Your Full Frame Festival dining guide: Where to eat and drink in downtown Durham

The Full Frame Documentary Festival is in full swing all over downtown Durham. Fortunately for film lovers, they're also in the thick of one of the area's densest concentration of great places to eat and drink.

Here are some can't miss bites and drinks close to the main venues for a respite before or after the show.

Alley Twenty Six

320 East Chapel Hill St., Durham

Shannon Healy runs one of the area's finest cocktail bars. There's a frequently changing menu of seasonal drinks that'll never steer you wrong, but bartenders can make anything you like with a few choice adjectives. They also boast a kitchen to match the booze.

Bull City Burger

107 E. Parrish St. #105, Durham

In addition to just getting a good burger, the Durham brewery has their special commemorative Full Frame Reel Amber Ale on tap throughout the festival weekend. "This brew pairs well with documentaries of all sorts and is great for sipping between films," the burger joint tweets. We couldn't agree more. Show your Full Frame credentials for free fries.

Dashi

415 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham

This two-story restaurant is a downstairs ramen bar and an upstairs izakaya. If the downstairs is full, don't despair, there are also noodle bowls upstairs and better luck with a seat.

The Durham

315 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham

Bearing the city's name, this hotel restaurant is a lobby dining room of retro elegance, with a cozy tucked away bar. A world away, the rooftop bar has its own menu and a livelier vibe, offering the tallest view of downtown currently available. If you're wandering through for brunch, it sneakily has one of Durham's best coffee programs. Critic Greg Cox named it the best restaurant of 2017.

Jack Tar & The Colonel's Daughter

202 Corcoran St., Durham

This modern diner could be a godsend for Full Frame goers, with exciting breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes all day long on the ground floor of the new Unscripted Hotel. The Colonel's Daughter, the black box bar next door, is narrow and dark, usually with a movie on the lone television. There are more than dozen seats at the bar, but plenty of standing room along the wall, with a wooden railing for drinks.

Luna Rotisserie & Empanadas

112 W. Main St., Durham

The restaurant boasts a South American meets American South menu with, yes, both rotisserie meats and empanadas. Both are excellent. Whether settling in for a meal (with interesting sides) or grabbing a bunch of empanadas and small plates, Luna should suit your film festival needs.

M Kokko

311 Holland St., Suite B, Durham

This sister restaurant of M Sushi serves famous Korean chicken wings and sandwiches, but also excellent bowls of ramen. The waiting list can be staggering, but always worth attempting if your film schedule allows.

The Parlour

117 Market St., Durham

It's April, meaning ice cream hasn't reached its craveable peak, but this master creamery is known to have a line in a snowstorm.

Pizzeria Toro

105 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham

This Neopolitan pizzeria is one of the most bustlely spots in town, with a menu of red and white pizzas and even a selection of hams. A large communal table means you may bump into fellow festival fans.

Pour Taproom

202 N. Corcoran St., Durham

This self-service bar features 64 taps of mostly American craft beers, always including a healthy sampling of local offerings. Drinkers wear a wristband that tracks drinks by the ounce and is a great way to try many different beers. You'll find it on the ground floor of the Unscripted hotel, next to Jack Tar Diner.

This story was originally published April 6, 2018 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Your Full Frame Festival dining guide: Where to eat and drink in downtown Durham."