The Pinhook

Okay, time for an update because I've been spending more and more time here than over other venues and spaces. I've been dating other femmes lately, and it feels like a good place where I can hold a date's hand. And I'm not the only queer person there holding hands with their date or partner. It's one of the few places in town where you can just walk in, feel safe, and not worry about being harassed by creeps because you know the staff and owners will have your back if something happens. I like that I can walk into this bar and know no one will judge me for who I am, who I love, and that's so important. Especially in the South. Especially in this state.I will also say that the staff in general has been very kind to me. Complimentary, even. I walked in twice in one night, and the person at the door complimented my glasses. It was loud, so they just put their hands around their eyes and said "LOVE" and pointed at my glasses. So sweet!!Also, they curate a great line up of local and international artists.On nights when there's no band playing, there's no cover. Just walk in, tip the door person, tip your bartender, and relax. If you live the sober life or are straight edge or just don't like drinking alcohol, they also have soda on tap (is it called on tap when it's, like, that spray thing at the bar? What do they call that? I'm not a bartender, obviously!!!!!) and also a selection of fancier Boylan's sodas. I love a good root beer. If you prefer to drink alcohol, they also have a wonderful line up of vegan friendly cocktails!! You want a White Russian with soy? They got it. You want a Piña Fauxlada that my colleague can't get enough with? Yep, they have it. You want a root beer shake made with soy milk? You got it. And you should get it, because it's delicious.PS they also have a new craft fair called the Durham Bazaar where local artisans sell their handmade wares. I went this month, and a DJ from Carolina Soul down the street (disclosure: they buy A LOT of records from a friend who lives in Detroit).Also, you can order pizza at pie pushers (or anything else on their menu -- salads, the Danny Devito (oh my god is that thing delicious or what?) and eat it at the bar if it's too busy upstairs or if you just want to hang out at the pinhook!!Anyway, I can't recommend this place enough. Durham needs more inclusive places where you can feel at home regardless of your sexual orientation, gender identity, gender presentation, or sexual orientation :)

The Burlesque show last weekend was a glorified high school talent show. I soooo regret spending $40 on it. I'm sorry, but there are 1000 ways to make it better. I get it that it's a place for people to showcase freely, but there should be some talent involved and some coherence in a show if you're gonna charge people to see it.

This is a dive bar with great music and relatively cheap beer. What more can a person ask for?!

A bit cool, a bit hip and very comfortable, the Pinhook is a great little venue to hang out and maybe catch some music! I stopped in a for an art show last night and was surprised at the space. Not much to look at from outside, the Pinhook is long and deep with three separate areas. Up front you've got the pool table and couches, in the middle a smallish bar, and in back the stage and some more seating. Reminds me a bit of the Pourhouse but with a more hipster, arty crowd. Music posters and bills line the walls in various places including the restrooms. They had a drag-fest going on last night which would probably be a little out of place in Raleigh. However after spending some time in this area, I can safely say that Durham does it a bit dirtier then its more conservative sister city across the Triangle! So the crowd was really mixed (figuratively and literally) last night. Mixed gender-wise, lifestyle-wise and across the color barrier, so a thumbs up there. If I were younger and lived in the hood I'd probably pop in here from time to time because it's a reasonably mellow meeting spot and bar. All y'all Durham-ites, enjoy the place for what it is, an interesting little music club that brings in all types!

I go to Pinhook regularly for great music/events, affordable drinks (beer, wine, mixed drinks with local flair), and the amazing & kind staff. The atmosphere is cozy/grunge with some booth seating, bar seats, couches + there's a back porch that faces DPAC and the neon bull sign. The karaoke here is SO FUN and always brings out a crazy mix of people who know how to keep things interesting! It also feels really interactive and the audience always shows support for karaoke participants! Such a great sense of the Durham community!

Disclaimer: This is just a review for the Pinhook's karaoke night.Talk about a flipping mess. Hardly half a dozen songs could go by without some technical difficulty disrupting the evening. Some of these disruptions were as mundane as router difficulties and subsequent WiFi outages completely disrupting their ability to play music. The DJs had a mixing board the size of a coffin whose only function was apparently two mix the karaoke videos they were streaming off of YouTube.After waiting 3 hours to sing the particular song that I signed up for, when I got to the stage I was greeted by a computer monitor sitting in a folding chair. As I geared up to sing I saw on the little monitor the DJs cursor executing a 2-second YouTube search for my song.I know that karaoke by its very nature is an exercise in public humiliation. But I have never experienced a professional karaoke situation in which the DJs were just there to YouTube search a song when the performer got on stage. The version of the song they played for me was the unlicensed knockoff version of the radio eddited song containing multiple errors in the lyrics. On top of that, there were multiple long stretches in the song in which the vocal accompaniment normally supplied by backup singers was absent. This left me with long stretches of time during my song with my microphone in one hand, my dick in the other, and an embarrassing silence filling the room.And all of this might not have been so bad if I hadn't had to pay a cover charge. The funny thing is that I love the Pinhook as a venue and I will absolutely be back there for other events in the future. But I will never go back there for karaoke night and I cannot recommend that you do either.

They will make you retroactively pay cover regardless of whether you've been buying drinks since 8 pm.This was not communicated to us when we arrived.We left.

I came here for the YOLO karaoke and was not impressed. They only have karaoke once a month, which means there's a huge turnout on that one day (rather than spreading out the usual karaoke crowd over a few days) and that you only get to sing once in 5 hours (maybe twice if you show up right when it starts). I'm sorry, but if you're willing to hang around for that long to get up on stage for your own 3-5 minute performance, that's narcissistic and sad.Overall, it's just badly run. First, the music is so loud that it masks the singer (which is the whole point...). Second, they need a more sophisticated system than a notepad for sign-ups: it would be nice to know who is coming up on the list on a screen somewhere. Third, there is a lot of cronyism going on: either you're friends with the Emcee and can get on stage twice in 20 minutes (yes, a duet counts as your turn), or you're the Emcee himself who says "We don't know if we'll get to everyone tonight!" and then proceeds to sing a song himself, wasting the time of the actual patrons who paid a cover fee.To top it all off, there is only one working toilet for the entire club. I know it's a dive bar, but that's just gross. The seat is falling off the hinges and just caked with grime...and it was only 11:30pm when I used it.

$9. For a tiny little pour. This place is just silly. I don't understand the appeal and will not come back.

After reading all the negative reviews, I still gave this place a chance... boy that was a mistake. All the reviews were consistently bad about the overpriced cover charge, rude staff and bartenders, feeling like I was putting them out by ordering a drink and them just doing their jobs. The bad reviews were spot on! Drinks were bad and staff was worse. When I was bartending I worked for tips, not sure about these employees.... Won't be back.