Heather Greene, director of operations of Stars Restaurant, wants to bring a new kind of audience to the restaurant’s rooftop, recently renovated and renamed Satellite Bar. “I call it leveling up,” she said.
The renovation, completed this summer, brings new decor, an updated drinks menu and hopefully, a new audience.
“I would love to see King Street develop into a great place for adults to go,” Greene said. Currently, King Street, especially Upper King Street north of Calhoun Street, hosts hordes of rowdy party-goers every weekend (and many weeknights, too).
Greene hopes that Satellite Bar can offer a haven of sorts in the midst of this college town’s raucous party scene.
Raucous King Street in recent years
It’s no secret that Charleston is a “serious drinking town,” a nomination awarded
by Thrillist in 2016, and rooted deep in the town since as far back as 1793, when Charlestonians were swilling Dragoon’s Punch.
Anecdotally, the city’s most popular strip of bars and restaurants, King Street, has been rowdier than ever lately, and in practice, the city of Charleston has been looking for a solution.
Just last month Charleston Police Department announced a plan to implement an undercover vice unit that will target underage drinking and illicit drug use.
In October 2022, the city officially altered traffic flow on Upper King Street, between Spring and Calhoun streets; Thursdays through Saturdays, traffic is reduced to one lane and street parking is banned after 6 p.m. The traffic change brought an increased law enforcement presence.
Greene described a conversation with a patron who asked about the police and security guards at bars and restaurants on King Street. “She said, ‘Should we be worried? Is it safe?’ I hate that. Because I want everyone to feel safe in our city.”
While no bar or restaurant has the answer or solutions to King Street’s rowdy problem, Greene posits that offering a different kind of experience could calm things down a bit.
New offerings
Satellite Bar and Stars Restaurant are moving away from DJ entertainment and opting to feature more live music, both late at night and on weekend afternoons.
Satellite Bar has also launched an updated — and elevated — bar menu that features fun and funky wines and several mocktails.
“The demand for zero-proof cocktails right now is just next level,” Greene said. At Satellite Bar you can choose from four nonalcoholic beverages, including the Midnight Train to Georgia, made with passionfruit, ginger beer and bitters. “People want a cocktail that looks like one and tastes good.”
Satellite Bar hasn’t totally grown up, though — you can still get shots. Just don’t ask to split them 20 ways. And please don’t try to take drinks out of the bar (it happens, said Greene), because it’s just more work for the people who work there.
Hopefully hospitable
All you’re doing is policing people,” said Greene of overcrowded nights with heavily intoxicated patrons. “And you’re not hospitable. I hope that we all got into this business because we believe in hospitality, and it is the core of what we do. So how do we maintain that level of hospitality and negotiate what’s going on on King Street?
Greene doesn’t necessarily have an answer to this question. Satellite Bar has toyed with the idea of being a 23-years-and-older establishment, but Greene isn’t totally sold on the idea. Do responsible 21 and 22 year olds deserve to be left out of the rooftop fun? Can a bar and restaurant afford to put limits on who it serves?
“I think you have to be the change,” Greene said. “And I think it would have been really easy for us to have not done much and kept getting that money, you know, but that’s not what any of us want for Charleston.”
Earlier this month Satellite Bar launched a new series, Sip and Shop happy hour, which showcases local vendors from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the rooftop on Wednesday nights. In addition to shopping from local spots like Magari Boutique and Link’d Permanent Jewelry — who you’ll find at the Oct. 18 happy hour — the rooftop will offer drink deals, too.
You can listen to live music on Saturdays and Sundays, and bring your kids if you want. Greene is hopeful that the city will support wider efforts to make Upper King more family- and pedestrian-friendly by blocking the street off to traffic not just for late night revelers but for street festivals or a neighborhood block party, like the MOJA on King event earlier this month, or the Wine + Food street fest held this spring.
And hopefully, when you make your way up to the Satellite Bar on Friday nights, you’ll find a place that feels like it’s risen above the fray.
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