Sly Grog Lounge

The building is a squat 1950s box that’s held Sly Grog since 2016. A gas heater failed in early December 2021, and the fire did nearly $200,000 in damage; engineers weren’t sure at first whether the building could be saved. Co-owners Theodore Crouse-Mann and Spring Pearson led the rebuild that followed, calling it at the time “an exercise in patience.” The Orange Peel lent its sound system for a comeback show, and Holy Crap Records’ John Kennedy ran the GoFundMe that got a parking-lot prom onstage that April. Volunteer workdays started in March 2024, and the room reopened at 271 Haywood Street on May 17, 2024. Inside now: a wall of shelved CRT televisions and old game consoles facing a round table, a hand-chalked sign beside the stage reading VIVA LE VOX, and a lounge of mismatched couches lit purple and blue. None of the couches match, which tracks given who rebuilt the place. Out back, a covered stage opens red at night onto a patio with a stone fire pit ringed by red and yellow Adirondack chairs. Check the calendar before you go — Monday’s open mic and Wednesday’s jam are the only fixed nights in a room that otherwise runs on whoever’s booked.