Sit. Stay.

The Velvet Hippo is a neighborhood bar for everybody. You’ll find us on Orange Street in historic downtown Durham, North Carolina. We’re here 7 days a week serving fun and fanciful signature cocktails, local beers, creative mocktails and slushes, and light bites in a welcoming space complete with rooftop views of downtown.

Come enjoy a vacation vibe in a cozy space that feels like the bar from CHEERS and looks like a tropical getaway.

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Our Hours

Monday-Thursday: 4pm - midnight
Friday: 4pm - 2am
Saturday: 12pm - 2am
Sunday: 12pm - midnight

Kitchen open ‘til 10pm Sun-Weds, 12am Thurs-Sat!

Yappy Hours:
We’re happy to welcome well-behaved pups to our roofdeck on Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-6pm! Because we can’t have pets inside, please bring dogs up via their VIP stairs two doors down to the left of our main entry.

Best Cocktails | Best Mocktails
Best Late Night | Best Date Night

Best Mixologist | Best Neighborhood Bar
Best NA Drinks | Best New Business

Best Cocktails | Best Neighborhood Bar
Best NA Drinks | Best Drag Event (bingo)

View fullsize We may be closed on Monday, but bartender Zig is hard at work dreaming up his spring menu cocktail! 🥒 Don’t worry, his industrious lab assistants are there with him. Tali Kat vas Payton and Booker DeWitt are at the top of their game. 🐈🐈‍
View fullsize Mondays, am I right? We are going to stay closed today so our people don’t have to drive home late night when the roads refreeze 🥶Stay safe and warm and we’ll see you tomorrow for $10 margs and $2 off draft beers! . . . #downtowndurham #
View fullsize Bartender Tyler is making the most of his snow day off by doing a little R&D for the spring menu!👨‍🔬🧪He’s getting a lot of help from his dedicated lab assistant, Rico… Who’s excited to try his next cocktail creation in F
View fullsize Snow Day Crew! ❄️ Working hard or just vibing, our people are best hang in town 💙💙💙
View fullsize We’re open Saturday until the snow starts falling or the ice starts icing! ❄️🧊 Your fave bartenders are slinging drinks as long as it’s safe to be out, then we’re shutting it down for the night, whether it’s 7pm or 2am! Come
View fullsize Come on out tonight, just in case it’s the last time you leave your house for a while! 🧊❄️ DJ Nar pops off at 9:30, your fave bartenders are waiting to make your cocktail dreams come true, and the heaters on the patio are fired up and ready to
View fullsize Welp, our magical snowfall seems to have turned into an ice-mageddon 😕 Here’s our plan for the storm — we’ll let you know here if anything changes! Stay safe, y’all. Friday, Jan 23 - Normal Hours Friday Night Shift w/Lex Ne
View fullsize It’s time to get to know another member of our team a little better! 🦄 Tay (he/she/they) has been with us about a year and a half, every day of which they’ve made us laugh our faces off! “I’m from Provo, Utah, with ties in D
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View fullsize TOMORROW! @jaybreland DJ Bre is back for FEMME FRIDAY with smooth beats to get your weekend vibe right. Come dance 9:30-1:30 and chill with your favorite bartenders all night. 🪩💃🏻 21+ only, no cover! . . . #durhamnc #womandj #durhamdj #fridayvibes
View fullsize Orange Street, really living up to her name tonight 🍊🧡 Come hang out with Kaykay and Tay in our little *slice* of downtown tonight! . . . #orangestreet #downtowndurham #durhamnc #ncsunset #rooftopbars
View fullsize Starting the year off feeling grateful for our team, who jumped into action and took on more than their fair share last week when they arrived to find that we’d been broken into for the second time in as many weeks. They boarded things up, chan
View fullsize Ya tu sabe!!!! 🔥💃🍹January’s First Friday Latin Night is happening on Second Friday this month, so if you thought you missed the party, you’re in luck! See you tonight at 9:30 for spicy beats from DJ Synko and fire drinks from your favo
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View fullsize Don’t forget!🔔 We will be closed this first week of January so our team can recharge their batteries for a great 2026 with you. We’ll re-open as usual on Thursday, January 8th, with Music Bingo with @stormiedaie and @gayagendanc, and we&

Heads up! We scan IDs

Ensuring that everyone has a great time, feels secure, and gets home safely is our whole jam. With this in mind, we employ an industry-standard electronic ID scanning system with camera on busy nights to ensure everyone is of age, to let people with good intentions know that we’re looking out for them (and people with bad intentions know that we’re keeping an eye on them), and to help our security team quickly identify and remove anyone who’s not treating other guests or our space with respect.

Please note that the photo we take on your way in is permanently deleted after a few days, and does NOT use any facial recognition technology or feed into any such database. We only ever review a photo in the case where someone has caused a problem and we need to find their ID so we can flag it in our guest list.

If you have any questions about our systems, feel free to contact us at hello@velvethippodurham.com and we’ll be happy to answer them! You can learn more about the system we use on their FAQ page.