West End Wine Bar

This is an updated review. We use to love the West End but lately we have been very disappointed.
When we came in the bartender ignored me. Mine you I was dressed professional. He finally asked me what i wanted and took his time getting my beer. I was hungry and would have loved to order some food but no, he had to sit on the couch and played with his phone. My friend came and had to wait to get served. He was a prick. He 3^rd time we were treated this way.
WORSE BARTENDER EVER!!! His name starts with a «C». I will call first because i won’t spend my money somewhere where it’s not wanted.

Decent wine selection but my opinion is its overpriced. The atmosphere at west end is great for before or after dinner drinks. However I can’t get over expensive decent wine.

This is a nice bar with full liquor license. The bartenders are so nice. I would recommend this place! My date and i stopped in for a drink. Very romantic.

A nice place to relax, grab a drink, grab a snack, etc. Good wine selection– bartenders are knowledgable. The bar food is good. Crostini/​mozzarella is delicious. If you play pool, their sister establishment, West End Billiards, is next door. We’ve been to West End several times, and it can be busy, but we’ve never had an issue with seating.

This is a good place to sit and relax after work and/​or to visit with your friends/​significant other (s). The ambiance/​atmosphere is great (not too loud), especially the number of couches available on both floors, plus the outdoor seats. The bartenders are very good, attentive, and most importantly know how to make drinks! (Yes, making drinks in a consistent basis is actually a pretty good skill).
The place also has a good selection of cured meats/​cheese plates, a good wine selection, as well as live music.
I would recommend this place if you are looking for a place to have a nice conversation with friends (or even dates) over good drinks.

I had high hopes for this place based on name and location, but I left disappointed.
It gets pretty hot in there if you go in the early evening as they have lots of windows with the sun streaming in. I am sure this would be nice once it gets cooler outside. When you walk in, you are immediately wondering, do I order at the bar, or do I take a seat and the server will greet me? When we left, we were no closer to finding an answer. There was one other group in there at the time my husband and I went. We sat down, looked at a menu, waited a while, and started to go to the bar and the bartender came to us to order out drinks and a few tapas. However, we had to go to the bar to order additional drinks and get our check (with only one other group occupying the whole place!!).
We got the cheese plate and garlic knots. The cheese plate was good, but lacked enough bread/​crackers. The Garlic knots were good and came out hot. We also got a wine flight. The wine flight was cool – we got 5 wine glasses with ~2 oz pours of wines of our pick and they were labeled with chalk at the bottom of the wine glass. Overall, great wine, but pretty expensive (10 – 13 dollars a glass).
I might be back because the place is cool and the wine and food were yummy, but service and prices may keep me from keeping this place one of my favorites. I’m interested to see if the one in Chapel Hill is as good (and better) than this one like other Unilocalers are saying…

Expensive wine. Bad atmosphere. Obnoxious bartender.
Went for a glass of wine only to be surprised by the prices. Most were 12 + for an atmosphere that seemed to demand around $ 6 or 7. However the most frustrating thing about my experience was the female bartender who cursed nonstop. Killed any mood the space could muster.

I think I love this place. Friendly and feels like a neighborhood spot while being big enough to house plenty of billiards tables, table shuffleboard (so fun! $ 2 to have the table for an hour is totally worth it), and more games, plus friendly staff and a good bottled beer selection. The bar was a little understaffed for a Saturday night and the food menu was more limited than usual (they were out of a number of great looking bar snacks), but the charcuterie we had were tasty. I’ll be back soon. Great place for groups, and I’m always a fan of free parking.

Fun beer bar with two large sand bocci ball lanes in the back. 10+ craft beers on tap plus cans and bottles. Nice staff. Dark lighting. Somewhat lively, a bit dead for a Friday night and probably doesn’t attract college kids. The adjacent wine bar was quieter and looked upscale. You have to walk through it I guess to find the BIlliards.

Dark lighting and comfortable couches upstairs increases. Downstairs is ideal for meeting new people. Upstairs provides a quieter place for more intimate conversation.
They also have a varying selection of good fruit-​flavored beers.

My wife and I stopped here for a glass of wine. The bartender was very attentive and let us sample wine to ensure we did not pick one we didn’t like. The our door seating was nice.

Pros:
–Lots of seating and types of seating (couches, chairs, barstools, patio seating)
–Larger than it seems — loft area upstairs is cozy
Cons:
–Music was really loud for 6:30 pm on a Monday (couldn’t hear people talking)
–Very hot inside, especially in the loft
–Extremely limited wine options (which is weird… because this is a wine bar.)
–Wasn’t busy but service was slow and bartender was almost rude/​unhappy to see our group

Beautiful ambiance and excellent selection of wine!

Bar tender was really nice. Giving it 3 stars because other than the pool that we usually don’t like to play, it’s pretty boring. I might come back with a group or bring my Dad who loves pool.

This is a great place to take a date! The atmosphere was comfortable and offered a nice break from the standard dive bars in the area. I love a good, knowledgeable bartender, and this place has just that! John, the wine and beer connoisseur was friendly and offered several different types of wines for me to try. He even paired several wines with the amazing variety of meats and cheeses. Note– I went on a Thursday night, so the crowd was less than 12 people, which could be different than a weekend night.

The only reason this is not a 5 star is the price. I paid 7 dollars for a pint of belles two hearted. 16oz can not draft. I generally expect 5 or 6 for a draft belles. All splitting hairs aside this place is awesome. It is loud enough to have a good time but quiet enough to chat with friends. Bar tenders were friendly and knowledgeable. Best part of the entire situation is the versatility of fun. They have indoor bocce ball, pool tables, table shuffle board (the kind with the sand…) and a basketball goal. Tons of suff to do when you’re out having a drink with friends I will definitely go back and I completely recommend this place. Just knock a dollar off the drinks!!!

When you ask for a wine list in a wine bar and get told «we have a red or a white» then you know you’re being deceived. If you want wine, go somewhere else. Oh, and they don’t do age checks either, if you say you’re old enough that’s ok, they won’t check.

Maybe I’m biased since I had a great night here, but I’ve added this to my bar short list. It’s classy and low key, with an upstairs loft that you can rent out for your private party. Good wine selection, beer on tap, and I’m looking forward to a hot buttered rum next time I’m back. You can gather with your friends on low couches or pull up to the bar. In warmer weather, the front porch is a nice option, but I enjoy the dimly lit interior during the colder months.

I came here on Sunday to watch the World Cup game with friends and was pleased by the free and ample parking when I first arrived. We were a bit confused on where the entrance was because the West End Bar entrance was locked, but we walked around the exterior of the building and found the Billiards entrance.
The ambiance was actually perfect in terms of being quiet enough that we were able to carry on normal conversations, but not too quiet as people dunked basketballs into the hoop inside, played pool, or cheered occasionally while watching the World Cup. We didn’t end up trying any drinks/​food so I can only really review what our friends said about the food! They tried the cheese pizza which looked yummy with melty cheese, but it looked a bit floppy and our friends said that the pizza was just «okay». They have a short simple menu with the basics (pizza, appetizers).

New place in Durham-​good for a date night or a night out with a large group. Atmosphere is fantastic… a little upscale for Durham, but definitely worth checking out.

Ahh vino! The cause of and solution to most of life’s little problems…
Over on Main Street in Durham, you’ll find the West End Wine (WEW) bar tucked away in West Village. WEW bar in Durham is a lot different than its older sister in Chapel Hill. Long bar, open space and a second floor landing with couches and stuffed chairs. WEW is a great spot to grab an early cocktail before heading off to bigger and better things. The bartenders are knowledgeable, personable and at the ready with their corkscrews. They typically have a couple of specials going on so take full advantage here. And while they serve some small plates and pizzas from Pop’s next door, don’t expect to put together a meal here. It’s all about a civilized glass of wine at West End Wine bar!
But I hate to say it, I prefer the older location in Chapel Hill, it’s a much more interesting space with a cozy feel. But stop on by WEW in Durham if you want to sniff, gurgle and enjoy a lovely glass of wine. Because you really can’t ever go wrong with vino…