The Griffon is on Vendue Range right next to the Vendue Hotel, and it has been at it for about twenty years, getting grungier and better for it in the words of Bon Appétit. The room is covered in dollar bills and bumper stickers - every inch of the walls, the back bar, the exposed rafters, even the doorframe - and it's part college bar, part tourist destination, part industry hangout, which is a truer description than any of those alone. It's the kind of place where a College of Charleston senior, a famous chef, and your uncle all end up at the same bar and nobody minds, and the beer list runs from PBR to a Coast Brewing kolsch from right in town.
The food is simple and fast: the fish and chips is the house dish with a light, perfect batter, the daily lunch specials rotate a meat-and-two, and there are fried pickles and club sandwiches to soak up the beer. It's loud, it's busy, it's open till 2 a.m. on the weekends, and it gets packed at lunch especially in the tourist season. The price is casual and the service is quick, and it's the kind of place you find because a carriage tour guide mentioned it, then stay because the fish and chips was good.