The Cardinal Bar

Love this place! A little hidden though! It's across from Mannings and behind the Crawford Cookshop.I moved to Clayton in July 2020 (yes right in the middle of the pandemic!) and I have been looking for a place like this here and I found it. My friend and I decided to explore Downtown Clayton and do some day drinking. I searched Yelp for bars in Clayton and saw there was a Cardinal, but couldn't figure out exactly where it was since I hadn't seen it before. We started at the brewery and then decided to head to Main Street and just walk around and found it! This location is much bigger than the Downtown Raleigh location, but the hot dogs are just a good. I don't even really like hot dogs much, but I have found myself randomly craving these hot dogs. There's a room in the back with a pool table and other arcade games. You will need cash to use the pool table. There's a jukebox that you can use your phone to pay for and choose music. Lot's of great options. There's a cute patio as well. I haven't been at night, but the bartender was telling us about how they have live music and a great time at night. Can't wait to go back!

Popular bar in downtown Clayton that offers hotdogs for $3.50 each for standard toppings, up-charge for some. The dogs come on a butter and toast bun which is tasty but a little greasy. Hot dog itself is of good quality. I tried the chili dog which is not spicy nor too saucy. Pickled orca on the side was good, also not as spicy as they look.Ok beer selection and full bar with some flavor infused vodkas.

The Cardinal Bar has opened their second location in Clayton. It's a dive bar just like their location in DTR. We stopped in to grab a round of drinks while exploring the area. There were only three draft beer options available, all were from Crank Arm. I went with a can option instead. This location is a lot larger both inside and out so that was nice. It also has a section with a few games. They serve hot dogs, I still need to try one. I can't wait for the warmer weather to enjoy the patio area.

I have been wanting to try this place for some time and I am glad I finally did. Nice atmosphere and the staff was great. They have single-handedly changed the hot dog game in Raleigh by simply changing the bun. The bun is buttered and then grilled and reminds me a lot of Texas toast. They only serve hot dogs and chips and it's well worth a trip to try one.

Nice Vide, nice mixing of people of various ages. Small batch of drinks , still a good venue. Great music for only one person. Congenital customers ! Even the young lady who celebrated her " survivor of cancer " ! God bless you!

Been searching high and low since I relocated to the area 7 years ago for a good hotdog. My husband and I agree Best hotdogs we have had. Great bar as well. Don't have any pictures to post of the dogs because they were that damn good.

It's the place to be for late night entertainment in Clayton. The bar tenders have been great from day 1. For locals that went to the flipside for years, you'll love the new place because they have done a serious renovation and made it seem 3 times the size. Beer is cold, dogs are hot!

The security guy named Holton, does not know how to adequately be security. If you are a male or female, good luck! He has no idea how to control altercations, and you will feel unsafe.

The " district manager " Angel if that's even her real name gave me and the people I was with bad service. She served us the first time with no problem then when it came time to serve us again she asked to see my ID. I asked why because it didn't make any sense to me on why she asked to see ID if she has security at the door checking ID and she already served us before without checking ID. She got upset with me because I asked why. I did end up showing her my ID she still got mad at me ..She cursed at me & told me to leave. All because I asked why. Not sure if she's actually a district manager or not but that's really bad service. We tipped her good the first time. I always enjoyed going to the Cardinal but tonight ruined it, she ruined it. A district manager asking me if I wanted to fight her over asking why she wanna ID me when she just served me a drink before this? Very unprofessional. She must've been on some type of substance tonight. Cardinal needs a new higher up manager than her because this isn't the first time something like this happened so I've been told.

Everything about this bar is pretty good except one member of there staff. I'm not sure his name or else I would say it so hopefully the managers/ owners could reprimand him but all I can say to describe him is he's the shortest dude bartender that works there. I believe this is we're his attitude comes from because he clearly has a serious napoleon complex. When I first arrived I stood at the bar for probably 15 seconds before my female friends that came with us stood next to me. He awkwardly stared at them for a few moments before asking what they wanted and then he looked at me and said "sorry there prettier than you". Now I didn't really mind this at the time I just laughed it off and if this was the only thing that happened with this guy I really wouldn't have cared but EVERY time I ordered a drink there was some sort of incident. I had opened a tab and ordered my second drink. He brought me it and then turned and walked away so I started to walk away from the bar assuming he remembered my name. As I went to walk out the back I felt a piece of paper hit my back that he had thrown to get my attention like wtf. He then yells across the bar "hey you come here" to get my last name. You can tell this guy thinks he has some kind of authority. My friends who ordered drinks while I was out side came up to me and told me this guy has an ego problem before the whole incident with me happened. I'm rating this a one star because I want to get the manager's attention so hopefully they will chill this guy out and I'm sure he doesn't treat everyone like this other wise he would have already been fired. I don't know why he decided to be a jack a$$ but it really made a bar I've enjoyed going to in the past not so fun.