Inside Raleigh's North Person Street Neighborhood

WillCo Bar, as the locals call it, is an inviting, treat-yourself kind of watering hole. Owner Liliana Contreras Ballance took the ambiance de moda in her native Mexico City—hipster chic with a touch of sugar skull—and combined it with a local artistic flair to transform an old trophy shop into a cozy neighborhood haunt. The sidewalk has morphed into a patio space for parked strollers, bicycles and Ballance’s El Taco Cartel food cart, which offers bar snacks if it’s not roving the rest of the city (a couple times a week, you can find a stash of Oaxacan-style tamales for sale behind the bar, too). Against exposed brick and a giant neon “nightbird” art piece by WillCo bartender Carrie Gephart, the scene screams with ingenuity. Fresh juices and tinctures round out an adventurous cocktail list ranging from margaritas to gimlets. Try the Lemongrass Champ, a clean spritzer sharpened with its namesake herb and black peppercorn, or the Oriza martini, made with chile-infused mezcal. facebook.com/WillcoBar

This sleek butcher shop-meets grocery store-meets farm-focused restaurant and bar opened in 2015, helmed by chef Eric Montagne. Local beef comes in as a whole cow, pork as the entire pig, broken down by the butcher whose station overlooks a neatly packed, gourmet grocery adjacent to the dining room. Herbs, greens and garlic are plucked from the backyard garden, visible through the massive greenhouse-style windows in what’s probably the sunniest kitchen in town. “We’re actually designed to run out of things,” Montagne says. If they do, then diners end up sharing dishes or moving onto the next seasonal item on the list. The menu plays off classic Southern techniques—from hot fried chicken to hoe cakes—and parlay them into modern iterations that don’t skimp on comfort. “There’s a moral compass behind this place,” says Montagne. “We’re not trying to reinvent anything, but work with farmers and artisans who have been doing this for hundreds of years.” standard-foods.com

This menswear brand started by four young North Carolina natives features gender fluid locally-designed clothing, collaborating with Southern designers, artists, manufacturers and photographers. Owner Paul Conner explains that the store’s name alludes to enlightenment, and his classic goods—sturdy jeans and sharp button-up shirts—are rooted in conservation. “It’s a social responsibility to take care of the people around us,” he explains. Lumina’s own line of T-shirts are cut, sewn, dyed and printed in North Carolina by locally-owned companies who employ fair and diverse labor practices. luminaclothing.com

Boutique owner and fashion designer Jessie Williams opened her first Edge of Urge in Wilmington, on the North Carolina coast. She expanded with a second store on North Person in 2014, tipped by Lumina’s Paul Connor next door (a friend from high school). “It’s the perfect spot,” she says. “To the core, the other business’s values are on par with mine. And everyone works their butts off.” Edge of Urge has quickly become a reliable retail shop for cheeky gifts flaunting feminist slogans and dirty curse words, high-end locally made clothing (from brands like Pearface Co.) and DIY craft workshops where, Williams says, customers “hammer out their emotions;” they sell out each month. edgeofurge.com

Keeping a simple lunch counter stocked with sandwiches, owner Daniel Whittaker recently added a restored heart pine wood table to the center of his pharmacy café, which now seats 24 in a communal space. The chef, Patrick Cowden, creates specialties like braised duck with pickled vegetables on a crusty baguette, fried, local shrimp rolls, griddled halloumi and at least twenty jars and bottles of house-made hot sauces and relishes that rival the cure-all strength in the pill bottles lining the walls (the space is, indeed, a working pharmacy, as well). Desserts and drinks take the soda fountain concept to the next level, using small-batch local ingredients—Crude Bitters syrups, Lumpy’s ice cream—that go beyond the malted milkshake and into rich territory. Try the Sweet & Shine: sweet potato ice cream, moonshine syrup, candied pecans, white chocolate, and orange-fig sauce. personstreetrx.com