Prohibition, Charleston

Upper King Street is Charleston’s nightlife spine, and Prohibition is its heart: a 1920s-styled cocktail den where the bartenders take their craft seriously and a live jazz or swing band takes the floor several nights a week. Early evening it’s a great cocktail-and-small-plates stop (the duck fat fries have a following); by 10pm on weekends the tables push back and it turns into one of the few places in the city where people actually dance. The cocktail list runs deep on bourbon and rye, as the name would suggest, and the bartenders will go off-menu happily if you tell them what you like. Sunday brings a jazz brunch that’s the civilized way to end a Charleston weekend. Our downtown Charleston homes are a walk or a two-minute rideshare away, which is precisely how close you want to be after a second round of Old Fashioneds. Cover is rare, lines happen after 10:30 on Saturdays — go earlier, stay later.