Everyone Get Happy
04 Mar 2023
Best Happy Hour Menus in Charleston
By Jenny Peterson
While discounted drinks are ubiquitous at bars and restaurants during happy hour, finding happy hour food menus can be a little more elusive. Thankfully, area bars and restaurants have you covered, stepping up to serve unique, one-of-a-kind dishes during these discerning late afternoon hours for when it’s been a long day, or you’re looking for an early start to your evening.
Pier 41 Seafood and Raw Bar
1039 Highway 41
Mt. Pleasant
@pier41mtp
For those craving local, briny oysters, belly up to the bar at Pier 41 in Mt. Pleasant for happy hour, where raw oysters are just $1 each and champagne is $1 a glass. This is available on Monday from 3- 6 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday from 3-4 p.m. Between 4-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, oysters and champagne are $2 each. Pier 41 also offers discounted tacos, edamame and mussels—the mussels being just $7—from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Enjoy it with discounted happy hour drink specials like $5 house wines, $4 house liquors, $5 hot sake and $4 oyster shooters.
Opal
Shoppes at Seaside Farms
1960 Riviera Dr. Suite C
Mt. Pleasant
@opalmtp
What’s better than a good cheese and charcuterie board? A discounted one for happy hour! Snack to your heart’s delight at Opal in Mt. Pleasant, which offers this craveable menu item for happy hour daily from 4-5 p.m. in the bar area. Choose two meats and one cheese for $8. Pick from smoked duck ham, speck, salami etna, Coppa salami, spicy capicollo, prosciutto di San Daniele on the meat side, and Tallegio, Humbolt Fog, Red Dragon and six-month aged Manchego on the artisan cheese side. Pair your board with $5 house liquors, $5 draft beer and $6 wine or prosecco by the glass during the hour.
Jack of Cups
34 Center St.
Folly Beach
Beloved Folly Beach restaurant Jack of Cups has wowed guests with worldly flavors and wildly creative dishes for years. They recently added an exclusive happy hour menu from 4 – 6 p.m. with food and drink items that can be entirely new items or smaller versions of old favorites. While the dishes rotate often, they’ll always pack a satisfying punch—think meatball toast, arancini rice balls and a spam musubi sandwich. During happy hour, there will always be a discounted bottle of natural wine, discounted creative cocktails as well as a signature beer and a shot, which staff refer to as “Howdys.”
Pearlz Oyster Bar
153 East Bay Street, Charleston
Oysters abound in many preparations for happy hour at Pearlz Oyster Bar Monday-Friday from 4-6 p.m. Enjoy ½ dozen charbroiled oysters for $13; a dozen house oysters on the half shell (raw or steamed) for $18 and Southern fried oysters for $12. Add on a $5 oyster shooter, made with pepper vodka, an oyster and spicy cocktail sauce. Beyond oysters, there’s also a happy hour ½ pound peel & eat shrimp option for $15, along with clam strips, corn fritters and bleu cheese housemade chips. The downtown location also serves pork rinds with a bacon bourbon BBQ dip during happy hour for just $7. Drink discounts at both locations include champagne for $3 a glass, and $5 house wines and seasonal drafts.
The Gin Joint
182 E Bay St., Charleston
@gin_joint
Featuring exclusive food and cocktails not on the regular menu, The Gin Joint downtown draws a lively crowd for happy hour from 5-7 p.m. Monday-Friday. The menu changes seasonally and always offers two set cocktails (one shaken and one stirred) as well as a featured spirit pour and a wine option. Nothing on the regular menu is ever featured for cocktail hour, which makes it a unique opportunity to try one-of-a-kind, limited run items. Their recent happy hour menu featured raw oysters with a delicate mignonette sauce and vegetable crudites with green goddess dressing and offered a rum daiquiri as one of the happy hour cocktails.
Rancho Lewis
1503 King St. Charleston
Located inside the former Workshop space on King Street Extension, Rancho Lewis offers fine Mexican food and drink from Pitmaster John Lewis. The popular spot for lunch and dinner offers a robust happy hour from 4 - 6 p.m. Monday - Friday. They offer half off cantina drinks that includes traditional margaritas, both frozen and on the rocks, as well as specialty cantina drinks like the Rattlesnake Milk featuring tequila, white rum and egg whites. Rancho Lewis also offers half off appetizers (excluding nachos) and includes two types of queso dip, guacamole and a shrimp cocktail.
Big Gun Burger
137 Calhoun St., Charleston
@biggunburger
Big Gun Burger brings elevated food and gourmet burgers to a dive-bar atmosphere overlooking Marion Square. Score their classic cheeseburger with fries for $8 which comes with their signature Big Gun sauce or a $2 pork or vegan tacos (think spicy cauliflower) from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Enjoy these bites along with discounted $4 house liquor and $2.50 Pabst Blue Ribbon beer at what the Big Gun Burger folks describe as the “happiest hour.”
Burwells Stonefire Grill
14 N. Market St., Charleston
@burwellschs
Cook your own filet mignon on a 700-degree hot rock at the bar during happy hour at Burwell’s Stonefire Grill, a fine dining restaurant and sleek bar that faces Market Street. From 4-6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, bar patrons can get major fine dining deals—$14 for the cook-it-yourself filet mignon bites that come with a signature sauce; $3 seasoned steak fries; $6 deviled eggs with candied bacon, pickled root vegetables, gastrique and truffle oil; $5 Boudin balls; $6 Creole Poutine with andouille sausage, creole gravy and cheese curds; $6 popcorn shrimp with remoulade and $7 and beef sliders with fancy sauce and cheese. Happy hour drinks include discounted specialty cocktails, draft beer, glasses of wine and champagne.
Prohibition
547 King St., Charleston
Bar patrons can enjoy discounted bites for just $7 between 4-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Prohibition, a King Street lounge that gives jazz age vibes. All items on its happy hour list are $7, including certain drinks. Dive into charred wings, Romesco dip and pita, street corn topped with succulent cheese, Brussels sprouts and a newly added chicken liver mousse. Drinks that can be found on the happy hour menu are local drafts, Moscow mule, Aperol spritz, Brown Derby cocktail, and red & white wine.
Herd Provisions
106 Grove St., Charleston
Everything from the farm-to-table menu offerings at neighborhood favorite Herd Provisions is carefully thought out by owner Alec Bradford and his team. The same is true with happy hour, held from 4 pm - 6 pm at the bar or on the patio daily. Tasty bites, which rotate regularly, range in price from $6-$10 and can include dry rub chicken wings, a “Blues burger” with bacon, blue cheese and lemon oil, a Philly cheesesteak and kale Caesar with anchovies. Drink selections include $7 cocktails, $6 glasses of select wines, and $4 select beers.
