Front Street Brewery is the oldest working brewery in Wilmington, pouring house-made beer from an 1865 building a block off the Cape Fear Riverwalk since 1995. This is a real plan for visiting: the heritage that makes it worth a stop, what to drink and order, which floor suits your group, and where it fits in a downtown evening. It is a casual brewpub, not a special-occasion dining room, so come for good beer brewed on site, solid pub food, and a building with thirty years of brewing history layered into a much older address.
The oldest brewery in Wilmington
Most of the downtown brewery talk online tells you Front Street Brewery exists and stops there. The part worth knowing is the history. It began producing beer in June of 1995, which makes it, by the brewery’s own account, North Carolina’s 7th brewery to open and Wilmington’s longest-operating one (see the Front Street Brewery history page). Thirty years is a long run for any restaurant, let alone a brewpub, and it is the single thing that separates this place from the newer taprooms that have opened around it.
The building carries even more time than the beer does. Number 9 North Front Street started as a dry goods store in 1865 and has cycled through a remarkable run of tenants since: at one point the state’s largest carpet store, later a Kuppenheimer suits purveyor, a showroom for musical instruments and Crosley radios, and finally Foy, Roe & Company men’s clothing from 1940 until 1982. The space sat empty for more than a decade before the brewery took it over and started brewing in the mid-1990s. You are drinking in a room that has been part of downtown commerce for over 150 years, and the brewing tanks are right there behind the bar, not hidden in a warehouse across town.
That heritage is the reason to choose this over a generic stop. If you want a sit-down, reservation-worthy meal instead, our guide to where to eat in downtown Wilmington covers the fine-dining and Riverwalk options. Front Street Brewery is the casual, history-soaked counterpart to those rooms.
What to drink: the house beers and the flight
Start with a flight. The house lineup runs the familiar brewpub spread, from an easygoing Original Lager and an Amberjack English Ale to a hoppier Port City IPA, a Scottish Ale, and the fruit-forward Riptide Raspberry Wheat that tends to win over people who say they do not like beer. A flight of small pours lets you taste across that range before you settle on a full glass, which is the smart play when the beers are all made in-house and you cannot try them anywhere else.
If beer genuinely is not your thing, this is one of the better bourbon and whiskey bars downtown. Regulars single out the depth of the bourbon shelf, including rarer Buffalo Trace bottles when they are in stock, so it is worth asking the bartender what they have open. The beer list and any seasonal or rotating taps shift over time, so treat specific names as a starting point and check the current Front Street Brewery menu for what is actually pouring the week you visit.
What to order
The food is a step up from standard bar fare, and a few plates have become signatures. The Famous Pulled Chicken Nachos are the table-starter most people reach for, and they come gluten-free, which is a quiet convenience for mixed groups. The Low Country grit cakes lean into the coastal-Carolina kitchen, as does the shrimp and grits if you want something closer to a full meal. The Brew-BQ line, including Brew-BQ meatballs and wings tossed in a house barbecue sauce built on the brewery’s own Scottish Ale, is the clearest example of the kitchen cooking with what is on tap.
None of it is fussy, and that is the point: this is beer-first food meant to go with a flight or a pint, not a tasting menu. Menus drift, especially after the brewery’s 2022 reopening and a 2025 change in ownership, so confirm the current dishes on the official menu before you set your heart on a specific plate. Pricing sits in comfortable mid-range pub territory rather than splurge.
Which floor fits your group
Front Street Brewery is not one room, and where you sit changes the visit. The ground floor, anchored by the long bar and the brewing tanks, is the loud, social heart of the place. It is the right call for two people who want to perch at the bar, watch the room, and work through a flight. It gets busier and noisier as the evening goes on, which is part of its appeal and a reason to think twice if you are bringing a conversation that needs to be heard.
For a larger party or a group that wants to actually talk, the quieter upstairs space is the better fit, and it is also where private events and bigger bookings tend to land. If you are coming with a group of six or more, it is worth confirming the upstairs seating situation when you arrive or by calling ahead, since the layout and what is open can vary by night.
Planning your visit
Front Street Brewery sits at 9 N Front Street, in the heart of the historic district and a block up from the Cape Fear Riverwalk, so it folds easily into a downtown afternoon or evening. It is open daily for lunch and dinner into the evening; because the hours have moved around with the 2022 reopening and the 2025 ownership change, check the current schedule on frontstreetbrewery.com before you go rather than trusting an old listing.
Parking is standard downtown Wilmington: metered street spaces along Front, Water, and Market, plus the Water Street parking deck a short walk away for longer stays. Evening meter rules change, so glance at the posted signs before you walk off.
As for where it fits, this is a strong first or anchor stop for a night out. The alley right beside the brewery leads to the Blind Elephant, the downtown speakeasy, if you want to slip somewhere quieter after a pint. From here you are within easy walking distance of the rest of the district, so it pairs naturally with a longer evening. If you are building one, our downtown Wilmington bar crawl maps a walkable route that already passes the brewery’s door. And if you would rather end the night with a band, see where to hear live music in downtown Wilmington for venues a few blocks away.
Where Front Street Brewery fits in your downtown night
Come to Front Street Brewery for what the directories never tell you: thirty years of brewing inside a building that has watched downtown change since 1865, beer made a few feet from where you drink it, and pub food good enough to make a meal of. Grab a flight at the bar, order the nachos, and decide whether you are settling in on the ground floor or heading somewhere quieter upstairs. Confirm the day’s hours before you leave, and let the brewery be the easy, characterful start to a downtown Wilmington evening.
FAQs
Does Front Street Brewery still offer free brewery tours?
The brewing happens on site, and you can see the tanks from the bar, but the free daily tours that show up in older write-ups are not advertised on the current Front Street Brewery website. If a tour matters to your visit, ask at the bar or call ahead rather than counting on a scheduled one. The beer is brewed in-house either way, which is the part most visitors are really asking about.
Is Front Street Brewery good for families, and is there a kids menu?
Yes. It is a full restaurant as much as a bar, and the current menu includes a kids menu with the usual options like grilled cheese, a hot dog, chicken tenders, and a small burger. Lunch and early dinner are the easy windows for families; the ground floor gets louder and more bar-focused later in the evening. Confirm the current kids menu on frontstreetbrewery.com before you build a meal around it.
Does Front Street Brewery take reservations, or is it walk-in?
Regular tables are walk-in. The website routes online ordering through Toast for takeout and points larger gatherings to its private events page, but there is no standard online table-booking system for a normal dinner. For a big group, use the private events option or call ahead; for two to four people, just show up and expect a short wait at peak weekend hours.
