Cocktail Bars in Charleston
Charleston's cocktail bars sit on and around King, Meeting and East Bay streets. The best cocktail bars in Charleston include The Gin Joint on East Bay Street where you pick two adjectives and the bartenders build the drink, and Doar Bros. on Meeting Street, which has made an orgeat from boiled peanuts. Last Saint, an eastside bar on Meeting Street, was a 2022 Spirited Awards regional honoree for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar, and Graft, a wine shop and bar on King Street, was a 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Bar. The Gin Joint and Graft take walk-ins only. These are the five we would start with.
- ProofCocktail 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-2amFull profile - Last SaintCocktail 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-2amFull profile - Graft Wine Shop & Wine BarWine 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-10pmFull profile 
Cocktail BarDoar 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 closedFull profile- The Gin JointCocktail 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-8pmFull profile
More of Charleston
These are the cocktail bars specifically. The full Charleston guide ranks the best bars of every style, and the directory lists all 6 with a map and filters.
