Some football fans choose to watch at home on the couch, but many other folks opt to take in the action at a local sports bar. When looking for a destination, beer and bar food are a must, and the establishment must also have big enough televisions to ensure a quality viewing experience for all. Here are 12 of the best sports bars in and around the city at which to watch football this year — not to mention baseball, soccer, and plenty of other sports year-round.

Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Newcomer Cleats welcomes all sports fans with TVs, good wine, tasty sandwiches, and plenty of space to spread out and watch the games.

West Ashley bar Charleston Sports Pub offers creative takes on pub fare in a relaxed setting with $2 domestic beers during happy hour and plenty of craft on draft. The kitchen also has a burger topped with eight ounces of macaroni and cheese, in case customers want some extreme eats. Bonus: there’s also locations in Summerville, Goose Creek, James Island, and Mount Pleasant.

Sushi in a sports bar? Why not. Locals has served the Mount Pleasant community since 2009, and it now has additional locations in West Ashley and James Island. There’s always a game on the screens, and on Mondays, the sushi rolls are half off.

Local 616 makes for a super relaxed spot to watch any game. Owner Dwayne Mitchell will mix up plenty of fun cocktails for customers or pour a few beers. There’s also a back patio for those who need to chill out in between the action. Also check out the guest chefs in the kitchen.

Moe’s Crosstown consistently puts out some of the best bar food around, and its burgers are always amazing. There also happens to be plenty of televisions on which to catch all the games. Oh, and beer. Lots of beer.

Technically, it’s not a sports bar, but Home Team BBQ always has the latest games on the televisions behind the bars. With multiple locations, and some of the best wings in the city, Home Team is a good choice for those who want to order expertly smoked meats with a side of sports.

In addition to game machines and bowling, the Alley shows all the games on its TVs and giant projection screens. On Sundays, the canteen offers half-price tots and fries, $4 bloodies, $4 mimosas, and $15 buckets of Miller Lite, Coors Light, or Miller High Life. And if the game isn’t going your way, just sign up for a lane to work it out on the pins.

This massive establishment has over 40 TVs and four projector screens meant for sports viewing. Uptown Social’s food menu has all the bar food essentials from thin crust pizza to nachos or double-fried wings.

Bay Street Biergarten has so many televisions that it’s impossible to miss any of the moves. Grab some friends and slide into a booth to order one of BSB’s giant pretzels with beer cheese and a couple of pints.

King street’s classic sports bar has the space and environment fans are after, as the upstairs often has the sound on for sporting events. Multiple bars, wings, and 40 beers on tap provide the necessary game-day vibe.

Conveniently located next to the Visitor Center just off King street, the Brick provides bar snacks and drink specials for patrons watching the games.

Crowds pack in tight to watch the games at Avondale establishment the Roost. There’s plenty of wings, burgers, and fried things on the menu to keep most sports fans happy.

Newcomer Cleats welcomes all sports fans with TVs, good wine, tasty sandwiches, and plenty of space to spread out and watch the games.

West Ashley bar Charleston Sports Pub offers creative takes on pub fare in a relaxed setting with $2 domestic beers during happy hour and plenty of craft on draft. The kitchen also has a burger topped with eight ounces of macaroni and cheese, in case customers want some extreme eats. Bonus: there’s also locations in Summerville, Goose Creek, James Island, and Mount Pleasant.

Sushi in a sports bar? Why not. Locals has served the Mount Pleasant community since 2009, and it now has additional locations in West Ashley and James Island. There’s always a game on the screens, and on Mondays, the sushi rolls are half off.

Local 616 makes for a super relaxed spot to watch any game. Owner Dwayne Mitchell will mix up plenty of fun cocktails for customers or pour a few beers. There’s also a back patio for those who need to chill out in between the action. Also check out the guest chefs in the kitchen.

Moe’s Crosstown consistently puts out some of the best bar food around, and its burgers are always amazing. There also happens to be plenty of televisions on which to catch all the games. Oh, and beer. Lots of beer.

Technically, it’s not a sports bar, but Home Team BBQ always has the latest games on the televisions behind the bars. With multiple locations, and some of the best wings in the city, Home Team is a good choice for those who want to order expertly smoked meats with a side of sports.

In addition to game machines and bowling, the Alley shows all the games on its TVs and giant projection screens. On Sundays, the canteen offers half-price tots and fries, $4 bloodies, $4 mimosas, and $15 buckets of Miller Lite, Coors Light, or Miller High Life. And if the game isn’t going your way, just sign up for a lane to work it out on the pins.

This massive establishment has over 40 TVs and four projector screens meant for sports viewing. Uptown Social’s food menu has all the bar food essentials from thin crust pizza to nachos or double-fried wings.

Bay Street Biergarten has so many televisions that it’s impossible to miss any of the moves. Grab some friends and slide into a booth to order one of BSB’s giant pretzels with beer cheese and a couple of pints.

King street’s classic sports bar has the space and environment fans are after, as the upstairs often has the sound on for sporting events. Multiple bars, wings, and 40 beers on tap provide the necessary game-day vibe.

Conveniently located next to the Visitor Center just off King street, the Brick provides bar snacks and drink specials for patrons watching the games.

Crowds pack in tight to watch the games at Avondale establishment the Roost. There’s plenty of wings, burgers, and fried things on the menu to keep most sports fans happy.

Looking for Charleston’s best Chinese food? Sure, there’s plenty of Chinese-American spots to choose from, but where can you get something worth your money? From a restaurant with dishes from all over Asia to spots dedicated to Sichuan, there’s a small range of establishments offering Chinese cuisine, but they pack in a lot of flavors in the Lowcountry.

Look here for our top picks.

Read More

Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

North Charleston restaurant Jackrabbit Filly is like if someone said, “Make Chinese-American comfort food, but make it chef-y.” Owners Shuai and Corrie Wang opened the restaurant after years of running acclaimed food truck Short Grain. The menu has touches of Chinese and Japanese. There’s Sichuan dry pot, Mama Wang’s fried rice with lap cheong, and a highly-sought-after chirashi bowl. The restaurant recently added a dim sum brunch.

Looking for a dim sum dinner or lunch in the Lowcountry? Hit up Dragon Palace on Daniel Island for pork buns, shu mai, dumplings, and sesame balls. The interiors are retro fancy with ornate wood carvings and plenty of red. Dragon Palace also offers classics like chow mein, cashew chicken, and egg drop soup.

King BBQ offers Chinese barbecue with a Carolinas influence. The menu centers on smoked meats — five-spice duck, char siu ribs, ginger scallion kielbasa, and rotisserie chicken — and all the ways to serve those proteins — on a sandwich, rice, or noodles. Don’t miss the crispy shrimp toast sliders.

Downtown restaurant Beautiful South serves American-style takeout Chinese classics like General Tso’s chicken and Mongolian beef, but there’s also Cantonese roasted meats and Hainanese chicken. Try one of the inventive cocktails, such as the Love Your Enemies, which is a tequila and mezcal milk punch with a hint of oolong tea.

Downtown restaurant Xiao Bao Biscuit (XBB) has been around since 2012. The kitchen draws from different regions across Asia and delivers on some solid Chinese choices. The mapo tofu is some of the best in town, and the dumplings always satisfy. XBB is usually packed with lively customers looking for Asian comfort foods. Starting during the pandemic, the restaurant began offering takeout.

If you haven’t heard of Old Li’s Restaurant on Savannah Highway in West Ashley, it might be because fans of the Chinese establishment would rather keep it a well-guarded secret. The can’t -miss menu item is the crispy Peking duck, but the oyster pancakes, dumplings, and squirrel fish are worth ordering as well. Old Li’s is BYOB, so plan accordingly.

James Island Sichuan restaurant Kwei Fei has enough peppercorns and punk-rock sensibility to keep any dinner interesting. Owners David Schuttenberg and Tina Heath-Schuttenberg moved from New York to Charleston for another restaurant project, but when that didn’t pan out, the culinary community lucked out when they decided to bring Sichuan flavors to town.

The restaurant usually full of locals enjoying lamb dumplings, spicy noodles, and tingly beef to the soundtrack of loud rock and funk music.

North Charleston restaurant Jackrabbit Filly is like if someone said, “Make Chinese-American comfort food, but make it chef-y.” Owners Shuai and Corrie Wang opened the restaurant after years of running acclaimed food truck Short Grain. The menu has touches of Chinese and Japanese. There’s Sichuan dry pot, Mama Wang’s fried rice with lap cheong, and a highly-sought-after chirashi bowl. The restaurant recently added a dim sum brunch.

Looking for a dim sum dinner or lunch in the Lowcountry? Hit up Dragon Palace on Daniel Island for pork buns, shu mai, dumplings, and sesame balls. The interiors are retro fancy with ornate wood carvings and plenty of red. Dragon Palace also offers classics like chow mein, cashew chicken, and egg drop soup.

King BBQ offers Chinese barbecue with a Carolinas influence. The menu centers on smoked meats — five-spice duck, char siu ribs, ginger scallion kielbasa, and rotisserie chicken — and all the ways to serve those proteins — on a sandwich, rice, or noodles. Don’t miss the crispy shrimp toast sliders.

Downtown restaurant Beautiful South serves American-style takeout Chinese classics like General Tso’s chicken and Mongolian beef, but there’s also Cantonese roasted meats and Hainanese chicken. Try one of the inventive cocktails, such as the Love Your Enemies, which is a tequila and mezcal milk punch with a hint of oolong tea.

Downtown restaurant Xiao Bao Biscuit (XBB) has been around since 2012. The kitchen draws from different regions across Asia and delivers on some solid Chinese choices. The mapo tofu is some of the best in town, and the dumplings always satisfy. XBB is usually packed with lively customers looking for Asian comfort foods. Starting during the pandemic, the restaurant began offering takeout.

If you haven’t heard of Old Li’s Restaurant on Savannah Highway in West Ashley, it might be because fans of the Chinese establishment would rather keep it a well-guarded secret. The can’t -miss menu item is the crispy Peking duck, but the oyster pancakes, dumplings, and squirrel fish are worth ordering as well. Old Li’s is BYOB, so plan accordingly.

James Island Sichuan restaurant Kwei Fei has enough peppercorns and punk-rock sensibility to keep any dinner interesting. Owners David Schuttenberg and Tina Heath-Schuttenberg moved from New York to Charleston for another restaurant project, but when that didn’t pan out, the culinary community lucked out when they decided to bring Sichuan flavors to town.

The restaurant usually full of locals enjoying lamb dumplings, spicy noodles, and tingly beef to the soundtrack of loud rock and funk music.

West Ashley, the area across the Ashley River from peninsular Charleston, offers a change of pace from some of downtown’s more tourist-centric areas of town. Home to more than 40 percent of the city’s population, the area boasts parks, restaurants, breweries and shopping catered to locals.

Explore

Known to some as the “birthplace of South Carolina,” West Ashley is home to the well-preserved colonial village, Charlestowne Landing. The 184-acre state park off of Old Towne Road offers an opportunity to explore both the city and the state’s modern origins. With walking trails, marsh views and a small zoo, the state park is a site visitors and locals alike can visit multiple times for different experiences.

For the active set, West Ashley is home to Shadowmoss Golf & Country Club and bowling alley Ashley Lanes. Get practice on your swing at Charleston Golf, a combined golf simulator and bar.

Get a breath of fresh air on the 7.8 mile West Ashley Greenway which starts at U.S. Highway 17 and Wappoo Road and ends at Higgins Pier where anglers can cast a line. There’s another opportunity to fish off of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard at Northbridge Park.

For a different scenic walk, meander via boardwalk through marshes and coastal forest at the Stono River County Park in outer West Ashley.

Shopping

Unlike other areas of the city, West Ashley is home to some large-scale retail spaces that make it an ideal place for furniture stores and other specialty shops.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Inspired by his life’s work and to celebrate his legacy, this week’s topic is justice.

The winner is Robert Peterson with the photo of the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Washington, D.C. The honorable mentions are Ken Schaub with a snapshot of the former federal prison known as Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, and Randy Cochran with an image of a quote at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library at the University of Texas.

Next week’s topic is cold, as we deal with our first serious cold snap of the winter.

The rules: Send your best photo to [email protected] by noon Thursday. Include your name, town and where the photo was taken. Add your name and the topic to the file. If you want your photo to be eligible to run in the newspaper, it must be at least 1,500 pixels, not have a commercial watermark and not have been published in another publication.

On Fridays, we first announce the editors’ pick of the week at postandcourier.com/yourphotos and declare a topic for the next week. On Saturdays, we publish an online gallery.

On Sunday, the photo pick of the week will appear in this section, Life.

All photos submitted will be considered for publication in The Post and Courier’s yearly magazine, My Charleston. Some images may be selected for other editorial or noncommercial use.

We reserve the right to not publish any photo for any reason.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — Charleston city leaders are moving forward with plans to redevelop a shopping center on Sam Rittenburg Boulevard in West Ashley.

The City of Charleston’s Design Review Board gave conceptual approval on Monday to a new Publix grocery store and retail space that will be built in the Ashley Landing Mall shopping center where a Publix currently sits.

The existing Publix is located closer to Sumar Street and was built in the 90s. The new plans are to move the grocery store to the opposite side of the property closer to Charlestowne Drive and add new retail and restaurant space next door.

There is currently a 130,000-square-foot building in that spot, which includes businesses like Dollar Tree and Big Lots inside. The Design Review Board also moved forward with the approval of a partial demolition of the shopping center, which includes these businesses. Robert Summerfield, the city’s Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability, said the leases for the businesses were not renewed in preparation for the redevelopment of the area.

Summerfield added that the plans to revamp the shopping center are in line with the city’s goals to revitalize parts of West Ashley.

“This is right in line with the ideas for the plan, it keeps a major shopping experience with the grocery store right there — keeps it anchored in the community and in that shopping center for those neighborhoods in that area,” he explained.

However, Suzanne Germroth, who lives in Charleston, said she is concerned about the neighborhood losing the businesses currently there because of the project.

“A lot of people rely on these discount stores to maintain their livelihood and what they can afford,” she said. “And I don’t understand why this perfectly wonderful building here has to move across the street.”

Summerfield said the current Publix will stay open until the new one is complete, and the plans for what will happen with the existing Publix building have not been decided.

“Publix has actually done this in a number of places in the markets that they work in. You know they’ll close the store one night in its current space and they’ll open the next morning in the new space,” he said. “In the old space, that again will be I believe in phase two of their development plan.”

This was the first time the conceptual plans for the project went in front of the Design Review Board. The next step for the project will be a preliminary review.

Danielle and Brent Sweatman understand the complicated relationship between sobriety and the food and beverage space. The couple, who have worked in the industry for years, are two years sober.

“We knew how it feels to be uncomfortable with limited options and wanted to change that,” said Danielle, who with her husband Brent, opened Sweatman’s Garden — a sodary and fondue Lounge at 90 Folly Road Boulevard in the South Windermere Shopping Center.

Brent said they chose the location for a few reasons.

“We live in West Ashley and have been living in Byrnes Down for about five years. Because we love our community, we wanted to provide a cool hangout spot close to home for both drinkers and non-drinkers.”

Related content: Charleston startup with Hollywood pedigree launches luxury pet brand

Relatd content: North Charleston distillery distributes whiskey statewide for first time

According to Brent, he and his wife were happy to fill a much-needed niche in the community.

“There are so many young people in the area that are becoming part of the sober curious movement and it was important to us to provide an inclusive space for the people that would want to take advantage of it,” he said.

And with the rise of mocktail culture, their timing couldn’t be better. According to research conducted by NielsenIQ, the non-alcoholic beverage sector is expanding rapidly as alcohol consumption declines, with popularity soaring over the past five years — a trend driven by Gen Z and millennials.

An Instagram-worthy experience

When the couple moved into what was Florence’s Lowcountry Kitchen, they were presented with a tabula rasa, enabling Danielle, as she says, “to go wild.”

She transformed plain, white walls into ones with a dark green hue and festooned them with dozens of thriving plants. Quirky and colorful seating areas are Instagram-worthy, like the attractive curved yellow couch which faces tufted lilac chairs and is separated by a ‘70s-era coffee table.

“We set them up to appear like little living rooms,” said Danielle, adding that she loves maximalism and color. “I was inspired by an art-deco, 70s funky vibe,” she said.

The offerings

Brent is no stranger to libation creation, having helped open the King Street Diner known as the Rarebit featuring homemade ginger beer, tonic, sodas and bitters.

“We’re doing 12 different taps, featuring our tonic and ginger beer and additional playful, fun stuff when it comes to our sodas, like plum rose citrus and a delicious habanero fresca sweetened with monk fruit, which is currently getting a lot of love, along with our root beer,” said Danielle.

For an additional $5, customers can add their choice of alcohol, or a cannabis-based infusion to their sodas. Sometimes customers opt for both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages in the same evening.

“I’ve seen some of them take a non-alcohol root beer break from drinking,” said Danielle

The couple also decided to offer a limited menu featuring fondue.

“We’re serving savory fondue, like Mediterranean and beer cheese and also offering sweet options like white chocolate and milk chocolate,” said Danielle, explaining that she loves cheese and chocolate, but that they also wanted to make the menu a fun, interactive experience that doesn’t take staff too much time to create. For now, the business employs a total of seven staff members.

As for the future, Danielle said they are working on finding their bearings at the moment. “We were intentionally a little mysterious about being open to see what worked and what didn’t, but we may consider live entertainment in the future, if all goes well,” she said.

Stefanie Kalina-Metzger is a contributing writer for SC Biz News.