The Sanctuary

I’m definitely a fan of Sanctuary. Stopped in on a Thursday night, the lighting is perfect, the drinks are strong and the bartenders are incredible. It was rainy Spring night in Charlotte, so the crowd was pretty small (although it was packed out right down the road at Blind Pig and Jack Beadle’s) — so I view this place as a true sanctuary from that crowd. This is one of those few spots where I would become a regular at if I had the chance.

Seriously my favorite pub in Charlotte. Great daily specials. Killer music on the sound system. Dimly lit and atmospheric. Also available, a pool table and jukebox for your listening pleasure.
Chill at times. Rowdy at others. The locals favorite. Great after dinner/​concert spot. Sometimes the bands that play at neighborhood theater will pop over for a pint after their show.
There is always killer art on the walls. $ 1.50 pbr everyday of the week. Live music occasionally. Late night food menu (until 1am).
The bartenders, can make any cocktail to perfection. Great local beers on tap, and a variety of wines too. Oh, and on Tuesdays try a hurricane. Just don’t drink more than one ha!
The owner rules. The employees rule. If you ever find yourself in Charlotte and want one of the whole in the wall divey-​est experiences go to the pub. Sanctuary pub for the win. Met Chris Hardwick here once. It’s low key and badass like that.

great wings (from next door) and awesome drink specials. people smoke outside and of course f=some of the smoke does get in from time to time but still worth it.

Be careful when you walk in! The two story ceiling will swallow you whole! It’s like a Rock n Roll Alice in Wonderland cave filled with graffiti, darkness and alcoholic treats for grownups. Eat me! Drink me! A row of flat screens playing horror movies. What goes better with a pint of Birdsong Higher Ground, than a showing of 30 Days of Night? A PBR Unicorn tap adorned with a Krampus stocking. Sanctuary has the same owner as Boudreaux’s, so you can order their food from the bar. We had an awesome bartender that showed us some great pictures of the NoDa Krampus crawl, some real spooky GWAR-​like stuff. Sanctuary puts up a Christmas tree made from PBR cans. I hear a lot of people in the service industry choose this place as one of their favorite hang outs. A pool table, reasonably priced drinks, laid back bartenders and good eats. Nice combo!

Don’t tap on the bar and risk hurting the feelings of a soft bartender/​bar back or you’ll get threatened for your life.
Way better places in the area. I would highly advise against this spot.

Great bartenders and great Jack on the rocks… what else is there

Solid dive bar in NoDa. Very cool spot to grab some drinks and watch live music. The bartenders here are great as well.

Dive bars, oh how I love thee.
I went to the Matrimony show at Neighborhood Theatre Friday. The smoke machine set off the fire alarm right as we were coming around the corner. Yay! That means we have time to pop into Sanctuary!
I love this place. Every time I have a night out in NoDa, I make sure to stop here for at least a drink or a shot. Or both. Or two shots.
No gimmicks. No frills. Whether you’re in the mood for a vodka water, shot of jäger or just a good cold PBR… this is where you go to drink. Chill. Laid back. Rock n roll. Sit at the bar and chat with the bartender. Bring a group and enjoy good conversation with friends at a table.
If you’re in the neighborhood for dinner or a show, stop in for pre or post night out beverages.

Sanctuary epitomizes all there is to love about a neighborhood bar. Awesome local brews from NoDa and Birdsong on the regular, reasonable prices, pool tables — and you’d be hard pressed to find better bartenders in Charlotte.
Proud to have a place like this to support in my ‘hood. Check ‘em out!

This is my «neighborhood» bar. Love this place!

Nice grunge bar. Lights turned down low and of course skee ball in the back corner.
Price for some drinks are pricey, but why not just get a tall boy of PBR for 2.50 cause thats what I do.
Good people, good music. It is an overall good time.

This place definitely takes the title of top dive bar in NODA for me, and that says a lot being that it’s Noda. The cheap cocktails, and the artsy murals throughout the bar add to its character and the regulars create a flair that is not found anywhere else.

This is what I would call a ‘bar bar’. Hmm that doesn’t seem to make much sense. But I mean it isn’t a sports bar, not a dog bar, not a hippie bar. It is rock n roll, stools, pool tables, if-​you-​drop-​something-​on-​the-​floor-​for-​gods-​sake-​leave-​it, dark drinkers bar.
I like coming here — there is always a great mix of people in the crowd. Mostly older (for Noda) which I like. Some of the other Noda bars can get too young and silly for us old folks.
The bartenders are super fast and always have an eye on the crowd. There are also tables for you to sit with your friends on the side.
It is just for drinks (but they do have snacks like chips you can buy behind the bar!) I always know what to expect here — drinks and conversation. A nice change from the usual places.

Noda is always a fun neighborhood and this place really shows the essence of the area in my opinion.
Grafetti (sp) walls and cool artwork abound. Characters galore and plenty of people watching to do here. We popped in for a few drinks so I can’t say I’ve spent a ton of time here but I could certainly see myself hanging out here for a live music performance and maybe just a chill evening out.

Divey, small place, homemade look. And it has skee ball tables. I don’t know why, but I like that. I’m now in the market for some skee balls and a case. You know how badass pool players walk in to a place with their own stick and case, and you know they are a bad mofo? Well that’s gonna be me with skee balls at the Sanctuary. I’m thinking a mahogany skee ball with inlaid brazilian walnut. Also probably a skee ball that is actually a real crystal ball from a gypsy I killed for no reason and there’s a little bit of her blood on the skee ball. This lets people know I came to win.
Anyway, the bartender was chill, friendly, and served us right away even though I didn’t have a beard. Note, 78% of male patrons at the Sanctuary have beards. If you want to fit in here, grow a beard. If you can’t grow a beard, dress like a woman. Everyone is drinking heavily here, and if you wear a short skirt, people won’t notice you are a man, and they will still like you even though you grow facial hair like a bitch.

Ryan Adams «The Bar is a Beautiful Place» lyrics:
I hang my head down on Uptown
’Cause either way you look down it’s just stars
And I’m making my way down to NoDa
To get drunk in a bar
And I know my friends, they worry about me
I can see it written on their face
Despite anything that I said before
The bar is a beautiful place.. .. sha na na na, sha la la la la.
So if you’re looking to forget all that Uptown glitz and show, this is the most real place in all of Charlotte.

Review is for drinks only–
Came in Wednesday night — we had the most friendly bartender ever. ½ price wine night– but the wine we ordered was a little icky (odd temp) but hey this is more of a beer dive bar anyway. The guys gave us a free dessert too since they said they put one in by accident. Awesome music selection and an all around good time.
They also had a pool table. I would definitely go back!

I could get thoroughly, efficiently drunk here, for cheap, happily, often, while listening to good music, amongst a varied, albeit tad-​surly crowd.
Circa 1999 NoDa’s still alive in this little corner. You can almost smell Fat City wafting in the nicotine and tar-​smelling air. Fan.

Dive bar… which can be a compliment… if…you don’t add in the attitude that «outsiders» or «non-​locals» are not welcome. In addition you don’t ignore folks that aren’t regulars when trying to get a drink.
I mean in a recession like this, particularly in a town like Charlotte, I’d think a bar would be happy to see anyone in there establishment. Not so for The Sanctuary, which probably speaks to the regulars that go there because the treatment I got at the bar was terrible. I’m not sure they do that to keep is a Sanctuary for the regulars, but if they do it is working… and if they don’t, it is still working.
I do like the bar… initimate, dark… interesting set of people…1 pool table… stacks of beer boxes along the wall. It has a lot of character, but it is the staff that makes this some place and due to their terrible service and unpleasant attitudes a place I won’t frequent again. I think the Dog Bar dogs have more class than the bar here.

Something abut The Sanctuary keeps drawing me back. It’s a very NoDa place and I always feel at home there.
The bar feels very industrial with marble slabs for seats and finished wood planks for tables. A graffiti mural covers one wall while work by local artists hangs on another. You can play Wii Sports or Wii Play there, and they have a pool table.
The British bartender makes a mean mojito (though they’re not always available), and The Sanctuary also serves a late-​night menu of tasty Boudreaux’s food.
My only complaint: Around 11 pm, they always seem to turn on heavy metal at full volume. You go from having a normal conversation with a friend to screaming at the top of your lungs.