Elmo's Diner
Elmo's is a diner style restaurant located walking distance from East Campus is a favorite among students.
FUN FACTS
Anyone of any age can color in a duck (Elmo's mascot) and hang it on the Duck Wall, a collection of colored in ducks over the years.
ADDRESS
776 9th Street
HOURS
6:30am - 10:00pm
WEBSITE
Monuts Donuts
Recently relocated from downtown, Monuts quickly became a Durham favorite with their famous homemade donuts and breakfast bagel sandwiches.
FUN FACTS
From 1930 to 1978 this building held Scarboro’s Food Store, where many children who went to EK Powe would go get snacks after school.
Monuts started as a donut stand operating off a tricycle near the Durham Farmer's Market.
ADDRESS
1002 9th Street
HOURS
Closed Mon
7:00am - 9:00pm Tues-Sat
8:00am - 3:00pm Sun
WEBSITE
Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution is a cuban restaurant located in the historic Tobacco campus region of Durham.
FUN FACT
Cuban Revolution is in the Reed Building, which was the first brick tobacco factory in the country. The factory was operated by W.T. Blackwell & Co. Tobacco, the company that popularized the bull as its symbol and that produced the famous Bull Durham Tobacco.
ADDRESS
318 Blackwell Street
HOURS
11:00am - 11:00pm Sun-Weds
11:00am - 12:00am Thurs-Sat
WEBSITE
Tobacco Road Sports Cafe
Tobacco Road Sports Cafe is a restaurant that has a large patio that overlooks the ball park, making it a great spot to see all that Durham has to offer.
FUN FACTS
"Tobacco Road" refers to the intense sports rivalry among NC's colleges, most notably Duke, UNC, NC State, and Wake Forest.
The snorting bull visible from the patio of Tobacco Road Sports Cafe was built in the first Durham Athletic Park for the movie “Bull Durham” in 1987. It became so ingrained in the Durham Bulls culture that it remained permanently.
ADDRESS
280 S Mangum Street
HOURS
11:00am - 12:00am Sun-Thurs
11:00am - 2:00am Fri-Sat
WEBSITE
Bull City Burger and Brewery
Bull City Burger and Brewery prides itself on its local and sustainable business practices.
FUN FACT
If you get one of three Bull City Burger approved tattoos, you can get 26% off at the restaurant for life!
ADDRESS
107 E. Parrish Street
HOURS
11:11am - 10:00pm Mon-Thurs
11:11am - 11:00pm Fri-Sat
11:11am - 9:00pm Sun
WEBSITE
The Parlour
The Parlour serves homemade ice cream with rotating flavors.
FUN FACTS
These buildings are known as the Herald Sun buildings after the Durham Morning Herald newspaper born in 1894. The publication grew to take over many of the buildings in the block.
Parlour has a bus that offers ice cream at many public events around Durham in the warmer months!
ADDRESS
117 Market Street
HOURS
Mon Closed
12:00pm - 10:00pm Tues-Thurs, Sun
12:00pm - 11:00pm Fri-Sat
WEBSITE
Geer Street Garden
Geer St. Garden provides comfort foods such as grilled cheese and tamales with an out door patio that is heated in the cold.
FUN FACT
Geer Street Garden has a special late night menu for after bar hoping in the area.
This building used to be a Gulf Station from the 40s through the 70s. It was abandoned upwards of thirty years before being turned into a restaurant in 2011.
ADDRESS
644 Foster Street
HOURS
11:30am - 12:00am Mon-Sat
11:00am - 10:00pm Sun
WEBSITE
King's Sandwich Shop
King's Sandwich has been a Durham staple for years and offers great lunch!
FUN FACT
King’s Sandwich Shop has been around since 1942, back when Durham had few restaurants and locals can remember going to get hot dogs and sandwiches when they were young. It closed in 2007 but was remodeled and reopened in 2010.
ADDRESS
701 Foster Street
HOURS
11:00am - 4:00pm Mon-Sat
Closed Sun
WEBSITE
Lilly's Pizza
Lilly's Pizza is walking distance from East and has discounts for Duke students.
FUN FACTS
Lilly's has been named "Best Pizza" by Independent Weekly ten times since 2002 and was featured on Rachel Ray!
Lilly’s provides local artists spaces to display their art.
ADDRESS
810 W. Peabody Street
HOURS
11:00am - 10:00pm Sun-Thurs
11:00am - 12:00pm Fri-Sat
WEBSITE
Rose's Meat Market and Sweet Shop
Rose's is run by a butcher and pastry chef and offers a unique combo of food for lunch and dinner.
FUN FACT
Rose's hosts series of hands-on classes about whole animal butchery.
Stop by for their full plates of home cooked food for dinner when you're missing home!
ADDRESS
121 N. Gregson Street
HOURS
Closed Mon
11:00am - 7:00pm Tues-Sat
11:00am - 5:00pm Sun
WEBSITE
Beyu Caffe
Beyu Caffe is a coffee shop, restaurant, and bar located in downtown Durham.
FUN FACTS
They have Jazz on Thursday nights--make a reservation though!
Beyu Caffe is located in the Snow building, one of Durham’s two art-deco buildings. Today it still has its original manually-operated elevators, and there is a penthouse apartment on the top floor!
ADDRESS
335 W. Main Street
HOURS
7:30am - 9:00pm Mon-Tues
7:30am - 10:00pm Weds-Thurs
7:30am - 12:00am Fri
9:30am - 12:00am Sat
9:30am - 3:00pm Sun
WEBSITE
Fullsteam
Fullsteam Brewery brews their own beer and features other local North Carolina breweries as well.
FUN FACT
This building housed bottling companies since 1939, when it was built as a ‘modern’ bottling plant. RC Cola, 7-Up, Tru-Ade, and water were all bottled in the plant throughout its years of operation. The rear wing, where Fullsteam is today, was used for bottle storage.
ADDRESS
726 Rigsbee Avenue
HOURS
4:00pm - 12:00am Mon-Thurs
2:00pm - 2:00am Fri
12:00pm - 2:00am Sat
12:00pm - 12:00am Sun
WEBSITE
The Federal
The Fed has a great location on Main Street featuring 14 local microbreweries and an impressive menu.
FUN FACT
By 1975, UNC grads had opened up what has been described as the first sub shop to come to Durham, which was frequented by Duke students and RTP workers. Known as “Subway,” the shop kept the national “Subway” chain from operating under that name in Durham until 1988 when they paid the shop to change their name.
ADDRESS
115 N. Duke Street
HOURS
5:00pm-2:00am Mon
11:30am-2:00am Tues-Sat
8:00am-2:00am Sun
WEBSITE
Respite Café
Respite Cafe offers all sorts of seating arrangements, great coffee, and a comfy atmosphere off the beaten path.
FUN FACT
This area used to be the first playground in Durham, donated by Brodie Duke, until it was developed in the 1920s.
ADDRESS
115 N. Duke Street
HOURS
7:30am - 8:00pm Mon-Fri
9:00am - 6:00pm Sat
Closed Sun
WEBSITE
None
Motorco
Motorco offers a bar, a restaurant and a music hall.
FUN FACT
Motorco was initially set to be named The Geer.
The Durham Baking Company built this building in 1938, and since the late 1950s it held a series of car dealerships and a limo service. It was abandoned for about ten years before it became Motorco.
ADDRESS
723 Rigsbee Avenue
HOURS
5:00pm - 12:00am Mon
11:30am - 12:00am Tues-Weds
11:30am - 2:00am Thurs-Sat
11:30 - 12:00am Sun
WEBSITE
Farmer's Market
The Durham Farmer's Market offers locally grown produce, plants, baked goods, and so much more!
FUN FACT
Every fall, the Durham Farmers' Market hosts its annual Chef Challenge. Each year, 3 local chefs compete for the title of Chef Challenge Champ using products provided by the market!
ADDRESS
501 Foster Street
HOURS
8:00am - 12:00pm Sat
3:30pm - 6:30pm Weds (seasonal)