This was our second visit to Bowstring, which was slightly better than our first experience. We ordered wings and gluten-free pizza. The baked wings were decent; I liked the garlic Parmesan flavor best. The pizza crust was a generic thin crust, which is widely available but nothing special. The service was challenging because the place was packed for Beer & Banjos. My pet peeve is the paper plates & plastic cups. I understand there is not a kitchen onsite, but I would have loved to see compostable items used. With so many great breweries in the Raleigh-Durham area, I don't feel the need to return. read more

Great place to get some beer on a nice day a ton of seats and a good beer selection. I got two IPAs both tasted fresh and great. The service was great and the bar has a cool looking interior. read more

TLDR: Highly recommended place to hang out with friends, family, or co-workers. Full bar. Great customer service. Delicious pizza and garlic knots. Dog friendly. Trivia brought us here first then we returned to spend our winnings ($50). In addition to trivia, Bowstring hosts a variety of concerts at the adjacent R&D yard. Plus they have several arcade games and a shuffleboard inside. The repurposed warehouse provides a welcoming and fun atmosphere. Park in the nearby lot (free) then head to the bar to order food and drink. The long tv screen rotates through menu slides. It is easiest to pull up the online menu from the QR code. It's primarily NY style pizza, wings, and sandwiches. They offer custom flatbreads and have vegan options. The food is served on disposable plates. If you are unsure what draft to get, you can taste them. I particularly like the Hula Vibes. I then pair it with a custom pizza or garlic knots. Sometimes the beer is served in glass other times in plastics cups. After ordering, take your number and drink to a table inside or outside. The bartenders and servers are friendly and efficient. We received our order surprisingly quick. The garage doors open to cool or warm up the inside. From what we noticed it seems to be dog friendly inside and out. Overall, this is a great hang out spot that isn't overly crowded. read more

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Local thug and lowlifes hang out. High chance you may get stabbed as a night cap; food is disappointing, service is non existent & the ambience is very unsettling. Not kidding; recently made the news - 4 people stabbed. Stay away read more

Very cool outside venue that is dog friendly. Usually music on the weekends! Good location...parking is tricky.

Great place to catch live music! Service and drinks are good, wonderful local spot. Have not tried the new food, but looks good

My friend and I came in on a Monday night to take advantage of the pizza and beer specials. The interior was very random, a few pinball machines, but a lot of random scattered things behind the bar, almost like the recycling truck hadn't come by yet. The staff let us have a few beer samples, they could've been a little more engaging and smiled though. For pizza, I got two slices, one with cheese and one with sausage. My friend doesn't eat dairy, so he got a flatbread. My pizza came from the truck outside, it had an ok crust, it was a little chewable, but still crispy. But not much flavor to it, it was quite generic. For cheese, they had little packets of Parmesan and when I opened it, the cheese was almost yellow. Now we did come on a Monday night so maybe the atmosphere is better when a band is playing live. But I just wasn't happy with my experience. read more

As visitors to Raleigh a few times a year we try hard to check out what we can when in town, but had never been to Bowstring. We lucked upon the 11th anniversary of Beer and Banjos the night we came and had a fantastic time. Be aware that they're not kidding when they say the wait for your pizza can be an hour when they're jammed, so patiently enjoy a drink and the music or come really early. We loved the decor and the overall vibe, and of course the music. read more

I visited Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard for the first time recently to hear live music. I was worried it might be very hot because the show was outdoors starting at 7pm and we'd been having extreme heat advisories all week. I was happy to see that there were some shady places to sit and that the venue overall was spacious and comfortable. I enjoyed the bands and did not order food so the long wait others mentioned did not affect me. The outdoor part had Port-o-Lets but I didn't see anyone use them. I opted to go across the parking lot to the indoor part of the venue where there may have been a special event going on but they had actual bathrooms which were clean and well-stocked. There was no wait either to use the restroom. I had a good time hanging out with friends, listening to the bands and even getting up to dance with them. There were no crazies or thugs as some commented on but the crowd you encounter there probably depends on the acts you are going to see/hear. I'm not sure about the parking situation. I took a Lyft so I did not pay much attention to that, but I think it's always best to take a ride rather than try to find parking most of the time. Safer too. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Early evening at Bowstring July 2025 - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Great outdoor space and a nice variety of drinks. Good pizza, decent sandwiches, but the wings were dismal - especially at $19 for 12. They were scrawny and not crispy at all. The sauces were just ok. I would skip these in future visits for sure. Service was pretty slow to get food out. We were here for the jazz brunch. Peter Lamb and the Wolves were fantastic! read more

Good place to grab a drink and pizza! This bar has good vibes and arcade games. There's a medium patio for you to sit outside that's uncovered as well as a closed in patio. When I went the closed in patio was closed for an event. Parking is a bit tough here. There is a lot, but it's rather small and it's shared with the other businesses. I definitely suggest carpooling or Uber/Lyft. There's lots of beer options, but there's also a full bar. They have some great menu drinks, but since there's a full bar you can order what you'd like as well. My friends and I went on a Thursday evening and it was crowded, but not packed. Right outside there's a food truck with pizza. It's good and it comes out quick. They have options for slices as well as full pizza and some appetizers. We ordered a full pizza and it was delicious. I will be back and recommend you try it out if you're in the area. read more

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Stopped by for a quick beer and a snack. Glad I did! It was busy for a Sunday night. The bartender was definately hustling. Beer list wasn't anything special, so I settled on a Red Oak lager at the bar. Needing a bite to eat, I ordered a slice of sausage pizza from the food truck kitchen on site. I was able to order when I ordered the beer, and they delivered it to me at the bar. Glad I got a slice! The crust was tasty and crispy like when you reheat pizza the RIGHT way in an oven. Ingredients and sauce were delicious. Limited toppings for a slice, but they also have full pizzas and they looked delicious. I need to come with someone else next time and get one. Lots of indoor and outdoor seating, games and such- definitely a place to hang out with friends for a while. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Slice of sausage pizza. Hot, fast, and tasty! - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Had the best night I have had in a long time seeing a Talking Heads tribute band. Venue is 5 Stars but drinks I am highly disappointed. Inside the main building drinks were fine but in the concert area if you buy a mixed drink they will automatically give you an expensive liquor and charge you if you don't say house. Then if you do say house liquor the drink is so watered down you could not taste anything. I complained and watched him make it again and same results. It's sad how much bars make on alcohol and they are still greedy and water down aristocrat which is what they used. Awesome night of music but the bar left me highly pissed off. I feel like ABC should investigate as I have read other reviews. This should be illegal. read more

Bowstring is a great place to meet up for happy hours. If you're starving though, I would put in that pizza order first as it does seem to take a while. I think I waited about 45 minutes for a slice of pepperoni pizza. My friends ordered gluten free pizzas right after me and it probably was a good 20-30 minutes after mine came out. I didn't want to eat first so of course my pizza was cold. It did still taste good though. The pricing doesn't really make sense to me. Sorry, about to get a little nerdy here and do some quick calculations. A slice of pizza is $4 and then add $1 per topping. They have 12 different toppings. If you ordered a slice of pizza with all of their topping options, it would cost $16! If you ordered a whole pizza with all 12 options, that's $56 ($3/topping). I highly doubt anyone would order a pizza that all the options, but still, that would be a pretty expensive pizza. They do have a few flavors to choose from if you're going to order a whole pizza though. $32 for a giant pizza (18") still seems a bit much but maybe that's just me. I wish they showed prices of the draft beers on the menu. Same comment for the mixed shots that they advertise. I ordered a drink, 3 shots and a slice of pizza (with 1 topping) and my bill seemed kind of high. I read previous reviews that there have been issues with possible incorrect bills but I forgot about that when asked if I wanted my receipt. Oh well, I'll just try and remember to check next time. I got a round of cinnamon toast crunch shots and they were served in plastic cups. They should at least get the red solo shot cups. It's a little weird taking shots from such a normal sized cup. I also had a peppermint stout. It was okay, didn't really have much of a peppermint flavor to me. The table that we sat at didn't have the correct height barstools so it was a bit uncomfortable. The chairs were too high and there was a bar under the table that made it difficult to have your legs under the table. There was live music but we wanted to continue our conversation so we moved to a table outside. I'm glad they had heaters and fire pits outside. They seem to have even more outdoor seating across and to the right (if you're looking from the bar) but no one was out there. Maybe they just keep that space open when there are events. There's a very small parking lot. There are some spaces that are dedicated to the small shops next door but you can park there after 5pm (I think). One of our friends couldn't find a parking spot in the lot or anywhere close by so she actually turned around and went home so I felt bad about that. I came around 4pm and there were only a few spots available. read more

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I'm not sure what to call Bowstring as it seems to be many things... restaurant, hangout, bar? The pepperoni pizza was really good. I'm not usually a fan of thin crust but I think it was the sauce that sealed the deal. Marinara sauce can often be pretty vanilla. Bowstring added something that gave it some zing! I'd definitely order it again. Though I'm still unsure what I was charged for it as my bill seemed pretty high for two beers, the 20" pizza and $15 off with an Offline Raleigh deal. Check when ordering. Their beer selection is lacking and has room for improvement. Given we have so many great North Carolina breweries I thought the selection would be better. I was there on a Thursday evening and it wasn't too crowded, just doable for me. I imagine that weekends are very packed. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Inside - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Place is always full of people for a reason. Super fun time great atmosphere all type of drinks you are looking for. We love that it is dog friendly so we can bring the puppy. Pizza is average but overall one of my go to spots. read more

Had a great night listening to live music, good selection of beverages (draft, bottle, cocktails, and non-alcoholic) and a slice of 'za. The pizza is by the pie or by the slice. I ordered a slice with three toppings. A slice is $4 and each topping g was a $1. You order at the bar and they give you a card w a number and the food comes out pretty fast. We started outside and when the heat got to us we went inside, lots of space in both areas. Outside is dog friendly. Inside they have some games, it looked very fun! I parked in the lot, but if the spots were all gone I see they gave a shuttle for parking around the corner. A very relaxed night, and I'll go back again! read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Chill vibes - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Jordan makes the best old fashioned I've ever had. Great space, great atmosphere. Trivia is fun too read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Bar area - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

So i visited this place last month while being apart of the offline foodie club. It's kind of located in the cut off of a main road. Parking was a little iffy i could see it being an issue on the weekend for sure. It's a big place and has lots of outdoor space with games and things to do for adults. Looks like they have live entertaiment outdoors as well. The inside decor was pretty cool as well. We ordered 3 slices of pizza and set inside. It took a while since the place just did open so the oven had to heat up. They do have a bar inside as well and plenty of tvs everyone to catch the games. The pizza was good as well. The kitchen though is actually outside in like a foodtruck btw. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Pineapple and green pepper slice - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Drinks were good and enjoyed the concert we saw there, but the food time really needs work. It took an hour and forty-five minutes to get a pizza. I understand if you got a lot of people ordering food, but they really need to step that time up in the future. read more

Very nice environment. Beers was great, atmosphere was jumping. Pizza was ok but you can tell they just throw toppings in cheese pizza and reheat them. My sausage kept falling of the pizza because it wasn't fresh made. read more

Skip it and go somewhere else. I won't be back. Parking: Awful. Small lot where you have to park all sorts of wacky. No close parking that felt like a safe walk to the Brewyard. Zero parking info available on the website. We ended up parking in a surface lot about a 4-minute walk away. There was no sidewalk and we were more or less on the side of Wake Forest Road, walking to the venue. Figuring out what is where (because there are multiple places to go with a parking lot in the middle): Awful. Just put up a couple of signs or put this info online! The food: SLOW. Tastes fine. Nothing fancy. We did not have pizza. Sandwiches were adequate. Mozzarella sticks were standard fare. I wouldn't plan on eating here again. Waiting an hour for 6 lukewarm mozzarella sticks? Nah, bruh. The beer: cold. Okay prices. Beer selection was a decent variety. For a place that calls themselves a "brewyard", I would've expected more options, however. The outdoor tent area where the music is had only two drafts: Coors Light (seriously!?!?) and some Wicked Weed IPA Staff: the food runners were nice, friendly, and really hustling. The staff checking tickets for the paid concert under the tent was very uninformed. People had paid for vip and couldn't find a place to sit. Staff couldn't really clarify anything for those people (not me). Bartenders were friendly and efficient. Sound quality for the concert under the tent: Awful. We couldn't even hear the opening act. Ended up leaving before the main attraction. Concert info: seriously lacking. All of my paperwork/preshow info: tickets, email blast, social media...all of it...said 7 pm. Come to find out it wasn't scheduled to start until 8 pm, but nobody in the crowd seemed to know this. Complete waste of time and I wasn't about to pay another $11 for parking. Total waste of time. Total waste of money. Won't be back. read more

Great venue although parking is a bit tough and their offerings were a bit expensive. That being said, I would definitely go back for another visit. read more

I can't believe I hadn't made it to Bowstring earlier. What a neat spot tucked away off of Wake Forest Road. I went on a Saturday afternoon and while they were busy, there were still plenty of socially distanced tables available on their astro turf. The place was packed with families, which, with a toddler is something I look for. We ordered pizza and wings at the bar from V's pizza truck, it does take awhile to get a whole pizza so plan accordingly. The pizza was tasty and I really enjoyed the wings as well. I also loved that there was plenty of space for my toddler to run around and "play" cornhole. On the astroturf they have a very paired down bar with mostly just a few beers, ciders, seltzers, and very basic cocktails. If you want their specialty cocktails you do have to go inside to their main bar (that's where you order the food as well). I saw they had online ordering for food, but it was turned off when we were there. It's the perfect spot to spend a family friendly afternoon while the weather is great outside. Parking is a bit tricky, we got lucky with an open spot. However they do seem to have a second parking lot that they have a shuttle going back and forth to. I actually have no idea where that parking lot is, and I didn't see it listed on their website. I look forward to heading back in! read more

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Beer 5 stars but the pizza is edible and is fodder that you would find at the Elementary School cafeteria it's just not great. It is also super expensive. Atmosphere nice work on your pizza..... read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

It could be much much better. The Good---- Pizza. Lots of outdoor seating Live entertainment area Indoor games. The Bad--- Not much parking...watched a vehicle get towed for being a little bit over the line. A very nice staff person, a woman went around asking people where they parked to avoid a nasty suprise. This should not have to be the case. The Pizza Yes it makes the good and bad list? How? Well, errr....everybody likes pizza. The dough is good, toppings .... meh. Price...double meh for what you get. The Yougoddabekiddingme---- The drinks. Overpriced... $11 dollars for a drink mix that burned all the way down with zero nuance or ability. Four drinks over multiple visits each with multiple friends and NONE of us can give even a slight nod to the quality or ability of the drinks. PASS. If you want to remember your college days of PJ. parties...well maybe. And even then, liquor mixed in a clean trash barrel might be your reference leven here. I really liked the schoolbus kitchen, though for a first timer it was pretty damned confusing to figure out where to order and what to order...slow azz menu board in the sky to your left. Just order a pepperoni and forgeddabout it. Enjoy the sunshine. read more

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I really would like to give a better rating for Bowstring because it's a really cool place to hang out, but it has so many flaws. The first major issue with this place is their parking situation. Sometimes even on a weekday you cannot get a parking spot, they do have an auxiliary lot but typically it is full as well. Also it's sometimes a suicide mission to pull out from the parking lot entrance. The second issue is their beer selection. It's okay but definitely not great. It would be awesome if they would feature a bunch of local beer, and they do have some local beer but the options are very limited. My last issue with this place is the pizza. Sometimes it takes 2 hours to get a pizza made! And it's really not worth waiting for, it's average pizza at best. Typical Southern pizza. But if you're coming here just to enjoy hanging out with friends and don't mind drinking lackluster beer, then this definitely fits the bill! I would just recommend taking an Uber read more

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The pizza is solid "bar pizza", and the space is great. There is a lot of open seating and they have giant jenga and some other games. There's also some arcade games inside. It is very dog and kid friendly. Definitely good for a big group. The staff is nice and the overall vibe is relaxing. There's also live music sometimes. I did notice a sign near the bar that said "during busy times the pizza can take 1-2 hours". I went today around 5 pm, and waited about 20 minutes. Not sure what the busiest time is, but just FYI! read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Got here around 5 pm and quickly ordered some pizza and held off on the beverages until the rest of my group got there. They have a great beer selection as well as cocktail offerings. There is a lot of seating especially outside. I loved the astroturf area on the other side of the parking lot for the kids to run around on and dogs to have a space to feel included. I gave it 3 stars mainly for its pizza services: the pizza took over an hour to get (it was a busy night but still...) as well as the quality of the pizza was okay. I wasn't blown away with the taste of the veggie pizza. Also the price point for the slices seemed pretty steep. The space is great for a drink but food wise I don't think we'd go back. read more

The pizza is fantastic. The Dark and Stormy is horrible. I made better drinks in my dorm room with crappy mixer from food lion 20 years ago. The bar staff, let's just say I've met nicer people in the Waffle House of I-40 at 2am. Now these ladies are easy on the eyes, but they definitely don't wanna be here. But the pizza is spot on. Stick to the draft and avoid contact with the staff all will be well. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - A horrible example of a dark and stormy. - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I've only been here twice and both times were at the outdoor venue for music. I ordered pizza both times and both times it was excellent!

Awesome venues and pizza! If ya'll need a night out, check this place out! Ya gots to do it! read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Arrived a Friday night several weeks ago. Parking a slight challenge. Met with family and friends to have some drinks, all appeared to have a glass at the ready and the bar was humming. Good service, fast moving lines. The pizza wait was far too long, thus am unable to offer input. Good for all ages, would like to see some arcade equipment for added entertainment. read more

Ugh, I used to LOVE bowstring, but it has kind of gone down hill. The pizza recipe has definitely changed and is sadly not as good. And that is what we loved the most! Also I feel like $90 for two pizzas is outrageous!! The drinks are good but it doesn't seem like the workers really care to make the drinks the correct way. This makes me sad because I used to love bowstring! read more

Great place - parking nightmare - food great - atmosphere great - very busy and happening.

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine: Parking: 5 Location: 5 Decor/ambiance: 5 Customer Service: 5++ This spot is no more than 2 months old (yep opened in the middle of Covid) and has the best open space for drinking, pizza eating, mingling with friends while social distancing and more! These guys are known for their signature cocktails and local North Carolina beers. New beers are added weekly. As stated before they have plenty of space for friends and families to mingle yet social distance themselves from other groups. They even offer a "touch-less menu". Pictured here is their signature pizzas. Their pizzas take roughly 5 minutes to make and come out of the oven piping hot and ready to devour. You see the cheese pull so you already know what time it is! Vegetarians fret not...they have options for you to! And don't forget the tap - I mean this is a state if the art bar! Check these guys out as their prices are stellar, the food is yummy, the drinks are cold and the vibes are priceless! read more

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The space is cool, it's an old garage that has been converted into a bar. I was really impressed with the outdoor seating as there were multiple areas. Beer, wine and craft cocktails are on the menu at the bar and there is an outdoor pizza kitchen if you are hungry. It's a small average pizza that is served on a paper plate and can get pricey with multiple toppings. The mask rule was a bit lax when people were moving around inside so we didn't feel comfortable being in there while it was raining. In the end, it's a fun place to grab a drink at if you can sit outside. read more

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If Bowstring could figure out parking and pizza wait times, it would be deserving of 4 or 5 stars. A lot of potential here.

I like this place for the pizza, but not for the brewyard. Bartenders are very slow and rude. The pizza (from Vic's Italian Restaurant) is absolutely amazing! Parking is a nightmare, but there is a lot of nice outdoor seating if you can find a spot and get there. read more

Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard - Sausage pizza - Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Good food and drinks, but matters on time of day you go, and who is working. Sadly we went at a time of day where the outside area was being used as an obnoxious parents kid hangout where the kids were running around, trying destroy stage equipment, being mean to other kids, and the restaurant help on duty did nothing about it. Luckily, there are better pizza places around where you don't need to deal with the possibility of having a kid assault your toddler and have to get into a shoving match with their parents. While the employees don't care about customer and child safety. read more