Fullsteam Came Back To Durham Without Its Brewery. Here's What It Built Instead.

The 22-tap bar system pouring at the foot of the Lucky Strike smokestack came over from Rigsbee Avenue. The brewhouse did not. Fullsteam's new home at 320 Blackwell St. #101 opened inside the old American Tobacco power plant with a taproom, a restaurant, a lounge, a 100-seat theater and private event rooms. No beer gets made there. Beer service started Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, and the kitchen opened the next day, as the News & Observer reported. That missing brewhouse explains nearly everything else in the building.

The Complaint List Became The Floor Plan

In summer 2024, Fullsteam published its reasons for leaving 726 Rigsbee. Production and distribution were growing and the brewery was out of room. The landlord had proposed a rent increase the company called "untenable for a manufacturing facility." The brewery also listed what a new Durham taproom needed to fix: HVAC, parking, kitchen, private party space and outdoor seating. Sean Lilly Wilson put it more bluntly in his announcement video, as quoted by the News & Observer in July 2024. He said Fullsteam's "need to grow as a production brewery is incompatible with how this area is evolving and market forces." By then, high-rise apartment construction had turned the Geer Street area into a work zone for about two years.

Nearly every item on that 2024 list has a counterpart in the space that opened two weeks ago.

Anyone who drank at Rigsbee in July knows what that first row means. The N&O's opening-week guide remembers the old warehouse in summer as a big barn door pushed open and a giant fan moving the North Carolina heat around. Fullsteam's own FAQ explains why the last row couldn't be solved any other way: "We couldn't figure out a logical place to brew beer in the space." So the about 9,000 square feet between the campus water tower and the smokestack went entirely to people.

The Beer Moved An Hour East

Fullsteam now makes its small-batch beer at its own facility in Rocky Mount, about an hour east of Durham, and contract brews at NoDa Brewing in Charlotte. Wilson describes Rocky Mount as the place where Fullsteam's local-agriculture identity actually happens. "So Rocky Mount, almost every beer that we brew there is 100% North Carolina barley," he told the News & Observer, calling local malt purchases the brewery's "biggest economic impact." The same article notes that Fullsteam's Oktoberfest recently won a Good Food Award as the first "regenerative" beer, made with farming and manufacturing practices meant to leave the soil richer.

The taproom does more than pour beer. The FAQ lists Fullsteam's core and small-batch beers, a new cider line called Wyndfall Grove, wine, non-alcoholic options and a full bar of North Carolina spirits. The N&O notes that the reopening comes during a hard stretch for the industry, with several Triangle breweries closing. Wilson told the paper he sees drinkers moving back toward classic styles:

"I call it returning to Earth. When we first opened, half of our beers were lagers. I think there's a lot of people who are going away from extreme flavors into lagers and traditional styles."

This setup splits Fullsteam in two. The beer comes from a production town an hour away, and the Durham address works as a public house. The original Rigsbee location, which the N&O credits with helping make Geer Street the city's busiest nightlife district, did both jobs under one roof for about 15 years.

What Lawless Is Cooking

Rigsbee closed its kitchen on July 31, 2024, and spent its last three months inviting people to bring outside food. The new space makes food the center of the room. Phoebe Lawless, whom Fullsteam calls a celebrated Durham chef, is the brewery's Director of Food, Beverage & Hospitality. Her menu is pitched as classic American pub food with Southern touches, a lean toward pickling and fermentation, and local suppliers first. "Sean also has big ideas about creating a space with food that reflects the same mission and spirit it always has," Lawless told the News & Observer.

The print menu on Fullsteam's Durham page in mid-October 2026 lists:

• Crystal Coast Shrimp Burger with dijonnaise and spicy chow chow, $18
• Pub House Burger with Ashe County cheddar, raw onion, pickle chips and Stoker Sauce, $18, or $11 for the junior size, with a vegan version for $2 more
• Collard Melt with braised greens, muenster and sweet potato chipotle mayo on white toast, $16
• Community Hot Dog, "The Seattle," with herbed cream cheese, caramelized onions and pickled jalapeños, $5
• Pickle Plate of seasonal pickled vegetables, $10, plus chicken liver pâté, a ginger-carrot dip and a four-onion dip with house-fried chips
• Sides at $8 each or three for $20, including pub fries with hop salt, mac n' cheese, sorghum-baked lima beans, coconut-peanut sweet potato, broccoli salad and buttermilk slaw

Menus at a two-week-old kitchen change, so check prices and dishes before you go. Pizza isn't on the plan. The FAQ sends pizza fans to the Boxyard RTP location, which stayed open the whole time Durham went without a Fullsteam taproom.

The Rooms Behind The Bar

Facing the building, the right side, by the stairs, is the Fullsteam Public House, with a bar, table seating and the full menu. Fullsteam says it will eventually serve lunch, dinner and late night. Under the movie marquee on the left is the Stoker Club, a private events space for more than 100 people named for the boilers that once powered the whole campus.

Behind it is the theater, and this is where the move adds something new to downtown's evenings. Fullsteam took over the 100-seat theater that Duke's Center for Documentary Studies used to run. The Hey Durham opening report says the plans include watch parties, cultural events and movie nights. The FAQ adds screenings, live performances, readings and sports, and says the theater is available to community groups for panels, rehearsals and all-hands meetings. For private parties, Fullsteam also lists Lucky's Den, a 30-seat room with patio access. The lounge in opening-week coverage goes by Lucky's Lounge: low ceilings, neon lightning bolts and a 1970s basement-bar look. Ask staff which room is which.

Wilson told the N&O the goal was "an only-in-Durham type place." He pointed to the old boiler-room machinery with its palm-sized bolts, a wall of pinball machines, jars of toasted North Carolina malt, worn baseballs, and a giant hamburger head hanging from the ceiling that he identified as Officer Big Mac. "We had to have that," he said.

Why It Took Two Years

The address stayed empty longer than the first forecast. In September 2024, the N&O reported that Fullsteam would join American Tobacco Campus "next year." In a December 2025 post, Fullsteam said people peeking through the windows often assumed they were looking at the finished space, when "we haven't yet started the physical renovation." The campus announcement calls the build-out "nearly two years in the making" and quotes Wilson calling the space Fullsteam's "Durham Forever Home." That same announcement pitches the space for gathering before a show at DPAC or after a Durham Bulls game, and it lists Fullsteam among North Carolina-based spots on campus like Boricua Soul, Queenburger, Lutra Café & Bakery and East of Texas.

Before You Walk Over

• Where: 320 Blackwell St. #101, the Power Plant building, between the water tower and the Lucky Strike smokestack.
• Bar hours, as posted in mid-October 2026: noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
• Kitchen hours: 4 to 9 p.m. daily for now. The site says longer kitchen hours are coming soon.
• On tap: Fullsteam core and small-batch beer, Wyndfall Grove cider, wine, non-alcoholic options and North Carolina spirits.
• Booking a room: Rental inquiries for the theater go through Fullsteam's gathering page.

At The Cedeno Group, we pay attention when an old Durham building gets a new life, whether it's a tobacco-era power plant turned public house or a house on your street that needs the right plan. If you're thinking about what your own Durham property could become, we'd love to hear about it. Habla con Nosotros.