With March Madness in full swing, you’re probably looking for a good place to catch the action while enjoying some game-day snacks and a cold brew or two. (No? Just me?)
While the greater Charleston area has no shortage of sports bars, you may be looking for someplace new – and maybe a little smaller and quieter, so you can actually focus on the game at hand.
If so, take a shot at Huddle & Hatchets, a sports bar with axe-throwing that recently took over the former Axes & Ales and Lucky Dill deli at 122 Capitol St. in downtown Charleston.
And not only took over, but extensively remodeled to add a large new bar, more seating and nine giant TVs to accompany the axe-throwing bays.
With that new look also comes a new menu, with the old spot’s deli sandwiches, salads and soups replaced with good ol’ bar-and-grill grub perfect for easing the pain when your bracket goes up in smoke. (No? Just me?)
A passable sports-themed menu features a “Starting Lineup” of the expected nachos, creamy spinach-artichoke dip, fried jalapenos, loaded potato skins, mozzarella sticks, pretzel bites with beer cheese, chips and queso, boneless wings and more.
There are also a few wraps and salads, plus a roster of “Tailgate Tacos” featuring combinations like the best-selling Hawaiian crispy chicken with mango habanero and pineapple, a ground beef version mixed with beer cheese, a crispy chicken option with bacon and ranch, and an ingenious – but gluttonous – taco filled with crispy tater tops topped with melted cheese, diced tomatoes and sour cream.
Tater tots play a starring role throughout the menu, in fact, and that draw alone may put this place in my regular rotation. Love me some tots!
“Home Run Hits” include a chicken quesadilla, traditional or pretzel-bun sliders (go for the pretzel, featuring Sam Adams beer cheese and caramelized onions), chicken tenders and crispy potstickers with chicken, cabbage and bourbon sauce.
Batting cleanup are desserts like sweet waffle fries tossed in cinnamon-sugar and served with fluffy whipped cream for dipping, apple pie with ice cream and caramel, plus two more ice cream concoctions that you can also opt to make boozy by adding suggested shots of liquor.
A special new “Lunchtime Lineup” menu running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the week also offers various grilled paninis served with a choice of potato salad or tots.
I popped in last weekend to catch a couple of NCAA tournament games and check the place out.
While sipping a frosty West Virginia craft beer, I scanned the menu to make my picks before giving up and asking the staff to share some of their personal favorites.
They steered me to a basket of fried pickle slices that were so lightly battered you could still see the pickle’s ridges on the outside of the coating. Less breading to mute the pickle’s punch is a good thing in my book, but I did wish they were a little darker and crisper on the outside.
Then I threw all caution – and my diet – to the wind by indulging in Loaded Tater Kegs, which are basically giant tater tots filled and fried with bacon and cheese on the inside, then finished with melty cheese and bacon on top. I would’ve loved these to be crispier as well, but that didn’t stop me from eating them all in record time.
With my appetite sufficiently whet, I dug into a tray of pretty good Nashville hot chicken soft tacos topped with creamy coleslaw and chopped pickles. I don’t typically like fiery foods that mask other flavors, but my server said these were her runaway favorite because the cool slaw and tart pickles nicely balanced the sauce’s heat.
That they did. Well played.
I was too into the games to try my hand at axe-throwing, but the bays are right there alongside the seating area and TVs (separated by a screen, of course) if you want to test your aim between bites and timeouts.
Based on this first visit, Huddle & Hatchets is definitely a place I’d check out again. Some folks may balk at the fact that most food and drinks here are served in disposable cups and containers, but that just punctuates the bar’s casual, unpretentious vibe. It’s not fancy, but it’s not bad.
IF YOU GO: Huddle & Hatchets at 122 Capitol St. in Charleston is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday and 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 681-205-2684, visit www.huddleupwv.com or check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.