Thursday, December 11, 2025

Our highly eccentric, deeply subjective, Best of 2025

Place to hear loud cumbia on the daily: Cocoa Cinnamon Lakewood

Local radio host: Travis Gales

New opening: Hatch Burritos

Dive bar bathroom: Surf Club

Place to catch a quiet drink: Delafia 

Breathwork album of the year. Free by Airto; Septet by John Carroll Kirby

Vintage music video: James Taylor with Carole King

Coffee: Fount 

Book: A Jewish Appendix by Adam Sobsey

Local naturalist: Lisa-McCool Grime

Bagels: Isaac’s


Way to create a stir: Durham Food Hall advertises for ICE 

Unfinished monstrosity still hanging over Durham, with velvet glove wellness companies well-situated on the ground floor: The Novus

Local nonprofit: Bike Durham

Bike shop: Bullseye Bicycle

Locus of community athletics: The Daily Beer Bar 


Cheapie Biscuit: Biscuitville

Place to brunch with your parents, but only on Saturdays: Monuts

Place to get lunch on a Monday, all other restaurants being closed: Ninth Street Bakery

Aged, degraded, and scarred semi-public toilet seat: JvG Broad St

New addition to Durham that I wanted to hate, but came to appreciate: Sauna House

Soft serve: Brokenspoke 

Booty bustin' workout: Flowcore 

Tea Service: J. Chelf 

Pat down: Durham Public Library.  

Underwhelming re-opening: Old North (Accordion RIP)

Underwhelming brewery opening in a city already awash in mediocre beer: Crankarm Brewing

Place for community vibes: Durham Farmer's Market


Annual tradition that just might kill me: Durham Hot Dog Rally

Anticipated Opening for 2026, or 2027?: Durham Rail Trail; South Ellerbe Wetland Restoration

Thing that we saw coming, but didn't want to admit how bad it would get: Trump, Part Deux: Revenge of the Trump

In Memoriam: David Lynch

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