Lounges

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville's Downtown cocktail scene is the finest in the Southern Appalachians — a Patton Avenue corridor where outstanding craft cocktail bars, excellent restaurants, and the remarkable concentration of musicians and artists create a lounge culture shaped by the most creatively vibrant small city in the American South. Asheville's extraordinary Arts and Crafts heritage (the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in America) and its remarkable contemporary arts investment create cocktail lounges of unique Southern Appalachian cultural significance.

Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville's cocktail lounge scene reflects the city's extraordinary creative culture — a mountain city where over 60 craft breweries, a thriving arts scene, and an influx of creative talent have created one of the most vibrant entertainment environments in Appalachia. The Blue Ridge Mountains' extraordinary natural beauty, combined with Asheville's world-class food and craft beverage scene, create an entertainment experience that consistently attracts visitors from across the United States.

Asheville, NC 28801

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is the most extraordinary small-city entertainment destination in the Southeast — a Blue Ridge Mountain city consistently ranked as one of America's best small cities for food, beer, and arts. The downtown Lexington Avenue district, with its galleries, craft bars, and music venues, creates an entertainment ecosystem of extraordinary creativity for a city of only 90,000 that hosts over 10 million visitors annually.

175 Eagle St, Asheville, NC 28801

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Chapel Hill's Franklin Street cocktail scene serves one of the finest public universities in America — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the oldest state university in the nation (chartered 1789), whose extraordinary academic tradition and legendary basketball program (six national championships, Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Dean Smith) create a college town cocktail culture of genuine American higher education significance.

Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte's Uptown cocktail scene serves one of the fastest-growing major cities in America with outstanding craft cocktail bars and sophisticated lounges. Charlotte's remarkable position as the second-largest financial center in the United States (after New York City) creates a cocktail culture shaped by banking executives, technology professionals, and the extraordinary influx of young professionals who have made Charlotte one of the South's most dynamic cities.

Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28202

Durham, North Carolina

Durham's Downtown cocktail scene reflects one of the most remarkable urban transformations in the South — a city that has reinvented itself from a tobacco manufacturing center to a creative and technology hub. The American Tobacco Campus (the former Lucky Strike factory, now one of the South's most spectacular mixed-use developments) and Durham's extraordinary restaurant and bar culture create a lounge environment of genuine American industrial-to-creative transformation significance.

Main St, Durham, NC 27701

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh's Glenwood South cocktail and lounge scene is the most vibrant in North Carolina's state capital — a tree-lined avenue where outstanding craft cocktail bars, excellent restaurants, and the remarkable Research Triangle's creative professional class create a lounge culture of unusual North Carolina urban sophistication. Raleigh's extraordinary growth (it has been named America's best city for young professionals multiple times) and Glenwood South's outstanding independent establishments create a lounge district of genuine NC professional class significance.

Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27603

Raleigh, North Carolina

Pour House Music Hall is Raleigh's most beloved small music venue — a Blount Street bar presenting indie and alternative music for the Research Triangle's creative community in the most genuine neighborhood music bar atmosphere in North Carolina's capital. The Pour House's extraordinary longevity in Raleigh's competitive entertainment market and its role in developing the Triangle's local music scene make it one of the most culturally important small venues in the Southeast.

224 S Blount St, Raleigh, NC 27601

Raleigh, North Carolina

Glenwood South is Raleigh's most active bar corridor — a mile of restaurants, cocktail lounges, and nightclubs serving North Carolina's capital city professional community. Raleigh's extraordinary growth (the fastest-growing major metropolitan area in the Southeast) and its enormous young professional population create a cocktail lounge market of unusual spending power and sophistication.

Glenwood South, Raleigh, NC 27603

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington's Riverfront cocktail scene serves North Carolina's most historically significant port city — a Cape Fear River community where the remarkable antebellum architecture, outstanding waterfront restaurants, and the extraordinary concentration of film productions (Wilmington is the "Hollywood of the East," home to EUE/Screen Gems Studios, where Ironman 3, The Walking Dead, and dozens of major productions have been filmed) create a lounge culture of genuine American film industry and coastal Southern character.

Water St, Wilmington, NC 28401