The Station

The Station is a relative newcomer to Carrboro's late-night scene, but it has quickly established itself on the Carrboro/West Chapel Hill bar circuit comprising also Fuse, the Reservoir, the Orange County Social Club, and other longer-established watering holes. Located at Main Street and Roberson in downtown Carrboro in an old depot, the Station is officially the bar section of Southern Rail, but much like Tyler's/the Speakeasy and the Lantern/Lantern Bar, the Station feels like a wholly separate entity from its restaurant counterpart. The Station has an entirely different vibe from Southern Rail, remaining pretty quiet at dinner hours and becoming very busy and staying that way until close at 2 am. Most nights have live music or a DJ, and Wednesday nights have the especially popular Station Trivia, MCed by Mark Dorosin (of Hell Trivia fame) and beginning at 9 pm. Drink specials Sunday through Thursday. No membership required.

The Open Eye Cafe once promoted itself as Carrboro's Living Room, so the Station should consider billing itself as Carrboro's porch. On most weekend nights, the front and back porches are spilling over with Carrborites (Carrburghers?) as well as others making the trip from Durham and Raleigh. One doesn't see many college students at the Station, with most patrons comfortably in the 25 to 35 year-old range: this might be a turn-off for some, but it is a great selling point to many locals unaffiliated with the university. The Station's interior is non-smoking, a fact which will itself become trivia once all of North Carolina's non-private-club bars become smoke-free next year.