Citrus Club – Bar Review | Condé Nast Traveler
"Give us an overview here. Citrus Club serves well-curated small plates and fanciful cocktails to adults only (21-and-up). You don’t have to be a guest of the club's home at The Dewberry Hotel to access it, but you will need to check in with the concierge by the elevator to receive a temporary keycard granting you access to the sky. The 8th floor elevator door spills you into a pristine white lobby hung with local artist Douglas Balentine’s charcoal beach figures. A host leads you to your table. While the indoor space and velvet bar stools are terrifically chic, the outdoor terrace is Citrus Club’s calling card. Guests tuck into posh little nooks separated by potted olive trees, lemons, limes, and a smattering of palms. Uninterrupted breezes travel from prevailing corners of a 360-degree view. You can see clear from river to river. How’s the crowd? Citrus Club attracts a well-behaved crowd: tweeds, linens, Gucci loafers. There’s a bit of an unspoken dress code (no sweats or yoga pants in sight). Hotel guests take in the view, ladies have post-spa cocktails, and small groups of locals pretend they’re on vacation. It’s very civilized, not rowdy, which should make the neighbors happy. There’s an upbeat affluent resort vibe, an energy, fueled by steady rhythms of techno music. It reminded me a lot of the W Resort in Vieques , where musical tracks pursue you in underwater pools. How are the drinks? While there’s a small beer selection, including a refreshing grapefruit radler from Austria, wine and cocktails are the main draw here. The call of a frozen drink is strong. Maybe it’s the palm trees and salty air, but something says “it’s piña colada time:” fresh, potent, creamy, with aged rums and adorable woven-bamboo skewers you’ll want to pocket. These are all top shelf drinks, expertly crafted, zero shortcuts, with playful twists like hibiscus in the lime-mint mojito, or passion fruit in the bourbon-based “Tropical Itch.” I loved the clove-studded apple slice garnish on spiked cider. At The Dewberry, it’s all about the details. What do they have for food? Citrus Club’s paperless menu is accessed by barcode linked to your phone. They call it “lite bites” because plates are shareable, but the options really are quite filling: enormous coconut-encrusted shrimp and a nest of lightly dressed slaw, jerk-seasoned French-style chicken “lollipop” drumettes with creamy cilantro-lime dip. The Dewberry’s signature burger with Emmenthal cheese comes quartered at Citrus Club, the better for sharing. And lump blue crab dip arrives hot from the oven, with a very generous crab-to-breading ratio and pillowy-crisp butter crackers. I would send people up here for the “luau pie” dessert alone, a towering chilled six-layer concoction of ice cream, cookie crumbles, chocolate, and toasted meringue. Worth fighting over. Did the staff do you right? Staff were genuinely cheery, at the ready, and smartly dressed, with pale peach seersucker shirts and gleaming white Bermuda shorts. They seemed to love being there and were on call to usher guests into a private dining room in the event of a rain shower. Wrap it up: what are we coming here for? Citrus Club is an elevated escape. I watched a hawk circle slowly (perhaps he coveted my coconut shrimp) then land on the nearby weather vane of the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church steeple. By day, you can watch sailboats and container ships on the harbor. But sunset drinks are by far most popular for visitors and locals alike: lots of spontaneous selfies and group photos on the western side of the terrace as the sun sinks into the Ashley River, then people nestle back into their cushioned sofas and chic rattan patio chairs to resume conversations. It’s a great place to unwind, schmooze a client, catch up with friends, or win a heart." - Paul Oswell
