Bar: Silver Moon Saloon

Location: 632 Trade St. NW, Winston Salem, NC 27101

Score: 8.5/10

I would like to first apologize to the readers for depriving them for so long for this gem of a bar. I am embarrassed to say I have lived near this bar for three years and passed it no less than a thousand times and just made my first appearance at the Silver Moon Saloon. I cannot believe what I was missing out on, and it is a shame that I just did not visit this establishment.  This bar is truly an outlier on Trade Street in Winston Salem, in the best way possible. Being a standalone building, the Silver Moon Saloon stands out for its aged white brick and small stature. Do not let the size of this bar fool you as it makes up for its size with a patio that wraps around the exterior of the bar. As far as the bar itself, it is tiny, but perfect in every way imaginable. With no more than 10 seats inside the bar itself, it is a close-knit environment, making it a welcoming bar. Immediately when you walk into the bar you notice random cases of America’s finest, PBR, stacked throughout the bar. I would imagine this is the most consumed beer at this establishment along with the pony bottle High Life’s that they also have. The beer itself is dirt, dirt cheap. I drank the champagne of beers, and it only set me back $2. $2 in 2024 for a beer? What a deal. The exposed brick walls inside of the bar speak to the age of the Silver Moon Saloon. Originally a ~1910 linen press, shop, bar, and restaurant at one point in time, this establishment stood the test of time, and these walls would have stories if they could talk. As far as the other décor on the wall you can expect random bar signage, including some old PBR signage. The bar itself is a gorgeous, aged wood that continues to build on the character of the bar. One of the coolest parts of the bar in my opinion is the window behind the bar which leads to the patio. If you are outside of the bar on the patio, you can order drinks through the window. Such a simple feature, that more bars should have. What could be better than a window to order your beer on a patio on a nice summer day? Absolutely nothing. I am looking forward to many future adventures at the Silver Moon Saloon. Going forward, this will be my go-to bar in Winston Salem. I could not have appreciated this bar anymore and will be a proud patron for years to come.

Once again, I would just like to apologize for neglecting the readers for just now revealing this gem of a bar. Please check out our Instagram @Weratebars to see additional photos of this unique dive.

On behalf of WeRateBars: I’m sorry. Extremely sorry. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any blogger in the entire country blog as hard as I will for the rest of the year, and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the WeRateBars team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this year. You’ll never see a blogger, blog harder than we will the rest of 2024. God bless.

Décor: Wow. What more can I say? Exposed brick. Old PBR signage, a gorgeous wooden bar top, and random nonsense on the wall, A+ for this category.

Prices: Dirt cheap. $2 High Life pony beers. I would bet that the PBRs are at parity with this beer and all beers are very cheap.

Service: Quick service. The benefit of a small bar is you can only serve so many people, making the service immaculate.

Atmosphere: I visited on a Wednesday afternoon after work, it was still fairly crowded, but I would love to see this place on a Friday night.

Cleanliness: The epitome of a dive bar. Grimy, but well kept. Tons of writing on the bathroom walls add to the allure of the Silver Moon.

Bonus Points: No bonus points are awarded.