Elliotborough Mini Bar consistently serves up stellar meat and cheese plates — Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly / Elliotborough Mini Bar
It's a common urge among visitors to the Southern city of Charleston – and its longtime residents, too – to seek out a bar that feels like home. Naturally, we enjoy the feelings evoked only by becoming a regular at a local hotspot, or at least being greeted as such even if we don't actually frequent the venue.
Elliotborough Mini Bar offers up just such an atmosphere: one that welcomes, warms and satisfies in a way not unlike your best friend's living room. Of course, this neighborhood bar more than lives up to its name, fitting less than 30 seats and not much more capacity in a comfortable fashion that encourages both intimate conversation and new acquaintances.
This tiny corner bar is easy to miss. Look for the chalkboard out front! — Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly / Elliotborough Mini Bar
Tuck into Elliotborough Mini Bar as a precursor to a dinner out or just as an excuse to continue imbibing with friends or a date outside of the confines of your apartment or hotel.
Elliotborough Mini Bar boasts a sizable smorgasbord of bottled craft beer from Charleston and beyond (no drafts available here), in addition to a long chalkboard listing of affordable reds and whites.
This tiny corner space hosts a daily happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with $2.50 lagers and $5 glasses of the house wine, as well as the steal of a deal called Working Class Mondays, during which $5 breakfast-for-dinner sandwiches and $3 home cooked sides complement 20% off bar tabs.
Various small plates, appetizers and house-made goodies are doodled on the chalkboard wall menu, with any given night of the week offering such minibar bites as flavored popcorn or spicy jerky.
Kick back at the bar, on the couch or on a padded wall bench; grab a glass of wine; and relax. This is going to be a good night.
Elliotborough Mini Bar's cozy interior makes for a more comfortable night out — Photo courtesy of Leigh-Ann Beverly / Elliotborough Mini Bar
Though she be but small, she is lively! Elliotborough Mini Bar frequently hosts pop-up dinners, guest chefs, charity events and live local musicians, as well as weekly open mic nights.
The neighborhood itself is a quiet one, and the street corner of Bogard and Percy is delightfully isolated from the tourist shuffle, sharing proximity only with one of Charleston's finest Italian eateries, Trattoria Lucca. It's quite common for Elliotborough Mini Bar to host Trattoria Lucca patrons for a glass of wine or cheese and charcuterie plate before or after their meal.
Due to its residential location, Elliotborough Mini Bar only promises to be open and operating from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and then until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. However, if the mood is right, the staff is known to allow for late-night lingering on occasion.
