In an age where the common man rarely picks up a paper from the newsstand, opting instead for the quicker updates online news sites provide, people flock to the Raleigh Times Bar, a setting that once housed a newspaper publication.
Rising from the ashes of the Raleigh Times newspaper, the Raleigh Times Bar is an exciting and entertaining addition to the booming food scene in downtown Raleigh. The Raleigh Times Bar celebrates the history of Raleigh while serving top-quality food and beer to its customers.
Located in the old location of the former Raleigh Times newspaper on 14 East Hargett Street, the restaurant is decorated with old news clips and pictures from the newspaper that printed up until 1989. The layout of the restaurant intentionally accentuates the history of the building.
To fully understand the dynamics of the newspaper industry of the past and present, and to get a different perspective on the bar, I invited Andrea Weigl, a journalist from The News and Observer, to accompany me to dinner.
Weigl has worked as a journalist since she graduated from Kent State University and has been in Raleigh with The News and Observer for the past 10 years. She knows the business well, having served as a courthouse reporter in Pittsburgh, a Wall Street Journal correspondent covering the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., and now as a food writer in Raleigh.
“I’ve been a food writer for the past four years,” Weigl said before she sipped on a Belgian beer, one of the 50 the bar offers. “It’s not that much different from being a regular reporter and being curious about things.”
Weigl writes stories about local food in her column in the paper and online blog, called Mouthful.
“This is an incredible community to cover and interact with. You can write about any national food issue and make it into a local story here. I’m lucky,” Weigl said.
The Raleigh Times symbolizes a unique piece of that community.
The bar attracts crowds of all sorts. Whether it’s professionals working downtown or mangy college students, Raleigh Times Bar brings in people from all walks of life. During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama managed to stop by and enjoy a beer with local voters.
Besides acting as a miniature museum for the deceased newspaper, the restaurant doesn’t skimp out on its main purpose—turning out good food and drinks.
“They’ve done a good job,” Weigl commented during dinner. “They do bar food really well.”
Weigl ordered the loaded fries, decadently topped with cheese, bacon and scallions. I ordered the salami and brie burger, which more or less reserves a Jewish boy like me a spot in hell. All consequences aside, it was worth the temptation and the caramelized onions sealed the deal.
The food at the restaurant is by no means light, but the small menu allows the kitchen staff to execute the dishes with extreme care and procession with top-notch ingredients.
Despite serving glorified versions of the generic burger and fries — which actually match their pretention — the restaurant still manages to keep its prices affordable, even for a college student’s budget.
However, it really is all about the beer at the Times. The beer menu dwarfs that of the food and the bar offers a wide selection in craft domestic brews and a huge special on Belgian beers.
Raleigh Times Bar has preserved the historic headquarters of the defunct newspaper as well as the memory of the stories it covered. It brings a positive light to the sad loss of a piece of local culture.
