He’s Not Here

What more could you want than a real, a REAL bar. If the walls could talk! Man this place is great idk what more could be said really, I mean a big blue cup of beer? I think that about sums it up, which really is all you need to know about this place.

Know what you are getting into before you get there. This is a dive bar and more importantly a college bar. But when you get a great craft been in a 32 oz blue cup for $ 7, even beer snobs can’t pass this place up. They don’t open until 2pm on Saturdays so if you trying to get a few drinks in before any UNC game, it often is difficult unless it is an evening game.

Let’s be clear: the only thing you should be doing here is sitting at a picnic table outside, listening to live music and drinking cheap beer out of a blue cup.
Eating, using the bathroom or sitting at a booth inside are all not advisable.
He’s Not is a Chapel Hill tradition, though. When I was in college, they sold blue cups of Bud Light for $ 5 on Sunday nights. That’s 33oz of beer for $ 5! That also happened to be karaōke night. Maybe there’s a correlation.

I didn’t get a dive bar feel from this place. It was filled with undergrads all chugging beer from big UNC cups and a couple of people carrying around huge bottles of champagne… drinking straight from the bottle. I felt like I was in a frat house the whole time. It was packed and mostly male dominated with lots of guys wearing either suits or chubbies and polos. The only saving grace is it’s a really nice space. Oh and there was strangely a cover we had to pay to get in that I saw no one else paying. I guess if you go to UNC, you don’t have to pay a cover?

Ultra dive bar with a «beer garden» that has turned to just dirt from so much foot traffic. Upstairs (very dangerous for drunk patrons) is the dingy beer bar with a tap list that has been upgraded over the past few years from all macro junk to craft beer focused. Cheap prices with great deals for their world-​famous 32oz blue cup. These are great for taking home and constitute about 90% of the casual drinkware in my house.

This bar is quite interesting. You must keep it in mind that most of the nightlife options in Chapel Hill are tailored to UNC undergrad students, therefore folks that just turned 21 and are ready to drink as much as they can. Good thing about this is: BEER CUPS ARE GIANOURMOUS and cheap. Yes! Thank you God of Cheap Beer for this holly grace.
Vibe is chilled out, you will find a few Frat boys/​sorority girls, but the place has karaōke (on Sunday nights), you can play darts or just hangout in the backyard.
Staff is not the nicest, they will probably be rude to you whether when you are at the door and they ask to see your ID or when you order something by the bar. Just do not take it too personally and move on with you blue cup.

I went into He’s Not Here last night and this was the SECOND time I’ve had rude customer service. It was crowded (which was understandable), so I waited patiently at the bar with my friend while the bartender finished making another couples drink. We waited there for 5 min without any acknowledgement and as soon as a guy walks up the bartender acknowledges him and asks what he could get for him?! By then my friend and I were completely taken aback because we not only waited patiently for service to be completely ignored to help another patron. I give them a NEGATIVE 5 Stars. The place smelled of wet dog and they’ll never get another dime from us. I’ll be sure to spread the word to my friends to avoid this place bc it seems they only acknowledge certain people anyways. So spare yourselves, He’s Not Worth It!

Blue cups, pint nights and cool vibes — this is a great place to go whether you want to hang out with friends or go out for drinks. I bring my friends from other universities to He’s Not, and they love it as well (they also say it’s quite Fratty haha)! It’s definitely a place for college kids to hang out, but I probably will not be going back here once I graduate.
I’m not a fan of beer, but I still go to this bar to hang out. This isn’t really the place to go if you’re trying to get plastered though. I think it’s more of a chill place or somewhere to stop by after going out to other bars. They have $ 5 blue cups, which gets filled to the brim with beer. On Wednesdays, they have Pint Night where you can get a glass instead of a plastic cup.
There’s indoor and outdoor seating. Because most of the bar space is outdoor, it’s a great place during the warmer season but a lot more empty when it’s colder. He’s Not also has bands play, which adds to its great atmosphere. Like other reviews said, the bathrooms are pretty gross (they usually don’t even have soap — ew) and be careful where you step because the ground tends to have random dips and raises.

I want to give it 5 starts for nostalgia sake, but I’ve got to stick with 4 until they finally upgrade the bathrooms. The bathroom sinks don’t even work anymore, for crying out loud! And there’s a strong smell of urine coming from the restrooms, which is just gross. The outdoor area is obviously preferable, and I love the beer garden environment. Contrary to a recent post, they do have wine. I love wine, but you should definitely get blue cups here! Unless you are allergic to beer, in which case get the wine, and don’t add to the bathroom problems!

Don’t make the mistake of visiting Chapel Hill and NOT stopping for a blue cup at He’s Not. Whether you’re a student, townie or alumni– He’s Not is a must see. Grab a blue cup (or bottle of champagne, if that’s more your style) and some friends and soak in the awesomeness of this classic UNC drinking hole. Whether you’re wearing yoga pants or a cocktail dress, you’ll fit right in at He’s Not.

There were a few people in here Monday, but $ 5 miller high life is ridiculous and laughable. This is my second bad experience with this bar, I will not come back!

Don’t hate me people, but I wasn’t a big fan. Came here for the first time not knowing anything about it — this was a little over a year ago, but I basically felt like I walked into a frat party’s backyard. The outdoor area had no seating available, and the bench that did had a bunch of bird poop and spilled beer on it. I had no idea that the bar was upstairs. Once I figured that out, the bartender (or beer-​tender I would say) was not that friendly and looked at me like I was from another planet when I asked if they had wine. I get it, you only serve beer, but it was just a question. Anyways, the place just seemed a little too young for me, but I’m sure other people and most Tar Heels love it.

I love this place. It hasn’t changed in 40 years. It’s a dive bar for those of us that love dive bars.

Not my go-​to in Chapel Hill but still a staple outdoor bar everyone should visit at some point. He’s Not has a decent selection of beers for a super cheap price, but the place is always a fratty-​ish atmosphere. Unfortunately they don’t serve liquor (but that’s why their beer is able to be sold so cheaply). And you can’t beat keeping your blue cups!

A favorite of some local college students. He’s Not Here is the home of the «Blue Cup,» which is a quart sized plastic cup filled with your choice of flat beer. There is a nice outdoor space that the establishment uses to bring in above average bands. The inside is often crowded, with wet floors, and long lines for bathrooms. The bouncers are friendly… to their friends (and no one else.) Overall, it isn’t a bad spot, but the owners could take more pride and care of this establishment, as simple things are missed.

A Chapel Hill tradition. If you haven’t had a Blue Cup (32 ounces of draft beer) you haven’t lived. The bathrooms are a little dirty but this dive bar is truly unique. Check out local live music most weekends

Came here for a social event associated with the B school. Free giant cups. It was my first time, and I was foolish enough to take two. Nearly tripped over that damn root. And what is the stage/​platform doing the middle of the courtyard (which, by the way, is pretty nice, but I imagine this venue is pretty dead in the winter months. Strike that considering what I’m writing next). But late at night, this place turns into a bonafide meat market. I’m simply too old and too married to be 100 ft near such nonsense. However, were I a youngster, still sowing my wild oats… And how did I scrape my leg on a tree stump? And how did I get home to write this?

While taking a walk up and down Franklin Street we were drawn in here by the live band. It appeared to be the only place hopping on a Saturday evening which was rather surprising to be honest, because it turned out to be fairly empty. But free live music is what we were looking for and they had it on a huge open patio. there was a grill to cook on, lots of picnic tables and benches under the trees and some cornhole boards to kick back on while jamming to the live tunes.
There was no cover to get inside, just a flash of the ID, but I’m not sure if that’s the case for every night here. A quaint little bar outside served drafts and the full bar upstairs on the inside provided the more wholesome selection of all the beers they had to offer. Not sure exactly what kind of place this is aiming to be. It was really kinda run down and dive-​y while the group was easily 30s and up jock types intermingled with old bikers looking for a party with some drunken 30 year old. However, if you get enough cheap beer in your system it is my belief that you can throw-​down a jive anywhere you find yourself. For this joint I say rock on for as long as you can — life is what you make it!

It’s obvious that the «He» in the bar’s name refers to a certain UNC Geography student who will remain unnamed.
That being said, I appreciate He’s Not has an extensive outdoor area, unique for Chapel Hill (with the exception of The Lodge). It also has a decent inside, with various arcade games and some form of slot machine thing that I saw a guy hang out at for a whole hour.
All of this being said, make sure you’re clear with the bartender what size you want, or you will likely get the giant blue cup. This isn’t a bad thing in most situations, but when it is, it is a definite problem.
Also, avoid the bathrooms. They’re… um, unique. No sinks, just a hand sanitizer thing outside of the bathroom.
Overall, the beers are cheep. But this is an undergrad bar, and not in the fun way that a Bub O’Malley’s can be (what I’m saying is that they need more shuffleboard).

Went there alot during college visiting friends — made a quick stop here as an adult for a run down memory lane and a beverage. As most bars go doing the day — smelled like musty stale beer.
Let’s just say this — had my beer in my stupid blue cup and left…