The Oak House is an all-day downtown Durham setting for coffee meetings, informal client conversations, individual work, and team catch-ups. Specialty coffee, wine, and beer are available throughout regular open hours at 126 W. Main St.
Workdays do not fit neatly into a coffee-only morning and a drinks-only evening. The Oak House makes it easy to meet on your own schedule: coffee, wine, and beer are all available throughout regular open hours. A 9 a.m. one-to-one and a 6 p.m. team catch-up happen in the same room, and nobody has to order something they do not want.
Free for guests. No sign-up, no minimum, no time limit. The only rule is the obvious one: nothing malicious.
Tables are for paying guests.
We ask that you close the laptop at the bar after 5:00 p.m. It is a request rather than a rule, and it keeps the bar feeling like a bar in the evening. Tables are fair game at any hour.
Tables can be reserved at no charge for parties of six or more. Call us and we will hold one.
We host semi-private and fully private events. Call with your date, group size and rough timing and we will tell you what is possible.
We cater for offices: pastries, and travelling coffee with cups and everything that goes with it. Order through Toast, and the more notice you can give us the better.
We take cards, and we take cash. If you are paying cash, exact change is a real help. Pennies and small bills have been hard to come by.
Reviewed 12 September 2026.
The Oak House is on the ground floor of One City Center, in the middle of downtown Durham. American Underground, American Tobacco Campus and the Durham Convention Center are all a short walk, and most downtown offices are closer still.
Tables are reserved at no charge for parties of six or more. For anything larger, or anything you want to keep to yourselves, we host semi-private and fully private events, and we cater for offices.
Browse current offerings before you arrive, then check today's hours and directions.