Bars & Pubs in Piedmont

3 Friends Bar and Grill is a casual American spot on Augusta Road in Piedmont, pairing a full bar and grill with a sports-bar feel. It works as easily for a plate of food and a drink as for settling in to watch a game with friends. It leans social and laid-back rather than a quiet, sit-down dinner, the kind of neighborhood place people head to on the south end of the Upstate.

Set in a converted gas station out on Highway 86, Tribble's wears its dive-bar identity proudly. The walls are packed with rock 'n roll nostalgia and oddball pop-culture relics, and the whole place carries the lived-in, come-as-you-are feel that has made it a fixture along this rural stretch of the Upstate. It runs on live music as much as on drinks. The stage hosts local, regional, and national acts leaning toward rock and old-school country, with most shows landing Thursday through Sunday, and karaoke fills in the rest of the week. Between sets there's a pool table, darts, cornhole, and outdoor seating for warmer nights, and the room turns 21-and-up after 9. The kitchen surprises people who show up only for the band. The owner does the cooking, the sauces are made in house, and reviewers keep circling back to the burgers and the loaded bar bites. A night here tends to run the same way: a set you didn't expect to love, a plate of something good, and a room full of people who act like they've been coming for years.

Wild Country Saloon & Nightlife is a saloon-style bar and nightlife spot on Piedmont Highway, the kind of place people in this part of the Upstate head to when they want to go out for the evening. Alongside the drinks there's a kitchen serving American food, so it holds up for a casual dinner as much as a late night with friends. For folks around Piedmont, it's a night out close to home without the drive into Greenville.

The 2 Door Lounge is a bar and grill along Piedmont Highway in the Upstate, just outside Greenville proper. It pairs a full bar with a working kitchen under one roof, so a drink and a plate come from the same room. The price point sits in the easygoing middle, which makes it more of a casual weeknight stop for food and a beer than a dressed-up night out.

Reubens made its name around Powdersville on a pairing you do not run into often: deep-fried ribs and a wing menu that runs past two hundred flavors. Owner Casey Livengood set it up as home-style cooking with a full bar attached, and the wings are the part locals tend to argue about, with plenty of reviewers calling them the best in the area. The room is built for game day, with screens across the walls, a patio for warmer evenings, and live music that turns up on the calendar most weeks. That mix lets it work as a weeknight family dinner and a place to settle in for a full afternoon of football on a Saturday. The menu stretches to match: burgers, a loaded club, chili, meat-and-three lunch plates, and the corned beef Reuben the spot takes its name from. Past the wings, the Philly cheesesteak gets singled out again and again in reviews, and the fried grouper sandwich and loaded tater tots have built their own following. Portions run generous and the kitchen leans hearty over fussy.

ESB Sports Bar sits on Augusta Road in Piedmont, out in the Upstate. It plays two roles at once: a place to catch a game with a drink in hand, and an American kitchen putting out full plates rather than only bar snacks. That combination is the point. You can settle in for an evening of food and sports without choosing between a real dinner and somewhere to watch the game, which makes it an easy call for weeknights and weekend matchups.