Bars & Pubs in Fountain Inn

The Wine Fountain gives Fountain Inn a place to slow down over a glass of wine, right on South Main Street in the town's small downtown. For a community this size in the Upstate, a dedicated wine bar on the main drag is its own kind of draw. The pours start in the evening for most of the week, Tuesday through Saturday from five o'clock, with a Sunday afternoon session from one for a quieter close to the weekend. Mondays it stays closed.

Wings are the whole reason Wingnutz exists, and Fountain Inn has made the case with its appetite: the kitchen runs through roughly 95,000 pounds a year, all fresh, never frozen, cooked to order across sixteen flavors the crew will happily push hotter on request. Owner Chris Cates opened the place in July 2020 inside a former Trade Street bank building, the same branch where he once kept his first account, and built it around the town rather than a franchise template. It plays like a proper sports-and-games hangout: pool tables and dart boards in the back, TVs angled for whatever game is on, and karaoke and trivia nights filling out the week, with a late-night weekend stretch that outlasts most kitchens nearby. The food reaches well past wings, with a smash burger customers rank among the best around, housemade nachos built for sharing, and tater tots people keep mentioning for actually staying crisp. Add a 4-to-7 happy hour on domestic beers and well pours, and it lands as an easy call for watching a game with a group or for a loud, friendly night out after the rest of town has gone quiet.

Hail Mary Sports Grille in Fountain Inn is where you go when there's a game on and you'd rather watch it over food and a cold drink than at home. The menu sticks to casual American grill fare at easygoing prices, which makes it an easy call for a weeknight dinner or a slow afternoon of following whatever's on. On Fridays and Saturdays the grill runs late, staying open past midnight when most of Fountain Inn has already called it a night.

The Taproom sits on the north end of Main Street in downtown Fountain Inn, on the walkable stretch of older storefronts where the town holds most of its street events. Inside it stays casual: seats at the bar, corners to settle into with a group, TVs and dart boards for the sports crowd, and a patio out back that dogs are welcome on. The draw is what's pouring. Twenty-four rotating taps lean on local and regional breweries, backed by wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options for anyone not drinking that night. There is a real kitchen too, sending out burgers, flatbreads, nachos, and shareable plates at prices reviewers keep calling hard to beat, and it runs as a walk-in spot with takeout and delivery if you would rather stay in. What reviewers single out, though, is that there is almost always something going on: trivia, music bingo, karaoke, live bands, and an open-mic night that locals say is the only one around. The family that runs it has leaned into that community feel since a recent rebrand, and the bartenders get named often enough in reviews that the service is clearly part of the appeal. The chicken bacon ranch nachos come up more than once.