I came in on a Sunday for brunch and walked out already planning a return, and I'm not saying that about a lot of places. It sits in a building from 1803 in the French Quarter and it shows - dark wood, big front windows, the whole old Irish pub weight to it - but the thing you actually remember is the back patio, which has been voted the best outdoor patio in the city for a few years straight. The name does some work here too: the first "Blind Tigers" in South Carolina opened in Charleston in 1893 as an act of defiance against the city's dry laws, so the bar has been doing a little bit of quiet rebellion for over a century. Live music on the schedule, local beers on tap, and an eclectic enough crowd that it's never a boring hour in there.
The food is the surprise for a lot of people, and it shouldn't be. The Nashville chicken sandwich and truffle fries are the move, and the C.A.B. steak sandwich is worth coming back specifically for. Prices are fair for downtown Charleston, which is doing a lot of quiet bragging there. Service held up on a St. Patrick's Day crowd, which is the real test. Kitchen closes at 10, so if you're planning a 1 a.m. meal this is not the night.