Raleigh adds a cozy cafe with a vintage espresso machine and cocktail gadgetry
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Songbird will open dinner service June 11 and morning service June 12 in Raleigh.
- The 800-square-foot cafe offers traditional, low-ABV and spirit-free cocktails.
- Songbird sources beans from Willow House roasters and is adding de-alcoholizer machines.
An exceptionally cozy cafe and cocktail bar is set to open in Raleigh this month.
Songbird, the highly anticipated all-day cafe and cocktail lounge in East End Market, will open for dinner service Saturday, June 13, followed by its first morning service Sunday, June 14.
“We just are so excited that it’s going to be a space where people can come for different times of the day throughout the day for different reasons, for different occasions,” co-owner Meg Paradise said.
Songbird’s specialty is cocktails, offering spirit-free, low ABV and traditional drinks. And like the diminutive songbird, whose enormous trill echoes in the treetops, the bar hopes to have an outsized impact on the Triangle bar scene.
Built into a tiny 800 square foot space, Songbird builds on the Triangle’s red hot all-day cafe trend. Fueled by a vintage espresso maker, Songbird has built a morning coffee and tea menu, sourcing its beans from Raleigh’s Willow House roasters.
Songbird’s beginnings
Songbird is owned by longtime beverage pros Meg Paradise and Charlie Blue Arm, who teamed up to create an inclusive hang space for any time of day.
A couple of years ago, Paradise created Umbrella Bar in downtown Raleigh, best known for being the Triangle’s first spirit free cocktail bar. The project was enormously buzzy around town, but short-lived, closing after less than a year. Paradise said important lessons were learned.
“Umbrella really came to me, like, originally as a dream, and so I didn’t really have a path forward,” Paradise said. “It was just like, ‘I want a non-alcoholic cocktail bar to exist,’ or a place where I can go and have a non-alcoholic cocktail that’s really amazing and delicious.”
It turned out that a large 3,500 square foot former restaurant space might not have been the best place to nurture the Umbrella concept, Paradise said.
“To have a kitchen, but have a minimal food program, to have a space that is 3,500 (square feet) but primarily be a bar, like those things don’t really add up,” she said.
With Songbird, there will be traditional spirit-forward cocktails on the menu, as well as non-alcoholic beverages, a change from Umbrella.
“The feedback on that was that it actually was sort of exclusive, like the point was to be not exclusive or and be very inclusive, but it actually kind of ended up being the opposite to certain people,” Paradise said.
Day to night
In Songbird, Paradise and Blue Arm said they wanted to create a flexible space to meet people where they are, either for a quick morning coffee and pastry or quiet evening cocktail with friends.
“We’re open every day, which really means we can be part of a rhythm for everybody in the morning program,” Blue Arm said. “It’s basically really about expanding your hours, making sure you’re using every operational hour you can just, because things are so expensive now. You really kind of have to do so.”
On the opening menu, you’ll find lower spirit cocktails like the Mulberry Clover Club, a riff on a classic gin cocktail, colored and flavored with foraged mulberries.
There’s a version of the Bee’s Knees with dandelion-infused gin and wildflower honey.
On the spirit-free side, you’ll find a bright Lemon Balm South Side, with nitro-muddled lemon balm. Or an alcohol-removed Pimm’s Cup with snap pea-ginger soda.
De-alcoholizer machines
One innovation for Songbird, is the addition of de-alcoholizer machines, which can take traditional spirts and remove the booze.
“So to have actual Campari, then de-alced, like to make to have Aperol, and to take the alcohol out of it, to me, it actually tastes familiar,” Paradise said.
On the food side, chef Dave Mitchell of Long Leaf Swine is running a residency at Songbird, offering small plates and a tasting menu. Dishes include a goat cheese toast with summer squash and honey, a roasted carrot tartare and a slow-roasted beef tenderloin with pickled onions.
“We’re also going to focus a lot on cold plates, just because by virtue of our seasonality, we, we have access to so many great vegetables right now, vegetables and fruits,” Blue Arm said. “The food menu is going to rotate just as our drink menu rotates.”
This story has been updated with Songbird’s new opening dates.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Raleigh adds a cozy cafe with a vintage espresso machine and cocktail gadgetry."
