Queeny's is a downtown Durham staple, and here, they are committed to creating a hangout space that reflects its hometown.

Let's see how they bring together a cozy space, tasty drinks and affordable nighttime fare that's also really delicious.

- I didn't really ever have any plans or intentions of bringing my art background into the hospitality world, but as soon as the opportunity became available, it just is the perfect combination for me.

I love using my hands to create things.

I love the feeling of clay.

It's really a give and take.

You really have to feel what the clay is doing and react to that.

[peaceful music] I love being able to design whole spaces.

I am very detail oriented, but also think about the bigger picture and think about how a space feels once it's complete.

[upbeat rock and roll music] [upbeat rock and roll music continues] Durham is just the right size city.

You don't necessarily know everyone, but you may recognize people.

There's also universities here, there's arts here.

It's a very family friendly city.

For the size city it is, there's a lot to do.

It feels very community oriented.

In the restaurant industry especially, we're very close.

There's just an excellent community of people who support each other.

[upbeat rock and roll music] - Queeny's is an amazing like, vibe atmosphere, just energy.

Everything about Queeny's is very, very special.

And the fact that they have this podcast space, I mean, come on.

The first time me and my co-host came here, we felt like family, we'd known these people forever.

The studio itself, coming in, you have to pass the bar to get there and you meet all of the... Queeny's family.

[laughs] So you meet the Queeny's family and you get to know them.

Having that space where we can come and feel welcome, like that kind of sets the mood for the content that we ultimately produce.

[upbeat rock and roll music continues] - It's my go-to place.

Whether it's cold, warm, raining, sunny.

I actually work from home and came to Queeny's to just finish my days and basically created a little community here.

So we always joke that it's the Tuesday crew and just like a sense of family, a sense of community.

The bartenders know who I am, who others are.

It feels very comfortable and safe.

And also there's a lot of fun events.

You know, from music to drag shows, there's so much to do.

And also like the food is really good [laughs] and it's in a central location.

- Development of Queeny's was really interesting because neither Michelle or I come at it as a chef proper.

So it was really what kind of restaurant and space and experience we thought would fit in and mesh well with the rest of Durham.

The Downtown Loop, as I like to call it, has a lot of very nice, but I would say medium to expensive restaurants and we wanted to create something that was an everyday accessible, affordable, and consistent experience for more of the folks who live in Durham.

- Things are a little bit different than you might expect based on the menu, our Chicken Crispers, for example.

They're pretty straightforward but so delicious.

We also have a kale salad and our kitchen is open until 2:00am every day.

And sometimes there's shift workers, restaurant workers, nurses who get off and there's nowhere to eat a whole decent meal.

We already made the salad for you.

It's here.

You can fill up and feel good about it.

As an artist who's also in hospitality, I love doing things, as many things as I can myself and also involving the people that I know.

So when we built Queeny's, I learned how to pour a concrete bar top and poured the bar top myself.

And I painted all the walls myself.

My brother is a woodworker and he built all of our tables for us and also some hanging lamp pendants in the bathrooms and over one of the booths.

One of the bartenders we originally hired is also an artist, so he did a giant chalk mural on our wall.

And my carpenter friend also built out the book room and filled up one window with bookshelves and built me a little window seat.

I hope that when people walk out of Queeny's, they feel more connected to Durham and the community and maybe to a specific person that they've met there and feel like there's really a place for them to be themselves and come alone or with a group of friends, anytime of day or night.

[slow-paced jazz music] - Queeny's is at 321 East Chapel Hill Street, Suite 100 in Durham, and they're open daily from 11:45am to 2:00am.

Kingfisher, their cocktail bar is right downstairs.

For more information, visit them online at queenysdurham.com.