The Tavern

Yikes! Okay, so let’s start with the upside: this is a good place to watch a big game — mostly because it’s huge and not very popular, so you’ll be sure to get a seat. However, please do yourself a favor and eat before you come. The food here is awful. We were served the world’s saddest nachos: tiny, expensive, cold and mostly lettuce (see uploaded photo). The sad nachos took over 45 minutes to come out and our server was very apologetic and sweet. As he apologized he offered my husband a condolence beer — which he then charged us for… We won’t be back.

Definitely not the best food around, but its decent. Great atmosphere to catch a game! Most of the staff is great. (notice I said most)

I love this place. Great beer and good wings. The staff is nice. There was a time when the staff was a bit rude but this new staff is super. The music is pretty cool. Give it a try.

I like a good sports bar but seriously, this place is gross. The bartender got to drink wrong, the pool tables are disgusting and the crowd is creepy. We walked in and there was NO music playing for at least 30 mins. Just don’t.

Great beers on tap, delicious food and exceptional staff! We stopped in Friday afternoon for a late lunch and beer. We were super pleased with the quality of food. I had the shrimp and grits and it was delicious and fresh. Husband had the cheesesteak and the house chips, both were awesome. Chris was very friendly, attentive and kept the beers flowing. Thanks for an all around great afternoon lunch!

A decent, if divey, large sports bar near Duke. A good place to go for a big game, as there is plenty of seating both up and down stairs. The food is pretty standard bar fare, but gets the job done. It has some cool décor and games, with a decent set of seats outdoors as well.

I was served under cooked chicken. Still had to pay for it and was violently ill the next day… Are you serious? I have nothing more to say. This was unacceptable…

We ate at the Tavern for dinner recently because we were there to watch a band. I got the chicken pita and it was tiny and I was left starving $ 10+ later (plus $ 6 cover charge). My husband felt the same way with the meal he ordered. Way overpriced for too little of food.

I went here for the first time on a Sunday to watch opening day of the NFL with the Browns backers. I got there 10 minutes before the game started and sat at a table. I tried to flag down a server but no luck. 20 minutes later and 5 minutes into the 1^st quarter I was still unattended with no menu, no server, and no beer. I saw others even resorting to going to the bar and fetching their own drinks. I eventually left having never even been acknowledged by a server while being in the Browns backers section. There is never an excuse for this.

This place was great! Glad we stumbled across it! The Shrimp and Grits were awesome and the Jalapeño Bacon Onion Stuffed Burger was Off The Chain! And the best of all was Kristine! Thanks for the great service!
Gary and Andy
Columbia, SC

The best environment for good times in Durham, NC. Good drink specials, good food, pool tables and most importantly, the staff put real effort into their work.
In particular, ask for Christina. One of the fastest, nicest bartenders I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Berger over cooked,
The place have a bad smell everywhere, lack of windows and fresh air…
Staff are friendly.
My Credit Card was charged twice …

I love how big it is, it has a dance floor, 4 pool tables, darts upstairs, a jukebox, and of course tv’s every where. Great specials everyday of the week, awesome employee’s.

Wow, the bartender could not have been more offensive. Thanks so much for embarrassing me in front of others and ruining my night tavern!

I come here often with my family. It’s a great bar and burger joint. The food is just outstanding for the price, and the portions are generous.
I always get an appetizer because they are full of flavor and don’t break the bank. The selection of nonalcoholic beverages is standard, and I really can’t comment on the bar.
The staff is USUALLY extremely nice and helpful, however I have had some issues with the owner being seemingly intoxicated and rude to my family. I am subtracting a star for this, because despite this being Durham, I expect to be respected and not have to restrain anger in the face of rudeness. For the record, I still think most of the staff, and especially the cooks, are fantastic people, and I come back a lot just to catch up with them.
Great place for bands to perform as well. This bar has a lot to offer.
Might reconsider adding the fourth star back if the rudeness doesn’t happen again. Recommended for people looking to see more of what Durham has to offer.

I’ve been here a few times and tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. Eh, when I went here, the first thing that I noticed was that the bartenders really didn’t care to serve us until they were ready. Also apparently it’s always the same ones, who don’t look like they care about their customers or appearance. They are always on the phone and don’t seem to care about cleanliness. Service is always like pulling teeth!
It’s sad because there have been on occasion one or two good bartenders that I never see again the next time (super friendly, attentive, notice when you’re beer is empty, etc).The bartenders also have no problem degrading and talking badly about the other ones that work there as well, guess that’s why the good ones leave! The bartenders also talk horridly about their owner! I literally had to hear them rant to us about how the owner is so unfair and greedy the whole time we were there!
If you want to watch a game and they are watching their show on t.v. or another game for personal reasons, expect an attitude IF they change it.
Alcohol is cheap, which isn’t bad, and the food is OK. I gave it one star for the horrible customer service I received and the constant ROACHES I noticed crawling on the taps. The owner doesn’t seem to care too much about how he treats people unless they are throwing money at him.
It’s actually a nice huge place, and the food isn’t bad. There is only one cook that actually cooks really well there. I wouldn’t recommend this place. I think the place would do well if the bartenders and owner really changed their attitude on how they treat people. Plus all the bartenders talk about is doing drugs and getting drunk.
If you sit anywhere except the bar, the bartenders have to wait on you, expect a huge sigh and attitude for that!
Methinks never again!

I hung out here for a little while after Unilocal’s Halloween Happy Hour at Mitch’s. Since the Tavern was right around the corner, we decided to make a mini bar crawl out of the evening.
I was expecting this place to be crowded on Halloween, but it was actually fairly empty. The most action was at the bar, there were some people sitting at tables around the room, and then the Unilocalers who took over the balcony, where the darts and shuffleboard was located.
I believe I only saw one local beer on draft, but overall not a big selection. I settled on a blue moon, which is usually my back up when I can’t make a decision.
The space is really large, and you definitely get a very laid back vibe. This would be a great place to come if you just wanted to sit around and hang out, maybe play some pool and have a few drinks with friends. I wouldn’t look here if you’re trying to get crazy on a Saturday night, because it’s not going to happen.
I’ve read other reviews that talk highly of the food, so I’m probably going to try to make my way back to try that sometime.

This used to be the Music Loft for years. I was happy to see the building being used again and finally made it by. The place is huge and really cleaned up nice! We were in the mood to play pool and have some lunch so this fit the bill.
We got there around noon or so on a Saturday and there was just a few peeps in the place. That was fine, we weren’t looking for a crowd, just a few games of pool and some eats.
We were greeted by a pleasant waitress, asked how much the pool is ($ 1.00 a game for the small tables and $ 10.00 an hour for the large ones) and headed over to check them out. We’d been to another place in the neighborhood the night before that we frequent somewhat regularly that only has one table that’s a bit worn. We were thrilled to see all the tables here in great shape!
The menu is pretty extensive and they have some regular lunch specials of several varieties of sliders. We got the cheeseburger sliders and the pulled chicken sliders. Both were quite good and came with a nice portion of fries. We also started with some homemade chips that were light, crispy and super thin — very good!
Like I said the pool tables looked to be in great shape — and they were! The bumpers had a lot of action compared to ones we’d played on the night before elsewhere that in comparison were about DOA!
We were there over two hours and some more people filtered in, but not a lot. We wondered why cos it’s really a nice place! Very clean, in fact, amazingly clean! We’ll definitely be back and hope that this place will be around for quite some time!

Like other reviewers have said, The Tavern has an odd exterior. Random painted figures float on the stucco-​like face. Enter, and you may be surprised by what lies within. You’ll find a narrow bar with a few high-​tops on the wall across — this opens up into a large room with pool tables, a second-​floor balcony with darts, and side room with a stage. Sadly, nothing was being utilized last night, except for a few bar stools occupied by two young European guys and a shots-​ordering cougar =)
Hubby and I were impressed by the size of the menu, which offers sandwiches, burgers, and a couple of pizzas. The owner was really friendly — came over to ask if it was our first visit, and suggested some of his faves. We actually took his advice… I got the Tavern chicken pita and Phil ordered the stuffed burger. He thought it was good («better than Dain’s»). My pita was positively packed with chicken, had a few peppers, a thin layer of Ranch, and a bit too much mozzarella. But it was better than I had been expecting. We also liked the chicken tenders, tossed in buffalo wing sauce. Didn’t like the fact that they serve on paper picnic plates with wrapped to-​go plasticware. I know that they’ve only been serving food for the last six months or so, but I think it would be nice to see them invest in some dishes (less wasteful too!).
About ten beers on tap, but we noticed that a few of them were tapped out. They had a few NC beers. I opted for the Carolina Brewery Sky Blue, which is a summer fave. They serve food til 11 on weeknights, and til 2 on weekends, so I know I’ll be back for more!

This place freaks me out a little since it has no windows. But once you get inside, it’s not so bad. In fact, it’ll probably keep me drinking there longer than I intend!
It’s a two floor, converted from a music store, bar. I think they do karaōke and there’s a pretty spiffy dance floor. There’s a giant TV, pool tables, chairs and darts. From a non-​professional dart thrower, it’s pretty decent. They’re darts are terrible, but you get what you pay for (darts are free, btw).
They have a good selection of craft beer on tap and a full bar. I don’t remember the bartender being all that interested in me as far as drinks go, but I think there may have been a few other «big spenders» there that she kept an eye on.
It’s a sports bar. The bathrooms are decked out with memorabilia, and by far they’re the «best» part of the bar. I know that’s not saying much, but if you need a drink and you want some space, hit this place up.