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FOUNDATION

4.4 (333 reviews)
ModerateCocktail Bars
Closed • 4:00 pm - 2:00 am (Next day)
Updated 2 months ago

FOUNDATION Photos

FOUNDATION ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - FOUNDATION

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Me and the gals at our own bar crawl
Sakinah P.

Great drinks the selection of great beverages and staff was a delight. The vibes and atmosphere here is wonderful. I had the Krupnikas flip and the coquito both were smooth and have a great flavorful punchy

Drinks
Calvin D.

Always heard great things about Foundation. This was my first time and it did not disappoint. The ambiance was nice and relaxing, the drinks incredible, and the service exactly what you would want. I loved everything about my first time here and will certainly return.

Ari K.

Very cool basement bar. Friendly staff and creative cocktails. Fun to grab a drink downtown. It's a little dark down there, but it's full of character

Kyle and Paddy- they are your hosts and AMAZING
Lauraine E.

This place is a true gem!! We stopped in late on weeknight and were treated so well. Kyle took care of us with his coworker Paddy making sure we were comfortable and well informed of our choices. The Foundation is the real deal... dark, artsy, not pretentious in the least. An approachable craft cocktail spot with wine, beer, and cider to boot. There is thought put into every item. I will absolutely return next time I'm in Raleigh and I encourage y'all to check this lounge out, you will not be disappointed!!

Salted caramel espresso martini or comparable. Delicious place to cool off from the humid and heat!
Metta T.

Hidden, cool and trendy! The mixologist was super friendly and welcoming. He can make you what her you ask. No good. All cold beverages!

South side
Tessa O.

This was such a cute place to end the night! It's tucked away and has a speakeasy vibe inside. The bartenders and waiters were really nice and didn't mind us coming in towards the end of the night. I love how they have a lot of classic cocktails on their menu because a lot of bars don't know how to make the classic drinks. I had the south side and it was delicious. They also make their own soda there which is nice. Definitely recommend if you want a good cocktail!

Emily G.

Great speakeasy bar, it's underground you might miss walking by. Pretty small inside. Their drink menu is great, but it was pretty loud so it made it hard to hear my partner.

Violet E.

I went with a group of other grad students to the Foundation for some drinks before our formal. Although we initially got lost (couldn't find the stairs to go down), we did enjoy our experience there. The bartender was kind and provided us waters as well. One thing I didn't love about my experience was the ambiance- personally, I like to see what I'm drinking. It was only around 7 pm when we walked in but it was pretty dark in the bar. Since my espresso martini was delicious, I would come back!

Falan E.

By far one of the best craft cocktail bars on my go-to list for 2023. The bartender quickly noticed us and cleared our table as people left. I felt an exclusive hidden gem vibe. Very small and intimate. Extremely fitting for the spaces I enjoy. Foundation is tucked away downstairs in a basement-like space. Very easy to overlook. We dropped in for a nightcap. I ordered The Eastside as the bartender suggested. Very good. The bartenders are top-tier and highly experienced. All around good drinks and laid back atmosphere where I enjoyed being in the moment, so much so that I forgot to snap a photo of the menu. It appeared to change, as there were many specialty craft cocktail options. I look forward to coming back soon.

Old Fashioned and a dirty martini.
Brian H.

Awesome little speakeasy, focused on great cocktails using spirits and other ingredients from NC or, when that's not possible, the USA. Our server turned out to be the owner. He was great and has built a special business. The drinks were excellent.

This season's menu poem! Cute touch.

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11 years ago

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15 years ago

Definitely one of my favorite places to have a good, original drink. I always make a point to stop by if I am downtown.

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11 years ago

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10 years ago

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10 years ago

Foundation is a great cocktail bar, the atmosphere is great also. Excellent service and not that expensive!

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14 years ago

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13 years ago

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13 years ago

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11 years ago

Really like the Foundation, small, intimate bar with a nice ambiance to it. If you want to experience a nice bourbon visit the Foundation.

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10 years ago

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13 years ago

One of the best places in town just fantastic service great place smells clean including bathrooms,tasty drinks

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12 years ago

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15 years ago

hands down, best mixed drinks in Raleigh.

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Page 9 of 9

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Cuya - Très lèche

Cuya

4.6(43 reviews)
0.7 mi•North Boylan

Big Flavors, Warm Hospitality, and Two Unforgettable Standouts…read more Ratings: Overall: 4.5 of 5 Stars (Ambiance: 4/5; Service: 5/5; Food: 4/5) What we ate: Ceviche Trio - $38 Korean Street Tacos (2) - $12 Crispy Potato Flautas - $14 Grilled Pulpo (Octopus) - $19 Elote Corn Ribs - $15 Mofongo (new, and not on the online menu) Birthday bonus (on the house): Tres leches cake and Mango sorbet What we drank: Pisco Inferno First Impressions: My daughter picked out "Cuya" for her birthday dinner. Traffic was light as it was midweek. Cuya has a lot to work with - a large patio out front and a smaller dining room inside. They are open all day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food: Ceviche Trio - $38 - a good, not great representation of the Peruvian standard. Two of 3 sauces made a positive impression while the third was fine. All three had decent portions of resh seafood. We just thought the 3rd sauce was okay. Korean Street Tacos (2) - $12 - the low-point of our order. They were fine - moist pork with okay seasoning. A reminder you may not want to order Korean food at a Latin American restaurant! Crispy Potato Flautas - $14 - a fantastic contrast of savory potatoes with the crunch of the fried shell. Grilled Pulpo (Octopus) - $19 - perfectly cooked, good sized portion of an octopus tentacle. A slight, slight crunch and tender meat inside. Elote Corn Ribs - $15 - One of our stars of the evening. Tender, sweet corn covered in a savory, buttery sauce, quartered into ribs." Eaten with two hands! You will be licking your fingers! Mofongo (new, and not on the online menu) - Our second star! A fantastic representation of the Puerto Rican classic of plantains and cracklings mashed up into an amazing plate of goodness. Served with a side of chopped pork, it was amazing. The service: Excellent, including details about the owners' origin stories, a consistent, but not overbearing, presence and excellent pacing of our plates. Would I come back: Again and again. Cuya Cocina was a delight for its excellent, diverse flavors, enthusiastic service and warm atmosphere.

I came here for my birthday on a Sunday evening. We easily found street parking a block or two…read moreaway. We had a reservation and it wasn't busy, with two other groups and one couple dining there as well. We left around 6:30 and it was still very slow with no new customers coming in since we arrived. I think this place is probably more lively on Friday and Saturday nights. The food was delicious and the employees were friendly. When we walked in, the executive chef (Kevin?) asked if we had dined there before and welcomed us with a handshake and introduced himself. When you first enter Cuya there is a casual dining area with a lot of natural light coming in through the windows. That is the cafe portion of their restaurant and where they serve pastries, lattes, sandwiches, salads, and other more casual dining options. It's a cute and spacious spot that would be great for a casual breakfast or lunch. When you walk through the cafe there is a second door that opens into a second dining area that is a lot darker and has a completely different vibe and look. The music is fairly loud so it isn't a good place to go for a quiet meal or date unless you're into nightlife. The music is fun though with reggaeton, some r&b, and other Latin music like Juanes or bad bunny. The decor is super cool and sexy and colorful with fun decorations like a bust/mannequin head wearing a tropical fruit hat, lots of plants and neon lights, as well as framed art featuring different Latin countries. We started off with some drinks: a mezcalita picante and a pineapple jarritos. They even poured the jarritos into a glass and garnished it like a cocktail which was a nice touch and fun for our 5 year old. Our appetizers came after our drinks. We ordered the fritto mixto, pork belly tostones, pulpo, and empanadas. For our main meal we ordered the banana leaf steamed snapper. We ended our meal with mango sorbet. The only desserts available were a banana bread style bread pudding and mango sorbet. I was really hoping for some flan or tres leches and very disappointed by the offerings available. However, the mango sorbet was actually so incredible and delicious with a generous amount of scoops (I believe there were four). You could really taste the mango. The fritto mixto was good and came with a nice marinara style sauce which tasted more like a blended pico de gallo. The calamari was tasty and there were some nice juicy shrimp in the mix as well. The pork belly empanada was nice but not our favorite. We liked the sauce it came with but we weren't expecting deep fried empanadas. It comes with 2 however and makes for a great sharing appetizer for a small group. My favorite appetizer was definitely the pulpo which was so crispy on the outside and oh so tender on the inside and cooked to perfection. It didn't seem grilled as the menu states but was still incredibly delicious. It is plated atop a yummy salsa and served with some fingerling potatoes (some purple on the inside!). The potatoes were no frills and not that flavorful but still nice. Highly recommend. The banana leaf snapper was a very interesting dish with a fun presentation. The snapper sits beneath a layer green olive and capers with arugula and baby tomatoes. The snapper was cooked well and extremely tender. I recommend you mix it all together otherwise the caper and olive mix is pretty overpowering. We had an overall lovely experience and would return again and recommend this place to anyone looking for a delicious place to try! I want to come back to try the noodle dishes, Jamaican curry wings, and the ceviche/crudo items! The tacos sounded delicious as well.

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Cuya
Cuya - La Tripleta Sandwich

La Tripleta Sandwich

Cuya - Seasonal cocktail

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Seasonal cocktail

The Crunkleton - Wagyu Flat Iron

The Crunkleton

4.3(96 reviews)
0.7 mi•Glenwood South
•$$$

I reserved a table at the Crunkleton after seeing that it was featured in a list of best new…read morerestaurants because I wanted to treat my wife to a surprise night out. I wanted it to feel casual, but also very nice and elegant. The Crunkleton was exactly what I wanted. The interior has a nice date night feeling with an impressive bar and elegant furniture. But it's also small enough to give it a casual and welcoming feeling. On to the important part though, the food! It was SO delicious. Sorry Italian restaurants of Raleigh, but the seafood pasta here might be my favorite pasta dish in all of Raleigh. It was so deliciously creamy and I love the spices that gave it an additional zesty, herbaceous flavor. The shrimp in the pasta was also perfectly cooked, not at all tough. Our crab cakes appetizer was also a great, easy-to-share start to the night, and I really liked the Mojito-inspired gin-based Mule cocktail that I ordered. My wife had Steak Frites and she also loved her food. All of the food and drinks that we had was of a "best in the city" caliber, and I'd be thrilled to have a reason to back. The service we had was nothing exemplary, but it didn't get in the way of us enjoying our time here either. If you are looking for a place to have a date night that feels special, but also relaxed and comfortable, look no further. Book here!

My brother and I visited The Crunkleton on Tuesday, October 20th, and overall, we had a really…read moreenjoyable experience! First, the restaurant itself is beautiful! From the moment you walk in, you get this sophisticated, upscale atmosphere with warm, dim lighting that creates an intimate dining experience without feeling too dark. They also have a lovely outdoor seating area, although no one was sitting outside during our visit. The bar is absolutely gorgeous and has an impressive selection of wines and spirits. We originally planned to sit at a table but decided to move to the bar instead, which is how I was able to admire the beautiful bar. The staff was wonderful! From the hostess to our server, everyone was friendly, welcoming, and attentive. My brother and I shared the Tomahawk Steak, which came with fries, and charred bread. The portion was definitely generous enough for two people, possibly three, depending on your appetite. We actually had a little left over! We ordered our ribeye medium, but some portions were noticeably less cooked than we expected, closer to medium-rare. Personally, I would probably order medium-well next time to get a result closer to my preference. As far as flavor, the steak was alright. I felt the actual meat could have used more seasoning, particularly salt. Interestingly, the fat on the ribeye was absolutely delicious! It had so much flavor, and I found that pairing a small piece of the flavorful fat with a bite of the leaner meat made the steak much more enjoyable. That combination really brought out the flavor! I just wish more of that delicious seasoning had carried through to the meat itself. The sides, however, were really good! The vegetables were enjoyable, and even the simple charred bread was delicious. Sometimes the simplest things are done exceptionally well! Another bonus was that we visited on a Tuesday, when the ribeye was half off! That definitely made the meal feel like a great value, especially considering the generous portion size. Now, here's where things got interesting: THE BURGER! The person sitting next to us ordered a burger, and it looked absolutely amazing. We ended up ordering a regular cheeseburger to go for one of my kids, and let me tell you, that burger was delicious! I managed to sneak a small bite before it disappeared, and it was juicy, flavorful, and honestly more enjoyable than the ribeye. Would I return? Absolutely! Although the ribeye wasn't my favorite steak, it certainly wasn't bad. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to steak, and someone else may absolutely love it. For me, I would have preferred a little more seasoning throughout the meat and a slightly higher cooking temperature. Between the beautiful atmosphere, welcoming staff, generous portions, and that delicious cheeseburger, this place is definitely worth visiting. Next time, I'm ordering the burger!

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The Crunkleton - Interior

Interior

The Crunkleton - Charred Brussels Sprouts & Duck Fat Potatotes

Charred Brussels Sprouts & Duck Fat Potatotes

The Crunkleton - Barrel Aged Vieux Carre

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Barrel Aged Vieux Carre

FOUNDATION - cocktailbars - Updated October 2026

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