Recovery Room Tavern

Great people and amazing bartenders food was really good, highly recommend the butter garlic wings and tater tachos

I had such a blast here! I usually associate dive bars with small narrow hole-​in-​the-​wall spaces. Rec Room was fairly spacious and even when packed, I was able to move around.
Enjoyed some PBRs (when in Rome) — great service from the bartenders. A good mix of clientele. Nobody was obnoxious.
BONUS: my favorite bar song came on. «Toto» by Africa. Score.

Owner and bartender were rude. Wish I could give zero stars. They deserve it. Bar smells terrible. Plenty of other dive bars in Charleston that are more welcoming. I’d avoid this one. First negative review I’ve given on Unilocal

Love the bartenders and the Late night drinking,. Busy every night with a melting pot of classes. Hipsters to lawyers to teachers, to food and bev, students and artist. Keep up the great work Boston!
1# seller of PBR in the world also.

The most on point juke I’ve heard in a very long time. Personally. Dwight, Rancid, Loretta, Elvis etc etc
Also, sweet bartender. Gave bandaids for my massive walking blisters (I saw YOU, Charleston!) and gave great beer recs. it’s not five stars because of the gay bashing assholes I overheard at the bar.

If you work more than a part time job making more than minimum wage, you’re probably have too high of standards to walk into this place. Drinks are gross, I guess it’s easy enough to mess up a Moscow Mule if you are an incapable bartender (they have a few), but pouring a sh*tty whiskey ginger? It’s just whiskey and you add ginger ale… Not to mention I’ve heard horror stories about a rude, irresponsible, and aggressive staff. Literally will never go back to Recovery Room and I won’t be missing anything. Just because you’re a «dive bar» doesn’t mean you have an excuse to have zero standards.

What a crazy place! We met so many interesting people here, and had a fun time at this dive bar. Definitely, 100% casual and unique. I spent some time mesmorized by the looney tunes being played on a background tv. There’s a pool table, which remained full the entire time we were there, as well as pinball machines. The bartender was friendly and prompt. Drinks were cold and strong for a great price. You definitely get your money’s worth here. I didn’t try any of the food but the guys next us had some ridiculously-​delicious-​looking bar food that I’m sure I’d try if I were local. Great place to check out, just be cool.

The Rec Room is definitely quite a… unique establishment. Every time you visit, you are in for a different experience.
There is an undeniable stench that comes with the Rec Room. My boyfriend described it best. like someone threw a bunch of cleaning products on some puke in the corner, but never actually cleaned it up. That’s what it smells like. Some days, I can’t even handle being inside. Other days, it is much more bearable. Just depends on the weather I guess.
The staff here are great, I have always felt valued and appreciated by everyone. A lot of the regulars I have encountered here are friendly and fun, though there certainly are a couple who are the cliché dive bar regs.
Drinks are super cheap here, PBR is like $ 2.00 or something like that.
Also — there is a bocce court in the back that most people don’t know about!

If you’re drunk enough, it doesn’t smell. So just have another because here you can actually afford to.

Friendliest, diviest, BEST bar in Charleston.
Actually, this was the only bar my boyfriend and I went to during our visit to this city… mainly because drinks were cheap and the people were rich in personality and straight up thug love. Also, a bartender in Brooklyn told us this was the bar we needed to be at in Charleston. He was right as fuck. After about 15 shots of tequila, I blacked out and went home… presumably happy. I will always go back. And i will probably always black out.

There is a reason why Recovery Room is the perennial CityPaper Best Bar in Charleston and that is because of the fantastic ownership, staff and a commitment to keeping the locals and regulars feeling valued and happy. Good god there is nothing better than getting swallowed up by the dark and dankness that is Recovery room on any day of the week. They boast low end drink prices, daily happy hour from 4−8pm with killer deals, amazing chicken wings, a late night kitchen, and it does get pretty lively there on weekends after 10pm. It does smell: some days the smell is worse than others but never fear you’ll adjust to it quickly. [Edit: the issue of the smell has largely gone away IMO]

You gotta know what you’re getting if you come here. It may (at times) be smelly but the people are great. You can get a buzz on the cheap or have a craft beer night. Great jukebox and some of my favorite wings in town. I’ve seen some great live shows here as well. Seat up, have a shot and enjoy the bar that sells the most PBR cans IN THE WORLD.

Best. Hangover. Food. Ever. Love the fried chicken biscuits with gravy and the tater tachos! I haven’t eaten anything there that I don’t like, but those are both my favorites! Cheap drinks.

$ 2 PBRs. Check.
Overwhelming smell of puke and /​or bleach. Check.
Sweaty people. Check.
No windows /​eternal darkness. Check.
Jukebox that often plays heavy metal. Check.
Tater tot nachos. Check.
What’s not to love?

I love the hipster divey feel here. PBRS, Sparks (the new version without caffeine and taurine), Mickey’s ($ 2.50! it’s malt liquor, but still! I had never had one before). Super friendly without being overly friendly or invasive bartender, a DJ and a few pinball machines, a pool table and a Ms Pac Man game. They even sold cigarettes in a machine. I didn’t think that was something that happened or was even legal for that matter. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it took a little too long for the dance party to materialize and we didn’t wait around, but I would definitely come back here, it’s just my kind of place. A little dirty, laid back, cheap and no pretension.

I know it’s hipster and divey, but I just don’t care. I freaking love Rec Room. Trivia night is awesome if you ever get a chance to go.
The bartenders are prompt and are really great about giving everyone attention, no matter how crowded the bar is.
If that doesn’t sell you, how bout this: TATER TACHOS. Yeah, you read that right. Tater tots covered in melted cheese, green peppers, onions, Jalapenos, and Tomatoes. Seriously, sign me up for that.

As far as dive bars goes, Rec. Room does it right. Cheap drinks, decent bar food and a diverse crowd of folks from all over. A pretty good sign that a dive bar is great is that there is always a crowd, and I’ve never been to RR when it’s dead. Perhaps it might be that I’m always seeing double (or triple) by that time of night, but I always have a good time. One night we even order shots of a higher end bourbon (one of those «great», 1:30 am decisions), which to my surprise, they had.
Enjoyed some nice bar food, chicken fingers, cheese sticks, fries, etc… It’s not a 5-​star restaurant, so as long as your expectations are in line, you should be able to find something on the menu that you’ll like.
My only negative is the location, which probably allows them to be a dive bar and keep drinks prices low. It’s located just on the other side of I-​26 and looks like it could be a tad rough if you venture to far away from RR. Good thing I always carry a sock full of doorknobs with me.
Definitely a must if you’re in the mood for a good time and cheap drinks. Perhaps a certain other bar should have been taking notes from RR or their doors might still be open.

This place was packed. It’s a very eclectic bar. The only downside is that you have to walk through a sea of smoke to enter and to exit. There seemed to be a good mix of people there, and very busy when i went… a sign of a good bar.
The minus 2 stars for the entrance and the exit smoke.

Went here on 4^th of July weekend because downtown was a mad house and lines were down the street for just about every bar on upper king. Jumped in a cab with the rest of my group and headed into the King St abyss.
Can’t go wrong here with great tunes, chill people, I even got some chicken fingers and fries. They definitely did the job and they weren’t shy with their Makers Mark pours.

If you had to create a nosology of the disease of hipsterdom, the Charleston Hipster entry would include regular visits to the Recovery Room as one of its diagnostic criteria.
I’m not saying you have to be a hipster to go there. But if you go regularly, you might be. To be honest, I’d rather hang out with this crowd than with the pastel-​wearing WASPs a few blocks down King Street.
The Recovery Room is just a dive bar. It has cheap drinks and good jukebox. Sometimes there’s country on it, sometimes its punk, and sometimes its something else, but you can count on this crowd to have some good tunes going.