April 20, 2012
Was in town this last weekend and this place was on my "must-stop" list. Went down on Friday afternoon and most of the bar area was full already. Maybe it was the sunny day outside, but this place seemed really dark. The large cooler section behind the bar was a little difficult to see. A huge chalkboard greeted us with all of the taps listed though, so that was nice. Service was friendly and helpful. They carried a great number of bottles in addition to their taps, and from what I hear, you can purchase for carry-out. Very cool. We didn’t get anything to go this time, but nice to know we can do that. A great bar for sure, one of the best I have been to in NC.

August 31, 2011
I’m reading the reviews for this place and many of them just don’t make sense for the current establishment. I’m guessing things have changed drastically for the better in the past few years because Cape Fear Wine and Beer is nothing short of awesome. This is a full on bar that happens to sell beer to-go. The tap list is ever rotating and featured plenty of beers just not seen anywhere else in the vicinity during our time here e.g. Petrus Dubbel Bruin, Founders Breakfast Stout, Brooklyn Huske Hardware Killaman, to name a few. This is easily the best beer selection anywhere in the Wilmington area, even including bottle shops. They claim 200 beers, and it is easily believable. We visited 6 times throughout the week and always got friendly and knowledgeable service. The vibe is excellent with appropriate lighting, really nice and interesting regulars, eclectic decor and, of course, the aforementioned rad tunes. The beer prices are very good. I just don’t see how people claim they are overpriced, unless they built a 6 pack to-go which I did not so I can’t comment on that. The beers on tap were all $5-6 for an imperial pint and in the same range for a 10-12 oz. pour for the high alcohol stuff. I paid $5 for a bottle of Vichtenaar and $4 for Two-hearted, $4.5 for Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA: equal to the lowest prices I’ve seen for those particular beers in a bar in NC or GA. If you are in the Wilmington area, GO!

March 2, 2011
BAD SERVICE!!! Great beer selection served with the worst attitude on the coast and I think it was the owner named Lucas or Lucious. If you want a great beer and want to feel bad drinking it then this is your place to go. No respect for patrons. Not sure if they’re going out of business and he’s stressed or he’s just not people person. Regardless don’t put yourself through his self pitty. Even the bouncers ripped his attitude, go figure. There are plenty of happier places to visit and have a good beer in downtown Wilmignton than to subject yourself to a nepoleon complex’ed want to be biker head serving good beer with a BAD attitude. BAD VIBES!!!

March 1, 2011
Great Beer Selection, but short bartender with the Elvis Chops has a serious attitude problem. The bar is not worth patronizing. Would rather spend my money at an establishment that appreciates my business than give it to a$$holes who want to fight their clientele. In this place, the customer is always wrong, even if the bartender is the one who screws up your order. My first visit this past weekend will also be my last. However, if rude service and being treated like $hit sounds like a good time, Cape Fear Wine & Beer won’t let you down.

February 13, 2011
Medium sized place, large bar, tables, plenty of room to spread out. 18 taps, 1 cask, 130+ bottles. Fantastic selection, including some hard to find stuff. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, very generous with samples, and all their recommendations were spot on. Easily the best beer place for many miles, not to be missed.

August 16, 2008
Total hole in the wall place located right on the waterfront in downtown wilmington. Has a smokey bar that takes up most of the room (very small) and then some shelves and coolers behind stools of assorted beers and wine. Didn’t have my hopes up when I got there, but what selection they did have (~200 bottles sounds right) was awesome and hard to come by stuff. I found a thomas hardy’s in one of the coolers which I had been looking for for ages as well as 3 others on my want list. Prices on the expensive side, but like i said, the rarity alone makes up for it. Also bought a de dolle and some other belgians i’d been wanting to try. Worth a stop.

October 6, 2007
It’s a cool little bar that’s never too crowded. Owners are soo helpful and sweet. Great place to meet locals too!

June 25, 2007
OK Hopscotch, things have changed! I frequent this place and now they have a sign stating how many kinds of beer they have which was over 200 on Saturday when I came in last. Although the air is a little smoky, it is a NC bar... Service is great with a very Knowledgeable staff. Definitely a cool place to meet and chat with friendly locals which I think is a big plus. They have theme nights during the week, a Croquette Tournament on Sundays, and a weekly special beer... OH GOD THE BEER!!!! SO MANY TO DRINK FROM!!!! Certainly a dark or strong beer lover’s paradise. Not too many lighter beers, but I do like the 10 or so they do have...

May 18, 2007 [ Updated November 9, 2007 ]
Located in a nice downtown district of Wilmington. I would have to agree with hopscotch about the beer prices, but when I was there a couple weeks ago, they had more than fifty beers. I would say they had about 40 different kinds of beers, most are local. They had alot of unique beers that we cant get here in Florida. They also have a little bar set up for tasting. Forrest is a great help and is very knowledgeable about his selection that he has.

September 5, 2006
This place was horrible. They are either going out of business soon (and trying to run their inventory dry) or they should be. If they’re going out of business; I’m sorry, it looks like the place used to be cool. However, I drove all the way to Wilmington from North Topsail Beach (>30 miles) and walked into the place to discover the place has a barbershop aura to it. People just sitting around talking, drinking beer and smoking. The front door was open, but the ventilation was still pretty bad. However, I was there for the beer. What beer? The coolers were lined up along the right wall and had 50 beers... tops. Not 50 different kinds or brands of beer, I’m talking fifty bottles of beer... if that many. I bought a mix n match six pack although there were only four bottles I wanted. If you buy six, you get $6 off your sixer. The total came to $15. Add the six bucks back on and that’s $21 for six beers. Anderson Valley, Duck Rabbit and Cottonwood 12 ozers for $22? At least they did have four beers I’ve never tasted. However, unless things change big time, I’ll never be back!