Blind Tiger Pub satiates the famished mobs hungrily shuffling down Broad Street with a savory menu of exquisite pub cuisine. Get your taste buds crustaceanously clamped by two gooey lump crab cakes served with mesclun salad ($14), or deliciously brand your tongue with the butcher's steak topped with caramelized onions and served with sea-salted pommes frites ($15). A variety of drinks soothe parched palates and clear tongue buds for further taste explorations.
Charleston is one of the country's oldest cities, its historic significance made palpable by Civil War landmarks and immaculately preserved properties, hundreds of which have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The French Quarter's cobblestone pathways wend past gothic churches and graveyards where signers of the Declaration of Independence were laid to rest. On the Battery, a short walk from the hotel, mansions commingle with Confederate cannons and oak trees along the seawall facing Fort Sumter in the Battery. More recently, Charleston has merged its Old South identity with a strong arts-and-culture scene. The streets once overrun with aristocrats and their diamond-studded butlers are now lined with top-tier art galleries and fashion boutiques. The city's reputation as a major culinary destination has been reaffirmed by the James Beard Foundation, which has named a different Charleston chef the best in the southeast three out of the past four years.
Mad River Bar & Grille's chefs blend landlocked and seafaring comestibles into a manifold pub fare menu spanning three mealtimes. A Chicago Bull burger’s juicy patty lounges atop a butter-toasted kaiser roll as it tries on hickory-smoked bacon and fried-egg jerseys, unable to decide which one to wear to its playoff game against an underdog team of seasoned french fries ($9). Three mahi tacos ($10) and three pulled-pork sliders ($8) compile triplicate appetite suppression with a choice of flaky, guacamole-capped mahi-mahi or local Birney's pulled pork. Alternately, a menu of Sunday brunch items such as a pancake board ($7) populated by blueberry, chocolate, and banana batter disks flavorfully fill the space between lunch and chewing your pillow in your sleep.
Named after the owners' sociable golden retriever, Boone's Restaurant & Bar serves warming fare alongside an extensive selection of specialty drinks and shots, bourbon, wine, and craft beers. Classic American pub fare with a homey spin packs Boone's lunch and dinner menu, boasting many dishes concocted using time-tested family recipes and organic ingredients. Sample savory selections such as the shrimp-and-artichoke-dip appetizer (small, $4.50), or sink canines into ever-popular burgers (starting at $7), wings ($7.95 for 12), and hot dogs ($5). If Boone isn't making one of his guest appearances, patrons can stay entertained with the bar's other nightly attractions, like team trivia, karaoke, live music, and local cats scribbling poetry in their journals.
Charleston Beer Works boasts an impressive selection of draught beers and a menu brimming with sports-bar favorites. Commence preemptive celebratory snacking with loaded tater tots ($3.95), crispy fried calamari with marinara sauce ($6.75), fried pickle wedges ($6.50) featuring a remoulade for dipping, or, for those with more sophisticated palettes, the corn dog and fries ($5.95). A build-your-own burger, grilled chicken sandwich, or fried chicken sandwich (all $5.95) will please eaters needing to express themselves through personality-representing toppings ($0.25–$1 each) such as jalapenos, nacho cheese, or chili. Charleston Beer Works also offers wings (starting at $5.75 for six wings) that can be dressed in your choice of 15 saucy coatings, including a wasabi ranch, a jalapeno lime, and the house signature dry rub. Oil down esophagus tubes with one, or five, of the 40 craft brews on tap—hoppy helpings include the Atlanta-based Sweetwater Blue, the proletariat Pabst Blue Ribbon, and the age-old Yuengling, as American an alcohol as apple pie champagne.
Guests perched on plush couches at Torch Velvet Lounge sip creative martinis and other mixed drinks in the glow of flickering candles. Like fruit salads served at midnight study sessions, the vodka-based Grapes of Wrath cocktail mixes the sweet flavors of grape and watermelon with a healthy dose of Red Bull ($11). Bartenders breathe life into the Captain's Choice, a spicy-sweet mélange of rum, orange curaçao, cinnamon, sugar, and a spritz of Bacardi 151 ($11), and meld Rumple Minze and Bailey's Irish Cream to mix the Mint Chocolate Chip ($11). During live music sets throughout the week, saxophone and keyboard melodies mingle with thumping dance beats and the splashing of cocktails being mixed on the turntables.
O'Malleys Bar and Grille’s waitstaff delivers the menu’s hearty burgers and pastas to tables as bartenders sling bottled and draft beers from a 36-foot saloon-style oak bar. A duo of fried 4-ounce pork chops ($10.99) snoozes on fluffy pillows of veggies and garlic mashed potatoes, and Cajun linguine captures sautéed mushrooms, peppers, onions, and tomatoes in its zesty pasta snares ($11.99; add shrimp or chicken for $3.50). Alternatively, silence a date’s idle chatter about acid-base titration protocols with a sticky bite of the Cheesy BBQ burger slathered in melted american cheese, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce ($8.99).