Raleigh’s homegrown brewers behind the Trophy Brewing brand add the Bend Bar and a new State of Beer to their suite of communal spots
by Catherine Currin | photography by Forrest Mason

Raleighites may remember a trio of low-slung homes that sat vacant on a curvy stretch of W. Morgan Street. Located just a few blocks from Trophy Brewing & Pizza, David Meeker, the brewery’s co-owner, and his team had their eye on them for years. “Obviously we know this area really well, and we knew about those three houses and admired them,” Meeker says. “So a little over a year ago, when the woman who owned them decided to sell, we were logical potential buyers.” 

Once they bought the property, Meeker, along with co-owner Chris Powers and partners David Lockwood and Les Stewart, felt it was important to keep the integrity of these homes. It’s an attitude toward commercial space that’s a bit of a novelty in a city where development often means tearing down the old to build new. “We wanted to preserve this little portion of Raleigh,” says Powers. “We chose to keep the character of that street, that special spot on the bend.”  

The recently opened Bend Bar comes at a time of transition for the Trophy brand. The bar marks the brewery’s fourth spot, joining Trophy Brewing & Pizza just down the street, their Maywood location and State of Beer on Hillsborough Street.

Their bar and restaurant Young Hearts Distilling on S. Wilmington Street closed its doors at the end of 2024, and its sandwich shop State of Beer on Hillsborough Street will have to vacate its space fairly soon due to a new development, “so we were already thinking about what to do next,” Powers says. (In addition to the recent opening of The Bend, the Trophy team is also working on opening a location in Five Points, in the former Electric Supply Co. building near Ajja, later this year.)

Maurer Architecture’s Meredith Kirkpatrick and her team worked with Trophy on the renovation. While not designated as historic landmarks or architecturally significant, the houses were more than 100 years old. “We found a deed for the land that dated back to 1899,” she says. “These were quintessential Raleigh homes that we would have seen in the early 1900s.”

To make the homes better for hosting groups, Kirkpatrick connected them to each other and to the sprawling outdoor space surrounding them. “The deck was a big design feature,” she says. “The buildings themselves were pretty limited with their small footprints.” She opened up the interior floor plans, maintaining and enhancing the curb appeal of the exterior. 

“We peeled back layers and layers of the home’s history, and wanted to maintain the facade of the original homes. It’s commendable that this team really takes these challenges head-on, knowing that it’s not the easy road, but it’s worth it in the end,” says Kirkpatrick. “They’re up for doing this thing that is notably harder in a lot of ways than starting from scratch.” 

The Bend Bar anchors the new “campus,” as Powers calls it. Situated in the house furthest north on the property, the interior’s about the size of a residential living room, with a u-shaped bar just inside to draw guests in, plus a couple of seating areas with leather couches and community tables.

Between all the light wood, retro paint colors and moody lighting, the overall impression is sort of a kitschy, moody living room. Outside, the large covered patio leads into a shady lawn dotted with picnic tables, groupings of chairs, fire pits and yard games. “We feel that we’re the type of group who can keep old houses and use them for commercial spaces — and make them work,” says Meeker.

While Trophy beer is always available, it’s not the focus at Bend — instead, there are rotating drafts and cans from other local breweries. There’s also an eclectic cocktail menu, with espresso martinis and a weird-sounding but refreshing Spicy Pickle Margarita. Powers says they want to cater to what their regulars are ordering. “We’ve leaned into the neighborhood vibe — for example, we always have Guinness on draft, which is new for us,” says Powers. He says the goal is to be “approachable from all fronts.” 

Connected by Bend’s “front porch,” State of Beer’s second location, which is in the middle house, opened in January and is a familiar expansion of the space on Hillsborough Street.  ”There’s definitely a celebration of some of the items that we had at Hillsborough Street, but now with a flat top and a hood, we can actually cook things,” says Powers.

The new location boasts a full-service kitchen offering menu items like a smashburger and a chicken caesar cutlet sandwich served on bread from Strong Arm Baking and Kitchen in Oxford, North Carolina. Guests can order appetizers like gooey mozzarella sticks or the popular State of Beer “lunchable” with homemade pimento cheese and pickles. Guests can order food at a counter and enjoy it anywhere on the bar’s campus. It also operates as a bottle shop, with fridges filled with cans and bottles from dozens of makers to enjoy there or at home. 

The third building, Powers says, will round out the space as a private event venue for 40 to 50 people. The goal is to open it next year. “The connectivity between the houses is really important for the business to work,” says Meeker.

With restaurants and bars like Gussie’s and Wolfe & Porter just a little further up W. Morgan Street, this stretch has become a destination for folks who love eating and drinking with a neighborhood feel. “ The goal is to be that ‘third place’ — it’s not home, not work, someplace very close in between,” says Powers. “You can come after work. You could come with your laptop, or if you’re playing hooky.” 

This article originally appeared in the September 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.