St Charles Saloon

We go to Columbia a few times a year and it’s a great place with lots of history. We usually pack a lunch because the historic park/​Main Street has limited food options. This particular day we stopped in on our way to pick up a Christmas tree. First we sat at a table and were ignored for about five minutes. Not even a hello welcome to … Nothing! My wife suggested we leave but because the kids were hungry I went up to the bar to see what we could order. I ordered hot dogs for the kids and my wife and I ordered sandwiches. After ordering we were informed that they were out of chips but that they would discount our meals by one dollar. Ok, well who needs chips so we said ok. What ended up coming to the table was nuked hot dogs and tiny sandwiches for almost forty bucks with drinks! I should have listened to my wife! While we were there we saw two groups of people come in and leave after being ignored by the bartender. This place doesn’t deserve your money!

I don’t have much of an opinion about the bar or the clientele or the booze or saspharella. But I stumbled by on a Saturday night and for only 2 dollar cover there was the best band ever. They were called «Thick Soup». We bought a CD for 10 dollar and have been listening ever since. The bar had enough room to dance. There were very pretty girls dancing on the bar too. Which was a gas to watch. It was a happening place I have to say. We had a blast.

Super cheap drinks and rude locals to go along with them…

Good burgers, good beer, love the décor and the colorful characters that abound. Who doesn’t love a jackalope?

After 4 or 5 visits to Columbia I finally saw more this time and ventured in to the St Charles for a Sarsparilla… mmmm Ice Cold in a frosty mug! Always choose draft over bottle for the full experience.
My favorite part of the bar, aside from the gorgeous woodwork of the Bar itself, is the JACKALOPE. I took a great picture and am going to frame it… along with the RAVEN, which I took a picture of to make a bookmark for my Edgar Allen Poe books.
Columbia is a beautifully kept piece of California History that not many know or appreciate. I stop here every time I visit Sonora or Jamestown.

At the end of the main street in Columbia sits an old west saloon called the St. Charles
you will find all the staples of the gold rush era. beer, whiskey, fights and cheap women. Not alot has changed here, including the clientel. Replacing the miners and bandits are wannabe bikers and area pot growers. The cheap women are still there too, but instead of the dancehall floozies of early times, there are local toothless tweaker chicks looking to trade no teeth gum-​jobs for crank or whiskey. Fights in the old days were over claimjumpers and card games, now being replaced by «bikers“in chaps during 100 degree weather over who snaked the prime parking for their Goldwing out front (complete with latte holder, but thats another story) …
If your in town, stop in for a cool one and check it out.

I wouldn’t exactly label the Charley «night life» as it closes down pretty early (9 pm if you’re lucky, maybe 10 if there’s a rare live music offering). Understandable though — it’s part of the «Gold Rush» theme of sleepy Columbia State Park, so they’ve got to keep a lid on noise. On most days you can stop in for a sarsaparilla and admire the old-​time interior and local color — bikers, lumberjacks, burnouts — as well as camera-​toting tourists. Definitely an institution.