167 Raw moved from a tiny room at 289 East Bay Street, now 167 Sushi Bar, to a long narrow 19th century building on King Street with original brick walls and a walnut bar. It takes no reservations. City Paper readers voted it Best Oysters and Best Raw Bar in 2026, and on r/Charleston the tuna burger is the dish people name.
167 Sushi Bar is the sushi and yakitori room from the 167 Raw group, in the East Bay Street storefront where 167 Raw itself began before moving to King Street.
39 Rue de Jean is a French cafe, brasserie and bar on John Street just off Upper King, with exposed brick, a patio and a private room upstairs. Explore Charleston reported in spring 2026 that it was marking its 25th anniversary with themed wine dinners and expanded lunch. It belongs to Holy City Hospitality, a Charleston group, and City Paper readers voted it Best French in 2026.
82 Queen is the Lowcountry restaurant on Queen Street that City Paper readers voted Best She-Crab Soup in 2026. The top answer in a r/Charleston she-crab soup thread agrees. Opinion on the rest is split: it is offered as the most Charleston restaurant in one thread, and in the same thread a commenter says it is not as good as its reputation.
BellyUp! Charleston / Over 50
Good places to eat and drink in Charleston, minus the nightclubs. When a spot gets loud later or draws a lot of kids, the card tells you.
12 spots
A locals' counter in the middle of the lawyers' end of Broad Street, open since 1984. City Paper's Charleston Classics list says the cafe 'doesn't get half of the praise it deserves' after more than four decades downtown, and in June 2026 the paper called the lunch menu a steal for the historic district ... a vegetarian pizza croissant at $13.50, and soup with baguette and French cheese at $12. Most people know it only as Fast and French.
Harken is a cafe and bakery on Queen Street run by owners the site names as Greer and Cameron. The bakery case is built around a biscuit collection, including a ricotta biscuit, plus cookies and bars.
A coffee bar and vintage clothing shop in the back of Reynolds Laundry, opened in June 2025 by Tyler and Kennedy Troyer, who moved from Boone, North Carolina to join their friends Erin and Jon Carpenter, the laundromat's owners. The laundromat was on The Kelly Clarkson Show in April 2025. Drinks include a strawberry shortcake latte and a pistachio matcha, some poured into cowboy boot glasses, with Counter Culture beans.
Fresh food, smoothies and coffee. The venue says founders Ruchi and Tom started at six farmers markets a week in the Lowcountry in 2013; Ruchi grew up vegetarian, and the menu is built on whole foods with little processing. A second room, Huriyali Riverland, is at 2016 Wappoo Dr on James Island.
A cafe and small grocery that stocks local meat, produce and dairy next to goods from small makers around the country, with coffee, breakfast, lunch, beer and wine. Co-founders Andrew Hare and Jared Hellman are old friends who built and sold a deli called Bubba Slye's in the early 2000s before coming back to food with this. Park Circle is the original ... there is a second market in Summerville and a third opened at 637 Rutledge Avenue by Hampton Park in July 2026.
A neighborhood coffee shop with a whole wall of board and card games. The Post and Courier says owners Sarah Reuter and Marshall Tyers collect the games from thrift stores, yard sales and auctions, and suggests a latte for the adult and a hot chocolate for the child over Guess Who? or Trouble.
Bryson and Savanna Purcell started Prophet serving coffee out of a converted 1996 Subaru Sambar. Bryson, from Anderson, had spent seven years leading worship at a local church. They opened a tiny commuter cafe at 4411 Spruill Avenue in late 2023 and expanded in June 2025 into the former Wind and Waves Brewing space a few doors up. The Post and Courier's July 2026 guide lists it for coffee and baked goods.
A cafe inside a farm market on Johns Island's Main Road. The owners describe Stono Market & Tomato Shed Cafe as locally owned and run, under a canopy of live oaks, with lunch at the Tomato Shed and supper three nights a week. The market side sells sauces, stone-ground grits, local honey, jams and crafts, many from local makers.
Jonathan Roth, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who cooked in Switzerland, opened Sweet Palm with his wife Aylin in October 2025. It is a quick-serve cafe that makes its food in house, from breakfast sandwiches and burritos to cinnamon rolls and topped croissants. The beans come from Foresight Coffee Roasters in Mount Pleasant.
Kimana Littleflower, a longtime Charleston food and beverage professional, opened The Junction in 2015 because she saw a need for something different in the Park Circle community she calls home. The plan was breakfast all day, sandwiches, an eclectic brunch menu and cocktails. Charleston City Paper readers voted it Best North Charleston Brunch in Best of Charleston 2026.
A plant-based Italian delicatessen. The Post and Courier reports it is run by Tracey Alexander and her adult daughters Brittany Guerra and Taylor Pitts, who came from Guilford, Connecticut, where the family runs Three Girls Vegan Creamery. Alexander and her mother went vegan after her mother's Stage 4 cancer diagnosis in 2011, and the family developed some 800 recipes; lasagna and meatballs are among them. Charleston City Paper reported the opening in February 2024.
A coffee house and breakfast-and-lunch cafe on Simmons Street with house-made pastries. Owner Brian Piesner also runs Coastal Crust, which bakes pizza out of restored antique trucks, and a second Vintage Coffee Cafe in Greenville.
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