best Craft-Friendly Restaurant

BY JENNY WHITE

If you like a little food with your award-winning craft brews, our 2019 Top Flights winner for Best Craft-Friendly Restaurant is Beer Army Burger Company in downtown New Bern. It’s located in a super-cool historic and remodeled bank building. Menu items are available for lunch or dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. The two-story restaurant is all about the burgers. Beer Army Burger Company’s flagship burgers are a half-pound of certified Angus beef and have built a reputation in eastern North Carolina as must-try beef sandwiches for burger connoisseurs. Burgers are always made fresh and never from frozen beef. The menu features a military theme with appetizers listed as “Basic Training” and salads as “Non-Combatants.” Side dishes are dubbed “Side Arms.” If beef burgers aren’t your thing, you can sub a grilled or crispy chicken breast fillet, turkey burger or veggie burger for the beef patty. Each sandwich (priced at about $12) comes with a choice of fries, sweet potato fries or homemade chips. There’s a small dessert menu and a kid’s menu as well. Beer Army Burger Company offers a few of its own house beers and a changing menu of craft beers from around the country — with an emphasis on North Carolina breweries. At the time we wrote this story, you could choose brews from Double Barley Brewing located in Smithfield, Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, Calif. and Triple C Brewing Company in Charlotte. Typically, you can choose from a menu of 16 beers on tap. You may notice while you’re there a wall dedicated to their Beer Snipers — enterprising souls who took the challenge and drank at least one beer a day at the restaurant for 30 days. It’s a test of dedication and discipline, and if you feel like joining them, there’s plenty of room on the wall. Beer Army also founded a nonprofit group called Bravo Alpha that supports community outreach for veterans and residents of eastern North Carolina. Bravo Alpha Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and its mission is to support veterans and first responders in their efforts to recover from Post Traumatic Stress and prevent Self Destructive Actions. The restaurant is located at 220 Pollock St. in New Bern.

Beer Army Burger Company

2nd - Raleigh Beer Garden (Raleigh, NC) 3rd - MJ’s Raw Bar (New Bern, NC)

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