September 27, 2011
This may seem like some to be a dive bar but they would be wrong. Located mere minutes from the Duke campus it is in fact an homage to a dive bar. Old school breweriana lines the walls and the tap handles are off beers gone by. (Just try and guess which tap goes with which beer.) The crowd looks like it’s comprised of mainly Duke students and young professionals. I appreciated the music being played a level that still made conversation possible. The food is made with great care and fresh ingredient. I thought my cheeseburger was fantastic and I love the garlic fries. They had about 20 taps and with exception of the ironic Miller High Life they were local and national craft. Would definitely come back if I were in the area.

September 25, 2011 [ Updated March 7, 2012 ]
The Federal is a very comfortable, out of the way joint ( and I use joint in a very genial sense). The food was good and cheap, and the beer selection, even though not large, was none the less interesting. I really enjoyed the laid back vibe.

August 15, 2011
Been here multiple times in the past couple years. Cozy little bar with a pretty good selection and pretty decent food. Better than milltown but more hipster-ish.

July 9, 2011
This bar is a welcoming place to start off you Durham bar crawl. Food here is great they charge you for it but is worth every Penney seriously good food

January 26, 2011
I’ve been to the Fed a bunch of times and figured it was time to finally put in a rating. It’s a smallish, but open feeling pub style place with a rustic bar vibe. They have maybe 15 beers on tap with a rotating list that hits on a great mix of locals, American seasonals, and craft beer standards. There’s something different I haven’t tried every time I’m in there. The surprising part is the food. The menu looks like standard pub fare, and the quality of the standards is above average. The real gem, though, is the ever rotating specials menu. Those items are always made fresh and are a really eclectic collection of "foodie" items, so if you’re willing to try something that’s a little outside-the-box, you’ll end up with a great meal. One of my favorite cheap dinner spots in Durham.

December 13, 2010
The Federal is a cool place on Main Street in Durham with low-lighting, big booths, and some nice vintage touches. It seems to have a hipster reputation but we didn’t get a pretentious or stuffy vibe at all- just a good mix of Duke people and visitors on a basketball weekend. The selection isn’t huge, but it has some great local seasonal taps (TDR Paul’s Christmas Vacation (!), Foothills, French Broad, Highland, etc.) along with some other nice ones (Founders, Brooklyn, etc.). The food was very good and inexpensive. The staff was friendly and service good, especially given the crowd that night. Along with Tyler’s and Fullsteam, we hit three excellent places in Durham in one day before hitting the college bars at night.

January 23, 2010
wife and stopped while running some errands, better dive bar type look, still smells smokey, but now none smoking per state law. dozen seats at bar, backward s shape. table and booths between front and back, bathrroms and kitchen divide the two. Lots of beer and cigarette memorabilia on wall. Two TV’s. Service was good, but should of been as it wasn’t crowded. Solid beer selection. Bells two hearted, mad river IIPA, Foothills torch pils and eclipse stout. Highland gaelic, Allagash White, Lagunitas Brown sugga, Sweetwate 420, Duck Rabbit porter, Frenchbroad ESB & Wee heavy-er. SN Celebration. Had a soup and sandwhich, though not remebering what off the top of my head. Fun place, worth a stop if you want a taste of older Durham....

October 5, 2008
Visited here the night before the World Beer Festival. Small place, but with a good amount of tables inside, a decent sized bar and outside seating. Lots of retro beer decor on the walls a couple of tvs and lots of wood set the decor. Customer service is efficient. I heard other people say the food was good but my nachos were average at best. 15 or so tap selections, all but two dedicated to craft beer. I had Foothills Oktoberfest and Founders Dirty Bastard. Extensive bottle list as well, but is more macro oriented. Definitely draft was the way to go while we were there.

April 28, 2008
Went for the first time a few days ago with friends. I guess I had expected it to be more of a restaurant but it was a small (500 square feet?) bar-type place with some table seating inside and a half dozen tables outside. The draft selection was not large, but the offerings were all pretty good- Duck Rabbit porter, Hennepin. Ate one of the specials for dinner- grilled rabbit with wild cherry bbq sauce, yams and summer squash. It was very good and well prepared. Service was prompt but not exceptionally warm, maybe because my friends were being borderline belligerent and cussing a bit. I will return sometime with my wife to chill and try some other dishes.

March 16, 2008
There were about 15 beers on tap, and some very good ones at thatfor about $4-$5. When I was there, they had bell’s two hearted ale, a small but good selection of local beers, and a mix of big and normal beers. They also have some interesting glassware for the Irish beers, and a good bottled selection. The atmosphere was college/Bohemian, and quite smoky. It was dark, a little dingybut not too much, and there is ample bar seating. The food was very tasty, but quite expensive. My wife had trouble getting her second beer, but overall, service was okay.