In 1945, German troops surrendered to Allied forces, Elvis Presley walked on stage for the first time at age 10 and, in Wilmington, the Barbary Coast welcomed its first customer.

Since then, the local dive bar has had three owners – Buddy Best, Paul Best and current owner Eli Ellsworth – easily putting it in the pantheon of legendary and longest-running Port City downtown businesses.

“Buddy ran the place for some 40-odd years,” said Ellsworth, 50, a Raleigh native. “Then when he passed away, Paul took it over and had it for close to 25. That’s when Paul, who I’ve known for years, hit me up out of the blue wanting to retire and sell the place, so I bought it. That was 17 years ago.”

In that time, Ellsworth has come to know the place inside and out.

“It kind of has its own momentum, its own personality. About every five or six years, I have a girl who comes in and sages the place,” said Ellsworth, referring to the practice of burning dried sage leaves to cleanse the air of negative energy and spirits. “It gets rid of the bad juju.”

Fortunately for the Barbary, there’s been plenty of good – some might even say extraordinary – juju over the decades.
Early on, thirsty welders, pipefitters and sailors from the nearby North Carolina Shipbuilding Company found cold beer – and wartime solace – at the Barbary, anchoring it as one of the city’s primary watering holes.

“There would have been a lot of merchant marines downtown back then who would have known about this place,” said Ellsworth, referring to the civilian sailors who crewed the Liberty ships that transported supplies and troops to Allied forces during World War II.

That history and early momentum, along with the Barbary’s distinct awning and hatch-like front door, were some of the things that propelled the bar at 116 S. Front St. into the post-war years and modern era, said Ellsworth, “when other downtown businesses suffered because fewer people were coming downtown.”

Over the years, the bar’s aesthetic has also inspired filmmakers to use it as a location, including Blue Velvet, David Lynch’s cult classic film shot in Wilmington and released in 1986.

Since Ellsworth’s takeover almost two decades ago, the bar has, with only a few exceptions, remained unchanged and now runs “pretty much on autopilot,” he said.

“For years, the go-to here was the 16-ounce, $1.50 PBR,” Ellsworth said. “The first year we had this place I think we went through 60,000 cases of it.” In 2022, the Barbary was designated as one of the top Pabst Blue Ribbon accounts in the nation.
But it soon became clear liquor was quicker in keeping existing customers while attracting new ones.

“Within two months of opening, we were like, man, we need to bring liquor in here. That kind of changed our demographic and clientele a little bit,” said Ellsworth, who was in the mortgage business before moving to the adult beverage business.

Adapting to new tastebud trends was another strategy aimed at boosting business longevity, said Ellsworth, especially given the rise in recent years of dozens of new alcohol concoctions, including canned cocktails.

“Some people are steering away from craft beer and wanting cocktails and liquor,” he said. “A lot of the staff here was really apprehensive about it at first, but it’s been a success.”

And then there are the little things like curb appeal that help prolong the life of a place.

“When we took ownership, we came in and did some remodeling in about five days, mainly the floors, ceilings and bathrooms, and gave it a good cleaning,” he said.

More recently, however, the Barbary, which takes its name from a coastal section of North Africa known for its high concentration of pirates in the 16th century, seemed poised for plunder by something far more sinister than swashbucklers.

“We were closed literally for 11 months,” said Ellsworth in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed countless businesses, some permanently, in Wilmington and beyond.

On March 27, 2020, then-Gov. Roy Cooper ordered people in North Carolina to stay at home for 30 days to slow the spread of COVID-19.

That first order listed stores that sold alcohol, along with restaurants that provided takeout, drive-thru or delivery, as essential businesses, which were allowed to stay open. Bars, however, didn’t make the cut.

“I did hold a few cleaning meetings just to put money in the staff’s pockets, and we qualified for the PPP and SBA loans, which definitely helped,” Ellsworth said.

Ellsworth said gratitude and generosity have also played a role in the Barbary Coast’s longevity.

“We always try to be part of the community. We’re always doing fundraisers,” he said. “People look to us and others who have been in the industry a long time as the old school and the old guard to help in time of need.”

Still, it’s that can-do, all-hands-on-deck pirate attitude that Ellsworth said will hopefully keep the Barbary Coast sailing far into the future.

“We’re pirates down here, and this is our ship,” he said. “We steer the ship, tow the line and lead by example. We’re not afraid to get our hands dirty.”