Antlers Bar (at Bistro Roca)

Antlers Bar opened in Blowing Rock in 1932, while North Carolina's statewide prohibition (1909–1937) was still in force — the bar joked it had been serving 'more or less legally' since its founding. After prohibition ended in North Carolina, it became a fixture of the High Country resort town and in later decades operated as the bar inside Bistro Roca, an acclaimed wood-fired bistro. It was widely cited as the oldest continuously serving bar in North Carolina after The Tavern in Old Salem closed in 2019. On Jan. 25, 2026, a fire that began in the basement destroyed the historic building; the Blowing Rock chamber raised nearly $130,000 through a GoFundMe for displaced employees. Bistro Roca reopened in a temporary home at Hellbender Bed & Beverage on Feb. 27, 2026, with a rebuild at the original site and a grand reopening targeted for 2027.

Antlers Bar opened in 1932, five years before prohibition officially ended in North Carolina in 1937 — meaning the state's 'oldest bar' spent its first years pouring drinks 'more or less legally,' by its own admission.

What to order: The Antlers Bar pet gallery — a wall of black-and-white portraits of customers' pets, collected for about 15 years, each labeled with the animal's name and family surname.