Cape Fear Wine and Beer

Cozy space that driven by the bar. Several coolers of beer plus some on tap, including some interesting ones. Not setting the world of fire, but a decent place to hang out.

Shop unit bar in the middle of a row of commercial properties in the city centre’s main street. It’s a down-to-earth American bar, very friendly, and welcoming in clientele and design, with the front area including a popular pool table and pinball machines, with the bar against the left hand wall beyond these. The tap selections are excellent and clearly rotate with the current selection chalked up on single boards above the bar, and include a cask pulled option. The fridges behind the bar are stocked full of beers with lots of six packs available for drinking in or takeaway, but there’s also an option to build your own six pack from what’s available. If I lived in Wilmington I’d imagine I would come here very frequently.

This place has the best beer selection and most knowledgeable staff downtown, by far. When my wife and I first started going here we were a bit put off by the owner, since he can rub some folks the wrong way (and is a bit intimidating). But over time we’ve seen that Lector is a man who is passionate about his job and is serious about his beer, and that’s what matters most. There’s always an eclectic mix of folks drinking, and usually some good dogs laying around, which is cool. I’ve heard a few folks get bent out of shape about having to wait and not being treated very nice when things get busy, but give me a break. When the staff is busting a hump then just chill and you’ll get your beer soon enough. If you want to go have a bartender kiss your butt while you’re drinking crappy beer, then there are plenty of crappy bars around to service you. But if you want to drink great beer with folks who know great beer, then come here.

This is a truly fine establishment. The bartenders are extremely knowledgable and forthcoming with said knowledge. Don’t see the beer you want? With 300 bottles and 25 draughts, the bartender will easily be able to suggest something you’ll like. CFWB is also excellent about staying on top of seasonal and limited releases while also maintaining an excellent selection of international brews. My two favorite days at the bar are Thursdays and Sundays. Thursdays are reserved for their Randall--in which the staff takes turns each week infusing a beer. (A couple of my favorites were Ya Mama’s Little Yella Pils infused with jalapenos and nugget hops and Southern Tier IPA infused with apples and basil.) On Sunday the bar holds Beer Church. Beer Church features a beer (or two) each week along with matching glassware. If you get there in time (1:00p or 8:00p) to order the beer, you get to keep the glass! Cape Fear Wine and Beer’s commitment to excellence in community, product, service, and beer education is incredibly admirable. I am proud that Wilmington has had the privilege of giving the bar a home for 11 years and look forward to many, many more.

The best beer bar in Wilmington. Friendly, knowledgeable staff with an ever changing selection of draft and bottles. Great place to meet locals & tourists alike. Highly recommended.

Good spot to drink good beer. beers are however pricey as they are in most well established places. the offer mostly draft beer, but do have a small to medium size selection of bottles to take home with ya. overall a good place to drink at! Make sure to sit outside on the back porch overlooking the wilmington harbor!

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.

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!

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!!!