Brightleaf Square occupies a pair of 1900s tobacco warehouses on the western edge of downtown — slightly older and smaller than the American Tobacco Campus, and converted into a shopping-and-dining complex back in the 1980s when downtown Durham was still firmly in decline.
The mix today is strong: independent restaurants ranging from Cuban to Spanish-tapas, a craft beer bar, a couple of jewellery and clothing shops, and an art gallery. The cobbled courtyard between the two warehouses is one of the city's better outdoor sitting spaces in fair weather. It pairs well with a walk along the West Main Street strip a few minutes east.