My favorite bar in Columbia, I will be sad to leave it when I move. Byron pizza and the grilled cheese are my all-time faves. Tacos on Taco Tuesday are mysteriously delicious--ask for mixed (bean and beef). Trust me. Boyfriend loves the Berger burger. Black bean hummus is good as well. Honestly, never had anything taste bad here.
Great beer selection and always something tasty and non-mainstream on tap. Pint night/trivia on Wednesday are my favorite. Can get crowded and hot, but hey, it's a basement.
Bartenders have always been good to me and probably my favorites in town as well.
I love the Whig for many reasons. Â In part, feeling like I'm hanging out in a naturalist's basement, what with all the taxidermied animals and collections of pinned insects under glass. Â And then there's the Ms. Pac Man table, which is a pain to have a conversation on, but if you want to get some 8-bit gaming in while you drink, it's usually unoccupied. Â I like that there are booths, and the pizza is freaking amazing. Â
A little divey, and usually full of interesting people. Â Amazing food, quirky and fun atmosphere, good bartenders, cheap drinks. Â One of my favorite hang-outs.
I came here by Yelp and was not disappointed. Â Firstly, the food was great. Â I got the Chipotle BBQ Burger which was delicious! Â And the fries were well seasoned and plentiful. Â Secondly, This place is a total dive in the best sense of the word. Â Filled with hipsters, artists, tattooed ladies, pierced men, leather clad couples and a handful of others it fulfills its duty as eclectic and quirky. Â It welcomes all as long as no judgments are rendered. Â The beer selection is more than adequate and they have a full bar, but the best part is the REASONABLE prices! Â Beers range from $3-4.5 and mixed drinks from $4-5. Â And these are not happy hour prices. All in all, worth the trip you make down the stairs into this shady, quirky bar located directly across the street from the State Capitol building.
Review Source:I don't really know where to begin, because everyone else has already pretty much covered it. The Whig is the only bar in town that I still go to with any regularity. On Sunday and Monday evenings it's quiet and easy to find a booth to share with friends. On Tuesday-Saturday, it can get kind of crowded, but you can usually find a table if you're willing to wait.
The drinks are strong and reasonably priced, and the menu is pretty close to perfect. I especially love the gouda mac & cheese and the pimento cheese fries. I don't eat meat, but I've heard that the burgers are some of the best in Columbia.
$1 slices of pizza and discounted liquor drinks on Mondays, 75 cent tacos on Tuesdays, and cheap pints and trivia on Wednesdays, and Chicken & Waffles every other Sunday!
Plus they have the best juke box I've ever come across.
Lovely little dive. Â Great food; the black bean & garlic hummus is a personal favorite and the burgers are fantastic. Â I also love the sweet potato fries and my boyfriend is a huge fan of the gouda mac and cheese. Â Great beer selection as well. Â Just a few small gripes keeping it from 5 stars: it is often filled with incredibly pretentious hipsters who are disgusted by your non-moustachioed, freshly-washed, football-enjoying presence (avoid this by going early in the week or during the day); it's sort of dirty (don't touch ANYTHING in the bathrooms), and if it's busy, you cannot avoid walking through a thick cloud of cigarette smoke in the stairwell to get into the bar. Â The music is often ridiculously loud, but that's acceptable because 1) it's a bar and 2) it's usually good music.
Review Source:Vegan and vegetarian friendly. Â Has a decent selection of beer but not huge - its the atmosphere that really sets this place apart. Â A little creepy, a little weird, a little cool all in one. Â
Can get cramped but still good place to have conversation; unlike a lot of other places downtown they don't turn up the music so loud you have to shout to the person next to you.
We went here a little while ago and the food was okay. Â Nothing impressive. Â The bartender was kind of a jerk to us. Â Look I get it, it's a hipster bar and we were just a group of USC fans looking to drink some beers. Â We had no expectation that people would be friendly to us. Â But being completely ignored for 45 minutes while the bartender was just talking to his friends is really not cool. Â
Overall the food was good enough (no wild wings) and the beer was really overpriced.
The Whig is incredible. Several other reviewers have mentioned Slice Night and Taco Tuesday (which can be made vegan for those interested). Plus their selection of beers is impressive for the space it's in - located in a weird basement across the street from the Statehouse. It's small, but it's always a great visit.
Review Source:This place is as simple as it gets. Beer. Cheap food. And nothing more.
But there's something about a $0.75 taco or a slice of pizza for a buck that makes this place amazing. They have cheap food deals every night of the week. And often times, that's the only thing they serve.
I went on taco Tueday. What's so good about the tacos? Well, they're the simplest taco you've ever eaten. You know the hard shells you buy in the grocery store? Yep, those ones. Add hamburger, cheese, and lettuce, and you have yourself the same taco. But for some reason, they're ah-mazing.
One last thing you should know. This place is chill. Read Lisa K's review. She hit it right on the money.
Do it.
I. love. The Whig.
If you are generally a little strange or socially unacceptable, this is your place. Â There's always somebody there willing to have a completely intellectual... or completely senseless conversation, and popped-collar D-bags are practically disintegrated immediately with all the dirty looks they receive if they dare to accidentally trip and fall down the stairs and through the door.... or get some hilariously incorrect advice that this is the kind of place they would want to hang out. Â There are no televisions, so you actually have to talk to people - and I can assure you I have rarely been disappointed by my social endeavors there. Â
For some extra fun - bring a game of Hipster Bingo with you. Â Somebody is guaranteed to win within 15 minutes. Â Seriously. Â SPECTACULAR sweet potato fries, and you can't beat the good cheap meal offered on Taco Tuesdays!
Honestly.... Â most relaxing, fun, cheap, entertaining bar in Columbia. Â Couldn't ask for a better place. Â Great food. Â Monday-pizza, Tuesday-tacos... Â other days- everything is delicious and inexpensive. Â People are awesome here too. Â Lots of hipsters, older business people, and everything in between.
Review Source:You know, I really like the Whig.
I like the beer selection and the food specials ($1 slices every day from 4-7). Â I like the atmo. Â I like the jukebox. Â I like that it's right next door.
But most of all, I love the grilled cheese sandwich with fries. Â This thing is my crack. Â It is my Kryptonite, my ring of power - my undoing. Â On days I'm actively trying to limit my cheese intake (maybe because I overdid it on the pizza over the weekend, or maybe because I had saag paneer for lunch), the Whig's grilled cheese starts calling to me, and because it's a bar, and because the kitchen is generously open until midnight, I am able to spend hours resisting before finally caving at 9:00 at night. Â To a grilled cheese.
Listen, it's the least healthy thing in the world. Â It's on thick white bread, toasted exceptionally in some kind of fat, filled with three different cheeses and cut diagonally down the center. Â Every time I order it, I am offered the option of sweet potato fries, and every time, I choose regular fries - not because I don't like sweet potato fries, mind you, but if I'm going to eat spectacular tasting junk food, I'm going to do it right.
Curse you, Whig. Â (But really... thank you.)
I effing love this place. Â Oh Whig- you helped me get through the hard time that was visiting my mom for 2 weeks in a place where i know no one and w/o having my own transportation. Â You helped me sublimate my need to binge drink and meet new people, something which i am used to doing 5 of 7 days of the week #unemployment. Â You're patrons are oh so friendly. Â for example, the young lady ranting to her friend about "how all men suck" who, upon her exit offered me a stick of gum. Â I especially enjoyed the company of another maiden who was "tripping on mushrooms". Â I know that if I were somehow forced to live in Columbia, shotgun wedding perhaps, The Whig would make life tolerable.
Review Source:I really wish I'd gone to The Whig while I was still in college. This is one of the only walk down bars in Columbia, and the Whig has that perfect dark and somewhat gloomy look. As soon as I walk in I felt at home, the small cramped bar was nice and quite the perfect place to go after a hard days work to have a drink or three. I see the smallness also being a problem on busy nights. Let me get to the crux of the situation the prices are fantastic cheap drinks and cheap food. The food is terrific but what really clinches it for me is the dark atmosphere. The Whig is now one of my absolute favorite places in Columbia. I can't wait to go back even if it's just for drinks.
Review Source:This is my home bar. This is where I take friends to celebrate and where I go when Im depressed. Matt and Will are the best. I finally got the Gouda Mac recipe and completely forgot it. Oh well, Im more then happy to go and get it there. There is a ton of Gouda in it. Thats all you need to know.
You will find every genre of person in there from the loner artist to the yuppie. Most people will be friendly and chat you up, beware the elite. They suck.
When the Whig first opened about, hmmm, seven or eight years ago (?) It was basically my home away from home. Â I went here at least 3 or 4 nights a week and it was just a cozy little dive bar that had the best jukebox ever. (think Johnny Cash and the Smiths, etc.) Â
I went back on my last trip through town. Â Of course I didn't know everyone in the bar anymore- I haven't lived there in 5 years. Â But it felt a lot different in there. Â It actually felt a lot more like someplace I could go in Porltand (where I live now) than a dive in SC. Â I honestly think I was in SC on an off weekend since it was the fourth- that may have been the reason that everything seemed strange to me. Â
Don't get me wrong- we still had a good time and the bartender, Will, was doing an awesome job. Â It just didn't have the same vibe to me that it used to have. Â So check it out and let me know what you think.
ever want to travel back to grungy 1995? well bust out your best flannel shirt and those doc martens for a visit to the whig!
don't be fooled by its posh website, adorned with pictures of people in their best nightlife attire and flirtinis. no. you walk in, it's kinda kitschy and rugged, and the low-lighting, jukebox, and random junk make you feel like you've just stepped into a wannabe student bar circa sabrina the teenage witch. but that's not to say i'm hating -- i sincerely loved the cool tv-turned-into-aquarium complete with little fishies swimming around.
the food was actually really tasty, despite the fact that my friend and i picked things on the menu online before going and the menu in the booth was missing just about everything we wanted. and despite the fact that they didn't have gouda so i couldn't have the gouda mac 'n' cheese. great. however, the chef was a good sport about it and made us penne with cheddar and bacon (because i mean really, bacon just makes everything better). no complaints on the drinks. the bartender always gave a generous pour, and for that, he was tipped well.
major downside: DISGUSTING restrooms. i can't emphasize this enough. there are those places that try hard to have "liberal" restrooms with writings on the wall and whatnot, but the whig had one toilet, which was stuffed to brim with toilet paper and nastiness. not cool.
the best part about the night was just sitting in the booth and observing the people around us. green day's dookie album was on blast and just about everyone was singing along. don't get me wrong - i still believe dookie to be the best green day album, but it was highly entertaining to see everyone rockin' out like billie joe armstrong just entered their lives.
if that's your kinda scene, right on. good times all around. however, i felt like a person of the future. oh, and..when you go, be sure to bring your copy of jagged little pill. they don't have it on the jukebox. and yes, i checked.
Taco Tuesday! Â Timing worked in our favor as a co-worker and I happened upon the Whig on a Tuesday night. Â We lucked out when we arrived as we were able to snag a couple seats at the bar as soon as we arrived. Â Shortly afterwards, the place filled up pretty quickly. Â We got our fill of 50 cent tacos, had some great beer specials, and just had a great time here. Â A cool, laid-back place to get some grub and/or grab a beer.
Review Source:Decent place. Been a couple times and its definitely a "hipster" bar. Had a pizza which was alright, nothing to rave about. They do have cheap beer (PBR seems to be the drink of choice, although "nicer" beers are also available) . Cool underground location, but is really dark and small. Check it out if you are on main street looking for a place to grab a cheap beer and some late night food. I plan to try the taco tuesday since that seems to be the most popular night.
Review Source:I thought it was a pretty cool bar. Â Liked it. Â Apparently Alexander (the chef) makes a mean pizza (by his own account) on Mondays, Tuesdays are -- like SF -- taco Tuesdays, and there's a full menu Wednesdays. Â I didn't check out the food, but I would. Â It seemed very much like a San Francisco place.
Review Source:This really is a nice place to go. Â 50cent taco night is a great time. Â They do vegetarian tacos, with cheese, black beans and lettuce and hot sauce and salsa. Â It is really great to have a couple of nice Stellas or Brooklyn Browns, which I think they no longer serve the brown, tap beers and 3 satisfying, healthy veg tacos. Â
The music is nice here. Â They have a jutebox that plays great stuff. Â The atmosphere is small and relaxed. Â The staff is great and the people are interesting. Â Not a typical bar scene for Columbia.
Oh yes and their bar food is delicious- try the sweet potato fries, mac, feta pesto dip. Â I have been told their pulled pork sandwich is really right on. Â Not sure if they still allow this, but in the past they did allow smoking, which can be kind of annoying. Â however, it has never been so bad, in my experience, to make you feel sick like come establishments.
This was a nice little casual bar. I don't remember much because I got piss drunk on tequila and spent most of the night trying to make my then boyfriend cry or something. But anyway, I remember they had a good selection of beer and drinks were way cheaper than in NY. So yes, it was a nice stop. I remember it being pretty dead that night though.
Review Source:I was in town on business staying at the Hilton and was looking for a place that didn't have tons of dudes with cellphone belt clips and tucked in polos.
Wandering near the capital, i saw a guy with a corduroy jacket and jeans walk down some stairs to an underground place with a very small sign. Â He looked like a grad student so i followed him. Â Really neat underground hipster-y bar that was dark and cool without being intimidating. Â I sat at the small bar, reading the paper and eavesdropping. Â The music was really good and the beer selection was solid(i had a Brooklyn ale for maybe 2.50 at happy hour).
If i lived in Columbia, I think this would be one of my hangouts.
I like the Whig. I do. I'd even recommend it to people--but don't bother unless you're fairly positive you're cooler than everyone else on the planet. I don't go much anymore because it aggravates my inferiority complex.
Everyone I know likes the food, but I always chicken out on ordering any because of the inevitable multitude of skinny ironic indie chicks sitting at the bar staring at me with judgment and loathing in their heavily made-up eyes. (Note to self: Must lose 5 more pounds and buy some liquid liner before going back.)
On the upside, it's absolutely hilarious to watch drunk people try to stumble up those basement stairs on their way out. Not, of course, that I've ever been one of them.
Mellow basement bar across the street from the Statehouse, within walking distance of campus.
A few booths, an eclectic collection of used furniture. Lit, but not well lit, by vintage lamps and candles. The Whig is on the verge of being a dive bar, slightly rough around the edges, and casual enough that everyone will feel welcome.
I didn't have a chance to try the food, but was impressed by the menu.
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