Parker Milner is the Food Editor of The Post and Courier. He is a Boston College graduate and former professional hockey player who joined The Post and Courier after leading the Charleston City Paper's food section.
A stark white building with blue accents fills during the late afternoon, just steps away from King Street, where people pour into shops and restaurants. The sounds of a buzzing happy hour hangout emanate from the second floor.
Relaxed house music bumps in the background as ice rattles in cocktail shakers behind a backlit granite bar, bright blue with glowing oyster shells. Lined in wooden slatwall panels, the room is filled with groups and couples lingering over cocktails like the Fool's Gold, a bright bourbon and amaro beverage supported by a healthy jolt of lemon and a big square cube stamped with "167."
Diners, encouraged by the knowledgeable service staff to stay as long as they'd like, snack on rectangles of house-made focaccia bread with spiced Greek yogurt and truffle butter. Tables are piled with crudos, carpaccios and caviar, propped up by Parmesan custard inside a miniature salted waffle cone.
Welcome to Bar 167, part of the small restaurant group Jesse Sandole launched in 2010.
The College of Charleston graduate's first Lowcountry restaurant is the no reservations 167 Raw, which emerged with instant hits that still headline a popular soundtrack of reimagined seafood salutes. It started in a tiny East Bay Street storefront before moving to new King Street digs in 2020, and the old location was transformed into 167 Sushi Bar, which in 2023 earned a rave review from contributing restaurant critic Robert F. Moss.
Food Restaurant review: 167 Sushi Bar excels in all facets, from raw fish to onshore entrees By Robert F. Moss Special to The Post and Courier
When Bar 167 opened in 2022, it felt like a sidekick rather than a star. Curated bites and beverages catered to those waiting for a table at 167 Raw, just a three-minute walk from its counterpart.
A list of more than a dozen craft cocktails dazzled guests as the food menu evolved. Now, diners in the know are making Bar 167 the main event by reserving tables for a full lunch or dinner.
Their meal might commence with the tempura battered mushrooms ($16), sourced from Raven Farms and decadently drizzled in truffle honey, or wagyu carpaccio ($28), whose thin meaty sheets blanket bits of jumbo lump crab.
Equally enticing is the salt-roasted beets salad ($15), a blend of golden and dark red cubes with watermelon radishes and candied walnuts. Sweet, tart notes emerge, with the earthy undertones of fried cumin seeds imparting a warm backdrop to the bright bowl. Patrons can add chicken ($10), jumbo lump crab ($14), yellowfin tuna ($16) or the market fish to this and the Caesar salad ($16) for good measure.
Craft cocktails take center stage
There's a good chance appetizers such as these share the table with a cocktail. Spicy, savory and sweet ingredients fill beverages with playful names like Fulton Street Rickey, Santorini Sunburn and Fire in the Garden. Colorful, creative and playful, each cocktail is made with diligent intention.
The gin and tonic ($16) arrives in a tall glass, its surprisingly golden hue shining from the vessel's flat base to its tapered corners and rounded sides. The vibrant shade is derived from the dried flowers and touch of tamarind used to craft a house-made tonic syrup, which grants the drink natural notes of subtle sweetness.
Gin is a common thread that weaves through the menu, and it's been that way since the start, said beverage director Juliana Fisher, who curated the opening menu with two of her colleagues. The goal was to make the sharp spirit more approachable while nodding to the restaurant's Mediterranean influence.
The brine in Bar 167's martini ($16) is infused with grape leaves, the wrapper for the rolled rice-filled pockets served from Greece to Lebanon, and the Tzatziki Drink ($16) was inspired by the dill-flecked yogurt dip that's served with a pita sandwich.
Fisher fat-washes cucumber mint vodka with Greek yogurt and milk to make the latter, a clarified milk punch with a sour spin. It's finished with fresh cucumber juice and dill, plus a dill extract that's sprayed across the top of a rocks glass with a big square cube. The result is a clear drink whose acidic punch cuts through the creamy infusion, creating a well-rounded mouthfeel that compliments the food.
Stealing a sip from my dining companion's glass, I can't help but wonder if diners would be surprised to find visionary drinks such as these at Bar 167.
"We're pushing the limits a little bit," Fisher said.
Food After a decade in Charleston, 167 Raw remains among the buzziest restaurants in town By Parker Milner [email protected] Small plates, big flavors
Bar 167 meals start and conclude in one of three areas. There's the downstairs dining room, where couples and small groups can marvel at the oyster bar and kitchen, and lovely upstairs patio, ideal for a sunny afternoon or light breezy evening. The adjacent dining room is the liveliest of the bunch and where I prefer to be seated.
Square and circular tables surround blue banquettes, with some pushed together to accommodate larger groups. The upbeat music promotes an animated ambiance, while the colorful plates have diners' eyes wandering from table to table.
If there's one dish that will stop a neighboring guest in their tracks, it's the arroz con negro ($30). Crispy grains of jet-black rice rest beneath a tidy cylinder of cubed tuna, dressed in lemon juice and garlic aioli. Hot, cool, crunchy and soft at once, the mound is dotted with saffron aioli, King Tide Farms fern parsley and edible flowers, nodding to the vivid yellow spice's floral flavor.
"That's been the star of the show really since day one," said chef Bailey Campbell, who leads culinary operations with sous chef Justin Garvin.
The Spanish plate, from the Catalan canon, demonstrates the kitchen's broad focus on food from regions throughout Europe. Seafood is not quite as prominent as it is at 167 Raw and 167 Sushi Bar, but it is a driving force.
Black bass ($40), the market fish on a recent Saturday, is presented with microgreens and edible flowers, one half of its sea-salted crispy coating draped in a forest green chermoula. The Moroccan marinade adds herbal, acidic pizzazz without damaging the integrity of the white fish, which flakes without falling apart. Its juices drip down onto a bed of smooth orzo, scattered with sweet onions, chickpeas and carrots.
Many of Bar 167's plates are small and shareable, two words food writers and diners have bemoaned as they've become strongholds on restaurant menus. The portions here are mostly generous, but it is the type of place where the best dining experience comes when dishes fill the table. That format isn't for everyone.
Those intent on ordering a traditional entrée will be pleased by house-made pastas like the bucatini ($34), whose noodles have a nice twirl and tender bite. A light garlicky sauce gleams with yellows, greens and reds, disguising the petite bay scallops resting beneath. The Saints Hills Mala Nevina from Croatia ($17 glass, $66 bottle) pairs well with the balanced bowl, its citrus aromas and dry minerality reminiscent of a Sauvignon blanc.
My fond memory of the piquillo pepper studded, pecorino showered noodles will diverge from yours; last week, it was swapped out for a crab-stuffed cappelletti. The ring-shaped pasta, named for their resemblance to little hats, is also made in-house.
The food menu will continue to evolve, possibly with more shareable small plates and large format dishes, Bailey said, as the kitchen staff responds to customer feedback. He's also considering adding more meat to the menu -- lamb, rabbit, Iberico pork -- a departure from the seafood-forward fare at 167 Raw and 167 Sushi Bar.
My order rarely strays from crispy oysters and the hot honey garlic-draped, beet purée-drizzled scallop po'boy at 167 Raw. Around the corner, though, where balance meets accessibility and ingenuity, I find myself ordering something new every time.
I haven't left disappointed yet.
Food Social media is obsessed with this Charleston seafood restaurant. Here's our 'raw' take. By Parker Milner [email protected]