Not all happy hours are created equal. Some offer meager discounts of a few dollars per drink while others feel like stealing with up to half off certain drinks and food. The Bartopia app and website are made to be a tool for browsing and discovering the many bars Charleston county has to offer. But, we’ve gotten requests for a highlight of the best happy hours in different parts of Charleston. I’ll lay out all the details, but if you want to check out more of each bars specials just click the Bartopia logo below their section to take you right to their page.
So to kick things off, here is a handpicked list of the 14 best happy hours in downtown Charleston.
Indaco
The Italian staple on upper King Street has a happy hour that highlights both their delicious food and craft cocktails. Available only at the bar from 4 – 7 pm Monday through Friday, it features:
$8 Drink Specials
Peroni
Negroni
House Wine
Old Fashioned
Moscow Mule
Food Specials
$6 Marinated Olives
$7 Little Gem Lettuce
$9 Polpette
$10 Pizza of the Day
$14 Prosciutto Di Parma
CO
If you haven’t been to this cozy Vietnamese restaurant at the start of lower King, I highly recommend it. They’ve got a full bar on the first floor as you walk in, and more tables upstairs. Their happy hour is Monday through Friday 4 – 7 pm featuring $4 draft beer & select wine, a $5 specialty cocktail, and 1/2 off Sake carafes. But the reason they make this list is some of the bites on their happy hour.
Drinks
$4 draft beer & select wine
$5 Specialty Cocktail
1/2 off Sake Carafes
$4 Bites
Steamed Edamame
Pork Belly Bun
Garlic Sesame Tuna Taco (single)
$5 Bites
Spicy Crab Rangoons
Beef & Kimchi Dumplings
Yellow Curry (Chicken or Tofu)
$6 Bites
Mango Summer Rolls
Edamame Spring Rolls
Fresh Summer Rolls.
My favorites are the Tuna Taco, Beef & Kimchi Dumplings, and Mango Summer Rolls!
Rappahannock Oyster Bar
If you ask me, Rappahannock is one of the most underrated oyster/seafood joints in Charleston. Located in the old cigar factory building on East Bay, it’s within walking distance of Bar Mash and Bay Street Biergarten (perfect start to a bar hopping route😉).
Their happy hour has everything you could ask for (Mon – Fri 4 – 7 pm):
$5 White, Rose and Bubbles | $6 Red
$4 Narragansett Lager & Citra Session Ale
$6 Oyster Shooters
$7 Sangria
$8 Mules, French 75s and Manhattans
$2 Select Oysters
Plus they have 5 different varieties of oyster shooters and killer craft cocktails outside of their happy hour.
Fuel Cantina
Fuel is one of the best bars to grab drinks and a bite to start your night out. Super casual Caribbean cuisine with an awesome back patio and indoor/outdoor bar, set in a 1950s style gas station. And since they’re on this list you can correctly assume they have a stacked happy hour, weekdays from 4 – 7 pm.
Drinks
$3 Draft Beer of the Week
$5 Tecate + Tequila (my personal favorite)
$5 PBR + a shot
$5 Wine by the glass
$6 Frozen Pain Reliever
$7 Specialty Cocktail
Food
$5 Crispy Jumbo Wings
$5 Taco Fries
$5 Half Nacho
Everyday Deals
$2.50 Antifreeze shooter
$3 Fuel Draft
$4 House Liquors
Also check out their flavored margaritas like the jalapeño.
Pink Cactus
This is one of my favorite Mexican bars in Charleston. Pink Cactus is a cute little spot on Spring Street with a spacious front patio. They serve delicious Oaxacan style food and craft cocktails, and their happy hour is loaded with both. They’ve got the best margarita flavors (also on happy hour) including Pink Cactus, pineapple, coconut, pepino, mango, lime or spicy. The full Tequila & Taco Hour is Monday to Saturday 3 – 6 pm and features:
Drinks
$3 Tecate
$4 Mexican Ashtray
$6 House Tequila Shot
$7 House Mezcal Shot
$7 Margaritas (all flavors)
$7 Palomas
$30 Margarita Pitchers (Pink Cactus, Lime or Spicy)
Food
$3 Salsa
$5 Queso Dip
$5 Tacos
$6 Queso Fundito
The shots and pitchers on happy hour make Pink Cactus another great place to pregame, especially with happy hour on Saturday!
They’ve also got great weekly food specials:
Monday Fajita Night
Tuesday Al Pastor Night
Wednesday Burrito Night
Thursday Birria Taco Night
2nd Sunday Brunch
Rutledge Cab Company
Tucked away on its namesake Rutledge Ave, this gem is known for their amazing burgers and sandwiches. The neighborhood staple has an incredible $5 Cab Happy Hour, with everything featured being only $5 from 3 – 6 pm daily. This features:
Drinks
Sangria
House liquors
Wine
William Wolf Pecan Bourbon
Ugly Mug Coffee Whiskey
Select draft beer ($1 off on all other drafts)
Bar Snacks
Cab Loaded Fries
Fried Pickle Spears
Hot Honey Shrimp
Veggie Spring Rolls
Humus Combo
Plus every Tuesday is Neighborhood Appreciation Night with 20% off everything!
Prohibition
Prohibition is a popular nightlife spot in the heart of upper King Street downtown. They’ve got a massive indoor bar, with an adjacent dance floor (late night), and a big outdoor patio in the back. While more known for late night, they’ve got a killer happy hour from 4 – 6 Monday – Thursday at the bar. Offering:
$7 Drinks
Local drafts
Moscow Mule
Aperol Spritz
Brown Derby
House Red & White Wine
Food
$6 Chicken Liver Mousse
$8 Crispy Brussel Sprouts
$8 Roasted Red Pepper Romesco Dip
$10 Street Corn Toastada
$10 Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs
$10 Charred Wings
Coterie
I think this is probably one of the more slept-on places on this list. Coterie has many things going for it: it’s got a cool outdoor bar and patio, incredible Indian cuisine, and some of the best craft cocktails in the city. They’ve got an $9 Pocket Friendly Happy Hour from 4 – 7 pm everyday. It includes:
Drinks
gimlet
brown derby
airmail
sazerac
americano highball
adult orange cream soda
cosmopolitan
nightcap og shorty
glass of house red or white wine
Bar Bites
spicy chips
bao buns
rice noodles
chicken skewers
I really like coming here with friends and ordering a bunch of plates to share family-style. And they also have mezcal flights outside of their happy hour offerings.
Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar
Amen St on East Bay near Market St has a great all-around happy hour, and some of the food offerings make it an easy dinner option while you’re out. From 3 – 6 pm Monday – Friday.
Drinks
$3 Drafts: Budweiser, Bud Lite, Miller Lite & Miller High Life
$4 Yuengling drafts
$5 House liquors
$5 Amen’s Award Winning Oyster Shooter
$6 Wine glasses
Bar Bites
Oysters $12 for 6 | $20 for 12
$7 Fried Green Tomatoes
$10 Mussels
$10 Crispy Jumbo Calamari
$11 Half-pound peel & eat shrimp
If I was starting my night out here, I’d pop across the street to grab an Espresso Martini from Carmella’s for dessert.
Container Bar
If you’ve never been, Container Bar is a bar made out of shipping containers, that serves the drinks while a variety of food trucks park to cover the grub. They’ve got a great patio for hanging out and playing games like corn hole, plus a stacked happy hour.
Drinks
$2.50 PBR
$3 Bud Light, Tecate & Yuengling drafts
$3.50 Narragansett Lager
$4 well liquor
$5 house wine
$5 shots of Jameson, Espolon, Titos, and Fireball
Snacks
$1 hot dog
$2 chips
Container Bar also has a loaded weekly calendar with Trivia on Tuesdays, F&B night on Wednesdays (with discounts and special cocktails/shots!!) and pop-up markets on Saturdays, among other things. Check out their Bartopia page for all the details.
Pearlz Oyster Bar
Pearlz Oyster Bar has a robust happy hour menu at both locations, although a bit different. Monday through Friday from 4 – 6 pm, Pearlz downtown happy hour features:
Drinks
$3 Champagne
$4 Narragansett
$5 House liquor
$5 House wine
$5 Oyster shooters
Food
$6 Corn Fritters
$7 Pork Rinds
$12 Southern Fried Oysters
$15 Peel & Eat Shrimp
$15 for 6 Char-Broiled Oysters
$19 for 12 Oysters on the half shell
If you’re out on lower East Bay, this happy hour is great for dinner or a snack.
Edmund's Oast Brewing Company
For as well known as the legendary EOBC is, their happy hour is a lesser known secret. Branded as Hoppy Hour, from 4 – 6 pm on weekdays, it might not be what you’d expect from a brewery. It includes:
Drinks
1/2 off all draft beer
$6.50 Shorty Margarita (+$1.50 Gran Gala floater)
$3 Shots (Evan Williams Bonded & Barrel-Aged Underberg)
Snacks
$4 Boiled Peanuts
$7 Viet Meatball Bahn Mi
$7 BBQ Smash Burger
$10 Seasonal Tomato Pizza
The brewery is also one of my favorite places to watch sports. Plus Monday night trivia is one of my favorite weekday activities.
Maya
Maya is a relatively new Mexican restaurant, located in the heart of Upper King Street in a building that used to be The Macintosh restaurant. Maya has a beautiful indoor bar and a large outdoor bar and patio. Their happy hour from 5 – 6:30 pm Monday through Thursday has everything you could need from a Mexican happy hour:
From the Bar
$4 Pacifico
$6 Red or White Wine
$7 House Margarita (add a flavor for +$2)
$7 Lunazul Ranch Water
From the Kitchen
$5 Empanadas
$6 Plantains
$7 Crispy Brussels
$7 Elote
$9 Taco Flight (2 or 3)
$14 Maya Burger
Bar Mash
Bar Mash, part of Mercantile and Mash, lives in the old cigar factory on East Bay. It’s a cosy wood-interior bar focused on American Whiskey and Beer. Like many on this list, you could live off Bar Mash’s happy hour for a few weeks. From Monday – Saturday 4 – 6 pm you can grab:
Drinks
$2.50 High Life draft
$3 Evan Williams 1783 (1oz. pour)
$4 Founders All Day IPA
$6 Daily red or white wine
$7 House Daiquiri
Snacks
$5 Soft Pretzel
$5 Chips & house made Queso (add Chorizo +$2)
$5 Single Fish Taco
$7 Shrimp Arencini
$7 Burger
Any place that has tacos and burgers on the same list is a friend of mine)
I hope you enjoyed our picks and that you discovered someplace new to try from this list. I’ll be doing more happy hour highlights in the future for other parts of Charleston so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can search Happy Hour, paired with any location or search terms on Bartopia to browse yourself!
Tag us when you visit these bars on social media and as always, happy drinking!
