Carolina Ale House Review

Carolina Ale House

I had heard of Carolina Ale House, and it’s possible I had been here years ago when I was younger.

Although, I might be confusing it with some combination of Carolina Wings and Wings and Ale, two other popular bar and grill style joints in Columbia.

Anyways I had seen praise for it online and elsewhere, and I happened to be close by just before lunch time while out running some errands.

So, I figured I’d stop in and give it a try.

In putting together this Carolina Ale House review, I was surprised to learn that it’s actually a decently large chain with quite a few locations in North Carolina, three in South Carolina, and even one in Knoxville and one in Miami.

Carolina Ale House Columbia, SC

This review of Carolina Ale House in Columbia, SC is based on the one in Harbison, near the Colombiana Centre shopping mall.

I needed to pick up something from the mall, and it was just before lunch time, and I had some other things to do. So, I decided to grab some lunch while I was here.

The Carolina Ale House Harbison is tucked in its own building and parking lot just across from the mall.

I sat at the bar, but noticed it was not very crowded, which is maybe to be expected just before noon on a weekday!

The inside is pretty spacious, and I noticed they had some picnic table style seating outside too (it was way to chilly for that when I went!).

They had plenty of TVs set up, appropriate for a sports bar.

They also had pool tables, so this would be a good place to hang out in the evening in addition to catching a game or having some food with drinks.

Everything looked nice and fairly new too.

However, I appreciated that they do have a good number of decorations and stuff up. So, it’s shiny but has somewhat of a lived in feel too.

Carolina Ale House Menu

There’s a pretty large menu here.

They had a lot of beers on tap, including a pretty decent variety of different styles.

Food wise, they have all your typical pub/bar and grill style food like wings, burgers, sandwiches, chicken fingers (which they call zingers), etc. They also had ribs and barbecue (pulled pork) on the menu too, and even a few tacos.

They do have some more proper plated entrees as well as salads too.

They also had some decent $10 lunch specials too. This menu had 1/2 sandwich and salad with the choice of a cup of chili or soup as well as full sandwich options.

You can see a full menu here.

It looks fairly standardized, but I’d imagine it’s possible each location might have some of their own unique dishes or specials.

Carolina Ale House Harbison Food Review

I opted for the Double Western Smashburger, which had double patties, cheddar, bacon, crispy onions, and some barbecue sauce.

I liked the nice touch of some extra pickles stuck on top.

I thought the burgers were well cooked and had a good flavor. I loved that the bacon was, in fact, nice and crispy as the menu said.

What I didn’t like is the burger was just a bit too big and unwieldy.

It was hard to get a proper bite, and my bottom bun was all but disintegrated by the time I finished.

Look, I’d much rather be complaining about a burger being too big than too small, much less tasting bad.

Still, I think it’d be nice if they made these patties a little flatter, wider and/or maybe used a larger bun.

If I were to order it again, I’d probably ask for no lettuce and tomato to cut down on the heft and moisture a bit.

It’d be curious to know if the other burgers suffer from the same problem or this is from the double just being a little too much for their buns.

I did really enjoy the fries, which have a beer batter.

Unlike most battered, crispy fries, they are thicker cut. Well, maybe medium cut is the right word, because they aren’t that thick, but they definitely aren’t shoe strings either.

I appreciated that as a nice, unique touch, as I feel like you either get super thin and crispy or fat and floppy at most places. Here, I got the best of both worlds.

Drinks

I had a Guiness (it was chilly outside and I hadn’t had one in ages). As I mentioned above, there were quite a few options for beers on taps, including regional craft beers like Wicked Weed, from Asheville.

I thought it was a good overall selection.

I also had an Old Fashioned for dessert.

I’d skip it if I went back.

It was fine.

It was just filled to the brim, so a fair bit of mix and closer to a mixed drink or cocktail than the splash of simple syrup and bitters in a half full or so glass you usually see, and that I prefer.

They had a pretty large cocktail menu, with a variety of margaritas that did sound good too.

Carolina Ale House Final Verdict

In conclusion, I enjoyed my lunch here, and would be willing to stop in again if I was over here shopping and wanted a bite.

I’d be curious to try the wings and maybe a few other things, like the Philly Cheese Steak.

To be honest, I tend to avoid Haribson like the plague if I can.

So, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come out here just to eat.

However, if you live close by or are out here doing some shopping, it seems like a good spot for lunch, dinner, some drinks with a game, or just hanging out.

Now you have my review of Carolina Ale House Harbison in Columbia, SC.

If you’ve been here, or to any of their other locations, for that matter, I’d love for you to share what you thought in the comments.

Cheers and Happy Exploring!