Government Services

Beyond the city and county buildings lies a thriving neighborhood of record stores, inventive restaurants, DIY music venues, and Durham's most impressive public library.

East of City Center and the American Tobacco Campus, the Government Services District stretches along Mangum Street from the edge of downtown toward NC-147.

This area is home to a growing selection of restaurants and bars, residential buildings and most city and county offices and buildings. You'll find an increasingly diverse mix of dining and drinking destinations – from Vessel Coffee House & Art Cafe on the western end as the district bleeds into the Central Park and Old Five Points neighborhoods to The Wine Feed closer to NC-147, creating a corridor of local flavor that connects the heart of the city to its surrounding neighborhoods.

Things To Do In The Government Services District

Any visit to Durham is incomplete without a visit to the Durham County Main Library. Although a library may not seem like a noteworthy stop, we promise you’ll earn cool points with your family and friends once you visit. Explore all four floors of the $40 million, 100,000 square-foot renovation, featuring an outdoor terrace, green roof, two maker spaces, installations that encourage modern learning, and a children’s area with a massive interactive light wall.

The fourth floor houses a specially designed multi-sensory space created for individuals with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, learning differences, speech and language challenges, traumatic brain injuries, dementia and other processing needs. This thoughtfully designed room can be used with a caregiver or service provider and offers an environment that engages the senses in meaningful ways while fostering independence and self-expression.

Tucked between restaurants and bars in this area are some of Durham's best record stores, making this a must-visit destination for music lovers and vinyl collectors. Stop in at Chaz's Bull City Records, where you can dig through an eclectic collection spanning genres and decades, or head to Carolina Soul, a specialty shop focusing on funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop with carefully curated selections that reflect deep musical knowledge and passion. Both shops offer the kind of browsing experience that rewards patience. You never know what hidden gem you'll uncover in the crates.

Bars & Restaurants In The Government Services

Stroll the blocks between City Hall and East Main Street to delight in discoveries like Puerto Rican cuisine at Kokí, handmade corn tortilla tacos at Gym Tacos, grass-fed beef burgers and beer at Bull City Burger and Brewery, a hidden courtyard at Killer Queen Wine Bar and more.

Between Main Street and Pettigrew, stop in at the bustling Bar Virgile for elevated pub food and well-made classic cocktails. This is one of the hottest bar seats on a DPAC show night, so come early unless you have a reservation and trust us, the hand-crafted cocktails are worth the wait, including their legendary hand-shaken Ramos Gin Fizz.  Pro tip: if Bar Virgile's small space is filled, head down the stairs to their sister location Annexe and put in a food order there. There's healthy competition around Durham for the best burger in town, and Bar Virgile’s is a strong contender. If pool, darts and classic beers are more your speed, try the owners' third location, High Dive, across the street. Just down the road, Weldon Mills Distillery offers tastings of their award-winning bourbon alongside weekly live music in a welcoming space that celebrates local craft spirits.

Distilleries, Cideries and Meaderies
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