The Pinhook Bars & Clubs in Durham – GayOut Guide
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The Pinhook

Google (569) 4.5
Tripadvisor (10) 4.2
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87
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GayOut Score
G4.5 🦉4.2
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Address
117 W Main St, Durham, NC 27701
📞
Phone
+1 919-667-1100
🌐
Website
thepinhook.com
💰
Price Range
$

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About this place The Pinhook

The Pinhook at 117 W Main Street is Durham's most important queer-friendly cultural venue — a music booking bar that operates with an explicitly inclusive ethos and programs with the kind of adventurousness that Durham's creative scene expects. The venue is not a gay bar in the traditional sense but is deeply embedded in the queer community through its programming, its staff culture, and the crowd it draws. Durham's queer community has a significant arts and music component — the city's role as a creative alternative to the corporate Raleigh scene, and the influence of Duke's arts programmes, have produced a LGBTQ+ culture with strong ties to independent music, visual art, and performance. The Pinhook is the venue where these connections are most visible: queer bands, queer-friendly touring acts, queer DJ nights, and the social infrastructure of a bar that welcomes everyone. The W Main Street location in the heart of downtown Durham makes it accessible from the 9th Street corridor and from Duke's East Campus. For visitors to Durham who want to experience the city's queer culture beyond bar-hopping, a night at The Pinhook is essential.

Opening Hours

Open Now · closes 02:00
Monday 17:00-02:00
Tuesday 17:00-02:00
Wednesday 17:00-02:00
Thursday 17:00-02:00
Friday 17:00-02:00
Saturday 17:00-02:00
Sunday 17:00-02:00

Features

Gay Mixed LGBTQ+ Young crowd (under 30) Chill / Relaxed Underground Local favorite DJ sets Late night (after midnight) Live music

Insider Tips

Community Reviews

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Google Reviews

Verified by Google
4.5
★★★★★
569 reviews

Based on 569 Google reviews.

Russ Stamey
Russ Stamey Aug 2026
★★★★★

Great place to see live music and to just hang out.

Bruce Tuttle
Bruce Tuttle Aug 2026
★★★★★

Fun little club. Great sound.

Alecks Wyatt
Alecks Wyatt Aug 2026
★★★★★
Hector Jeyakaran
Hector Jeyakaran Jul 2026
★★★★★

Stopped in for live music, good stage & set up for bands, friendly staff. Has a neighborhood feel.

Chloe Campbell
Chloe Campbell Jul 2026
★★★★★
Catherine Kronk
Catherine Kronk Jul 2026
★★★★★
Darith Klibanow
Darith Klibanow Jun 2026
★★★★★

We hosted our wedding afterparty here, and we had an absolutely incredible time! The price to rent the entire place out for a Saturday evening is fantastic compared to anywhere else in the area. The bartenders were awesome, and the venue was clean and super easy to set up and coordinate with! The little patio you can access was the perfect break for a breath of fresh air, and the venue recommended Gemynii as a DJ, which turned out to be the PERFECT rec!! Gemynii's sets were incredible, and they work at the Pinhook frequently so they didn't need to ask any additional questions in order to get set up. If you're looking to rent out a cool bar for the night (our party was for about 35 people and there was definitely space to have more), the Pinhook is a great choice

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Last updated on 30 September 2026

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