I will start off by saying publico can be a hit or miss. Some servers can be very underwhelming,slow, and uneducated. But, Cassidy,Taylor, and Megan did a great job this Sunday afternoon. My friend and I came a little later around 2PM when they were starting to let their employees off. Cassidy was more than helpful,patient, and even enthusiastic about taking more tables even after she was asked to not take anymore. She was very patient with my friend and I and that is extremely noticed and appreciated. Taylor was very knowledgeable about the menu and she even told us that this was her 2nd day on the job! After Cassidy and Taylor were let go, Megan was so sweet and I asked her if she could make an older drink from the previous season and she said she could! Thank you so much for a great Sunday brunch publico! read more

I was pumped about this place. It had solid reviews! But when I entered it smelled strange. My nose was hit with a funky cabbage odor mixed with cleaning products. I probably should have walked out after that, but I didn't. I ordered the chips trio. We'll start there. Chips. Greasy. Unsalted. No salt on the bar or napkins for that matter. Queso was watery and lukewarm. So watery it didn't really stick to the chips. Causing me to need napkins so I used thay little one under my beer. Salsa was weirdly sweet and the guacamole was strong on the lime, light on flavor or salt. Skip the trio. I ordered three tacos. Two beef, one shrimp. The shrimp was tasty but sitting in that funky coleslaw on an uncooked tortilla. The beef tacos, looked good at first but on closer inspection the beef probably hadn't been drained because they were greasy leaving puddles of reddish brown shooting out with each bite.If you're looking for some tacos, I'd look elsewhere. It's probably a great spot if you're a college kid with low food expectations with a deep beer selection. read more

Great atmosphere and Adrianna was the best! Will definitely be back. Also, mimosas pitchers was HUGE!!

Solid stop in Columbia South Carolina. The bartender was tremendously friendly and knowledgable about the beer selection at hand, recommending me a wonderful our. Adding to her southern charm, she proceeded to tell me about other great watering holes and breweries (River Rat) in the area on her own will. [didn't order food] read more

Amazing experience and our server Megan C was amazing and so helpful and knowledgeable about the specials, food and drinks! Definitely coming again! read more

Checked this place out yesterday after reading reviews. The food was amazing! Our waitress, I think her name was Jaime? (I'm horrible with names) was awesome! They even raised money for one of their own to go teach kids English and doubled it for her which I thought was phenomenal! Definitely will be back and will let everyone know if they want good food and great atmosphere to come here! read more

Laken G was amazing! She put up with us and our 4 month old puppy. She was very patient and was a great server!

Came for brunch- food and drinks were on point as always. Finn was our server and she was lovely! We will be back to see her and eat again soon! read more

Mary Grace did an amazing job. Definitely request her if you ever come to Publico in five points. She checked up on us and brought us water since it was hot outside. She is very friendly and had a lot of good suggestions on what to get. The food was awesome and scenery was great. Would definitely come again and recommend! read more

We absolutely loved Brad ! Best server ever , and we also loved Kayla aswell . We are team BRAD ! We had a good time good drinks and good food ! read more

Every trip here has been a blast! I truly enjoy the margarita flight- what a great way to try multiple margarita flavors! Queso, salsa, and guacamole starter is a great appetizer! The menu is unique and has something different for everyone. I've had the steak puffed taco which was so yummy! I've also had the quesadillas which are filling and also yummy! The staff is super attentive and personable. I've even come in just for drinks at the bar and the bartenders are so welcoming and friendly! read more

It's a fun, modern, and hip pub environment. The service was fine. The music was a tad too loud. My pineapple margarita was good, but pricy. However, the food was a miss. There were 6 of us, and except for the nachos, the food was bleh. Even the entrees advertised as VERY HOT! was not. A few of the dishes tasted off. The spicy beef ramen had a weird aftertaste and the noodles didn't have the right texture. The spicy chicken burrito was bland. The shrimp and grits had an odd sour taste. The chicken and puffles were ok- the puffle was basically a soft waffle with no flavor and a small puck of chicken on top. The cuisine is a fusion of Asian and Tex-Mex. Note to chef: there is such a thing as too much kimchi and it doesn't go with everything. We didn't enjoy the pricy mashup of fusion cuisine. 1 taco costs $5 each. read more

My regular spot. Best tacos in town. If you're GF they have corn tortillas. They have vegetarian options as well. They have Taco Monday, because Tuesday is too long to wait, including drink discounts. Every day they have a 2 tacos and a side special for $10, you can't beat it. I like the Bombazo and Carnitas tacos best. You get consistently great service. They have a wide draft beer selection that is updated regularly with options you can't get anywhere else. They also serve local liquor. The atmosphere is that of a local brewery, very relaxed, but clean and quality. read more

Publico - New American Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

This is a great place! Superb food, drinks, deals, and an awesome atmosphere in 5 points. As a former USC student, it's great to get back to 5 points and enjoy a nice place! read more

Publico - This is a great place! Superb food, drinks, deals, and an awesome atmosphere in 5 points. - New American Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

The burgers here are amazing. I've had most of them on the menu. Also had all the different kinds of tacos and the giant fried burrito thing....I've also had the bulgogi beef bowl, tons of beers, and even some sangria. Appetizers are great as well. I've not had a bad experience there and I've obviously been a bunch. Highly recommend it. read more

Great drinks and great food! We sat at the bar and Carly and Bryce were fantastic. Both were super attentive and made yummy drinks. Will definitely be back!! read more

Publico - Ask for the Mexican Sunset by Carly! - New American Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Went to grab something quick, their service was amazing don't get me wrong, & their drinks were great too. The food was mediocre & flavorless. The tacos weren't too bad but they weren't great. The vegetable ramen was probably the worst ramen I'd ever had. tasteless broth, missing ingredients listed, noodles were too big, NOT enough broth. Their poke bowl was decent the pieces of salmon were WAY too big & their rice was mushy. A good place to drink but not to eat. read more

Experience 8 Food 7 Service 7 We were sat and waited for over 7 minutes to even have our drink order taken and they were not super busy. About 50% capacity. That's a big no for me. Ok so I know menu was limited because it's Covid blah blah blah but if you're shortening the menu... you'd think they'd do a better job at executing the dishes they chose... but no. Food was eh.. I got nachos and they came out soggy and cold with barely any chicken and the cheese was hard? Why? Overall it was ok. I like the outside seating area and will bring my dog next time to try their menu. I'd give it another try... read more

The food here was delicious! I got the poke taco on a lettuce wrap and two shrimp tacos on corn tortilla. The quality of everything was great except the chips and queso. Either some of the chips were stale or just undercooked. Parking is is tricky to access through a one way narrow street and it's tight. I highly recommend parking elsewhere. They have a nice patio seating area perfect for a cool evening dinner in the summer. read more

See all

Publico is my to go place! I've tried various things on the menu but always revert back to the tacos. The sweet pork belly taco are my favorite and as far as drinks go their watermelon or frozen margaritas are the bomb.com. read more

This is my third terrible experience at Publico. The first, I was denied an application by my server after two of their front hostesses had said they are actively hiring. Second, my chicken chilequeles did not have chicken, and I had to complain and then wait 25 minutes for my portion of protein that was missing. Third, and the most recent/frustrating, me and my group of five of-age friends were denied food and drinks because, and I quote from the manager on duty, "one of our servers thinks she knows one of you are not 21 years of age, and we don't feel comfortable serving your group at all". Our entire group then requested our ID's to be scanned by a FEDERAL scanner to ensure we are all 21-23 years of age, and they refused. We will never be returning to Publico, nor will we be recommending to our younger legacies/family friends/sorority littles. read more

The hostess asked if outside was okay for my guy and I to sit. It's NOVEMBER. It's freezing. I'm visiting from Los Angeles and I know this is the south, but that is NO WAY to treat people. It's 2018. There was nobody outside. Nobody. Why would that be the first thing she asked us? I felt so disrespected, but I sucked it up. Sat down and everything but I couldn't stay. My eyes began to water up and although our potential server Jenna was nothing but pleasant, I didn't feel comfortable enough to stay. The spot is super cute and I wished it could've worked out, but you sincerely shouldn't treat people like that. I literally lost my appetite. Menu has an array of Mexican food along with some select sashimi tacos and poke bowls. I'm hopeful the right person sees this, so this won't happen to anyone else in the future. read more

This is the best place so far beers, meals and service so awesome ask for Juana! The best attitude ever good taste as well highly recommended read more

Decided to stop in while I was killing time. The staff and atmosphere were great! Had one of their beers on draft, which I now am in love with (Low Tide Aloha Beaches) along with some chips and salsa. Everything was good. Wish I could have ordered more but wasn't that hungry. Servers at the bar we're very kind and entertained my conversations (I was by myself). Definitely would recommend to a friend and definitely will be back if I'm ever in town! read more

Emily was a great server! Very attentive and brought our food and drinks out quickly. Brunch food and drinks were great, some of the best in five points! read more

This place is totally Awesome!!! We ordered the "Caribbean Nachos" with chicken it was so tasty. Their "Publico Jalapeño Margarita" is really cool drink. You should definitely try Green Chili Chicken Tacco. Will definitely come back with friends!!! read more

Awesome food, reasonable, great service. Just a bit loud though. Definitely try the cauliflower bites!

If I had a stomach to try everything on the menu, I would have! The food was amazing and delicious and we had the best service we could possibly have imagined! read more

Publico - Such a spicy selection! - New American Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

I had such high hopes and was not impressed. To start we had a lovely server who was knowledgeable about the beer list and attentive. The food could have been poor choices, like maybe we should have just ordered tacos since that's their thing. App: stuffed jalepeño was a whole pepper, that's a lot of jalepeño! Cheese was sort of like a pimento mix, wrapped in bacon and fried. I like hot, but it was just too much for me and could only get through one of the 5-6 served. Shrimp and chorizo quesadilla was thin, barely any meat and had the same cheese mix and lots of jalepeño. Disappointed that it was basically same mixture. See me on top was really nice. Farmhouse burger: my boyfriend doesn't like runny egg so he should have been proactive and ordered the egg fried or something because this was a very wet, very soft, very lightly cooked egg on top of a really pretty, thick and juicy burger he just couldn't eat. Fries were very good. Next time we will be more thoughtful about ordering and give them a shot to impress with the tacos and see what happens. read more

Great service! Great food!!! 1st time here and will definitely be back!! Laken G. Was an amazing server!! Drinks were delicious as well!

Finn was an awesome server! the food was great and my s'mores cold brew is sooo yummy. we love this brunch spot!

Service here is unparalleled! From our server, Olivia who was excellent, to the bartenders, bussers and food runner, everyone was super attentive, polite and friendly! The manager made sure all the tables were pleased and honestly we could not like this place more. The food is always excellent, the drinks, made with fresh ingredients, are delicious and the environment is wonderful! read more

alona & laken are literally the best servers! Hands down!!!!! , i really enjoyed my experience.

I'm a regular at Publico and absolutely love it. I almost know the menu by heart at this point. The service is always great and the food and drinks are always delicious. One of my favorite things about Publico are their deals that they have with tacos. You can get two tacos with one side for $10 or five tacos with two sides for $20. The sweet belly pork, gochujang shrimp and classic tacos are some of my favorites plus the edamame and Mexican street corn are great sides. Two of my other favorite menu items are the chilaquiles bowl and the southwest bowl. My brother usually gets a burger every time we go and they are always delicious especially the farmhouse burger. Publico also has soooo many beers on tap so there is something for everyone. If you're not a beer drinker, there are multiple types of margaritas and cocktails to choose from. I personally love getting the margarita flight with 3 different types of margaritas and a sangria. Publico honestly has something for everyone, the atmosphere is so fun, the service is always great and the food is to die for! read more

Soooo, I've held off coming here due to the bad reviews, but I feel like a moron for doing that. My friend and I had a late lunch here today. I used to go to Garibaldi's fairly frequently. Publico has made great use of the former space. It's beautifully decorated and very chic. It feels urban,clean,fun and modern inside. Publico has a great wine list, tons of beers, and some nice cocktails. My friend and I split some pork belly spring rolls to start. They were so good! They are served cold with a fantastic peanut sauce. Delicious enough that I'd come back just for those. For lunch, we did the 5 tacos and 2 sides for 20 dollars. I ordered a Tuna Poke taco, a Gochujang Shrimp taco and Mexican street corn. My friend got a Gochujang shrimp taco, a puffy taco, and a carnitas tacos. The tacos were some of the best either of us have ever had (she's Mexican American and grew up in California). The service was amazing and the atmosphere was very cool! I can't wait to go back! read more

Being back in Columbia for only a week, I was meeting a friend at Drip when I drove by the adorable exterior of Publico. New restaurant in my beloved hometown? I had to go immediately! I went with two girlfriends the next day and it was packed. We got a drink at the bar while we were waiting, and the bartender said she had just created the cocktail menu. I loved that she asked us our opinions about our drinks, and took our suggestions (rave reviews!) to heart. Says a lot about the restaurant if they are adding new drinks to the menu based on the whims (talents) of the bartender. We got the sangria and it was pretty darn good. After being seated (and in much less time than the hostess said it would be, by the way), the owner of the place came by our table to ask how we were enjoying our meal. Our answer was quite a bit. He didn't stop there, however. He wanted to know exactly what we thought of it ("the good and the bad"). I love when owners are interested in the details of the diner's opinion. It shows that they are interested in improving what can be improved and enhancing what is already good. His name was Mike and he was extremely personable. I got the grilled chicken salad and my two friends got tacos. We also split the salsa/guacamole/queso sampler, and I'd recommend that everyone do the same. The salsa was made in house, and it was more "bang for your buck" than typical chain salsas. There were lots of different ingredients and spices in it, and wasn't too too spicy. All in all, we really enjoyed our time there. It's a very new restaurant, so if you go once and aren't impressed, go back in a couple of weeks and it'll be even better! read more

Great food loved the atmosphere. Our server Nicolle was amazing! Will definitely be back!

Publico was very tasty. I enjoyed my drink more than I did my tacos. I got a jalapeño margarita to drink and damn it was amazing. It was definitely made fresh and was just the right temperature of hot/spicy. We also started with an appetizer of chips/guacamole which was also great! Now on to the tacos, I got the classic chorizo and guchujang (which had shrimp). The chorizo didn't taste that great. It was okay. The shrimp in my other taco was great, as was everything inside, but there were only 3 little shrimp total inside. I also had the Mexican corn as a my side (2 tacos and one side for $10 deal) which was delicious. The service was great, our waitress Savannah was very attentive and kind. All in all, id say it's a good drinks and appetizers place but the tacos didn't impress. read more

Publico - New American Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

Went to this restaurant while visiting a friend. The food was very tasty and the service was great! A computer glitch caused my card to be charged twice. I spoke to Kelly after I left Columbia, and it was resolved in 15 minutes. Thanks so much! I'll be back. There are other restaurants who could learn from you! read more

Ordered a burger with no bun and a side of kimchi. Burger came with a bun which is no big deal but the toppings were completely wrong (no cheese or pork) and came with a side of fries and no kimchi despite the extra charges. Burger was small and overcooked. Go to Rockaways or Henry's if you're downtown and want a decent burger. read more