Now, Zinc House has been drawing huge crowds from around the Triangle since it opened.

But we discovered a social beer garden that's become a real big hit in the foothills.

It's called the RailYard.

[upbeat music] - The RailYard is a seasonal outdoor beer garden.

It's a place for families, it's a place to enjoy a great beer, come get a sandwich or something from the food truck.

But basically it's just a place to relax.

- [Narrator] Elkin natives, Virgil and Mitzi Settle, got the idea back in 2019, when their family vacationed in the UK.

- And we visited an area with shipping containers that contained little shops, little restaurants, bars, all kinds of different stuff.

And we just fell in love with the idea and thought we could do something like that in Elkin.

- And Europeans just love sitting outdoors, enjoying their lunch, enjoying a nice beer outside.

And during COVID, we realized that Americans got a taste of that.

If you wanted to go out, you were going to be out.

- So it's just a really good spot, and it's in town, which is awesome.

- [Narrator] And it's because of that location that it was named.

- [Mitzi] Well, we are sitting right on the railroad track that the train passes through several times a day.

- [Narrator] The Settles concept was a wonderful way to repurpose the lot.

It's partially in a floodplain whose homes were torn down decades ago.

- [Virgil] This lot had sat here for 30 years empty.

And we just looked at it and you know once we cleaned it up, we just realized how gorgeous it was with the trees and it just made a perfect garden.

- [Narrator] It's also in the center of the picturesque and popular community of Elkin.

- With all the wineries starting to open, it's become more of a tourist spot than it used to be.

- There's also a craft brewing scene.

And so we felt like that's a good thing to tap into.

And we don't brew ourselves, we're more of a taproom, but we have local beers from the area, we have local beers from all over North Carolina.

But one thing we've also done that I don't think anybody's really doing now, is focusing on really good imported beers.

Hefeweizen is what I'm drinking today, which is close to what I normally drink.

- Germany has been brewing beer for millennia and they do a really good job.

And we just felt like nobody's really focusing on quality imports anymore.

You'll always have that lightest beer, we have some really good pilsners, English ales, a few of those.

- [Mitzi] To a sour, with some ciders.

- We have IPAs from all over North Carolina, 'cause everybody loves IPAs.

- I got something from Asheville, North Carolina, that was really good.

- [Narrator] And if you're hungry... - [Patron] Are you here till eight?

- Yes ma'am.

- [Patron] Okay.

- [Virgil] Every night we have a rotating selection of food trucks.

- It's fast food, in a lot of places, it's better food.

- From Japanese food to Cuban food, to tacos, to American fair, hot dogs and hamburgers.

- [Narrator] The popularity of Elkin as a tourist destination led to the formation of something called a social district.

- So we have to-go cups now where you can take your beer or your glass of wine in one of our label cups and walk all through downtown as long as you're within the area of the social district.

- We've done that in Savannah where you're walking around with daiquiris or you're walking around with with draft beer or whatever.

So I mean, yeah, absolutely, and we've only been here a little time, but I saw tons of shops and stuff downtown, so that, I mean, that will be great.

- [Narrator] Add to that, the fact the RailYard is kid- and pet-friendly, and you've got an experience the entire family can enjoy.

- So to bring them down here for them to feel comfortable and then we can play cornhole, they can sit and have food, it's amazing, it's a really good spot.

- The RailYard is at 203 West Depot Alley, in Elkin, and they're open Thursday through Sunday For their latest news, you can find them on Facebook.