Sep
12
19th Hole (In the Wall)
Filed Under Editorial, Food and Beverage | 6 Comments
Hole-in-the-wall bars are special places. They’re not hip or trendy and they usually aren’t even the best at what they do. What they lack however is usually what makes them great. The definition or qualifying characteristics of a hole-in-the-wall or dive bar can vary widely from patron to patron, but here are a few common characteristics that set if off for me:
- at least one sketchy guy at the bar that probably shouldn’t have had those last 3 Budweisers
- a small contingency of locals who are way too eager to protect their local hangout with menacing glares capable of penetrating the thickest of second-hand smoke clouds
- a physical location that leaves you wondering – how many beers did it take to decide that this was a good place for a bar?
- decorations that resembles your dorm room without the attention to detail, and
- either a rough-around-the-edges “lifer” behind the bar or a 30-something with an English degree holding out for a job to in middle management
A recent excursion to the 19th Hole bar and grill in the Lake Boone Shopping Center is to blame for this trip down dive bar lane, and it also left me wracking my brain for other notable hole-in-the-wall bars throughout Raleigh. A few that come to mind: Read more
Aug
30
I See Your Schwartz is Bigger Than Mine
Filed Under Editorial | 5 Comments
Our friends over at New Raleigh seemed to take a little exception to our most recent top 10 list, posting their own “The Real Top 10 Ways You Can Conserve Raleigh’s Water.” From the post:
Another Raleigh blog decided to make light of the situation, and while I can understand the need to lighten the mood, considering the $200 first offenders fine, I think it’s important to share some creative and mostly passive ways that one can save water.
Aug
10
You are never too old for story time
Filed Under Editorial | 15 Comments
RFP hit its one month anniversary on Wednesday. To celebrate, I wanted to share a few observations I’ve made over that time period and then try something a little different with this post. First, the observations:
- Although news sources are abundant and available in a mind-boggling number of formats, their is still a healthy demand for amateur local writers to publish and share their thoughts with fellow citizens (over 130 thousand blogs were created on Wordpress alone last month)
- Our readers are passionate and well-educated when it comes to our fair city
- Running a website can be an extremely gratifying experience, but also quite time-consuming (mostly because you’re always thinking how to improve it)
- Spreading the word to a few is easy, but after you’ve exhausted your personal email contact list it’s much harder to grow your reader-base
- The true measure of any post, website, or product for that matter is the value it provides to the consumer
Ok, enough with the deep thoughts. I’m traveling this weekend so I want to try something new for this post. In true 3rd grade style, I’ll start a story about Raleigh and leave it open-ended. After that, it’s up to our readers to decide where the story goes from there by writing your own comments and continuing the story for the next person. If you haven’t commented before, give it a shot. You don’t have to register or sign-up and you don’t even need to use your real name unless you want to.
So without further ado:
The most interesting day I’ve ever had in Raleigh began with… (continue the story)
Jul
29
Where is Isaac Hunter’s Tavern?
Filed Under History, Editorial, Food and Beverage | 8 Comments
It seems to be a cool thing these days to give pubs or restaurants historically significant names. This is especially true if you can establish a connection to that name.
Take, for example, the Raleigh Times. The “Times” and its neighbor/partner “The Morning Times” have taken Raleigh’s old afternoon paper building from the early 1900s and turned into a bar and a coffee shop. Like everyone else, my hat goes off to Greg and the gang at Empire Properties for not only opening up some nice hang-out spots, but also for preserving a bit of the local history in the process.
Judging from the fact that I almost never see an empty table or chair as I stroll by The Times or the fact that the Morning Times has turned into a veritable who’s-who of downtown Raleigh from about 7 to 10am, it seems like the whole community history appreciation thing hasn’t hurt the profit margin.
Here’s my question, though: Where is Isaac Hunter’s Tavern? After all, it may very well be the reason we have a Raleigh to begin with. Read more