Empanadas Done Right!

Now, I know I only like to blog positive reviews on places in downtown Raleigh but I swear I'm telling you the truth! That being said, I will inform you on one of my favorite places downtown. There is not a night that goes by while I am working and someone asks, "Where is a good place where we can get food this late?" My response is always the same, Calavera.

Calavera Empanada and Tequila Bar located on the corner of S. Blount and Davie Street provides you with unique, mouth watering empanadas and very tasty alcoholic beverages. After traveling in Central America over the summer, I was skeptical on trying an empanada made in America. I thought that it could never relate to "the real thing", I was very wrong.


Not only did it compare but it was better than an actual Costa Rican empanada. I have had all of the empanadas on the menu and there is not one that I did not like. The meat is flavorful and the crust is baked to perfection. Not to mention my favorite of all, The King of Kong. The King of Kong is a dessert empanada made with bananas and Nutella. It is the best combination of taste I have ever experienced. The empanadas are very well complimented by a cold refreshing Margarita or Mojito made by the very friendly bartender. The authentic atmosphere is fantastic along with an amazing staff. The whole staff is extremely helpful and will guarantee your visit to be a positive one. 

I will also recommend you checking out Salsa night which is held on Sunday nights. There is a professional instructor to get you on your feet and find the Latin within you. It is also okay if you are not into dancing, because the Salsa dancing makes for a great atmosphere while your enjoying your meal and beverages.

 Calavera is not only a great place to grab some awesome food and drinks late night, but they have an incredible patio where you are able to enjoy the beautiful Raleigh weather during the day. Check out Calavera Empanada and Tequila Bar at http://www.calaveraraleigh.com/ or follow them on twitter @calaveraraleigh

Wait, you said shopping and drinking?

What if there was a place that you could shop while sipping on a cocktail? Good news, there is. Dapper Style house is a unique clothing store that also is a bar. Or is it a Bar with a clothing store? Either way it is the best way to shop or drink. Dapper Style house is located on W. Morgan Street in the one and only down town Raleigh.

Dapper provides top of line clothing and accessories for men and women. The fashion line is unique, stylish, and the drinks are amazing. It is the only place in Raleigh where your bartender is also your personal stylist. The staff is extremely helpful and enthusiastic, making it quite difficult not to leave with a few items and a buzz.

They always have amazing specials going on every day. Thursday's you can sip and shop on $3 mimosas and $3 well drinks, which is a deal hard to find anywhere else. This place makes the ideal girls outing or the perfect place to sucker your boyfriend in to shopping after a few drinks. NC State student, Austen Oats says, "This place is like every girls dream, sipping on a cocktail and shopping! My friends and I love it, even my friends boyfriend enjoys coming here."



Fellas if you need a little more convincing, every Saturday night is $3 beer night. All draughts and bottles are just $3. With a beer in your hand, it makes everything manly, right?

If you don't feel like drinking and shopping is the best idea then at least check this place out for one or the other, you will not be disappointed. For hours of operation and more details on Dapper Style House check them out at http://www.dapperstylehouse.com/

Painting DOWN town Raleigh Green.

This Saturday is the O' so famous St. Patrick's Day. This is one of the wildest and greenest days of the year. Down town Raleigh will be turning on the green early Saturday. Bars will be opening early and people will be drunkenly roaming the streets decked out in their green Irish gear.

Of course most people feel the need to hang around Irish pubs to be festive, but there are many options of events on this day. My best advice.... do the hop around. You should not spend this day in one place! Every bar in downtown Raleigh plans for this day months and months ahead, trying to offer the best St.Patty's day festivities. If all of bars are going over and beyond then why not check them all out? Get a ride down town, hop out and then start walking to bar to bar. The streets will be filled with fun festivities and plenty of people in green. Start at one end of down town and make you way to the other.

 One place for sure to put in your route is Spy Bar located on W. Davie street, beside the Pit.  Spy is opening their doors at 2pm and will be swarmed with an attractive staff decked out in the wildest St. Patty's day costumes. They will be giving out prizes to the best dressed St. Patty's day patrons and not to mention awesome Irish drink specials. The party will go on until 2 am so you have all day to pop in and check out the awesome party. http://www.goliveworkplay.com/raleigh/downtown/events/9599-lingerie-leprechauns

Cheers to Downtown Cocktails!

Over the years Martini bars have had a bit of trouble making it in downtown Raleigh. Though the idea of a classy Martini lounge is nice, for one reason or another they end in an abrupt closing. So where can you be guaranteed a classy night on the town, enjoying freshly made martinis and cocktails? A couple of places that have been around downtown Raleigh a while and seem to be a great choice would be Sullivan's Steak house and Cashmere. Conveniently located right beside each other on South Glenwood these two places, I guarantee will provide you with a tasty beverage.

Sullivan's is known for many of its amazing dishes but provides awesome cocktails keeping the regulars coming back for more. Every Thursday night is five dollar Martini night. Ask Pete, the bartender to make you a 'chocola tini' and you will not regret it. All of their hand shaken martini's are absolutely delicious. They also provide a half price bar menu Thursday nights as well. It is a great night to enjoy high quality drinks and appetizers without going broke. Customer, Autumn Burwell says, "I really enjoy coming here on Thursday's nights, I always see a lot of people I know and I love choosing from all the different five dollar Martinis."http://sullivansteakhouse.com/

Neighbor to Sullivan's, Cashmere, also holds a five dollar Martini night on Thursday, making a great night to be able to bar hop back and fourth and enjoy the best of both worlds. Cashmere also has five dollar Fresh fruit Mojitos every Wednesday night. Though it may not be a easy night for the bartender, constantly muddling mint and fruit, it is a great atmosphere for the customers and the cocktails are fantastic. Cashmere also is a great place to hang around late night and enjoy dancing with friends to some of the hottest tracks from some of Raleigh's most talented D.J's. http://www.cashmereraleigh.com/specials.htm

This one is for my Winos.

So if you are not a beer drinker than I am sorry about last week. If you like wine than you are in luck. This week I had the awful task of trying a couple of wine spots out, I know poor me. My first choice was a favorite of mine, Sushi O Bistro and Sushi Bar located on S. Glenwood Avenue.


 Not only is this one of my favorite spots to order sushi or Pho but I love the awesome selection of half price bottles of wine every Sunday and Tuesday night. Customer Autumn Burwell says, I come here almost every Tuesday night for girls night. Its a perfect dinner and the selections of half price bottles of wine are amazing."

Whether you are a red or white wine drinker Sushi O's wine menu will please anyone. The service is amazing, every server I have had has been extremely helpful and friendly. Sushi O definitely has me always coming back for more, even though the Wednesday morning hangover may disagree. http://mtfujinc.com/SushiO/SushiO-S.html



 Another great place worth checking out is Mosiac Wine Lounge located on W. Jones street. Mosiac has an awesome atmosphere all the time. I have never had a negative experience here and really enjoy their carefully selected choices of wine.
Wednesday nights is their absolute all about wine night.
Beginning at 7:30 every Wednesday night you are able to enjoy six tastings of different wines while enjoying Dj Keith and Guest and great service as well.

You do not need to be an expert on wine you just need to simply have an opinion of taste. They also provide catered food for only five dollars if you need something to go along with all of the wine. If you find a wine that you like you can order it for half price. Every Wednesday night is also half price bottles of wine. Mosiac is a great place to enjoy a bottle of wine with a group of friends and maybe even hang around late night to get your dance on. http://www.mosaicwinelounge.com/

Mmmmmm Beer...

North Carolina is starting to really make a name for itself in the beer world. North Carolina is home to many famous breweries making it easy for local bars and restaurants to provide quality craft beer on tap all the time. Within five miles of each other, many of the these places are located... Yea you guessed it downtown. Breweries such as Natty Greene's Pub and Bar located on W. Jones Street and Boylan Bridge Brewpub located on S. Boylan Avenue are both breweries that brew all of their beer in house and offer a hearty menu as well.

Natty Greene's opened its second location here in downtown Raleigh about two years ago after a successful start in downtown Greensboro. Natty Greene's has at least 12 craft beers on tap to choose from including the very popular Buck Shot Amber Ale. What I noticed about the brews at Natty Greene's is that they don't over do it on the hops. Some breweries have a hard time making it amateur friendly and the beer will be quite bitter. Natty Greene's has a smooth taste to all of their beers and creates the perfect combination for all types of beer drinkers. Not to mention the homemade potato chips and Ranch dressing make a perfect addition to any beer choice. http://www.nattygreenes.com/content/natty-greenes-pub-brewing-co-raleigh

Boylan Bridge Brewpub began about three years ago by owner Andrew Leager who originally brewed beer for a hobby. When he decided a Brewpub would make a great addition to downtown Raleigh he built the brewery and Restaurant above his wood shop, which is still located beneath the restaurant. Boylan Bridge always has eight hand crafted beers on tap all the time. You can't always be guaranteed your beer of choice will be on tap because with only eight taps the brews are switched out frequently. Employee Sarah Wilkinson says, "The Endless Summer Ale is almost always on tap as it is the most popular beer. The Endless Summer is the lightest beer we have on the menu and is ordered often by new craft beer drinkers."

Though the Summer Ale is their lightest beer on tap it still has no comparison to a watered down bud light, it is full of taste and has a hint of bitterness. My personal favorite is one of their seasonal brews, the Trainspotter Scottish Ale. The Scottish Ale has the perfect mixture of Carmel malt creating a memorable after taste making you anxious for another sip. Any choice of beer goes perfectly with their famous hand battered onion rings. You can enjoy all of these beers by ordering a flight which is a sample of all eight beers and absorb all the different tastes while enjoying the best out door seating in Raleigh.http://www.boylanbridge.com/index.shtml

If you are looking for a wide variety of beer selections and not strictly house brews, you might want to check out the newly opened Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom located in Seaboard Station. With more beer than you can even count, you are bound to find a favorite craft beer here. They are constantly putting new brews on tap and make it a priority to have the best beer they can find. They also have quality, mouth watering burgers that you have no choice but to eat it all.http://www.tylerstaproom.com/

Home is where the PARTY is...

Cab fares, traffic, and finding parking are a just a few things that makes going out downtown Raleigh irritating. Living downtown Raleigh, going out is only a few steps away. Raleigh provides many upscale Downtown condo and apartment complexes in the center of all the action. There has been continuous construction over the years in mass production of downtown living. Some of these luxury condos can run pretty pricy but for the most part can be affordable.  With the positives always comes negatives as well.

West is located on North Street.  The condos are very high end and include many extravagant ammenienities such as, roof top pool, top of line fitness facility, and a "club room". What this doesn't include in the ad is the description of it being above to very noisy night clubs, Mirage and Still Life.
 http://www.westatnorth.com/

 Employee at Still Life that requests to remain anynonoumous says, "I hear that these apartments (West) are really nice. Honestly though I wouldnt want to live here. We got so many compliants from residents about it being loud. It got to the point where the club decided it would be easier and cheaper to just relocate." 

At a evening out on the town I also recall this being an issue.

When entering Still Life I happened to notice a couple of large signs posted about "Respecting the residents and keeping the noise down." I thought to myself, "is this a high school house party?"

Trying to keep drunken clubbers quiet is like trying to make a heard of elephants walk softly. Though this employee wishes to remain anonymous, it is no secret that living above two night clubs will be noisy and the night clubs are not at fault.

712 Tucker

                                                  

Other downtown condos such as 712 Tucker, located on Tucker Street and The Hue located on West Hargett are two high end condos that are centrally located in downtown but does not have the problem of loud night clubs. After reading a few reviwes online I discovered that The Hue was not popular amongst the people but 712 Tucker was widely liked. The Hue resident, Jerrad Bement says, "I have never had a problem with The Hue, I mainly like it because its location. I love being able to walk to just about anywhere downtown."   

The Hue

Best advice for downtown living, ask around before signing a lease. You will never know what to expect, and you do not want to find out when it is too late.