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.
15 spots
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.
Félix is a cocktail bar and small plates room on Upper King, with a kitchen that stays open until midnight every day. City Paper readers named it Best Place for a Girls Night for 2026.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
The Hall family opened Halls Chophouse on King Street in 2009. It took eight wins in the 2026 City Paper readers' poll, including Best Restaurant, Best Steak, Best Wait Staff and Best Downtown Brunch. On r/Charleston it is the answer for an over the top Southern steakhouse, known more for service than anything, with some saying a newer rival now cooks a better steak.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Indaco is the Italian room from The Indigo Road, the Charleston-born group that also runs O-Ku, Oak Steakhouse and Shokudo. It serves dinner nightly with brunch on weekends and a bar-only happy hour on weekdays. The venue notes there is no valet and that the lot behind the building is monitored by a third party.
Leon's opened in early 2014 in a converted auto body shop on upper King Street, per The Post and Courier; the venue calls it a former garage. It comes from Brooks Reitz and Tim Mink, the team behind Melfi's and Little Jack's Tavern. The house list is fried chicken, oysters, salads, cheap beer, soft serve, rosé on tap, frozen gin and tonics and grower champagne. City Paper prints the full name as Leon's Fine Poultry & Oysters. It was named a Bib Gourmand in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South on 3 November 2025.
Little Jack's Tavern sits a few doors up King Street from Leon's. The venue cites Bon Appetit naming it among the Best New Restaurants in the South in 2017 and a Burger Bash win the same year. House rules are printed on the site: no substitutions, no checks, no smoking.
The Post and Courier's alphabet guide describes the approach better than the restaurant does: Maison is 'housed in an odd-looking blueish-purple building on King Street. Enter by walking through a quiet patio, guarded by a mural of the Eiffel Tour. Inside, a slim alleyway passes a bar on the left and booths to the right before the room opens up in the back.' Chef Vandy Vanderwarker runs the kitchen, and the paper ranks it alongside Chez Nous as the area's top French restaurants.
Melfi's calls itself a grown-up, clubby, classic Italian restaurant with fresh pasta, salads, larger plates and Roman-ish thin crust pizza. The room is small ... the venue says it cannot take high chairs or strollers and does not do takeout. Guests park free in marked spaces at 19 Race Street, across from the Greek Orthodox Church.
O-Ku is the sushi restaurant from The Indigo Road, the Charleston-born group, and King Street is where it began before spreading to other cities. Happy hour runs Monday to Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm. City Paper readers voted it Best Japanese in 2026.
Pink Bellies is a Vietnamese restaurant on Upper King whose tagline is Ngon Qua, which it translates as delicious. City Paper names the garlic noodles and spicy lamb dumplings. Readers voted it runner-up for Best Vietnamese in 2026.
Prohibition is a bar and restaurant on Upper King with music most nights: bands on Thursdays, DJs on Fridays and brunch sets at the weekend. It has a large heated patio and a private room for up to 150.
Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.
Chef partner Masatomo 'Masa' Hamaya, who grew up in Japan, leads this Japanese tavern from The Indigo Road, the Charleston group behind O-Ku, Oak Steakhouse and Indaco. It opened in October 2025 in the former Maya space. The kitchen grills meat, seafood and vegetables over charcoal robata style, alongside ramen, tempura, hand rolls and a Carolina Gold crab rice. A Japanese Beer Garden sits out back.
The Darling is an oyster bar on Upper King with a second room in Savannah. It publishes a separate brunch menu and will take its raw bar on the road for oyster roasts, Lowcountry boils and parties.
The Ordinary opened in 2012 as the seafood sister of FIG and describes itself as fancy seafood. City Paper calls it an upscale oyster hall with house-smoked oysters and local fish. From 4pm to 5pm oyster sliders are half price.
Tutti is the pizza shop from Femi Oyediran and Miles White, next door to their Graft Wine Shop. City Paper describes thin and thick crust pies poured with organic and biodynamic wines, plus a to-go window. Readers voted it runner-up for Best Gourmet Pizza in 2026.
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