The Anchor Bar — Restaurant in Raleigh

I will never forget my one and only visit to this bar, in June of 2015. I lived in downtown Raleigh, and frequently would walk past a homeless man who always said hello, and never asked for a thing. On this particular day, he informed me it was his birthday, so I asked him if I could buy him a couple drinks to celebrate. Anchor bar was close, so I walked in, and ordered two beers. No issue at all. As my friend comes back from the restroom, the bartender returns and asks my friend if he has any money. I explained the one of the two beers I purchased was for him. The bartender then asks me “what exactly the F I think I am doing? He needs to have his own money to drink here.” I very calmly ask “so is there a rule against buying other people drinks here? I know you can’t legally serve me two beverages at once, and you sold me two” and then the bartender literally slapped the beer out mine and my friends hand and screams “NO SERVICE”. I was completely floored. When approached with logic, the bartender resorted to hostility, and displayed his true colors.

I left and we went to the Big Easy instead, and their bartender enjoyed a nice 50% tip on top of our $100 tab.

Judging by the reviews, this place hasn’t changed much. I’ll never know though, I won’t set foot in a place that treats those less fortunate...

Went here with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday. The way we were treated was among the most horrifying and unacceptable I have experienced at any establishment in my life. The place was very busy, and people had begun filtering out onto the sidewalk to escape the over-crowded bar (which is small). One of the doormen (hired thugs?) came up behind us all and screamed at the top of his lungs that "if we didn't want to move off of the sidewalk that we could leave". His level of aggression and anger was ridiculous, and I happily obliged and left immediately. I will not be spoken to that way, especially after handing over my hard-earned money moments earlier as a paying customer. They were obviously doing a brisk business and so I suppose this means they can treat patrons any way they damn well please and feel justified. I should note that none of us were drunk (I haven't had a drop of alcohol in four years). If you like being bullied by a bunch of wannabe gangsters with inflated egos, Anchor Bar is your spot. If you want to be treated with a bit of respect as a paying customer, choose literally any of the hundreds of other places...

Went here for my bachelorette party during Trolli Pub crawl tour which stopped near here. The driver encouraged us to patronize The Anchor Bar. We went in with about 4 people to get a quick shot. It was a busy weekend in town but the bar was not “slammed” at 2:30 PM in a Saturday. He didn’t serve us for fifteen minutes. We waited. And waited. After ten, we were finally at least acknowledged when he told us he would help up shortly.

He was purely rude and did NOT want to serve us. We all just could not figure out why? Were we profiled? We were a mixed group though. Maybe it is more of a sit down place? But, none the less the message was loud and clear that he was hoping we would wait till we left from frustration. When the shot came he even ignored me when I asked what type of tequila it was? Then tried to say “oh you’re talking to me?” There was no other bartender working. I dunno-I will let the trolli tour know not to suggest this place to it’s clients 😳 two stars cause the...