Satellite Bar & Lounge: Remote Yet Close to Home

Since moving to Greenfield Lake, we have longed for a good neighborhood bar.  Let’s face it, there are a lot of bars in and around Wilmington.  Since downtown is less than 4 miles away from my front door, any of the bars in downtown could theoretically be a contender.  But then I realized that the application of the word “good” was a qualitative one which raised an important question.  Aside from distance, how do you judge the quality of a neighborhood bar?  I got a call from a friend recently suggesting that I join him at the opening of a great new watering hole near the Lake.  I was indisposed that evening so I took a rain check.  I take recommendations very seriously, so a week later my wife, Tanya and I stopped by.  It was there that my question was answered.

120 Greenfield Street is an address with a history of community service.  For many years it served the residents of Nesbitt Court and beyond as a neighborhood market.  Veteran bar owner Dustin Ricks seized the opportunity to purchase the property in July 2009 and after working 14 hour days for 6 months reintroduced the understated brick building to the residents of Wilmington as Satellite Bar & Lounge, Wilmington’s latest best kept secret…until now.

The décor is hip and sophisticated but not pretentious, vintage but not junky; warm and inviting.  The nuances of the owner’s artistry shine in the chic use of automobile parts as bar stools and door handles.   A grab bar from a city bus extends along the front of the bar providing a foot rest.  The interior was completely gutted revealing massive timber trusses above and a surplus of wood products which were reused in large neo-medieval barn doors and bar surfaces.  A single bank of draft levers that emerge from off-the shelf pipe fittings are reflected in the heavily epoxied wood countertops along with the subdued light from exposed incandescent pendent lights.  The scene is somewhere between an early industrial warehouse and an Alpine ski lodge.  Comfortable reclaimed furniture provides an ample setting for lucid fellowship and best of all, there are no TVs!

A copious selection of 80 varieties of beer combine with a fully stocked bar to quench thirst on any budget.  Sunday afternoons are punctuated with live acoustic bluegrass and a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar.  Future improvements will include an outdoor movie garden and more live entertainment.

Satellite is truly a grass roots endeavor germinating from the salient values of comfort, fellowship, sophistication, and variety.  Most importantly, where gratitude is often lost in the vacuum of mediocre expectations, the owners have clearly stated its importance with a brightly lit yellow sign above the beer coolers; simply stated, “Thank you for shopping with us.”  Ricks sees this project as an asset to the community and is optimistic that it will be in operation well into the foreseeable future, setting a new precedent of quality for the ideal neighborhood bar.