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.
17 spots
Fauzia Garner and her brother Mirwais Haris opened this in summer 2025 because the Charleston area had nowhere cooking the food of their home country. The dining room has about a dozen tables and serves mantu, the meat-filled dumplings, and bolani, flatbread stuffed with spinach and potato, along with kebabs. The venue says every dish is prepared to halal standards. A market beside it sells clothing, goods and groceries.
Bert's motto is 'We May Doze, But We Never Close'. It is open 24 hours every day of the year and calls itself the only grocery store on Folly proper, serving the island for more than two decades. Inside are a deli called The Wooden Spoon, a grill, breakfast before 11, and a hot bar with 75 cent hot dogs. City Paper readers made it runner-up for Best Hot Dogs in 2026.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
Crosby's is the Folly Road seafood seller that City Paper readers voted Best Place to Buy Local Seafood in 2026.
CudaCo. is a seafood market with a small kitchen, founded by chef Shaun Brian and seafood distributor Chris John around turning overlooked fish into good eating. The site says they want to 'become a catalyst for change in the seafood industry'. Seating is limited indoors with a picnic area outside. In 2025 the owners added a crudo bar on Folly Road with crudos, ceviches and wine, per the Post and Courier.
El Molino is a Mexican grocery with a taco counter in the back, known for flour and corn tortillas made fresh in the store. Owners Jaime Tinoco and Pamela Sierra, who are from Guadalajara, opened the first one in West Ashley in 2020 and now have stores in North Charleston, Ladson and Hanahan plus La Taqueria by El Molino on Johns Island. It won Best Tacos and Best Burrito in the 2026 City Paper readers' poll and is the top answer in every r/Charleston taco thread.
A fish market and fry counter in an old gas station. Charleston City Paper's review (9 August 2006) placed it at the bend of Highway 17 in the community of Red Top, 'an adaptive reuse of a long-closed filling station' where the old covered pump structure announces the name. Seafood is hand-breaded to order behind a long counter and sold as take-out alongside fresh catch. The paper noted scripture around the room, a sign reading 'Eat less chicken and eat more seafood ... Trust Jesus', and that the house will not sell anything called a deviled crab ... it is the Jesus Crab here.
Owner Heather Greene opened Lillian's in the corner building that used to be Harold's Cabin, and City Paper calls it a comfortable follower for that much-loved room. It runs all day ... a coffee bar from 7:30am, weekday breakfast, a market selling flowers, prepared foods, wine and goods from local makers, then happy hour and dinner. Executive Chef Todd Garrigan works with local growers, fishermen and ranchers. Private parties use the Jackalope Dining Room, the Jackalope Bar or the upstairs terrace.
Mother and son Kiki and Hudson Luthringshausen opened Luther's Market in June 2026 after running a food trailer around the Lowcountry. Shoppers can watch Hudson roll fusilli and fettuccine while they pick up sauces, sandwiches, salads, local meats and pastries from Grit Bakery. The Post and Courier says private pasta-making classes for four to eight people are planned.
Malagón opened in 2019 as a neighborhood market and tapería from chef Juan Cassalett, his wife chef Jill Mathias, and Patrick and Fanny Panella, the same partners behind Chez Nous a block and a half away. The Post and Courier says it took over a former gourmet sandwich shop. Cassalett cooked at FIG and Xiao Bao Biscuit before this, per Charleston Wine + Food. The market side imports Spanish wine, canned seafood, cheese and charcuterie, and the wine and beer list is Spanish only. It earned One MICHELIN Star in the inaugural American South guide on 3 November 2025.
A fresh seafood market on the bank of Shem Creek, run by the fourth generation of the same family and, by its own account, one of the oldest businesses in the Lowcountry at more than 80 years. It sells local catch over the counter and caters. The Post and Courier reported a structure fire there in 2024 and the family picking up afterwards.
Odd Duck's third shop opened in July 2026 in a former bank branch near Hampton Park, where the old drive-thru is now a walk-up ordering window. Owners Jared Hellman and Andrew Hare started in Park Circle; the venue says the pair ran Bubba Slye's deli in the early 2000s. It sells craft lattes, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, take-and-bake meals, ice cream and house-baked pastries, with a mural by Cara Fischer inside.
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 corner store with a griddle, on a residential corner away from the restaurant streets. The shop says it opened in 1922 and has been an apothecary, a full grocery and now a corner store making crepes, hot-pressed sandwiches and all-day breakfast with craft beer and wine. The Post and Courier's alphabet guide says children once walked to the corner of Queen and Logan streets for candy after school and neighbors came by in the evening to watch the news over a cold beer. The paper says it is owned by local actor Rob Bouton and that Bill Murray comes in for his namesake crepe.
Sorelle opened in February 2023 in a renovated stuccoed brick building on Broad Street, backed by Ben Navarro's hospitality company, per The Post and Courier. Chef Nick Dugan cooks Southern Italian food with Lowcountry ingredients; Charleston City Paper also credits Adam Sobel. The building holds a mercato, a central bar, a wine room and a main dining room, with a third-floor private room designed by Meyer Davis Studios. The Post and Courier names the tajarin al ragù and the swordfish piccata. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
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.
A butcher shop that turns into a dining room once a week. On Friday evenings Ted's serves a featured menu or custom steak house dinners and gives 10 percent of the Friday dinner proceeds to a quarterly local charity partner, with reservations recommended for dine-in and take-out. The shop says Ted was among the Charleston Wine + Food Festival's 2026 Community Impact Award honorees, recognized at a luncheon on 27 January 2026, and that Real Simple consulted him for its July 2026 steak grilling article.
The Daniel Island Market & Eatery ... DIME for short ... opened in 2021 at the Daniel Island Waterfront. It runs from morning espresso and house pastries through sandwiches and wood-fired pizza, in a room with floor-to-ceiling windows and a patio.
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