof options, so a non-drinker in the group is not stuck with soda. The bar has posted a happy hour running 2 to 6 p.m. with $10 margaritas, $10 classic agave cocktails and half off select tequila. Its 4.7 rating comes from 687 reviews, which is enough volume to treat as settled rather than promising. Note that Dram & Draught operates in more than one city, so check you are heading to the Raleigh room.
2. Second Empire Restaurant and Tavern
The tavern half of a Hillsborough Street fine dining house, which makes it the dressiest option on this list and the one with the most reviews behind it: 4.8 from 1,813, a genuinely proven score at that volume. The kitchen, led by Chef Daniel Schurr, changes the dinner menu seasonally, and that same menu is offered in all dining areas, so a seat in the tavern does not mean a lesser plate. Recent additions have included an herb roasted Bell & Evans chicken breast with potato gnocchi and a pork rib chop. Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., which means no Sunday or Monday visits. It is at 330 Hillsborough St.
3. 13 Tacos and Taps
A north Raleigh taps-and-tacos bar at 10511 Shadowlawn Dr, out past the Falls of Neuse corridor rather than downtown. It is listed at 4.7 from 631 reviews, a large enough sample that the rating is unlikely to move much, and it is the one place here that pairs a beer list with food built for sharing at a bar table. Be straight about the evidence: our research turned up the rating and the address and little else, with no menu detail, no hours and no house specialty confirmed. Call ahead before making the drive, particularly early in the week.
What we left off
Crazy Axe, at 1531 Garner Station Blvd, is an axe-throwing venue rather than a bar, and Yelp users report the location has closed, so it is out on both counts. Chef's Palette is in Cary, not Raleigh. Bazil Indian Cuisine, NoRa Cafe and Bida Manda are all restaurants or a coffee shop; NoRa closes at 5 p.m. daily and never overlaps with a bar visit at all. Good places, wrong list.