He wanted a bar like ‘Cheers.’ She wanted to be herself. 3 LGBTQ+ Raleigh spots

Maggie Leonhardt’s trip to Southeast Asia showed her what she was missing back in North Carolina.

Three years of working for hair salons in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia showed her a diversity of identity, language and culture. She came back to recreate this feeling at home.

“That was the initiation to being more selective about where I worked. At the time I did not feel like there was any out and loud salons,” Leonhardt said.

Out! Raleigh Pride, the city’s annual Pride event, is in its 14th year. One in 14 new business owners in 2025 identified as LGBTQ+, according to a recent national report. Greater social acceptance has allowed for businesses, restaurants and individuals to publicly identify as more than heterosexual, local business owners say.

The News & Observer visited three Raleigh business owners this June, learning how they let their identities blend into their work. Their curated atmosphere, they say, is what keeps the Triangle community coming back for more.

Maggie Leonhardt: The Hightide Salon & Suites

Hightide Salon resides on West Martin Street in Downtown Raleigh’s warehouse district. The industrial-inspired space still holds remnants of the previous occupants. Wedged between bricks, a small notebook of names and dates traces back to White Rabbit Books & Things, the home of Raleigh’s first gay bookstore and newspaper.

When Leonhardt sought to create Hightide in 2020, the building’s history added to her cause. As a bisexual woman, she said she felt pressured to hide her sexuality in some salon environments to fit their aesthetics.

She was unhappy with the “highly exploitative industry” where cosmetologists pay rent to a salon along with a percent of their profits, seeking to create a new space. At Hightide, everyone has their own LLC and run their own business.

“Our business model is unique. ... They choose their hours, how they want to communicate to their clients, how they want to show up,” she said.

Empowering fellow cosmetologists was always a part of the business plan. Kelly Phoenix, Leonhardt’s sister and Hightide’s CFO, offers all 37 businesses that occupy the salon with financial literacy education, tax coaching and marketing support.

Reinventing the hairstylist-salon relationship also meant examining what customers wanted from traditional salons that they weren’t getting. Leonhardt wanted a salon that could accommodate all people and hair types while being as waste free as possible. 

“People were still going by men’s haircuts, women’s haircuts,” she said. “We made that a part of our business model, that you could not gender. It had to be completely length-based, time-based.”

Clipping are also sent off to be used in natural disaster aide; Hair, fur and fleece can be used to soak up oil spills.

Offering gender-affirming haircuts and safe spaces for hijab-wearing women to reveal their hair hasn’t come without its challenges. The salon has received death threats and hateful messages, but these instances don’t take away from the positive impact of Hightide, Leonhardt said.

 309 W. Martin St. Raleigh, NC 27601 | thehightidesalon.com

Gregory Hamm: Libations 317 / Su-Z’s Asian Kitchen

On West Morgan Street is Chef Gregg Hamm’s retirement restaurant. Pink flamingos of all sizes glitter the walls, regulars have their pictures framed, card games are stacked high in a corner and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Golden Girls” loop on opposing televisions. It’s a place where everyone knows your name or wants to learn it.

“Kinda like ‘Cheers,’” Hamm said about his downtown bar. “To me, it was important that it became that place that you could go without dressing up. You could go without a lot of pressure and just enjoy a neighborhood camaraderie.

“Being a gay male myself, opening a place that was safe for all genders and all people. ... It’s important that we’re safe for everybody,” he said.

For the past 30 years, the restaurateur and former culinary arts educator has owned many restaurants between Raleigh and Sanford. Libations 317 and its cuisine Su-Z’s Asian Kitchen, created in 2021, is the only one of Hamm’s restaurants where his face is the first one guests see.

In Hamm’s opinion, the most “underrated” part of his bar is the food. His culinary background demands fresh ingredients and evolving options.

“When we first opened, we had a different focus on the menu,” Hamm said. “I always loved Asian food and wanted to do an Asian menu. But I’m a white cis* man, and I own an Asian restaurant. It doesn’t quite fit the queue.”

His goal is to learn the cuisine deeply and what customers want, creating a menu that “appears to all palates” so anyone can come in and enjoy the food and drinks.

Libations 317 hosts Thursday night Drag Bingo and ticketed weekend Drag Brunches, a change from Hamm’s other restaurants in Sanford. “I was always open, but I just wasn’t quite where I am now,” Hamm said. “It’s important that people know that we’re offering this, ... and I think that that’s just the heritage of gay rights.”

*Short for cisgender, a person whose gender identity corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth.

317 W. Morgan St., Suite 117, Raleigh, NC 27601 | chefhamminc.com/libations-317-raleigh

Darryl Fuller: Morning Rolls

Cinnamon rolls have always played a part in Darryl Fuller’s relationship with his partner of 30 years, Jeff Couch. On Sundays, the pair would get canned pastries and read the Sunday paper together. Years later, their tradition turned into a small restaurant selling homemade cinnamon rolls, sandwiches and sides. 

After a career in the hotel industry, Fuller decided to enroll in culinary school. During a semester on baking and pastry, he practiced his cinnamon roll recipe, seeking the advice of Couch and his coworkers to create a formula he liked. 

“When we first started, he left his job to come work here for several months until I could afford to hire people,” Fuller said of Couch. “He came up with what we call ‘cinnarocks’; They’re little bite-sized pieces of the cinnamon roll dough, and then we bake them off in little mini muffin cups,” Fuller said. 

Morning Rolls, located on East Millbrook Road, is a member of Harmony: NC LGBT+ Allied Chamber of Commerce and the North Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. Both groups offer community and aid for small businesses in the area.

For Fuller, the greatest support has been from his customers. 

“It’s the little things, like kids are allowed to ride their bikes up here and get a cinnamon roll in the summer,” Fuller said. “We have a bunch of the high school kids from Sanderson [who] will come in for lunch a couple times a week. ... They say they want to come work here when they’re old enough.”

With all the love, the four-year-old business is growing. Fuller is working to expand their catering options, add new flavors to the menu and look for a second location. His experience in operations management at hotels and restaurants keeps him anticipating the business’ next move.

“I try to keep it family focused,” Fuller said. “We have families of every type.”

1322a E. Millbrook Road, Raleigh, NC 27609 | morningrolls.com

This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 1:44 PM.