Front Street Brewery combines a restaurant and brewery at 9 North Front Street in downtown Wilmington. Its own history dates brewing to June 1995 and calls it Wilmington’s longest-operating brewery. Choose it for an in-town pub meal and current house beer selection, rather than a promised tour, short wait, or quiet upstairs table.
Choose a meal before choosing a floor
| Your priority | What to use | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| A pub meal and house beer | Current food and drinks menus | Today’s selection and kitchen’s last order |
| A vegetarian option | Items marked V on the menu | Ingredients and substitutions |
| A gluten-related dietary need | Discuss the need with staff before ordering | Cross-contact practices and suitability |
| A family lunch | Look at the current menu together | Child portions, high chair, available seating and wait |
| A rehearsal dinner or group event | Private-event inquiry | Date, room, package, minimums and accessibility |
| A quieter or step-free table | Call before traveling | Actual floor, route and conditions that day |
These choices are based on published offerings. We have not independently timed service, tasted the current dishes, or measured noise by floor. A menu match is a reason to consider the restaurant; it does not establish that every family or diet will be accommodated.
Read the menu labels carefully
The current menu lists pulled-chicken nachos at $13.99 with a GF label, a vegetarian soft pretzel at $6.99, and shrimp and grits at $15.99. Those are posted item prices before tax, gratuity and drinks, checked October 5. Check again before budgeting a meal around them.
The menu defines V as vegetarian and GF as gluten friendly. That distinction matters if you have celiac disease or an allergy: discuss ingredients, preparation and cross-contact with staff rather than treating the abbreviation as a safety guarantee. A vegan wrap appears on the menu, but its name alone does not resolve substitutions or allergy handling.
Use the drinks menu linked from the brewery website for the current selection. This guide does not claim a particular beer is always on tap or that a flight is available every day. Food and drinks chosen by your group determine the cost, so compare the complete order rather than using the least expensive appetizer as a meal budget.
Upstairs events and ordinary tables
The private-events page advertises a top-floor Taproom with room for 80 seated guests or 120 for a cocktail-style event. Those are event capacities, not a guarantee that the room is open to a walk-in diner or quieter than the ground floor.
For an ordinary meal, call 910-251-1935 if reservations, a large party, a specific floor or step-free access determine your plan. Ask what can actually be offered for your date. Do not infer a table policy from the site’s online-ordering service, or promise a short weekend wait without a current estimate.
Older write-ups may mention brewery tours. Confirm an actual date, time, price and booking arrangement with the operator before making one the purpose of your visit. Brewing on site does not mean an organized tour is included with a meal.
The building’s history
The brewery’s account describes an 1865 dry-goods store and later uses including clothing retail and musical instruments. Foy, Roe & Company occupied it from 1940 to 1982, before the brewery began in 1995. These details come from the operator’s history; they are not field observations or an independently researched account of every tenant.
That makes the building a useful historical stop within a downtown outing. It does not support claims about what regulars prefer, how food tastes, or how easy it will be to find a seat tonight.
Parking and the rest of your evening
The city parking page lists the Market Street Deck at 115 Market Street and Second Street Deck at 114 North Second Street. Check current posted charges and event pricing before parking. A municipal space or a nearby deck is not a restaurant reservation, and an accessible space does not establish the restaurant’s interior access.
Start with a confirmed meal window and a way home. Then use the downtown bar-crawl guide for a broader evening, or compare rooftop and waterfront venues if a water view matters more than brewing history. Arrange transport before drinking, and leave enough flexibility to change venues if the actual wait or seating does not suit your group.
