Charbar

We were here for maybe 5 minutes because the downstairs crowd was not quite our scene but the view from the balcony alone is worth a trip to this dive. Gorgeous view of the park and downtown and a nice place to escape from the hustle bustle for a few minutes. Next time we’ll get a drink and sit up there to watch the world go by…

One of those cool downtown bars that has been around for ages.
It’s not fancy. Characters are welcomed. I have enjoyed going upstairs and hanging out on the small balcony.
A place that’s good to know it’s still there after all these years.

Where else can you get a martini with your shoe shine? Charbar is certainly unique when it comes to the additional features that they have for patrons to this once beloved tailor store. That’s right, Charbar used to be a tailor shop and once the business was sold and turned into a bar, the owners decided to keep some of the nostalgia of the tailor shop by displaying clothing, equipment and fabrics of the previously existing business.
Not only does Charbar have great location, location, location, but that great location comes with a very large outdoor patio that is fenced in for only patrons. It keeps the seating to those that are really enjoying the bar, but still gives a great view for all that is going on. The bar is never outrageously packed unlike their neighbor bar next door, but unlike the neighbor bar, Charbar has a welcoming staff that makes you feel like you’re in an episode of Cheers.
After you order a drink from the bar, there’s plenty to do here while you sip and savor. Of course there’s the outdoor corner patio, but inside there’s board games, card games, and even the shoe shine station, when the shoe shine man is around. A shoe shine for a man is like a manicure for a woman: it’s a small detail that can be easily overlooked, but makes a big first impression if it’s not attended to and taken care of.
I had my fill of wine and mixed drinks from dinner, so I opted for the frozen cherry limeade they had spinning in the frozen drink maker. It was like having a very heavily laced alcohol slushy from the gas station. It was good and completely worth coming back for. After ordering my drink that the owner served me, he lingered around to chat with me and my friend while we enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the bar. He shared the history of the bar, the story of the décor, and a little chit chat.
This bar is great and I don’t see how they aren’t busier with their competition not being much of competition in my opinion. The parking is the only hassle of this place, but then again, its downtown parking… no one will have a great experience with it. This is a perfect bar for anyone wanting a laid back atmosphere without the dive bar look.

Passed this Bar several times, Finally my boyfriend insisted we go in. The bartender are not so friendly, I cant stand when they treat you like its a burden for them to serve you a drink!! Im spending my beer money somewhere else. NO WONDER ITS ALWAYS ALMOST EMPTY

This is a fun dive place to go to after work, especially if you work in the downtown area. The décor is straight from the 80s, but I enjoy going there for the flashback feel. The bartenders are more like your friends than servers working to create high turnover at the bar. It’s got a very laid back atmosphere and a full bar. Also, there’s a great upstairs patio that overlooks Travis and the Market Square park. It does have a bit of an old, grungy feel, so if that’s not your thing, this may not be the place for you.

What a cool, random little place in the heart of downtown. The definition of dive bar, redefined. It is a tailor shop that is a great bar with cheap drinks at night.
I feel like it would be hipster before hipster got ‘cool’ and expensive… but slap me on some tight jeans and lets go… great spot for a night cap before leaving the city.
Food: n/​a
Drinks: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 5 (super friendly down-​to-​earth)
Price: 5
Check it out for a cheap adult beverage in a throwback scene!

You can’t beat Charbar for it’s friendly nature, good drinks or great atmosphere. I love the owner and the staff.

This place has been here forever it seems, but has few reviews for some reason.
I don’t spend a ton of time downtown, but I seem to always end up here when I do. Each time, I’ve missed the rush (either pre– or post– Friday night crowd). I didn’t actually know that it got crowded until it started to fill up toward the end of our Friday night visit post Hearsay dinner. We left just before 11 pm.
Each time I’ve been, I’ve met some interesting (read: drunk) patrons with fun stories. There ar some curious elements to this bar like the tailor factor and the family pictures behind the bar. The bartenders are fun to talk to when they’re not busy. I’d agree that this is more of a regulars/​Cheers kind of place, but I didn’t feel unwelcome.
Since I’ve reached a point where I rarely enjoy crowds and music so loud I can’t participate in conversation, I find Charbar refreshing and charming.

Almost a four star. This is a really fun bar that I have been to several times. I love the interior, all ancient wood and glass cabinets, old pictures, a place for shoe shines, and apparently you can get fitted for suits :0.
Just a small bar toward the back with a few wood tables to mingle (I have not checked out the upstairs yet). They have a good selection of liquor. I went with my usual cocktail, Old Fashion. It was nothing special, and the bartender had trouble making it. She is very sweet, but just slow and unorganized. Not a bad thing, especially when everyone is having a good time. Though I would rather just have a glass of Bullleit, instead of the cocktail next time.
Another fun and ancient bar that has been in this area forever. If Warren’s and La Carafe are your thing, this is definitely a place you would enjoy, and are probably already familiar with.

This is a cool little spot with lots of history & oodles of personality. Part tailor shop, part bar, this place is a breath of fresh air from some of the more hoighty toighty bistros & bars in the area. The boisterous owner/​barkeep/​long time tailor barely gives you a chance to order before the stories & antics begin. As if he wasn’t enough personality for the place, just wait until his trusty sidekick shows up. that’s when it really gets real. Hilarity is bound to ensue & your face will hurt from laughter, guaranteed. They offer a few craft beer options from Saint Arnold, your usual domestics, & have a full stock of liquors. The bar was added a decade ago, while the tailor shop has stood it’s ground for 70 years I was informed. All in all this is a cool little place that just oozes personality, worth stopping in if you’re in the area.

I think I’ve walked by this place a couple dozen times before realizing you could get a drink in there.
I’m partial to hole in the walls and this place fits the bill. Quiet, small room with limited seating, low number crowds, good jukebox and plenty of booze. Hard to go wrong when you’re in the mood for that kind of drinking. (we caught the place nearly deserted so if it’s a sea of people regularly, my apologies)
If next door Warren’s is too crowded or you feel like sitting down for a drink in that area of town without fighting to hear your table, this one will probably be a winner.

Won’t be going back. Not because the service or the beer were bad, but because the décor and the ambiance didn’t do anything for me. There are places with better history, and better décor in downtown. Tried it once and that is enough.

This is the kind of place that makes a trip worth having. While taking my husband around my old hometown, we decided to do a pub crawl in downtown and one of our most memorable stops was Charbar. The owner who was pouring our drinks that night was a nice east coast type of guy, who had lots of cool stories and made a mean drink. Why do I want to call him Lou… thats probably incorrect.
It’s a relaxing and quiet place and I was just totally in awe of the atmosphere around me. In the front entrance a man (his name escapes me also) was shining shoes. He had been working there for years upon years and he was just as sweet as they come. I felt like I was transported to Louisiana or Brooklyn… I cant describe it, I just felt like this place was full of character and I absolutely couldn’t get enough. The bar is more long than wide and is very intimate. As you walk in, you’ll notice that there’s shoe shining to the left and a bar at the right. Deep red color gives this place a classy, jazzy type of feel. Charbar is named after the owners daughter and there’s large black and white photos of her as a child and other family on the wall behind the bar. While looking at the strangers in the pictures you are somehow transported in time, to good times, and to times when dressing up was a daily deal. The owner will give you some background if you ask. In the back of the bar is a rotating rack for clothes, I think. The kind typically found in dry cleaning establishments. Then there’s a mirror where men can get their clothing taylored… and sitting here with your martini or scotch, watching this happen, makes you want to start dressing classier and getting your clothes fitted.
As my husband and I enjoyed our second beverage the owner poured us our third and told us to check out the up stairs. We were shocked… an upstairs? The door says «Employees Only» but we opened it and went up the dimly lit stairwell, feeling pretty special, to have this access. LOL… Up at the top was an even cozier bar with some booths against the wall. Noone was working the bar, but we enjoyed the privacy as we sipped our cocktails. Not too long after, a group of lawyers who were getting off work came up stairs to occupy a booth. I gathered that this was a regular spot for them and they seemed very at home. I almost longed to be in their group… it was like we were a fly on the wall listening to their chatter. What a fun time, we had… and then evening closed in on us and we decided it was time to leave, with a promise to return.

This is a main stop on the mini crawls of Market Square we tend to do quite often!
The ambiance and décor are pretty different and even more interesting to look at! It really is a custom tailor shop as well! Very cool! The place is still family owned, and you will probably run into Miss Char herself! She serves up drinks now and then!
Don’t plan your party here, or anything else with more than 10 people… it’s a small intimate place, and most people there like it that way.
Every time we have dropped in it has been a great time! The drinks are a decent price and a heavy pour. Don’t be surprised if they offer a free shot or two… they have been known to give some love away!

We wandered into this place one day because it was too early for Warren’s to open, and was it surreal! Old-​fashioned, actual working tailor shop on one side, with bolts of fabric and a shoe shining area, and a quaint bar with pictures of family members on the other side. Not a wide selection of premium beers, but they did have Guinness, so we were satisfied. Good selection of music on the jukebox, too. We had a really weird but interesting conversation with the old guy who owned the place. His son, who was bartending that night, also tipped us off about the original location of Ninfa’s restaurant and gave us good directions to it.
If you ever need to get fitted for a new suit and get drunk at the same time, or even if you just want to grab a drink in a really unique watering hole, check out CharBar.

We didn’t stay here long. So I don’t know just how it would have been to drink here all night. It felt like a «regulars» bar. I did get a free shot from the bartender because it was my birthday so that was pretty awesome.
Aside from the free shot though, I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. It was long and skinny and not many places to sit. The novelty of the tailor shop might actually be worth something when it’s the weekend and you can get your shoes shined or something.
I give it 3 stars because it was A-​OK. I liked the feel of it, the old pictures, all that jazz… it just didn’t dazzle me. I’ll be back again I’m sure and I hope it changes my mind soon because people rave about it.

I suppose the fanciful entertainment of drinking a beer with a judge here fades over time. The other night when I stopped in after work I was not with a judge. And I did not have as much fun. DAMMIT. They do have Guinness though — just in case you walked in, saw the row of liquor bottles, and started to hyperventilate. There are options, so chill.

We stopped by this unique atmosphere bar during the Market Square Night Out where they were having $ 5 a shot and a beer. The first thing we saw when we walked in was 3 nice looking shoe shining chairs on the left side. Right next to the shoe shining chairs is the jukebox, which was already being queued up with songs. The place is very narrow and if there’s already a 10+ people in this bar, it would feel like it’s really crowded.
There’s just 1 bartender that night and he worked really fast. We asked for the special for the night and he brought out 3 shot glasses and filled them up with something, which I should have asked what it was. The beer would be any beer they have on the wall and we chose Guinness. We took our shots and it tasted like candy, there was no need to drink our beer as chaser. But he was really good at customer service as he poured a glass of water for my girlfriend who wasn’t drinking that night without us asking for it.
We sat at the bar talking to each other. They had a baseball game on the only TV in the bar. There was some other sports memorabilia on the wall and a lot of pictures and newspaper clippings of the Duke The Hollywood Tailor. You could still see the nice clothing behind the locked glass cabinets and the hallway to the restroom is full of old people tacky ties that come with matching handkerchief and yards of different fabric all rolled up in the bottom shelf.
There’s also the 3 way viewing mirror for you to look at your tailored clothing. But that night it was a dancing mirror for this overweight gentleman who was dancing to himself in front of that mirror. I didn’t really want to laugh because his friends are near the bar area but I could see they were snickering at his drunk foolishness.
This would definitely be a good chill place to be if you want to just sit down with good friends and have a drink. But don’t expect a great selection of crew or micro-​brew beer or fancy out of this world cocktails. This is definitely your good old watering hole and a place to buy tacky ties once you’re drunk and can’t tell the difference between a good looking tie and a tie that looks like it was made by Jason Age 8.

I have no clear answer why CharBar is often neglected by Market Square bar hoppers. Everyone flocks to Warrens, but overlooks an even better bar next door. Okay, on a weeknight, Warren’s is worth a drink or two, but for atmosphere on any given evening, I think I prefer CharBar. (I’m not including La Carafe in this equation.)
Is it a tailor’s? Is it a bar? Is it a tailor’s bar? Hmm. It doesn’t really matter (how dorky the last bit was), the atmosphere within the narrow space is wonderful because of it. Charming old bar on one side, with pictures of the family members in the space throughout the years. Tailor’s on the other, along with a wall jukebox and shoe shine station. All atmosphere and quirkiness. I can’t help but look around in fascination while there.
Our large-​ish party took over the very center of the bar a couple of nights ago. We clogged the artery so to speak. Various people sat on the cutting table, while a few of us sat in the wonderful swiveling bar stools. It made for a «nontraditional» seating arrangement, which was a bit refreshing and casual.
I’m going to mention the blown up pictures on the wall behind the bar, again. If you look at the very top and center pic of a youngish girl, then down at the bartender… yes same person. Well, obviously, the bartender is the still young, extremely nice, Charlein, the namesake of the bar. CharBar… clever, no?

Charbar is certainly a place where you fellas can escape away from the misses. Grab a cocktail, get your shoes shined and get fitted for a brand new suit at this two-​in-​one downtown staple. (Yes, I can count. Just hear me out.)
Duke the Hollywood Tailor has been in bizz since the 30s, and it wasn’t until seven years ago when they incorporated the bar, Charbar. The two story venue features tables, a bar, a shoe shining area and walls of glass cabinets filled with fabric, along with old photos of members of the family-​owned business.
Upstairs you’ll find another bar, dimly lit and welcoming to those who like to feel like they’re in an actual bar. I won’t go any further to describe it, just check it out for yourself. The clientele ranges from the after-​work crowd, old skool cats in bright suits, young sweet thangs (’cause they know this is where the gentlemen go) and regulars who plan private parties (like baby showers, yes baby showers) in the upstairs bar. If you do plan a private party here, management does allow you to bring in outside food.
Now for the good stuff: cocktails. They’re *strong* and filled to the rim, so you just might have to sip your glass while it’s still sitting on the bar until it’s safe to pick it up. Last time, it took me a good hour to get through my first extra dirty martini; it was that strong. But no complaints here. And the staff is as friendly as they come. You’ll find the owner with his raspy voice and a measuring strip around his neck chatting up clientele, along with his son Jeremy and daughter (oooh, I’ll write in her name as soon as it comes to me) serving up some more famous bevs. The beer and wine selection aren’t that big, but like i said, they’re known for their stiff cocktails, so do it right and order one next time you swing by.