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The 6 Best Bars in Charleston

Charleston's cocktail scene mixes inventive drinks with a little Southern history, down to the Charleston Madeira on hotel menus. The best bars in Charleston line King Street, Meeting Street and East Bay Street. The Living Room at The Dewberry on Meeting Street fills a mid-century room with a reading library and pours a Dewberry Old-Fashioned; it was a Spirited Awards Top 10 nominee for Best American Hotel Bar in 2018 and 2019. Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar, uptown on King Street, from two friends named Food & Wine's 2019 Sommeliers of the Year, plays music picked by Femi Oyediran and was a 2026 James Beard Outstanding Bar semifinalist. Last Saint on Meeting Street bills itself as an eastside cocktail spot. Doar Bros. fat-washes the rye in its house Manhattan, and The Gin Joint, open since 2010 on East Bay Street, will build a drink from any two adjectives you choose. Graft and The Gin Joint take no reservations. These are the six we would start with.

Browse every Charleston barBest cocktail bars in Charleston
  1. Proof
    Cocktail Bar

    Proof

    Proof describes itself as an intimate craft cocktail bar on King Street with over a hundred selections, an extensive wines-by-the-glass list and, in its words, a real good beer list, and its Instagram is blunter still: a fun place to party on King Street. It opens at noon every day and closes at two, with happy hour from four to seven on weekdays. The Spirited Awards placed it in the U.S. top ten for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar in 2022 and for Best U.S. Bar Team in 2022 and 2024.

    437 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403Daily 12pm-2am
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  2. The Living Room
    Hotel Bar

    The Living Room

    The Living Room is the lobby bar of The Dewberry Charleston on Meeting Street, which the hotel calls a midcentury dream and a warm, convivial place for morning coffee, afternoon cocktails or a nightcap. The room is outfitted with mid-century furnishings, a curated reading library, a showstopping brass bar and a relaxed wraparound patio, with details such as wooden bowls handcrafted by local artist Hugh Jeffers from the knots of a 150-year-old white oak tree. Seating is first come, first served, and the hotel says the bar is a favorite with both guests and locals.

    334 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403Sun-Thu 7am-11pm; Fri-Sat 7am-12am
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  3. Last Saint
    Cocktail Bar

    Last Saint

    Last Saint calls itself an Eastside cocktail bar, and that is the whole pitch: a neighborhood room on Meeting Street that opens at five every day and runs until two. Its Instagram is where the day-to-day lives, with a sister space next door under the Annex name for private bookings. The 2022 Spirited Awards put it in the top ten for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar.

    472 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403Daily 5pm-2am
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  4. Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar
    Wine Bar

    Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar

    Graft is a wine shop and bar in uptown Charleston created by sommeliers Femi Oyediran and Miles White, walk-in only, tagging each wine by how it was farmed rather than calling anything natural, with a free tasting on Tuesdays, live music on Wednesdays, no corkage on Mondays and a parking-lot party on Sundays. The James Beard Foundation named it an Outstanding Bar semifinalist in 2026.

    700 King St, Suite B, Charleston, SC 29403Mon-Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri 2pm-10pm; Sat-Sun 12pm-10pm; retail daily 12pm-10pm
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  5. Doar Bros.
    Cocktail Bar

    Doar Bros.

    Doar Bros. is a small cocktail bar on Meeting Street that says it specializes in modern creative cocktails, classic cocktails and shareable small plates, with an Italian night and a daytime cafe, Cafe Lucca, run out of the same crew. Reservations are encouraged through Resy up to a week ahead, though the room is small enough that walking in is the usual way. Closed on Monday; open from four on weekdays and from two on Saturday.

    225 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401Tue-Thu 4pm-10:30pm, Fri 3pm-11:30pm, Sat 2pm-11:30pm, Sun 3pm-9:45pm, Mon closed
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  1. The Gin Joint
    Cocktail Bar

    The Gin Joint

    The Gin Joint has poured on East Bay Street since 2010 and is, in its own words, far from just a gin bar: it keeps one of Charleston's largest spirit selections behind a seasonal cocktail menu, under the house line that proper nights call for proper cocktails. The bartender's choice is the signature move, two adjectives from the guest and a drink built to them, with what the bar calls intentional ingredients behind the bar and a short, curated food list. No reservations; it opens at five on weeknights and at three on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

    182 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401Mon-Thu 5pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 3pm-12am, Sun 3pm-8pm
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