Gene’s Haufbrau

Best bar in the city. Great prices. Great variety. Excellent staff. I’ve rarely felt more at home.

Gene’s is a long time staple in Charleston, and specifically Avondale. Parking can be a pain, but there is a small pay lot next door and lots of street parking if you don’t mind searching and walking. I just build it in to the trip when I head here, so as to not be upset when there isn’t much available. They have a pretty extensive beer selection, both on draught and in bottles/​cans. Not too much of a liquor variety however. If you’re coming here for something other than beer and pool, and a laid back atmosphere, you’re probably in the wrong place anyway. It’s good for a standard cocktail or shot, but not much more.
They have a small room with doors in case you want/​need privacy. We have had a few meetings in there, but the lighting could be improved. With our group though, I didn’t much mind the darkness. If you’re a smoker, they have a small covered area outside now. Food is typical bar food, but I like some of the apps pretty well. Others were impressed with the sandwiches. I don’t usually eat here, so I will leave that portion of the review to someone else.
If you’re looking for a very low key hangout to throw back a few beers (or more), and maybe shoot some pool, or play jenga, this may be your next «go to» spot too.

Got there about 4:30 on a sat, bar full, sat at the table, no one came over! So, we left. Go figure. Oh yea, the rest of the tables were totally empty! Is this any way to run an airline? I can’t speak for the food or drinks, never had any. Will I go back, if it’s like this when almost empty, what is it like if a full house? Bad night maybe?
Frank G

Nice place to visit stopped to have a beer and the selection of beers was amazing, bottled, canned and draft. Everything you could imagine. The atmosphere is casual and inviting lots of friendly people, pool tables, foosball and boardgames. It is someplace I will visit again.

I Ate at gene Tuesday night with my boyfriend and his parents. We had a great time. The server was great very friendly and personable. We ordered 3 types of wings. The buffayaki which I am a fan of. This flavor is buffao mixed with teriyaki. Not spicy but in the flavor category it is great. The honey mustard wings taste just like a good homemade honey mustard taste. Not my thing for wings but they were what they promised. The teriyaki and sriracha wings I wasn’t able to taste but they smelled and looked delicious. They had board games around so we picked connect 4 for a while it was fun! Large beer selection and trivia is on Tuesday nights. We did not play but enjoyed listening in. I give it a solid 4 for a bar on a Tuesday night.

Environment was perfect for catching up and just taking it all in. A mix of both locals and passers thru. Highly recommend the burger. Great taste and value for the $$. Know you’re getting a good burger when they ask” how’d you like that cooked”. Medium was mine. Awesome beer selection. Reunion with Mickey Big Mouth was nice and cold.

The good, lots of choices of beer, they offer a lot of board/​card games if you happen to be with a group of friends, and serves food pretty late.
The bad, parking is awful, service good be better, as could the food.
Out of the bars in the Avondale are, Gene’s is on the lower end of choices.

Typical CHS dive bar, lots of students, games, noise & fun! The beer selection is impressive for a dive bar…

Genes is a pretty cool spot. Decent bottled beer selection served by good bartenders. Chill, fun atmosphere with board games and great food right at your fingertips. I’d definitely go back.

Great selection of beer and huge, delicious portions of food. My date and I both had the Wienerschnitzel which was amazing! Very casual atmosphere to hang out and play some pool or just relax. Would definitely return.

This is a local hole-​in-​the-​wall, dive bar with GREAT burgers. The food is always surprisingly delicious. There’s a lesson here, don’t judge a book by its cover. If you’re looking for new sleek fancy fixtures, this is the wrong place. If you are looking for a great burger at a bar, this place does it right!
I tried the Avondale burger last night which paired perfectly with a draft beer. The Avondale has an amazing fried green tomato, pimento cheese, crispy bacon served on burger cooked the way you want… I would’ve leaned towards medium rare if I had a do over. Their fries were yummy, a bit salty with ample seasoning.
This place also has some loaded fries that are truly addicting, careful, you’ve been warned!

Great food until 1am, great bluesy music, great draft beer, nice atmosphere. So glad we came!

Ok, I go here for drinks and Trish is one of my favorite bartenders. I love this place and they still have real Coke products and not that knock-​off soda crap. I love them for that.
So, the other day I’m starving and haven’t eaten at Gene’s in over a decade. Last time I had the spinach dip, which was pretty good. This time, I ordered chicken fingers — protein and breading to soak up some drinks ya know.
Ok, these aren’t frozen chicken already breaded from a bag, it’s actual chicken, hand breaded and then fried. I had mine tossed in a blue cheese hot sauce mix. I still can’t believe how good they were. Who expects that kind of detail from a bar kitchen? I know I didn’t and was very pleasantly surprised.
I’m almost a regular there and never thought to give a review for a bar, but that kitchen deserves some props for making fresh food and not some pre breaded chicken from a freezer bag. So the next time you’re hungry at Gene’s get something from the kitchen, you’ll be glad you did.

I’ve spent many a night at Gene’s. The beer selection is awesome, the bartenders are delightfully sassy, and the prices are very reasonable.
I love to come hang out, play a game of pool, darts, or trivial pursuit on the table. The wings, burgers, and fries are all delicious and typical bar food. The bathrooms are the only thing that I’m not a huge fan of. But when it’s just a ten minute walk from my house, I really can’t complain too much!

If you love micro brews, board games, and an old school tavern type of feel then this is where you go. This place would be a blast to go with a huge group. I didn’t get anything to eat because everything kind of looked dirty and unsanitary. I’m pretty sure it just because of the old school theme they are trying to portray, but I couldn’t think to eat.
The pool tables and house sticks need some major updating. Dart boards and shuffle board are all good though.
I’d go back but only with a large group that wants to really slam some back.

The beer selection is over the too and great selection and price.
I ordered a burger and a beer for a late lunch. The burger was cooked just as I asked along with a hefty portion of fries to go with it. The quality of both where good and was a very enjoyable with a pint to German lager to go along with them. I do feel like the price was a little high for what your getting during the day. Maybe once a few beers are consumed the prices would be more acceptable
I would recommend it, but maybe the schnitzel is the way to go.

We ran the gamut of bars in Avondale one night.
After spending the whole day in Camden at the Carolina Cup, my group was not done partying. We started off at Pearlz. Being outside all day and feeling a bit mucky, it was a little bit more than what we were looking for. Next we powered up at the Mellow Mushroom with some grub. The night bartender was such a nice guy. He made my SoCo and lime perfectly with a decent sized shot of SoCo and a squeeze of lime. Then we headed across the street to The Roost. This was totally my style 10 years ago (loud, packed, and a Meat Market), NOT in my 30’s. After a couple of drinks, we headed next door to Gene Haufbrau.
Upon walking in, I felt like Goldilocks. «This bed (bar) was juuuuust right!» It fit the bill for the wide range of people in our group – large selection of brews for the beer connoisseurs, unpretentious for the rednecky folks, pool tables, board games, and a small outdoor patio for our smokers.

Gene’s reminded me a bar that was probably pretty awesome in the 80s, but now is just sorta old and dark and smells like a place that used to allow smoking and has way too much crap on the walls. It’s just kinda dark and feels dirty.
The fella wanted to come here after seeing some Beer Advocate reviews. Their selection was good, not great, and the day we went around lunch, the bartender seemed to be the only person waiting on people. That was fine when it was just us and another group, but after about 30 minutes and 6 more groups, service got pretty crummy.
If you’re looking for unique craft beer, there are way better places in Charleston.

Gene’s is a pretty good bar where the crowd falls somewhere in between hipster and frat bro. Excellent selection of beers, OK prices. The food is pretty good as well. I noticed the last time I was there that they expanded a little bit and put what looks to be a smoking room on the side to the right just as you come in the main front door. It is a nice addition.
They also have foozball, board games scattered about, Golden Tee/​Silver Strike, and two dart boards & pool tables in the back. Darts are free and the pool tables cost $ 1 in quarters which is pretty standard. My only beef with the place is that service tends to be a little bit impersonal and very very slow. The most people I’ve seen working behind the bar are 2 – 3 on a really busy night which is not adequate for a bar that can have 150+ packed in. Still, this is a good place to stop by if you are ever in the Avondale area.
Protip: I recommend that you should make it a point to look a little disheveled when you go to Gene’s. Every time I have walked in wearing a polo shirt or have my hair combed, I tend to get strange looks and even slower service. Not sure why, but if you have a neck beard and a plaid shirt they consider you a priority.

Gene’s does have the best craft beer selection in Avondale with plenty of drafts and even more in bottles to choose from. I enjoy coming here on my nights out bar hopping around in Avondale to escape some of the insanity of some of the smaller places. Not that Gene’s doesn’t get crowded, just that they have more space compared to The Roost & Voodoo which makes it easier to relax with some friends while having a beer and maybe hear each-​other talk.
I only ate here once and it was for a very hungover brunch many moons ago so I won’t comment except for the fact that it did the job as far as I recall. Board games all over contribute to its divey-​ness but I’m sure that’s what they’re going for.