Two new bars to open in downtown Raleigh, seeking to elevate the craft cocktail scene
The golden age of cocktail bars continues as downtown Raleigh adds two new rooms devoted to stiff drinks.
The two bars come from some of the leaders of downtown Raleigh’s nightlife resurgence, and each look to add something new to a drinking scene.
The Merchant
Local Icon restaurant group owner Jon Seelbinder is opening The Merchant in the space formerly occupied by his upstairs bar arcade, Level Up. It’s above two of his other businesses, sandwich shop Linus & Pepper’s and Virgil’s Taqueria on South Salisbury Street. The Merchant takes its name from the building’s history as the former North Carolina Merchants Association.
Seelbinder said The Merchant will be a modern speakeasy, with guests finding their way in via a secret door. Upstairs, the bar will be dark and sleek, with exposed brick, a white marble bar and touches of gold and velvet, based on renderings created by architect Louis Cherry.
“I love a secret door entrance,” said Seelbindiner, who also owns Raleigh’s best-known other hidden door bar, The Green Light, which is the upstairs cocktail bar of The Architect. “It creates an elusive feeling and generates chatter around that. We’ll continue to put the focus on service and the quality of the cocktails.”
The Merchant will also have a small menu of French and Belgian-inspired bar bites, with small plates, like duck confit, escargot and duck hearts, and larger plates, like steak frites, moules frites and a burger. There will also be meat and cheese plates and other tapas-style dishes, Seelbinder said. Chef Adrian Black, who has been the executive chef of Virgil’s and Linus & Pepper’s, will run the food program at The Merchant.
“I like feeling welcome, feeling at home,” said Seelbinder about what kind of vibe makes for a great bar. “I like something approachable, that feels elevated, and has solid consistency in cocktails. (The Merchant) will have a solid lineup of classic drinks and house originals.”
Level Up closed in September to make room for The Merchant. Seelbinder said he remains a fan of the bar arcade concept, tipping his cap to the popular Boxcar brand that has a location in the Warehouse District. The biggest struggle with Level Up, Seelbinder said, was that lugging 600-pound arcade machines up a flight of stairs made it difficult to change out games.
“We were ready to move into this concept,” Seelbinder said of The Merchant.
The bar is currently under construction, and Seelbinder expects to open this spring, possibly as early as March.
Killjoy
The former Seoul 116 space near Glenwood South won’t be vacant long, as two veterans of Raleigh’s cocktail scene are taking it over for a new bar.
Killjoy is the creation of longtime barkeeps Zack Thomas and Joshua Gagne. Thomas is the former bar manager at Crawford & Son, and Gagne is the general manager of cocktail bar, The Haymaker. Together they’re looking to build a bar that never leaves anyone out in the cold.
“Our focus is on providing the best amount of service possible, on how we attach this person to this space,” Thomas said.
Killjoy will have a cocktail menu of Thomas’ creations, but will also put guests in control of exactly what they’re looking to drink. The bar will have notepads offering a chance to design a cocktail, with spirit options and choices like “light and refreshing,” “spirit forward,” and “exotic and playful.” Thomas and the Killjoy bartenders will take it from there.
“Char-Grill is the closest thing I can compare it to,” Thomas said. “We wanted to provide guests with a voice. Sometimes it can feel like you’re not being heard on a busy Friday night.”
There will be an evolving cocktail menu, plus three beers, a sparkling wine on tap and a draft punch. Thomas is a sober bartender and said there will always be a few spirit-free drinks on the menu. Jake Wood, who is opening Lawrence Barbecue in RTP later this year, is planning Killjoy’s food menu, with snacks like pimento cheese, oysters and locally sourced meats.
Renovations are underway at the space at 116 N. West St., and look to wrap up by the planned opening on March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day.
Killjoy will have a brass bartop, a living plant wall, fresh flowers throughout the bar and light paint colors. The patio will be turned into something more like a garden.
“It looks like an office building, because it is, but (Killjoy) will be an oasis when you walk up,” Thomas said. “We’re doing things to try and separate the space and make it feel like its own unique thing, a destination.”
Thomas said he and Gagne have been interested in opening a bar together for years. They looked all over the Triangle, but he said they always tried to open in downtown Raleigh. Thomas plans to be behind the bar every day, he said, while Gagne will keep his GM duties at The Haymaker. Restaurateur Gaurav “G” Patel, who owns The Haymaker, is also a consultant on Killjoy.
In thinking about the two-decade trend of cocktail bars, Thomas calls it a “Platinum Age,” not a Golden Age. The name Killjoy comes from Thomas’ father, a longtime Raleigh bartender, who believes new-age cocktail bars often take themselves too seriously, Thomas said. Thomas said there’s still a lot of fun to be found and that Killjoy will be built around service and entertaining.
“We’re 20 years into the platinum age of cocktails and some people feel they still don’t get a level of service or quality of drink that they can get at a dive bar or volume bar,” Thomas said. “They want to be treated. They’ve hired a babysitter, gotten ready and have put in so much effort to get to your bar. The last thing you want is for them to feel like that effort was wasted.”
There will be a preview of Killjoy Thursday throughout downtown Raleigh, as Thomas plans a pop-up bar crawl, serving drinks for one hour at eight different cocktail bars. The tour begins at 3 p.m. at Little City Brewing. For the full schedule, visit facebook.com/pg/killjoycocktail/events/.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
