From the moment you step inside Dram & Draught, you know you’re not in just any bar—you’ve entered a spirits sanctuary. The shelves don’t just display bottles, they showcase a philosophy.
Across Patterson Avenue from Bailey Park, right next to one of the old smokestacks, is the entrance to Dram & Draught (pronounced “Dram and Draft”) in Bailey Power Plant. On the other side of the black double doors, a large custom wood shelf displays an impressive collection of spirits.
At its highest, the display is stacked six shelves high and spans the entire L-shaped bar, which seats nearly 40 people. Each shelf space holds different liquor options. From time to time, you’ll see a bartender climbing and sliding along a ladder in search of the right bottle.
Is your preference whiskey? They have over 300 to choose from. Or whether your favorite spirit is tequila or vodka, the bartenders of Dram & Draught know the right suggestion to make. The bar has a lot of spirits to choose from, selected to provide variety and quality no matter what your palate. The intentionality doesn’t stop there.
Crafted by industry pros to enhance the entire customer experience from service to space to taste, Dram & Draught isn’t just slinging drinks in the Innovation Quarter. With a priority on service, bold flavors, and a deep respect for the craft, they’ve built more than a bar–they’ve cultivated a culture that pairs well with the mission of the iQ by bringing thought and intention into every endeavor…including crafting cocktails.
The Scene of Dram & Draught
Dram & Draught, which started in Raleigh and now has seven locations, was expanding at the same time iQ’s was coming to life in downtown Winston-Salem. The space in the renovated Bailey Power Plant made for a perfect spot to marry Dram & Draught’s neighborhood mission with the area’s upscaled vibe.
Bailey Power Plant’s unique attributes made it an interesting addition, according to Lentz Ison, who is managing director over all Dram & Draught locations.
“The building’s infrastructure was different from our other locations, and we knew we could take advantage of designing it for a high-energy environment,” Ison says. “With the wide-open concept and tall walls, it doesn’t feel like your typical bar.”
Bailey Power Plant once provided electricity to surrounding tobacco manufacturing facilities, as well as nearby businesses and neighborhoods. The former coal-powered power plant was recently converted into a mixed-use building, housing a variety of businesses. The renovations to Bailey Power Plant retained much of its raw industrial feel, using historic tax credits which require the preservation of original materials and unique features of the building. Today, tenants like Dram & Draught bring new personality and purpose to the power plant.
Dram & Draught’s converted space still sports the exposed cement walls from its original power plant days, and the tall ceilings makes the 3,000 square-foot space feel even more spacious. Yet, the nooks and crannies that are tucked in various areas of the bar allow small groups and pairs to enjoy the bar intimately. One even has a grass wall that’s Instagram-worthy.
The furnishings in Dram & Draught are thoughtfully placed. Custom tables populate the main area, and the lengthy bar is accentuated by multiple bartender wells. Thoughtfully designed with efficiency in mind, the bar layout gives bartenders the space and flow they need to deliver top-tier service, while the versatility of the space offers customers the flexibility to commune with the crowd or an intimate small group–all in the same place.
There is also homage to local history. Painted along the walls is the Camel brand logo, just like it was in the old Reynolds Tobacco building that’s been repurposed as the heart of the iQ. But there are a few nods to Dram & Draught’s origin story in the bar’s decor as well, most noticeably a red neon light hanging above the left side of the bar.
The red neon sign reads “Registered Lubrication.” It’s a sign that graces every Dram & Draught location, pointing back to where the bar started.
The sign is a holdover from Dram & Draught’s first location, which opened in July 2016 in a renovated gas station and auto shop on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s customary for auto shops that include lubrication services like oil changes to display a similar sign, but it took on a whole new meaning when owners, Kevin Barrett and Drew Schenck, wanted to deliver a different experience.
From the First Pour to Seven Locations
Schenck joined the Triangles’s hospitality sector in 1989. He opened his first restaurant, Remmington’s Grill, in 1993, but decided to sell and pursue real estate. After about a 10-year stint selling properties, he opened RallyPoint Sport Grill around 2008, which is when his future business partner Barrett relocated from Wilmington to Raleigh.
Barrett owned a wine shop on the state’s east coast, but couldn’t get away from his love to be behind the bar. The two met when Barrett made Schenck a cocktail. Barrett had made a name for himself as Raleigh’s best mixologist, and Schenck was exploring cocktails for his bar at RallyPoint.
Eventually, Barrett had drafted a business plan for what would become Dram & Draught and he brought it to Schenck for feedback. Although it didn’t materialize right away, he was pitching the business to his future partner.
Together, they saw a gap in the market. There were bars exclusively selling American spirits. Others weren’t affordable for everyone or they hosted live music focused on a particular genre. There was no one making upscaled drinks readily available to…well, anyone.
Barrett and Schenck envisioned a bar where anyone could get the liquor they loved, pair it with a beer, and feel at ease–that would be their niche. The foundation would be a culture of creating good drinks and providing impeccable service from knowledgeable bartenders.
With the success of the first Dram & Draught in Raleigh, expansion began. A second location launched in Greensboro in 2018.
That’s when Lentz Ison helped grow Dram and Draught from one to seven locations across the state—including moving to a larger building in Raleigh in 2019 and adding Cary, Durham, Charlotte, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem.
“I’ve assisted different companies open more than 30 bars throughout my career, but I love what we’re doing at Dram & Draught,” Ison says. “It’s a one-of-kind experience.”
For Barrett, Schenck, and Ison, it all comes together to create the total package. The drinks, the service, the knowledge, the atmosphere, are all well thought out pillars of creating a superior experience for the customer.
Expertly-Crafted Cocktails
From carefully constructed cocktails to seasonal wines to craft and local beers on tap, Dram & Draught’s menu highlights thoughtful interpretations of time-tested classic cocktails and a list of innovative cocktails developed in-house.
“Our drinks are tasty; they’re something that people want to come back to drink again,” Ison says.
Dram & Draught’s menu includes seven sections. The “Boilermakers” bring the bar’s namesake to life—a dram of whiskey and draught of beer. This section offers beer and shot pairings, intentionally matched for quality and taste.
The “Classic Renditions” section is the bar’s take on tried-and-true cocktails, like the Gin & Tonic, Jungle Bird, and Pisco Sour. The fan favorite of all the classics is their Old Fashioned.
“It’s by far our best seller,” Ison says. “It’s not overly sweet. We use a premium whiskey—Green River Bourbon. It’s just a great Old Fashioned.”
Other sections include their “Signature” drinks, featuring the Birds and the Bees, a more modern variation of an Old Fashioned, along with a “Local Specialties” section, an exclusive menu of drinks.
“They’re drinks you can only get in Winston-Salem that the bartenders here created,” said Ison.
Dram & Draught also has a seasonal wine menu that Ison calls “small but interesting.” While great spirits remain top sellers, Kevin Barrett, who is also a sommelier, makes sure great wines are available, too.
The most unique section of the menu is the “Seasonal” cocktails. This semiannual-shifting list is sold in all seven locations after an organization-wide collaborative, yet intense, process. Any bartender can submit an entry into the internal competition for the upcoming seasonal cocktail menu, but only 12 drinks are selected twice a year.
“It’s highly competitive to get a drink on our menu,” says Dre Hunter, general manager of the Dram & Draught location in Winston-Salem.
Creating a cocktail entry goes beyond flavor pairing. Each bartender researches ingredients, how to source them, and pricing before their drink competes locally, then regionally—split between eastern and western Dram & Draught locations. Regional winners advance to the finals, where the entire staff of general managers, head bartenders, founders, and Ison select the 12 cocktails for the seasonal menu.
This process, along with extensive training, encourages every bartender to learn more about not only making drinks, but also operating and leading in the industry. It’s something Barrett, Schenck, and Ison built into their culture.
Dram & Draught’s team undergoes regular training to master cutting-edge bartending techniques—like sous vide infusions, cocktail clarification, forced carbonation, and oleo saccharum extraction. They also take pride in sourcing fresh, local ingredients and crafting juices, syrups, and garnishes entirely in-house.
Managers regularly host tasting sessions for the bartenders with brand representatives to unlock the taste, history, and intention behind a liquor. It’s an investment that trickles down to the customer’s experience. The more a bartender knows about a liquor, the better their service gets–from helping new customers pick their first drink to making an off-menu request with precision.
Dram & Draught’s Intentional Design
As a part of the iQ community, Dram & Draught is part of the fabric of businesses that sustains and supports a larger mission to grow the city and create meaningful change through innovation by not only providing a place for people to connect, but also by thinking like innovators themselves. This spirited venture wasn’t a half-mixed idea.
“We all have bartending experience, so it was a bar designed by people in the industry,” Ison says.
That experience is reflected in the set-up of the iQ location, as well as in the investment Dram & Draught puts into its bartenders.
Dre Hunter, who has bartended at Dram & Draught in the iQ from the beginning, remembers opening night in the iQ about two and half years ago.
“It was the best experience I’ve had,” Hunter says.
“There are a number of bars in Winston to get a good drink. Our advantage is with a great drink, you get an atmosphere, a vibe, an energy, and personal connections. That’s what really sets us apart.”
It’s a brand culture that’s transferred from the staff to the customer, as well as the bartending community. The depth of experience and knowledge bartenders gain has led to numerous staff members getting leadership opportunities within the organization and at other bars.
“Including myself, there are three former bartenders in management roles in Winston-Salem,” Hunter says. “I think that’s a testament to the company and the way we train our teams.”
Although Dram & Draught didn’t originate in Winston-Salem, it’s a perfect example of companies that find their spot here and enhance the iQ community by contributing their creative and entrepreneurial energy.
If you’re around the iQ, visit Dram & Draught in Bailey Power Plant to try one of their expertly-crafted cocktails or your favorite drink. Learn more about Dram & Draught and the other restaurants and bars in the area on the iQ’s website.
