Meetup in Durham for food and drinks and good cheer

posted January 13, 2013 4:16 PM | |

Sun February 17 at 2:00 PM, Bull City Burger and Brewery

107 East Parrish Street, Durham, NC, USA (Map & Directions)

Yes! The 9th would be OK for me, but other Saturdays in February are probably out. I could also do something after work during the week.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:37 PM on January 13

I would like to meet some fellow Triangle MeFites! Any day after the 10th works for me. As for location, Bull City Brewery is pretty good (in downtown Durham).
posted by Maecenas at 5:58 PM on January 13

Either of those works for me! Bull City has good food but parking there on weekends is sometimes annoying, but of course I am partial to the food truck scene at Fullsteam. :)
posted by leesh at 8:21 PM on January 13

I'd love this! Any of those days will probably work for me (don't know for sure yet). Hope I can make it.

I'm in Chapel Hill and don't get out to Durham often, but I've enjoyed Tyler's - not sure how noisy/crowded it gets on weekend evenings. Broad St. Cafe is also good - low key, quiet, excellent pizza. May have live music, though.
posted by k8lin at 12:57 AM on January 14

I'm partial to BCBB because of the burgers and because I don't know if we can reserve a table at Fullsteam.

Something that's not a brewpub would be great too, but I can't think of many places that could seat a dozen people easily on a weekend, unless we had the meetup mid-afternoon.
posted by ardgedee at 2:12 AM on January 14

Yay! I am in! I don't have any particular date that's better or worse.
posted by Stewriffic at 4:26 AM on January 14

ardgedee: unless we had the meetup mid-afternoon

That is maybe not a bad idea. Anyone else interested in a daytime meetup?
posted by Rock Steady at 5:53 AM on January 14

Dame's Chicken & Waffles might be good. A dozen people sitting together would take over a big chunk of the floor, so we'd have to do it during their slow period -- it's gained enough hipster cred of late that there's usually a queue of people outside the place, and so it'd be hard for us to get good service during the usual brunch, lunch and dinner hours.
posted by ardgedee at 5:57 AM on January 14

If we are in town, unintelligently designed and I are in as well. We are down for whatever, and could also pull off a daytime meetup.
posted by msali at 6:17 AM on January 14

I'm fine with a daytime meeting, but would prefer somewhere other than Dame's, since all I can eat there are the waffles. :)
posted by leesh at 6:35 AM on January 14

A trio of Dame's sides would be worthwhile meal, but I don't know how many of the vegetable offerings are properly vegetarian. Let's shelve Dame's as a candidate.

I'm coming up short on good ideas for gathering spots other than the brewpubs. It's Monday morning, though -- something will turn up...

Incidentally, there's a big food truck rodeo happening on Jan 27, rain or shine. Not something I want to declare a formal meetup for -- if the weather's bad, the shelter will be overcrowded and it'll be hard to socialize and have a good time. Consider it an informal addition to Phire's meetup in February.
posted by ardgedee at 7:05 AM on January 14

I'm in! No preference for day or time.
posted by scose at 7:30 AM on January 14

I would be cool with a daytime meetup, and that would also open us up to meeting on Sundays instead of Saturdays. So in addition to the dates I already proposed, let's also add the 10th and the 17th for consideration.

The BCBB sounds like a fun space and has my tentative vote.

(Weekday meetups are less good for me and Ian A.T. since we're driving out from Greenville and work's been super crazy lately.)
posted by Phire at 8:13 AM on January 14

I can do it on the 9th. And I nth the Bull City Idea. Though Gear St Garden might do in a pinch. I'm also free to drive folks from CH/Carrboro if they need a ride.
posted by thivaia at 8:14 AM on January 14

Bull City does take reservations, I'm not sure if Geer St does, but if we go in the afternoon it should probably be ok.
posted by leesh at 9:01 AM on January 14

I'm interested! I'm out of town the weekend of the 9th-10th. Most anything else is open. I'm game for an afternoon option too.

I'll be happy to provide rides for a few Raleigh folks.
posted by cat_link at 10:21 AM on January 14

I have a preference against Dame's as well.
posted by Stewriffic at 11:04 AM on January 14

sorry didn't read fully. I'd prefer BCBB on an afternoon.
posted by Stewriffic at 11:13 AM on January 14

I'm in for BCBB too.
posted by ardgedee at 11:16 AM on January 14

So does the afternoon of the 10th work for most people?
posted by leesh at 12:10 PM on January 14

Works for me!
posted by Stewriffic at 12:18 PM on January 14

I can't promise anything, but that is probably the most likely date that will work for me that month. My February schedule is significantly more crazy than usual, and child care is a little unreliable as well. I'll do my best though!
posted by Rock Steady at 12:29 PM on January 14

The 10th works for me!
posted by something something at 2:07 PM on January 14

Too close to Valentine's Day for me (if I am still working at the florist's that is. ) Too bad!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:12 PM on January 14

I'm out - hopefully there will be another in a few months!
posted by cat_link at 6:48 PM on January 14

I'm taking my comprehensive exams sometime in February, but I'll definitely be there if it's not that week.
posted by k8lin at 7:15 PM on January 14

Hm, would the 17th work any better for people?
posted by Phire at 7:49 AM on January 15

Either is fine with me. I have a preference for an afternoon meetup if we're doing it on a weekend, although I'm actually free whenever.
posted by ardgedee at 8:14 AM on January 15

Not better, but not worse either.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:25 AM on January 15

"Hm, would the 17th work any better for people?"

I could be there on the 17th. Afternoon or evening is fine.
posted by cat_link at 12:01 PM on January 15

The 17th works better for me.
posted by research monkey at 1:36 PM on January 15

I'm probably in exams during the first or second week of the month (we have five days of exams in a row, yikes) so the 17th is more likely for me, but I really won't be sure for another week or two. Plan without me, and I will definitely make it if I can!
posted by k8lin at 2:07 PM on January 15

17th is fine and I prefer afternoons, too.
posted by Stewriffic at 3:41 AM on January 16

17th works great for me!
posted by Maecenas at 6:35 AM on January 16

Okay, can we tentatively say 2 PM on February 17th at the Bull City Brewery? Unless someone is like NO THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA A MISSILE WILL STRIKE THE BCB AT THAT PRECISE TIME I'll make it into a confirmed meet-up in a day or two.
posted by Phire at 7:46 AM on January 16

You realize you've put us on some sort of ECHELON-type monitoring system now. Watch out for the Men in Black at the meetup. I'll try to be there if I can shake my CIA tail.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:58 AM on January 16

I will be out of town that weekend but I give you permission to meet up in my absence.
posted by something something at 10:53 AM on January 16

Okay, event confirmed! Please say you're attending so that I can pretend like I have friends.
posted by Phire at 9:01 AM on January 18

I've asked for that day off and hopefully they'll be able to confirm soon - until then, I'll put myself in the maybe camp.
posted by clerestory at 1:22 PM on January 18

Me and zscore will be in attendance. For afterwards, does anyone else play Dominion? I'm sure we could do that at a bar.
posted by oceanjesse at 11:52 AM on January 20

Oh boy, oceanjesse, you have no idea what you just unleashed...

If BCBB isn't happy about us hanging out and playing nerd games, we could always relocate to Atomic Empire on Westgate, which has a huge playing area and also serves beer on tap.
posted by Phire at 2:19 PM on January 20

I'm planing on it!

Thanks for pulling it together.
posted by cat_link at 2:26 PM on January 20

Fullsteam is friendly to people hanging out and playing games, but getting a table might be a pain.

Atomic Empire has Li Ming next to it, which has a Chinese bakery (and bubble tea!) and cafeteria attached. When shopping at Li Ming we've spotted Atomic Empire employees shopping for ramen and snacks.
posted by research monkey at 10:54 AM on January 21

Honestly, I’d prefer some time after 4 PM so I can still volunteer at Prison Books, but it isn’t the most important thing.
posted by oceanjesse at 11:51 AM on January 28

Also, be warned about the bakery at Li Ming. The selection within the grocery section is great, but I would be wary of any eatery in North Carolina with such abysmally low health and safety ratings. I’ve eaten their pork dumplings before and never had any health problems, but I really wish I had noticed the health scores earlier because ew.
posted by oceanjesse at 11:59 AM on January 28

But did you read the detailed reports? Because none of the reasons they got points off sound that egregious to me. But that could just be me, growing up eating street food in various third world countries.
posted by research monkey at 1:33 PM on January 29

I'll be there! :) Thanks for setting this up.
posted by k8lin at 3:53 AM on January 30

The B safety rating isn't awesome, but is pretty far from the abyss.

I've eaten at the abyss. The abyss is where the restaurant is shut down because the health inspector finds a dead cat in the food cooler.

Anyway, Atomic Empire is the only comics/gaming store I've ever visited with a deli counter and local beers on tap. It might or might not be a bad place for a meetup in its own right (and I'm saying that as a mostly non-gamer), but that's probably better organized some other time.
posted by ardgedee at 9:17 AM on January 30

Oh, to be clear, I suggested "relocate" as in "if there are people hanging around after food and drinks at BCBB we can go to Atomic Empire to continue schmoozing", not "let's move the entire meetup to Atomic Empire". Sorry if there was any confusion, and I agree strongly with calling a gaming-oriented meetup (possibly at AE) sooner rather than later.

Do other people strong feelings for wanting to move the time to later in the afternoon? 4PM would be a weird-ish time for me and Ian A.T. since we're driving in from a little ways away, but I'm sure we can work something out if the consensus is for a later meetup.
posted by Phire at 1:22 PM on January 30

I'd prefer to keep it on the earlier side.
posted by Stewriffic at 2:17 PM on January 30

I prefer the earlier time, too.

We were at BCBB today and they said they'd be fine with people playing board games as long as they were also drinking beer while doing so :)

The barley wines were great (still trying to figure out what the spices were in the Snow Hill Winter Warmer Ale), as was the doppelbock.
posted by research monkey at 6:45 PM on January 31 [1 favorite]

Earlier is also fine. I'm for the eating at BCBB and then moving to Atomic Games plan, sounds great. Did not know they had a deli in there, wow!
posted by oceanjesse at 8:20 AM on February 3

Another vote for sticking with 2 PM. Later will make things awkward.
posted by ardgedee at 8:22 AM on February 3

It seems less and less likely that I will be able to make it, as my potential child care is not going to be an option, but I am still trying.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:16 AM on February 4

I am going to call in either Wednesday or Thursday next week and let them know we're coming. If you're marked down as "attending" and you can't make it, could you let me know soonish so that I can account for numbers?

Thanks!
posted by Phire at 7:28 AM on February 4

Er, I posted this before I realized that the meetup was next weekend, not this weekend, and I'm really normally not this obsessive about making reservations 13 days in advance I promise. (The edit window ran out before I could fully correct my dumb.)
posted by Phire at 7:35 AM on February 4

Okay, I called and made a reservation for 14 people for 2 PM on Sunday at the Bull City Brewery.

(Optimistic, maybe, but I'm hoping that if some people in the Attending list end up dropping out, some of the Maybes will step up to the plate.)

See all you lovely people on Sunday!
posted by Phire at 8:27 AM on February 15

Hey, Phire - thanks for organizing! However, I won't be able to make it after all. Bummed, but hopefully can meet up at the next event.
posted by foxhat10 at 5:25 PM on February 16

I'm excited!
posted by Stewriffic at 5:54 AM on February 17

Last night I dreamed that I forgot to come to this meetup and was all sad about it, so I will try really hard to make sure that doesn't happen!
posted by leesh at 6:15 AM on February 17

We are here and all the way at the back, around a corner. We've got a section all to our selves, ish.
posted by Phire at 10:58 AM on February 17

Well, poop. I should look at IRL more often. I totally could have made this. I hereby resolve to review IRL at least once a month.
posted by jeoc at 11:03 AM on February 17

Jeoc you should set you preferences to alert you!
posted by Stewriffic at 11:44 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

That was lovely! I am very excited with the phone cover trade Phire and I made.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:49 PM on February 17 [3 favorites]

It was great meeting all of you! Thanks for getting this together, Phire!
posted by Maecenas at 2:27 PM on February 17

This was a lot of fun and now I'm half-tempted to suggest a meetup at the cafeteria in S-Mart in Cary. Eat Korean food and get your Korean / Japanese food ingredient shopping done while there! No vegetarian selections or booze, though.
posted by research monkey at 4:11 PM on February 17 [1 favorite]

Great meeting everyone! Didn't know there was a button to push, but when I figured it out, I pushed it.
posted by zscore at 7:05 PM on February 17

Lovely to see everyone again - let's try and meetup more regularly. Was someone talking about a Durham Bulls game?
posted by clerestory at 7:51 PM on February 17

Editing photos now. UGH the wall color. Also I am inept when it comes to focus. Blah.

I also failed to take any notes whatsoever, so I'll be leaning on you folks to nudge me to add appropriate metadata to the photos (assuming you want to be identified).

More soon....
posted by tarheelcoxn at 8:08 PM on February 17

Okay here go some pictures. To the extent that they're good I blame the lovely mefites present. Y'all were fun to hang out with; wish I'd stayed longer.
posted by tarheelcoxn at 8:21 PM on February 17

Oh, definitely let's do this more regularly!
posted by leesh at 5:52 AM on February 18

Those photos are great, tarhoolcoxn! Will you add them to the photo set for the meetup? (Top right, above the attending list.) In the meantime, I've spammed you with comments of who the various people were.

Everyone else: It was so nice to meet you guys and hang out! I'll definitely try to nudge these along more frequently.
posted by Phire at 7:41 AM on February 18

That was really fun, and thanks for taking pictures.

I liked this environment more than the last meetup (the Durham food truck rodeo). It was easier for me to find the meetup, and I felt more at ease socially. Maybe it was the tables.

We should make a night/day specifically for board games. That would be better accomodate our varied schedules. I’m glad so many people are into Dominion!
posted by oceanjesse at 8:27 AM on February 18

Will you add them to the photo set for the meetup?

Done! Thanks for nudging me to do that, and I'm glad people like them.
posted by tarheelcoxn at 8:42 AM on February 18

Phire - Nicely done! Enjoyed meeting everyone. Good food, better conversation and beer to boot - perfect combo!
posted by cat_link at 11:50 AM on February 18

So what would I need to do to persuade this crowd to come to Fayetteville sometime?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:32 PM on February 18

I can think of a number of decent places in roughly-equidistant Scenic Fuquay-Varina to get together, including the Aviator taproom with semi-attached restaurant. We could repose afterwards at Stately Rock Steady Manor for board games and cat appreciation.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:43 PM on February 18 [2 favorites]

Phire++

Thanks for commenting with usernames on the flickr photos. If people on here have flickr accounts and want to be tagged in the photos, please let me know. My default is not to do that sort of thing.
posted by tarheelcoxn at 3:52 PM on February 18

I see oceanjesse has a new profile photo. Yesssssss. *bows*
posted by tarheelcoxn at 3:55 PM on February 18

AWESOME photos, man!
posted by ardgedee at 4:15 PM on February 18

Oh, shoot! I am in Durham, I could have gone to this! That'll teach me to check the list of future meetups more regularly...or as Stewriffic says I should set up an alert! Glad you all had fun.
posted by aka burlap at 4:33 PM on February 27