The Pinhook

Super neat bar and music venue. My friend and I came here on a Monday night for their showcase event, and it was so neat to listen to all these local hip hop artists and rappers. Ambience is super chill and hip. I definitely plan on coming back.

I went to Pinhook for the first time last night. It was a crowded noisy place but the music sounded great. I accidentally dropped my ring down the drain and thought for sure I would be laughed at when I asked the manager for help to get it out. He quickly and graciously agreed to help immediately. Daren is AWESOME! Thanks for making my night.

So I’ve been to the pinhook about four times. It’s a dive bar, not fancy, it has gender neutral bathrooms and the drinks are cheap. They have the best karaōke anywhere. Look at the calendar online because they don’t advertise it any other way. Last time I went was Halloween when they had a dance party. Dance parties are highly recommended. Music was awesome and crowd was awesome! So yeah, go to the pinhook.

I like that this place gives off culturally sensitive vibes. There’s a cute bartender rocking the soft butch aesthetic (the best aesthetic), the bathroom is labeled gender neutral milk hotel (a cute touch), and there’s a sign advising that racism, homophobia, sexism, ageism, ableism, etc won’t be tolerated.
That being said, if you’re going to see a show here, beware that it gets HOT in here if it’s crowded. I mean, they could stand to add second or third fan near the stage (there’s one near the bar toward the entrance, but I can’t remember if it was even on, not that it would have made a difference). It was really cool out tonight too (low 60s) but it had to have been 80, maybe 90 degrees inside. Crank up the AC! Cody, one of the singers in Shannon and the Clams, even commented on it. There are free water dispensers opposite the bar w/​paper cones, so if you do get too hot (likely, if it’s a packed show), you can cool down w/​some chilled water without having to wonder if you need to tip the bartender for tap water.
The stage is pretty low, so forget about seeing anything if anyone talk stands in front of you (hey, if you’re over 6 foot tall, would you mind hanging to the sides or toward the back? Like…)
If people are really dancing or pogoing, you can feel the floor boards shake a little, which is an interesting experience. Not bad, but definitely interesting!
However, the sound is very good for such a very small venue. The instruments and vocals were all very clear, and that’s really the most important part. I just wish it could be a little more comfortable.
And if you’re more of a wallflower and prefer leaning against the wall, I wouldn’t suggest hanging out stage left. There’s a back patio, and people will stream back and forth during the entire opening act and during the beginning of the headliners too (though by the time everyone’s out from the patio to watch the main act, there isn’t any room to get by, which is fine).
Also, tonight there was a millennial in front of me who was on her phone the whole night texting, and in between waiting for replies to her texts, she was flicking through her Instagram feed because it was really important that she look at three different photos of her friend’s feet. Look, I’m a millennial too (just barely) but I can live without my phone for an hour and a half because I know that photo of my friend’s dinner will still be there by the time the show’s over. Not this chick, no, she had to immediately comment, «omg that looks sooooo good.» (Btw that’s how tightly we were packed in, that I could easily peer over her shoulder and read her texts without moving. I’m sorry, I was curious what was so important!) Henny, it’s just a sandwich! It can wait! Cody is losing his voice singing! Let them perform for you! Man, I would hate to be in a group text with her. I bet she texts at the movies too. Like, you can stay at home and listen to music while texting from the comfort of your couch, lady. I mean, the she was close enough that the band could totally see her ignoring them too.
Anyway, I hope that young lady gets help because she clearly has an addiction and she’s going to get texting neck syndrome if she doesn’t have it already.
(Am I being ageist? I know, #notallmillenials)
PS, there is a parking deck that is free free free around near DPAC (across the street from the old bull building, you know, the one w/​the light up billboard on the american tobacco campus), and parking is free after 7. One of the elevators was broken, but the stairwell was clean and did not smell of urine (probably b/​c of all of the glass and exposure to the street), so I wouldn’t complain since I like taking the stairs. But not everyone’s able to just take the stairs, so just beware. Also beware that there’s a lot of reserved spaces, but the third floor seemed free of them.
BTW, it’s kind of a bummer to see some of the reviews here knocking the unisex bathroom. There’s one review where that’s pretty much the only comment, and it’s a 3 star review. Having a gender neutral bathroom is actually a huge relief for anyone who is transgender, genderqueer or gender non-​conforming. Using a bathroom can be a scary, dangerous experience for these people when they choose a bathroom that matches their gender. People get beat up and even die because of the gendered bathroom they choose. This bar goes out of the way to be supportive and accepting of its LGBTQI patrons, and that’s a bonus. If that’s going to be a problem for you, maybe this isn’t the bar for you.

Bitchy bartenders slinging drinks.
The space holds a pretty good dance party, and mostly great bands too!
It’s a place for every type there is.

Loved the hipster dive bar vibe. The place is small and can get crowded. The choice of karaōke was let’s just say eclectic. They could use a bigger draft beer selection, but what they did have was at least local. They only had 1 bar tender behind the bar and it took a while to get a drink or your check. No dis on him, he was working hard, just he could of used some backup. Bathrooms are gender neutal which at first was a bit off putting, but then it was just like, cool, I get it. I’ll be back when in town.

One of the bartenders pushed her way through the crowd and told a friend of mine to get the «f» out of the way she works here. I understand it’s crowded, but it’s unacceptable to speak to patrons that way, no matter how frustrated you are, and when your guests tell you they are leaving due to your behavior, you shouldn’t respond with «good». We will not be coming back here, the other bartenders were great, but the blonde with glasses needs to find another profession.

the bathrooms are unisex, and the owner removed all the urinals. the turkish bidet, on the other hand, works like a fucking charm.

For a man that is further removed from college, but still enjoys a night out at the bar — this place is perfect. The Saturday evening scene is always a mix of young professionals and hipsters in their early 30’s. The bartenders are friendly and welcoming. I love the karaōke, as it is projected with great equipment and usually good singers.
Every now and then, it can be a little run over with your frat-​boy beer belly-​type dudes that are screaming at the bar or performing uncomically on the stage as they get plastered. But definitely my «go to» for downtown Durham.

It’s an alright place, because I’ve been here on some great nights for which they had booked awesome djs for party illegal. Sometimes (because they are very lgbt friendly) it’s a great place to meet new people from the younger lgbt crowd as opposed to the older one over at The Bar. The outdoor area is nice for relaxing from the sauna that the dancefloor can be sometimes. They also book a lot of acts and events to keep the place hoppin’ on the weekends. My one complaint is that they can really try to rotate the beer selection more or have better beer. It’s decent, but there’s not a wide range of styles so it’s hard for me to find what I like there.

Pinhook seems to cater to a more mature and hipster crowd if that’s your thing. Open mic night is a blast but make sure you get on the waitlist early if you want to sing. Very small venue.

Pinhook used to be a weekly visit for me from Carrboro. Great place to hear some new music and get my dance on! Which is a rare find. I feel relatively comfortable at Pinhook to shake it without being harassed. I also love the accepting vibe. It’s not a «gay club» it’s an «everyone is welcome» club. People are there to have fun for the most part and not to just pick up a one night stand (not that there’s anything wrong with that) I just like that it’s not the focus like so many other clubs. Although I have had to push sweaty guys off me here before but nothing I don’t expect sadly.
Only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because I wish it were bigger and a little more air conditioned. It can get super hot and cramped!

I visit The Pinhook regularly when I’m in downtown as either a destination or just to pop in and see what band/​show is going on. The cover (if there is any) is usually low and the atmosphere is great. Really chill people from all walks of life. They regularly have awesome DJ’s and you can shake it. My one complaint would be that it sometimes gets hot, hot, hot in there! But really, what bar/​club doesn’t have this problem? You can only fit so many hot bodies in one room and keep it climate controlled. I love the back patio area where you can cool off and/​or sit with your friend while they have a smoke.

Visited one evening after trivia night. The place is certainly for non-​mainstream people. A couple things about the bartender: I’m new to the area and asked about visiting Raleigh to which she turned up her nose and stated, «it’s full of yuppies and bankers,» not realising my partner is in the banking industry. Social discrimination is cool. The night came to a screeching halt when she found out I am from AZ. She informed me that her friends moved to AZ specifically to help illegal immigrants make it successfully across the border/​desert. Apparently illegal humanitarian aide is cool too. She then asked someone else in the bar if they would «grab her friends from the back patio so she’d have someone to talk to.» We were all obviously uncomfortable.
Cool space and I’d return, but not a fan of that particular bartender.

Luckily, the open mic night (on Mondays) was very entertaining since the bartender left a lot to be desired. The venue’s appearance had a great vibe and featured a very nice stage. The crowd was not very friendly and the bartender had an apathetic attitude despite tips.

Great bar to see live music and to dance the night away! Dive but hip and comfortable.

Warning to touring/​local bands looking to play here: Unless you expect to draw a crowd of more than 60 – 70 people to this venue, you will get paid next to nothing here. This place has high house costs that they take out of the door to pay their employees (around $ 150), meaning that if your cover is $ 5, you will need to get about 30 people out just to break even. This isn’t a challenge for most local bands on a weekend night, but if you’re touring through on a weekday night with local support with a moderate draw, don’t expect to get paid much. There are plenty of other places you can play in Durham/​Chapel Hill/​Raleigh (Local 506, Motorco, The Cave, Kings, Slims, etc) that are much better venues and will pay you more.
I understand that rent is high on Main Street in Durham and that bills need to be paid, but if you’re a small venue that wants to continue to have a reputation for bringing in good live music, you need to figure out a way to pay bands fairly. Larger touring acts are going to play at Motorco, which is bigger and better equipped to host live shows. This leaves Pinhook to host shows for low to mid level touring acts and locals. Turnouts are always going to be modest in these situations, and if you don’t pay the bands shit for when they do play here, they probably aren’t going to come back. This place needs to decide if they’re just a bar where people come to hang out, or a legit music venue.

Great place to hear some live music. A night out in downtown Durham ended with a live karaōke band at The Pinhook. This is a hip music joint with a great stage. It immediately reminded me of the Local 506 in Carrboro.
It’s a dive with unisex bathrooms filled with a diverse crowd and some friendly bartenders. This place will never get boring they change it up constantly with bands, films, open mic, trivia, burlesque, you name it and The Pinhook probably has it on their agenda.
I don’t get to experience the Durham bar scenes often but The Pinhook has got to be one of my favorites right now. They make sure to make everyone feel welcome here and that’s what I really liked about this place. It’s hip for sure and you know who the local patrons are but everyone was cool, relaxed, and just having a great time.
Plenty of local drafts to choose from as well as a full bar. I’m going to be checking out their event calendar more often now they have some very cool things going on. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out a live karaōke band it should be on your bucket list. Even if you can’t sing who doesn’t want to pretend they are the lead singer of an 80s hair band. Rock on!

One of the best things about Pinhook is that it seems to avoid being labeled. It’s not really a «lesbian bar» or anything, more like a «gay and lesbian friendly» bar. Not everyone might agree with me, but I think most places in Durham are very unpretentious and welcoming to ALL. Pinhook has a great relaxed vibe! There were all kinds of people, all kinds of ages hanging out.
We were there on karaōke night. It was pretty much empty when we arrived at 7ish, and by about 11 it was packed. There’s tons of retroish furniture. It is long and somewhat has at least two different areas. While it got crowded around the stage when the karaōke started at 10, it was still pretty calm in the front section (the bar is somewhat in the middle). I think there is only one bathroom? At least I only saw one unisex bathroom that has two stalls. But the bathroom is cool — they used chalkboard paint on the walls and have some chalk so you can write whatever you want! I’m not sure this place would make a good music venue… the acoustics are probably not so hot.
Local beer selection is decent. There are less than 10 lines on tap, but there is PBR (in bottles or tall boy cans) and Schlitz (my favorite college battle cry: «Let’s get SCHLITZED)!!! I didn’t have a problem with service at the bar, but we did get most of our drinks before it filled up. Pretty cool to see downtown Durham hoppin!

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!