Stylish basement bar in Downtown Durham is turning off the neon after 6 years
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Annexe, a subterranean Durham cocktail bar, is closing at the end of the week.
- Sartain plans to hang onto the Annexe space and debut a new concept this year.
- Annexe opened just before the COVID pandemic in 2020 and later built a following.
The neon lights of a stylish Durham cocktail bar are turning off after six years in business.
The owners of Annexe announced that the subterranean lounge and cocktail bar would close at the end of the week, ending a buzzy run that started in 2020. In the closing announcement the owners suggested they plan a new concept for the space.
“After 6 incredible years, It’s time to sunset Annexe,” owner Daniel Sartain posted on the Annexe Instagram page. “The close of a chapter…but with something new on the horizon.”
Annexe opened as the sister bar to the popular Durham restaurant Bar Virgile.
Built under Bar Virgile, Annexe opened just before the global COVID pandemic, difficult timing for a windowless cocktail bar. Still, Annexe made it through and found an audience on the other side, starting by selling sangria curbside, take-home meals and eventually post-COVID attracting popular DJs for lively weekends.
“From a business standpoint, this was one of the most difficult, challenging and scary times for us and so many other businesses,” Sartain wrote on Instagram. “We decided to sell Sangria curbside. The community showed up in droves and kept us busier than we could imagine. We felt the love and it kept our doors open. So thanks for that Durm! Once folks felt safe to come back out, and we opened to full capacity, the fun times and memories began to pour in. More than half a decade’s worth of music, laughter, fun, relationships... All so very meaningful, and never taken for granted.”
With Bar Virgile, then Annexe and most recently the casual spot High Dive, Sartain has owned a block of downtown Durham’s nightlife scene, just a few yards from the music and arts venue DPAC.
Sartain plans to hang onto the Annexe space and debut a new concept this year.
