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.
246 spots
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.
Acme describes itself as a no-frills beach grill with a full bar and deck serving Southern coastal cooking. City Paper readers voted it Best IOP Restaurant and Best IOP Brunch in 2026. A regular on r/Charleston says they always plug it for dinner and brunch that is not high-end.
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.
A Mexican cantina on Island Park Drive on Daniel Island with a house cocktail list. The site's own structured data files it under Charleston, 29492.
Allora is on Spring Street in Cannonborough-Elliotborough. Explore Charleston reported in spring 2026 that it had added a weekday happy hour from 4pm to 6pm with half-price cocktails and house wines and discounted Peroni.
Amen Street is a fish house and raw bar at East Bay and Cumberland streets. The venue says its seafood is sustainably sourced.
Angel Oak Restaurant serves Southern food on Savannah Highway out toward Johns Island. On r/Charleston it is the fancy pick in a fried chicken thread, with a second commenter calling it a sleeper. City Paper readers made it a finalist for Best Johns Island Brunch in 2026.
Anson has been serving dinner a few steps from the City Market for more than three decades, by its own account. Dinner only, seven nights a week.
A Mexican restaurant in the middle of the East Montague strip in Park Circle. The city's tourism office is the only public source found for it, and it gives no owner or story.
Weems Pennington taught himself to make ramen about five years ago, went to Japan in 2025 to study it, and opened this ramen bar on Reynolds Avenue in December 2025 with Sharon Brown as general manager. There are four bowls ... shoyu, shoyu lite, miso and a vegetable ramen on fennel and shiitake broth ... plus karaage three ways and korokke. Cocktails are named after albums. It serves food until 12:30am, walk-ins only, behind a bright green mural near King BBQ.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
Nikko Cagalanan and Paula Kramer opened Bareo on 13 February 2026 in the Spring Street room where their restaurant Kultura started. The Post and Courier describes Japanese-Filipino cooking built around hand-rolled dumplings and kakigori, the Japanese shaved ice, along with onigiri, noodle soup, bento boxes, sake and tea. It has a patio.
Explore Charleston describes the aim as seasonal, local produce cooked to be nourishing, with a wide range of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes and a staff trained to guide guests through allergens. There is a dedicated kids menu ... almond butter and jelly, veggie sticks, fruit bowls.
Basil is the work of brothers Henry and Chai Eang, who came to the United States from Cambodia in the turbulent 1970s without speaking English and built a group of Thai restaurants across the Carolinas, starting with the original in Charleston. This is the Park Circle room, sharing a building number with the wine bar Stems & Skins.
The Cantonese sister of Kwei Fei, from Tina and David Schuttenberg. Explore Charleston says more than half the dishes are vegetarian or vegan-friendly: scallion oil noodles and Shanghai-style shumai among the dim sum, and family-style General Tso's, sweet and sour and black pepper dishes all available with tofu.
Berkeley's is a sandwiches-and-suppers spot at Rutledge and Huger from Marc and Liz Hudacsko, who later opened The Archer on Meeting Street. City Paper says it feels like going over to a friend's home for dinner. Readers voted its cheesesteak the best in Charleston in 2026.
Far up Meeting Street, well past where visitors stop. City Paper's Charleston Classics list says to head up Meeting Street until you see a two-story robin's egg blue building with purple trim and a line out the door, then shuffle through the cafeteria-style counter for fried pork chops, limas with smoked turkey necks, dark roux okra soup, cornbread and fried chicken. The Post and Courier (14 January 2026) says Albertha Grant's legacy lives on here, that the kitchen is just over the North Charleston border in the Neck, and that the James Beard Foundation named it an America's Classic in 2017.
South Carolina mustard-sauce barbecue. Destination BBQ says brothers Thomas and Melvin Bessinger opened on Savannah Highway in the early 1960s, that Thomas kept this West Ashley restaurant, and that his sons Tommy and Michael run it today. Pork shoulders are smoked for hours over wood (the guide's summary table says hickory and oak) and served with the family's mustard-based sauces; hash over rice and oversized onion rings are the long-time orders. The venue's own site names its 'signature mustard sauce'. Shoulders, not whole hog.
Greg and Ellen Leonard's burger room near the coliseum and convention center. The tourism office says the buns are baked at Saffron Bakery, the beef is certified Angus, the ketchup is mixed by hand and the toppings are South Carolina produce. Fries and tots arrive in small fryer baskets.
Chef Bintou N'Daw cooks Senegalese and wider West African food on Line Street on the Eastside, and Resy's write-up ties the cooking to its Gullah connections. Dinner runs as a 50 dollar prix fixe of a small plate, a main and a drink or dessert, booked only through Resy. Guests may bring their own wine or beer and the venue waives the corkage fee.
Bistronomy by Nico is a low-lit French room on Spring Street with a long list of French wines. City Paper describes approachable French cooking with an Asian twist. It entered a burger in City Paper's 2026 Burger Throwdown.
The Post and Courier describes casual American food with a reliable beer list ... soft pretzels, fried chili-spiced shrimp, bacon cheeseburgers ... and patio seating. City Paper readers voted it Best James Island Happy Hour in 2026.
Bon Banh Mi sells banh mi, salads and wings under the line 'Simple. Bold. Fresh.' from a small shop on Spring Street, with two more shops in Mount Pleasant. City Paper readers voted it Best Vietnamese in 2026.
A family fish camp at the end of its own island road, founded in 1946. City Paper's Charleston Classics list says it grew from a grimy cinder block outpost into a place serving fried seafood, hushpuppies and cold local beer in an upstairs dining room, and tells readers to follow their nose downstairs to the all-you-can-eat oyster tables, where local oysters come by the shovelful. The paper also singles out the Frogmore stew. The restaurant's own site remembers the old room as an aging pile of cinder blocks and boards held up by layers of graffiti.
Boxcar Betty's calls itself a 'purveyor of gourmet fried chicken sandwiches', made with what it describes as the best chicken and locally sourced ingredients. City Paper readers voted it Best Chicken Fingers in 2026 and runner-up for Best Fried Chicken.
Brasserie la Banque is a French brasserie at the foot of Broad Street, at East Bay, from Charleston-born group The Indigo Road. Upstairs is an event floor called a l'etage that holds up to 90 people, and the group's Bar Vaute is in the same building.
Burwell's is a steakhouse at the East Bay end of the Market, named for the stone fire grills it cooks on. Dinner only, Wednesday through Sunday.
A Jamaican kitchen on Rivers Avenue serving jerk chicken, stewed chicken, oxtail and patties from family recipes, by the tourism office's account. It offers seating, takeout and catering. It sits a block from Maya del Sol Kitchen and The Starlight Motor Inn.
Charleston Crab House has been family-owned since 1991 and serves Lowcountry boils, crab legs and oysters. The James Island room looks over Wappoo Creek, which the site describes as 'sweeping views of Wappoo Creek and a relaxed, coastal vibe'. Its sister rooms are on Market Street and Shem Creek.
Charleston Crab House is a family-owned local seafood group that has served the Lowcountry since 1991. The Market Street room has a rooftop that looks over the City Market. Its other two rooms are on Shem Creek and on Wappoo Creek on James Island.
The Shem Creek room of Charleston Crab House, a family-owned local seafood group that dates itself to 1991 and also runs rooms on Market Street downtown and on Wappoo Creek on James Island. The group describes this one as a laid-back, no-fuss seafood spot right on the creek.
The restaurant of the Charleston Harbor Resort at Patriots Point. Every table looks across the harbor to the Charleston skyline, the USS Yorktown and the marina, and the Bridge Bar on the roof is the sunset perch. The kitchen is a member of the Good Catch program and says it sources locally and responsibly.
Owners Emely Yan and Yupeng Lin opened Chef Loong in 2024 in the West Ashley space that used to hold Old Li's. The Post and Courier calls it one of the very best Chinese restaurants in the area and names har gow, scallion pancakes, black truffle soup dumplings and dan dan noodles. In September 2026 the couple announced a second, larger room, Loong Yan, at 341 Johnnie Dodds Blvd in Mount Pleasant.
The address is a court, not a street: 6 Payne Court, a short dead-end in Elliotborough. Charleston Magazine's dining guide calls it petite and a cozy Elliotborough gem, with chef Jill Mathias cooking seasonal French-inspired food beside a serious wine list. The menu changes daily, and the magazine notes the only way to see it in advance is the restaurant's Instagram feed.
Chico Feo was founded in 2013 and calls itself a permanent fixture of Folly Beach that is always evolving. The site carries a surf report next to the menu and a calendar of music. City Paper readers voted it Best Folly Beach Restaurant, Best Folly Beach Bar and Best Folly Beach Happy Hour in 2026, and it is the first taco answer from the beach on r/Charleston.
This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.
Chef James London, a Charleston native, opened Chubby Fish in 2018 and still takes no reservations. The menu changes daily around what local fishermen and farmers bring in. The James Beard Foundation named it a 2026 semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant, its second straight year on that list, per Charleston City Paper, and City Paper readers voted London Best Restaurant Chef in Best of Charleston 2026. The Post and Courier points to caviar sliders and grilled oysters with crab fat curry, and to the adjacent bar, Seahorse. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
Church and Union serves inside a former church building on North Market Street. The kitchen is led by chef partners Jamie Lynch, a Top Chef alumnus, and Adam Hodgson, with Doug Watson as executive chef. Brunch runs Friday through Sunday. The same group has Church and Union rooms in Charlotte and Nashville.
Ciao Bella opened in June 2025. The Post and Courier describes a family-owned Southern Italian restaurant, a partnership between chef Gary Langevin and his children. Dinner only, closed Mondays.
Circa 1886 is in the original carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion, built in 1886. Executive Chef Marc Collins has led the kitchen since 2001 and the room offers two six-course tasting menus beside an a la carte list. Executive Pastry Chef Ashley Cardona was named Pastry Chef of the Year at Stars of the Industry 2025. The Garden Room seats 8 to 12 for private dinners. Owned by Charming Inns.
The James Island room of the family-owned wood-fired pizza group. The Post and Courier says each Coastal Crust has a spacious outdoor area for children.
Wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza from a family-owned group that began with a vintage mobile kitchen. The Post and Courier says the Mount Pleasant spot has fire pits, picnic tables and plenty of room for the whole family, and that every pizza is made from scratch.
An upstairs room at the beach with no ground-floor dining room to walk past. City Paper's Top 50 for summer 2026 says chef and owner Ken Vedrinski, formerly of the downtown restaurant Trattoria Lucca, built a second-story dining room with brick walls, reclaimed wood floors and, in what the paper calls a rarity for the Lowcountry, floor-to-ceiling windows on the Atlantic. Handmade pasta anchors the menu, including ricotta gnudi with mushrooms and guanciale.
A Coleman Boulevard gastropub with 16 rotating taps that calls itself a Mount Pleasant institution. It serves lunch, dinner and brunch six days a week. Its sister is Maybank Public House on James Island.
Costa is a coastal Italian restaurant on the ground floor of The Jasper at the west end of Broad Street. It is part of Easton Porter Group, which also owns Zero George. Dinner only, Tuesday through Sunday.
Coterie describes a lush courtyard and an intimate dining room on Warren Street in Radcliffeborough. Resy's write-up points to small plates with a Southern fusion bent and house cocktails. A lower-priced happy hour runs 5pm to 7pm.
Crust has been making Neapolitan-style pizza and pasta in the Terrace Plaza for more than ten years and calls itself 'a neighborhood cornerstone, a cozy and intimate retreat'. No reservations and no online ordering. Its motto is 'Happiness is Pizza'.
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.
CurrentBurger is a counter-serve burger window at The Cooper hotel that opened in August 2026. Its door and take-out window face Waterfront Park instead of the hotel lobby. The Post and Courier reports $10 smash burgers, with every single item under $15, and products from Lowcountry Creamery, Bittermilk and Counter Cheesemongers. Bill Welch, the hotel's culinary director, runs it.
D'Allesandro's opened on this St. Philip Street corner in 2006 and says it is family-run, with 10 percent off for active military every day. It has since added a second shop at Nexton in Summerville. City Paper readers voted it Best Traditional Pizza in 2026, in a tie.
Daps opened in 2018 on Ashley Avenue and calls itself a beloved neighborhood spot for breakfast, brunch and lunch. It also caters.
A corner take-out window of a room with a few tables. City Paper's Charleston Classics list dates it to 1997 and says a few tables let customers dine in but most people take their box to go ... pork chops, wings, ribs, lima beans and rice, and seafood platters. In June 2026 the paper priced a shrimp platter at $10, scallops at $16 and the full platter with shrimp, fish, scallops and deviled crab at $21.50, all with fries.
Delaney Oyster House is a raw bar and seafood restaurant in what the venue calls a quintessential historic Charleston home on Calhoun Street, with a second-floor porch. Elliot Cusher is executive chef. It belongs to The Neighborhood Dining Group, the owners of Husk.
The newest bar in a building with a long local memory. The Post and Courier reported in August 2026 that Dive In opened in June 2026 at 525 Meeting Street, a single-story building that was once home to the Black-owned Thunderguards Motorcycle Club and then to Palace Hotel, which closed in 2025 after less than two years at the address. Owners Fitz Gaines, Lamar Bonaparte and Tyler Wicker have been involved in Republic Garden & Lounge, Red Palm Tavern and Bourbon N' Bubbles downtown. Picnic tables sit on the patio in front.
An all-you-can-eat buffet in the Orangeburg tradition: chopped pork, hash and rice, fried chicken and vegetables. Destination BBQ traces the Dukes name to Earl Dukes, who opened in Orangeburg in the 1950s, and notes the Dukes restaurants around the state are independent, not a chain. The mustard sauce here is the reddish-orange kind people call 'rust gravy'. The same guide says wood-fired pit cooking is not the draw here.
Matt McIntosh and Ricky Hacker met in 2003 working at FIG in Charleston, left in 2005 and started EVO as a mobile wood-fired oven for catering. The East Montague Avenue restaurant opened in 2007, which makes it one of the rooms Park Circle's dining street grew up around. The venue says it sources locally and regionally. EVO Craft Bakery shares the address.
Early Bird is the West Ashley diner locals name for chicken and waffles. City Paper readers voted it Best West Ashley Brunch in 2026 and runner-up for Best Breakfast across the whole area. Older regulars on r/Charleston miss the years when it stayed open late on weekends.
Edison is owned and run by husband and wife Chef Joel and Chelsea Lucas, and the site says it is now in its tenth year on James Island. The menu is seasonal and changes. Dinner only, with a shaded patio the site calls secluded.
The brewery and taproom of the Edmund's Oast group. The Post and Courier calls the kids menu reliably good ... cheeseburgers and chicken fingers ... and describes a huge courtyard where children can run around, with easy parking. It also notes the area around the brewery is under renovation through late 2026 while the taproom stays open. Dogs are welcome outside only.
Edmund's Original is the restaurant formerly called Edmund's Oast, now run by The Indigo Road group as what it calls a modern tavern serving American tavern fare inspired by the Lowcountry. Its courtyard, The Bower, has covered and open seating, fire pits and garden tables. City Paper readers voted it Best Outdoor Patio in 2026.
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.
Eli's Table is a Charleston Hospitality Group restaurant on Meeting Street named after the owner's son, Eli. Weekend brunch is served in a courtyard.
Ellis Creek Fish Camp is a casual, camp-like seafood spot where you order at a window and sit inside at the bar or outside over the marsh and Ellis Creek. The site says 'Bring your best dog friend with you!' and there is a dog menu.
Estadio is a Spanish room on Spring Street that sums itself up as gin tonics, tapas, pintxos, vermouth, sherry and natural wine. It takes a few reservations and a lot of walk-ins. City Paper's Top 50 points to its sherry and gin lists.
Mike Lata and Adam Nemirow opened FIG in 2003 with a menu that changes daily, and it has run that way for more than two decades, per The Post and Courier. The venue describes itself as a neighborhood restaurant built on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. The same owners run The Ordinary. Lowland's chef Matthew Dion and Malagón's Juan Cassalett both cooked here earlier in their careers. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
Fam's is a James Island brewpub on Folly Road that makes both New York-style and Chicago-style pizza, plus wings and burgers. Its site says it has been open nine years. It was the Porter/Stout runner-up in City Paper's 2026 readers' poll.
Fin & Crab is the upstairs restaurant at the City Marina that was the Marina Variety Store, a breakfast spot started in the 1960s by 'Big Mike' Altine. Cindy and James Capps, who own Rusty Hooks Dockside Grill in Southport, North Carolina, bought it in November 2025 and reopened on 23 January 2026. Much of the staff stayed, including longtime cook Earl Felder, whose pancakes are still on the menu. Booths were swapped for tables to open the water views. Salty Mike's, the dive bar downstairs, reopened the same day.
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.
Five Loaves says it goes to great lengths to run a healthy, sustainable and more responsible menu. City Paper readers voted it Best Lunch Spot in 2026 and runner-up for Best Restaurant for Vegetarians. A r/Charleston commenter calls the Mount Pleasant room affordable and delicious; another misses the old downtown one on Coming Street.
Fleet Landing sits on the harbor beside Waterfront Park and bills itself as Charleston's best waterfront dining and raw bar. The venue says it has been open for two decades. It reports three Post and Courier Charleston's Choice wins ... Best Downtown Restaurant, Best Waterfront Restaurant and a tie for Best Seafood Restaurant. The largest party it can seat is 10.
Frannie & The Fox is the wood-fired Italian restaurant in the Emeline hotel on Church Street, a block from the Market. It has a courtyard and a greenhouse with open-air seating, and the menu is built around shared dishes. The Den, its lounge, runs to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
The venue calls itself the little Italian place on the corner and its cooking Jersey Italian comfort food, from recipes it says were passed down through generations. It says it is family owned and run. A second Fratello's is on Folly Road on James Island.
A West Ashley brewery with a full kitchen and its own arcade room. The venue's site says 'Family and Dog Friendly!', welcomes leashed dogs on the patio and points families to the arcade.
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.
Garage 75 is a James Island bar on Folly Road full of games: billiards, skeeball, Golden Tee, bowling, Mario Kart and dozens more. It was the Arcade Bar runner-up in City Paper's 2026 readers' poll.
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.
Chef Frank Kline owns and runs Grace & Grit, which he opened in August 2017. The kitchen works from local seafood and produce, and its calling card is the Grit Flight, a sampler of the house grits. Tables sit inside or under the oaks on a dog-friendly patio.
A Mount Pleasant restaurant whose menu is built, in its words, around the art of grazing ... plates meant for sharing as much as for a full dinner. It takes reservations on Resy and is closed on Sundays.
Grill 225 is the steakhouse of the Market Pavilion Hotel at East Bay and Market streets. The venue calls itself Charleston's first and only 100% USDA Prime steak house and says its beef is wet-aged 42 to 50 days. Gerry Elliot is executive chef. The hotel's rooftop Pavilion Bar is upstairs.
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.
Hannibal's Kitchen is a no-frills soul food room on the East Side. The Post and Courier dates it to 1985, and City Paper quotes owner L.J. Huger saying it has been feeding the soul of the city for more than 40 years. The signature plate is crab and shrimp rice; the Post and Courier also names fried whiting, okra soup and shrimp and grits. TV weatherman Al Roker ate there in September 2026 and posted about it.
The Daniel Island room of a Charleston-born smashburger and margarita bar that calls itself a neighborhood burger joint. The group lists three rooms: Charleston, Daniel Island and Isle of Palms.
Heavy's is a Charleston burger bar with three rooms: Morrison Drive downtown, Daniel Island (891 Island Park Drive) and Isle of Palms (1012 Ocean Boulevard). It won Best Burger in the 2026 City Paper readers' poll. On r/Charleston it is the first burger most people name, with a loud minority who call it overpriced.
High Cotton is a Lowcountry dining room on East Bay Street with live music in the bar, weekend brunch and private dining rooms. The bar opens at 4pm every day.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A small bistro on Middle Street that describes itself as casual fine dining with an eclectic American menu. It runs three formats: dinner, a Tuesday tapas night and Sunday brunch.
The Post and Courier calls it 'the mecca of family-friendly restaurants': covered outdoor seating, picnic tables, and beyond them a large area for children with a basketball net and full-size Jenga blocks, on a property that sits along Noisette Creek. The Walrus is the in-house raw bar. The venue lists four event spaces, live music on Fridays 5pm-8pm and team trivia on Wednesdays.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Founder Aaron Siegel came from fine dining, per Destination BBQ, and Home Team cooks a multi-regional menu instead of one barbecue tradition: smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, turkey. The frozen Gamechanger cocktail is the house drink. The venue lists a kids menu and a sauce list; wood species is not stated on the pages fetched. Charleston-born group, also in Columbia, Greenville and Aspen. The downtown room has a fenced gravel yard with chalkboards for children, a large bar and a big courtyard.
This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.
Founder Aaron Siegel came from fine dining, per Destination BBQ, and Home Team cooks a multi-regional menu instead of one barbecue tradition: smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, turkey. The frozen Gamechanger cocktail is the house drink. The venue lists a kids menu and a sauce list; wood species is not stated on the pages fetched. Charleston-born group, also in Columbia, Greenville and Aspen. The venue says the Sullivan's Island room is a block from the beach, with band posters and island artifacts on the walls, an open window bar, a covered porch, and regularly scheduled live music from local and touring artists.
This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.
Founder Aaron Siegel came from fine dining, per Destination BBQ, and Home Team cooks a multi-regional menu instead of one barbecue tradition: smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, turkey. The frozen Gamechanger cocktail is the house drink. The venue lists a kids menu and a sauce list; wood species is not stated on the pages fetched. Charleston-born group, also in Columbia, Greenville and Aspen. The Post and Courier says the Mount Pleasant room has a huge outdoor area with tables, TVs, a chalkboard and room for children to roam.
Founder Aaron Siegel came from fine dining, per Destination BBQ, and Home Team cooks a multi-regional menu instead of one barbecue tradition: smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, turkey. The frozen Gamechanger cocktail is the house drink. The venue lists a kids menu and a sauce list; wood species is not stated on the pages fetched. Charleston-born group, also in Columbia, Greenville and Aspen. The venue describes West Ashley as rustic, with tin paneling and gas lanterns in the spirit of old honky-tonks, two outside porches, Monday team trivia, and says it is home to University of Georgia alumni on game days.
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.
Husk has been cooking Southern food from local purveyors since 2011, and the Charleston room on Queen Street is the original; Nashville and Savannah came later. Sean Brock was the founding chef and is no longer involved, as The Post and Courier notes. Charleston City Paper lists Ray England as chef in its Summer 2026 Top 50. The Bar and Patio sits next door in a nineteenth-century kitchen house and pours a deep list of bourbon and Southern spirits, first come, first served. The Post and Courier ties the kitchen to biscuits, country ham and Carolina Gold rice. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
Hyman's is a walk-in-only seafood house on Meeting Street that signs itself 'A Hyman Establishment Since 1890', the year the family started trading on this block. It takes no reservations and stays open until 9pm or until business slows.
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.
Iron Rose is the bar and restaurant of the Mills House hotel at Meeting and Queen streets. Explore Charleston reported in spring 2026 that Suzy Castelloe had been appointed executive chef, with a focus on seasonal Southern coastal cooking.
A marina restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway. The venue calls itself family-friendly, with direct access by boat, weekly live music and sunsets. Explore Charleston lists yard games, kid-friendly trivia nights and a full kids menu; the Post and Courier mentions corn hole on the spacious patio and says to start with hushpuppies.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A small Folly Beach room with a courtyard out back that the street does not show. The saloon quotes Charleston Magazine on its own site: 'a haven for vegetarians, vegans and omnivores alike, with sidewalk booths and a sunny back courtyard'. City Paper's Top 50 for summer 2026 says co-owner and chef Lesley Carroll rotates the menu with the seasons, with dishes such as red curry mac and cheese and Tom Kha Gai gnocchi. The Post and Courier's food editor calls it his Folly Beach favorite.
Shuai and Corrie Wang turned their Short Grain food truck into this room, which the venue calls heritage driven new Chinese American. It started at 4628 Spruill Avenue and moved to East Montague Avenue ... the old space became Katsubo in May 2025. Charleston City Paper readers voted it Best North Charleston Restaurant and Best Chinese in Best of Charleston 2026, and the paper's Top 50 singles out the pork and cabbage dumplings and the karaage. Its sister restaurant is King BBQ on Carver Avenue.
Joey Sakran moved from upstate New York in 2008, spent nearly two decades at Boeing, and retired to open the pizzeria he had wanted, with his daughter Rebecca, in December 2025. It sells New York slices and 14 to 18 inch pies, garlic knots, fried ravioli and meatballs from a family recipe. His brother Jason Sakran co-owns Bon Banh Mi and served on Charleston City Council. It is in the Shoppes at Montague Corners.
Joe Nierstedt and Abby Leibowitz opened Katsubo in May 2025 in the room Jackrabbit Filly left behind. Nierstedt ran the fried chicken restaurant KinFolk on Johns Island from 2019 to 2023 and cooked at Mu Ramen in New York. The chicken is fried twice in Japanese potato starch, and the menu runs to ramen, gyoza, shishito peppers and okonomiyaki in a room of wooden booths and anime decor.
The venue calls it 'Chinatown BBQ made with Southern Smoke': Chinese roasted and chopped meats given what it calls a gentle smoke. Owners Shuai and Corrie Wang also run Jackrabbit Filly; the venue says a fire closed King four months after it opened and that Shuai was then cast on Top Chef season 22. Wang means King in Chinese, which is where the name comes from. The venue lists Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants 2024. Counter service, first come first served. It says it has no high chairs but a few booster seats. Wood species not stated; not whole hog.
Koko's is the tiki kitchen and bar at the foot of the Folly Beach Fishing Pier. It calls its food 'Follynesian' ... Folly's island mood with the flavors of Polynesia ... and books live music and Music Bingo. The careers page ties it to Avocet Hospitality.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Chef Nikko Cagalanan and co-owner Paula Kramer ran Kultura at 73 Spring Street for two years, then moved it in the fall of 2025 to 267 Rutledge Avenue, the former home of Chasing Sage. The Post and Courier calls Cagalanan a James Beard Award finalist and lists snapper curry, arroz caldo, lumpia and ribs with banana ketchup. City Paper calls the cooking an homage to a Filipino grandmother's kitchen tied to the Lowcountry. Readers voted Cagalanan runner-up for Best Restaurant Chef in 2026.
A Sichuan kitchen attached to a music hall. City Paper's Top 50 for summer 2026 says it is set next door to the Charleston Pour House in the space once occupied by The Lot, and that nothing about it is subtle, from the food to the music to the chef. The menu is sorted into blocks labeled 'Loud', 'Hot' and 'Vibes', and the paper recommends starting with the crescent dumplings.
Tae Woo Lee and Peter Marcus opened Kyn in September 2026 in a brick building on Cannon Street that the Post and Courier says once housed a YMCA established in 1866. The menu is hand rolls, sashimi, crudos and small plates, and Lee's Korean heritage shows in the chojang sauce and in herbs grown outside the restaurant. The owners call it the most untraditional sushi restaurant you are going to find.
Chef and owner Patrick Owens opened Langdon's in 2003, and it has stayed a dinner-only fine dining room in the Shelmore Village shops since. The site describes classic fine dining that fuses Lowcountry cooking with wider influences. It sits under Owens Dining Group, which also runs Opal in Mount Pleasant.
A seafood restaurant on Ocean Boulevard at Front Beach, sharing a street number with Coda del Pesce upstairs. The Isle of Palms Chamber of Commerce held its 24 March 2026 meeting of island restaurant owners here.
Le Farfalle is Chef Michael Toscano's Italian restaurant on Beaufain Street, a block off King. The venue describes a modern approach to authentic Italian cooking. The patio and bar stools are kept for walk-ins. Dinner only.
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.
Pitmaster John Lewis serves Central Texas barbecue here, sliced to order at the counter from smokers he designed and welded himself, as the venue tells it. The Post and Courier says the Charleston original opened about a decade ago and has since spawned rooms in Greenville and Atlanta. It is known for smoked brisket, beef sausage and corn pudding with Hatch green chiles, and it has a large bar and a backyard patio. This is Texas-style beef barbecue, not a South Carolina sauce tradition. It was named a Bib Gourmand on 3 November 2025.
Leyla is a Lebanese restaurant on Middle King Street built around shared plates. It is closed Monday and Tuesday and serves lunch only on Friday and Saturday.
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.
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.
LoLA stands for Low Country Louisiana Seafood Kitchen and says it was established in 2016. It serves Louisiana Cajun and Lowcountry cooking in Park Circle with a colorful patio where pets are welcome. City Paper readers voted it Best Soul Food in 2026, ahead of Bertha's Kitchen and Hannibal's Kitchen.
Locals is a sushi restaurant that is also a sports pub, with nigiri and rolls beside tacos, hibachi and wings, and a sushi rolling class on the third Thursday of each month. The Post and Courier notes a patio and a second-floor loft at the Folly Road room. City Paper readers made it runner-up for Best Sushi in 2026.
A Filipino food truck that also keeps a fixed takeout window at Mixson Kitchen, just off Park Circle. Lumpia, the Filipino spring roll, is the center of the menu, and there is a pulled pork adobo sandwich. The truck's stops change; the Mixson counter keeps set hours.
A neighborhood seafood restaurant in a small shopping strip on Palm Boulevard. It says it is known for fried seafood platters, fresh oysters and Seafood Steamer Buckets packed for the beach. Lunch runs Monday to Saturday, brunch on Sunday, and a raw bar it calls IOP Raw opens at 4:30.
Lost Dog is a breakfast and lunch cafe a block off Center Street that calls itself 'a long time Folly Favorite'. It opens at 6:30 in the morning and closes mid afternoon. City Paper readers voted it Best Folly Beach Brunch in 2026.
Lost Isle calls itself Charleston's first fire to table restaurant and bar ... the cooking is done over live fire and the food leans Lowcountry. It is walk-in only and takes no reservations. City Paper readers made it runner-up for Best Johns Island Restaurant in 2026 and the paper's Spring 2026 Top 50 notes a seasonally focused menu.
Dave and Chrissy Lorenz of Epic Hospitality, who also own Islander 71 and Mex 1 Coastal Cantina, opened Lou Lou's Tavern on the Tracks in May 2026 at The Refinery, in the space where Cleats used to be. The Post and Courier describes approachable small plates such as Aleppo pepper wings, harissa-glazed shrimp and Spanish croquettes, with a patio that looks onto the amphitheater. Weekends bring brunch.
Lowland is the restaurant of The Pinch hotel, run by Method Co., and it spreads through an 1834 house: a tavern with a copper bar and a wood-burning fireplace, a small parlour room, and an upstairs dining room with hand-painted murals. James Beard winner Jason Stanhope opened it and left after about 17 months for Sullivan's Island, per The Post and Courier. Executive chef Matthew Dion, a New Englander who cooked at FIG and The Ordinary, runs it now. Across the alley, The Quinte is a nineteenth-century room used for large parties. The Post and Courier points to the biscuits, crudos and the tavern burger. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
Justin and Iryna Moore's restaurant sits in an old Navy building beside Riverfront Park on the former base, looking over the Cooper River. The tourism office describes the house as a historic Panama-style home from the naval base years and says the kitchen buys from local fishermen and farmers. The patio has heaters and a fire pit facing the water.
Ma'am Saab is a Pakistani restaurant owned by Maryam Ghaznavi and Raheel Gauba, at the Meeting Street corner that long held Jestine's Kitchen. The venue says its founder is from Karachi. Charleston City Paper readers have voted it Best Indian/Pakistani in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and it took part in Charleston Wine + Food in 2026. The menu marks gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Magnolias reopened a damaged East Bay Street building in July 1990 after the Parsell family bought it in December 1989. The venue says the site appears on a 1739 map as Charleston's original Customs House and that the building was hurt in the 1887 earthquake. Kelly Franz is the culinary director. The upper-level gallery holds two private dining rooms.
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.
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.
Chef Maryam Ghaznavi and her husband Raheel Gauba, co-owner and creative director, call Malika the first Pakistani restaurant in South Carolina. Maryam was born in Pakistan and grew up as her family's 'chief taste tester'; the couple met in Canada and later moved to the Lowcountry. They started with a pop-up at The Daily in 2019 and opened Ma'am Saab at Workshop in 2020 before Malika. The menu is Pakistani street food: biryanis, karahis, saags and kababs.
West Tennessee-style whole hog. The venue says the hog is smoked over local hickory for more than 20 hours, starting at 5am each day, alongside spare ribs, smoked wings and scratch-made sides and pies. Discover South Carolina lists the sauces as Sweet Dixie (tomato), Alabama white, Jack's Creek (sweet and spicy vinegar) and Devil's Nectar. Live music on Fridays from 5pm to 8pm.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Chef Raul Sanchez has cooked around Charleston for more than 15 years, including at R. Kitchen. In February 2026 he moved Maya del Sol from Reynolds Avenue near the old naval base to a space behind The Starlight Motor Inn on Rivers Avenue, with a handful of tables and a long chef's counter facing an open kitchen. Lunch is tacos, burritos and daily specials ... at night there are two seatings of a five-course menu built on family recipes, with occasional Indian and Chinese dinners. Charleston City Paper keeps it in its Top 50.
Maybank Public House is a restaurant and tap room with burgers, ribs, tuna and mac and cheese. It asks parties of five or more to reserve.
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.
Melvin's is the Bessinger family's barbecue house, and its style is the mustard sauce tradition. The family story on the site starts with Joseph 'Big Joe' Bessinger, who cooked pork in a pit dug in the ground near Orangeburg and opened the Holly Hill Cafe in 1939; his son Melvin learned the Golden Secret sauce at ten. The site says pulled pork shoulders are basted in that mustard sauce, and its shirts read 'All-Wood'. It lists Southern Living's Top 50 BBQ in the South for 2025. A second Melvin's is on Folly Road on James Island.
Melvin's calls itself South Carolina's original family of mustard based BBQ. It is a Bessinger family business, and locals on r/Charleston say it has the best gold sauce in the area. They also send people there for the burger, which won as many votes as the barbecue in this year's threads. A second room is at 925 Houston Northcutt Blvd in Mount Pleasant.
Merci calls itself the little bistro on the corner of Pitt and Montagu, deep in residential Harleston Village. It serves dinner four nights a week. Next door at 17 Montagu, Petit Merci opens by booking only.
The Sullivan's Island room of Mex 1 Coastal Cantina, a Charleston-born taqueria and margarita bar. The Post and Courier reported in April 2026 that Mex 1's owners were opening a music-driven tavern at The Refinery in Charleston. Mex 1 is on the bill for the Island Club's Taste of Sullivan's Island on 17 October 2026.
Millers All Day serves breakfast, lunch and brunch on Lower King Street, with a second room on James Island. Charleston City Paper readers named it Best Breakfast and Best Weekend Brunch in Best of Charleston 2026.
This is the second room of Millers All Day, the breakfast and brunch restaurant that started at 120 King Street downtown. City Paper readers voted Millers Best Breakfast, Best Weekend Brunch and Best James Island Brunch in 2026.
Minero makes its corn and flour tortillas in house every day. It is part of the Neighborhood Dining Group and its site quotes Eater Carolinas listing it among the hottest new restaurants in Charleston in August 2022. The building was previously Fat Hen.
A Hampton Park neighborhood bar north of the Crosstown, away from the visitor streets. City Paper named it the 2026 Best of Charleston winner for Best Meal Value, and its Fig Lebowski burger ... whipped feta, bourbon onion fig jam and crispy prosciutto ... won the most creative category in the paper's 2026 Burger Throwdown. Owner Mike Tronoski told the paper the kitchen runs a different burger special every day.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
City Paper readers voted Mondo's the Best James Island Restaurant in 2026 and made it runner-up for Best Italian in the whole city, behind Wild Olive.
Chef Andy Clay's breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant on Daniel Island. The site says Clay 'brings more than 25 years of global cooking back to Daniel Island'. It opens for Friday happy hour and for what it calls pre-concert dinner and drinks.
Muse is a restaurant and wine bar in a house on Society Street in Ansonborough, open Monday through Saturday.
A family-owned soul food room on Dorchester Road. The city's tourism office says the family moved here after closing their downtown Charleston restaurant because of rising rent, and that the kitchen cooks soul food and Gullah dishes ... okra soup, seafood platters, bread pudding. The venue lists fried shrimp, catfish dinners, ribs with red rice and mac and cheese. The Local Palate called it a meat-and-three stop on a Black Food Fridays tour in 2022.
Chef Nico Romo's oyster and seafood room beside Shem Creek, the first of the Nico Romo Hospitality Group rooms that now include Bistronomy by Nico and Laura's. The week runs on rituals: half-price oysters on Monday, an oyster class on Wednesday, Wine & Brine on Saturday afternoon. Its press page lists Charleston City Paper's Best Mount Pleasant Restaurant for 2023 and 2024.
Nirlep reopened on 15 September 2026 after closing at the end of 2023 for a full rebuild that owner Balvinder Banga expected to take seven months. The Post and Courier says the menu and the lunch buffet are unchanged. A week before it reopened, a r/Charleston thread about Indian food was full of people waiting for it.
No Bull opened in West Ashley in 2023 as a reworking of the Tex-Mex restaurant 3 Matadors, closed there without warning, and reopened in early 2026 in the former Southern Roots Smokehouse on East Montague. Owner Travis Glen runs it under the Lucky 17 Restaurant Group. The pitch is freshly ground burgers, hand-cut fries and hand-breaded chicken, with half-price burgers on Wednesdays and two-for-one on Tuesdays when The Post and Courier wrote it up.
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.
OK Donna opened on 20 December 2025 from Joey Goetz, Megan Hill and Hank Weed, the team behind Bar George and Last Saint, with chefs Mason Morton and James Ostop. It calls itself a neighborhood restaurant. Pastas are made in house, the pizza is Sicilian style, and the lasagna layers egg yolk pasta with red sauce, ricotta, bechamel and mozzarella. There are about 80 seats indoors and out.
Oak Steakhouse fills three floors of an 1848 bank building on Broad Street. The venue lists arched windows, 20-foot ceilings, original ironwork, working fireplaces and 150-year-old heart pine floors. This is the original Oak, from Charleston-born group The Indigo Road, which has since opened Oak rooms in other cities.
Old Li's is the Chinese restaurant by the Tanger outlets that r/Charleston keeps recommending for family-style Sichuan dishes. A thread in August 2026 exists only to praise it, with regulars naming fuqi feipian, hong shao rou and spicy wontons. The Post and Courier notes it used to be in the West Ashley space that is now Chef Loong.
A family owned and run Southern restaurant on Coleman Boulevard serving breakfast, lunch, supper and weekend brunch, walk-ins only. Its signature is Ashleigh's Shrimp & Grits, which the restaurant says has been voted Best Shrimp & Grits ten years running. The family has since opened a second restaurant in Summerville's Nexton and runs a food truck in Moncks Corner.
Wood-cooked whole hog is the center of the menu. Pitmaster Hector Garate was born in Puerto Rico and the venue says he specializes in beef cheeks, brisket, whole hog and house-made sausage, cooks on an offset smoker he built himself, and uses only local meats (it names Brasstown Beef, Creekstone Farms and Peculiar Pig Farms). The name honors his grandmother, who grew up on a cattle ranch. Destination BBQ adds that the hog is seasoned with Puerto Rican influences, that the South Carolina-style hash and rice is made from smoked hog heads, and that Palmira began as a pop-up. Wood species and sauce tradition are not stated on the pages fetched.
Park & Grove is the neighborhood restaurant at Rutledge and Grove on the edge of Hampton Park. Guests can use a free lot across the street, and the venue takes parties of 9 to 12 by phone and larger groups by inquiry.
Pearlz is a raw bar serving Lowcountry and Gulf oysters, specialty oysters and seasonal shellfish, with local seafood and Lowcountry recipes on the rest of the menu. The Avondale room is the second of two in Charleston, after East Bay Street. City Paper readers voted Pearlz Best Happy Hour in 2026 and runner-up for Best Raw Bar.
A Vietnamese noodle room in a shopping center at the top end of Rivers Avenue. Its own site lists gluten-free options and a split day, closing between lunch and dinner. Nothing about the owners is published on the site.
Dat and Phuong Nguyen both left Vietnam, met in Belgium at a Vietnamese New Year celebration in 1986, and came to the United States in 2007. Dat worked at H&L Asian Market and opened Pho #1 inside it before the couple moved into their own room on Rivers Avenue in 2012, in the former Raul's Taqueria. When The Post and Courier profiled them in 2022 the menu ran to 79 dishes, all under $13 ... pho, banh xeo, egg rolls and bun.
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.
Planet Follywood says: 'Since 2004 we're a family owned island staple for good times, great food and southern hospitality.' Breakfast is served Friday to Sunday mornings, burgers and daily specials after that, with late night snacks and live music until 2am.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
A burger tavern on Middle Street carrying the name of Edgar Allan Poe. It is one of the island restaurants pouring and plating at the Island Club's Taste of Sullivan's Island fundraiser on 17 October 2026.
Poogan's Porch has served Southern cooking in a restored Victorian house on Queen Street since 1976. The venue says it is named after Poogan, a neighborhood dog who stayed on the porch. Its own site leads with shrimp and grits, fried chicken and biscuits, and brunch is served every day. The venue says the house has resident spirits. It is run by Poogan's Hospitality, a Charleston group that also has Poogan's Smokehouse on East Bay Street.
The barbecue sister of Poogan's Porch, the Queen Street restaurant that opened in 1976 and is named for a stray dog who greeted guests. The Smokehouse opened on East Bay Street in 2015; the venue says it 'traded the haunted history for some smoke' and built the menu around slow-smoked barbecue, Southern sides and ribs. In 2026 the group opened a second Smokehouse at Nexton Square in Summerville. Style, wood and sauce tradition are not stated on the pages fetched.
A restaurant and small inn in Mount Pleasant's Old Village that calls itself a coastal tavern. The building at 101 Pitt Street went up in 1896 and was for 16 years the Old Village Post House, which closed in February 2019. Kate and Ben Towill of Basic Projects redesigned it and reopened it as Post House in August 2020, moving the dining room to the back and turning the bar to face Pitt Street. Indigo Road Hospitality Group, the Charleston-born group, bought the restaurant in March 2025. City Paper's Summer 2026 Top 50 points to the raw bar, fresh pastas, a local seafood massaman curry and Anson Mills cornbread.
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.
R Kitchen calls itself 'a kitchen, not a restaurant'. Guests sit in the room with the cooks for a five-course menu that changes every day and is never posted in advance, at $70 a person. The West Ashley room is the second, after 212 Rutledge Avenue downtown, and on Sundays it hosts a pop-up brunch called Reckless Breakfast with Chef Chris Seeley.
John Lewis's West Texas and El Paso inspired room, a short walk from Edmund's Oast Brewing Co. Explore Charleston points to the 'Los Ninos' menu of corn dogs and cheese quesadillas, strawberry limonada for children, and an astroturf lawn right outside for them to play on.
Rebel Taqueria describes itself as tacos, tequila and cold beer on Reynolds Avenue in North Charleston. A regular on r/Charleston plugs two dollar street tacos on Tuesdays and an all you can eat taco brunch on Sundays. City Paper readers voted it runner-up for Best Tacos and Best Margarita in 2026.
A dockside beer-and-seafood spot on Shem Creek that calls itself 'a friendly spot to enjoy a cold beer & fresh seafood in a laid back setting', with views of the creek's wildlife and the sunset. It lists Best of Charleston wins going back to 2004, including Best Waterfront Bar and Best Outdoor Patio.
Renzo is a wood-fired pizza and natural wine room in a former storefront on Huger Street. City Paper calls it a hip neighborhood trattoria that knows how to use its oven.
A Daniel Island Italian restaurant modeled, in its own words, on 'the world's great Italian family restaurants known for simple, authentic dishes in intimate contemporary settings'. The owners say they live and work on the island. Open seven nights with a weekday happy hour.
Rita's sits at the foot of Center Street, steps from the Folly Beach Pier, and its site calls it a family-owned restaurant of the Hall family. The site lists scratch-made American food, house-smoked barbecue and seafood, a patio, live music, and a separate puppy menu for dogs. Breakfast runs on weekdays and brunch on weekends.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
The newest room in the sector, open by late September 2026 on the roof of Storehouse Nine at Navy Yard Charleston, the redevelopment of the naval base that closed in 1996. It belongs to Charleston's Indigo Road Hospitality Group, the people behind Oak Steakhouse, Indaco and O-Ku. Executive chef Sean McMullen came from Luminosa in Asheville and cooks coastal Italian ... crudo, head-on shrimp, handmade pasta, whole fish, pizza ... with the Cooper River in view.
Sujith Varghese, who also owns Spice Palette in Mount Pleasant, opened Rivayat on 18 September 2025 in the 60-seat room that earlier held Makan and Goulette. The venue says its three chefs, Vinayak, Vikas and Midhun, were all born and raised in Kerala on India's coast. The Post and Courier describes oysters with tandoori-spiced butter and lobster in coconut sauce beside butter chicken and lamb vindaloo.
A lunch-only barbecue counter that calls itself the home of the Super Pig and also claims the best cheeseburgers in town. The tourism office describes it as family owned, serving barbecue, hash, potato salad and onion rings. It is open five days a week and closes at three.
Rudy Royale sums itself up as chicken, cocktails, a live-fire grill and fun, in a corner building at East Bay and Cumberland streets.
A Southern take on Southwestern cooking, with a wood fire in the kitchen, fresh-juiced margaritas and a long tequila list. The bar is built from a reclaimed cotton mill. Sunday brunch comes with endless mimosas. It is a small local group with other Charleston-area rooms.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A seafood and barbecue house on the Shem Creek docks, opened in 2017 by Wade Boals, Brett Yearout and Joel Olindo. Wade is the son of Ronnie Boals, who opened R.B.'s Seafood Restaurant next door in 1985 and was one of the people who turned the creek into a place to eat; the menu still carries the Boals Family Crab Dip and a coconut cake. The restaurant closed from 5 to 12 January 2026 for its first major renovation, with a food window called The Wagon serving at the Mill Street entrance in the meantime. It has a Gazebo Bar and prints a dog treat menu.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Santi's is the Mexican restaurant up Meeting Street Road on the Neck, with a second room at 1471 Ben Sawyer Blvd in Mount Pleasant. City Paper readers voted it Best Mexican Restaurant and Best Margarita in 2026. On r/Charleston it is called the local favorite, though not everyone agrees it is the best.
City Paper readers voted Santi's Best Mexican Restaurant and Best Margarita in 2026. The West Ashley room is one of three, with Meeting Street and Mount Pleasant.
The bar next door to the hardest table in town. The Post and Courier's 2026 itinerary (14 January 2026) says to pop by Chubby Fish's next-door bar, Seahorse, for some of the top cocktails in Charleston. The bar describes itself as a small cocktail bar and supper club with great cocktails, excellent wine and a small, ever-changing food menu, and it does not take reservations.
A local build-your-own burger room that has been cooking to order for more than a decade, with a second Sesame in Mount Pleasant. Charleston City Paper's October 2026 burger feature gave its Southwest Black Bean Burger first place for best faux burger and named the Napa Valley, with bacon fig jam, blue cheese and a red wine reduction, as a runner-up. There is a burger named the Park Circle. Tuesday is $8 burger night.
Shiki is a sushi room on East Bay Street that Charleston City Paper describes as family-owned since 2001, with James Park behind the sushi. City Paper readers voted it Best Sushi in 2026 and the paper keeps it in its Top 50.
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.
Slightly North of Broad, known locally as S.N.O.B., calls itself an eclectic Lowcountry bistro and says it has been farm-to-table for over 30 years. It sits on East Bay Street across from High Cotton, a sister restaurant under the same local group.
Smash City runs a dine-in shop on Cooper Street on the Eastside and still sends out the food truck it started with, posting the truck's schedule on its site. In City Paper's 2026 Burger Throwdown it won five of eight categories, including Best Place to Get a Burger and Best Smash Burger. Readers also voted it Best Savory Food Truck and Best Takeout in 2026.
A Front Beach restaurant and rum bar on Ocean Boulevard that pitches itself as a family friendly spot with patio views, craft cocktails and local beers. Moultrie News named Benj Farmery as owner or co-owner of Smugglers, IOPizza and Papi's Taqueria in March 2026, when he told the island's chamber that winter cash calls were heavy and argued against restaurants shutting for the season.
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.
Southbound cooks over a wood fire on Cannon Street and is part of Free Reign Restaurants. City Paper describes a menu that changes daily around the grill, naming steak tartare and octopus.
Southern Roots says it works with local meats, produce and beers. It has live music, outdoor seating, a private room called The Edisto Room, and a locals night every Wednesday with half-priced prime brisket smash burgers.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
A dinner-only bistro on Ben Sawyer Boulevard, on the road out to Sullivan's Island, that describes itself as a New American Southern bistro. The menu on the site runs from tuna nachos and a scallop salad to grilled fish.
Stella's is named for Stella Dikos, born in occupied Greece in 1942, who learned to cook from friends and family as a teenager and came to the United States after marrying Stavros Dikos. The Charleston room opened in 2017 as the second Stella's. City Paper readers voted it Best Greek in 2026 and its Top 50 notes grilled octopus, spanakopita and braised lamb.
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.
The room traces back to a casual neighborhood restaurant that first opened on this spot in 1988. It now runs as a modern fish camp led by chef and partner Jason Stanhope, whom the site calls a James Beard award-winning chef. He buys from Abundant Seafood, Kindlewood Farms, Tarvin Seafood and Lowcountry Shellfish. A side patio can be bought out for up to 24.
Sunrise Bistro is a breakfast and lunch restaurant on Main Road that City Paper readers voted Best Johns Island Brunch in 2026.
A Shem Creek bar and restaurant pairing Lowcountry classics with sushi, with weekly live music on the water. It stands where Ronnie Boals opened R.B.'s Seafood Restaurant in 1985, according to the history page of Saltwater Cowboys next door. The contact address points to Bottlecap Group. Mount Pleasant Magazine still lists it under its earlier name, Sunsets Waterfront Dining.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Chefs Kazu Murakami and Chris Schoedler run Sushi-Wa as an omakase counter serving Edomae-style sushi. Parties are capped at four guests and a 75 dollar per guest fee applies to cancellations inside 24 hours. Beer and sake are sold, and wine may be brought for a 35 dollar corkage, two bottles at most.
The Mount Pleasant room of Anthony DiBernardo's all-wood barbecue group. The venue says it smokes over hickory, oak and other hardwoods; the menu's five sauces are sweet red, vinegar, Carolina mustard, Alabama white and jalapeno.
The original Swig & Swine. Pitmaster and owner Anthony DiBernardo came to the Lowcountry with the US Navy, cooked on the submarine USS Batfish, opened Swig & Swine in 2013 and became sole owner in 2019. The venue says it smokes over 'high-quality hickory, oak, and other hardwoods'. Its menu lists five sauces ... sweet red, vinegar, Carolina mustard, Alabama white and jalapeno ... plus hash and rice. Discover South Carolina says DiBernardo smokes whole hogs for up to 16 hours; Destination BBQ describes whole hog on Thursdays.
A Charleston-born taqueria group that also has rooms in Folly Beach, Summerville and Asheville. Explore Charleston points to the 100 percent vegan scratch-made guacamole, vegan black beans, build-your-own nachos, burritos and rice bowls, and the crispy avocado taco. The downtown room has a large back patio and a kids menu.
Taco Boy began on Center Street and in 2020 traded buildings with its sister bar, moving into a three-story space on East Ashley Avenue with beach views from the top floor, a tequila and mezcal room called the Jaguar Bar and a Sunset Room, per Holy City Sinner. Karalee Fallert is the founder. Explore Charleston lists it as a taqueria and cantina with tacos, nachos, margaritas and tequila flights.
Tattooed Moose is known for Mike's Famous Duck Club, which the site says was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and for duck fat fries. City Paper readers voted it Best Fries in 2026. The kitchen runs late ... to midnight most nights and 1am on Friday and Saturday ... and the bar stays open to 2am.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
A Shem Creek restaurant with an indoor bar and a waterfront dock bar, owned by Andy Palmer and Jeff Condon; the site credits Dianne and Cecil Crowley as co-founders and Denis Crutchfield as executive chef. Live music plays on the creek Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9 pm, and the T&T Room seats up to 32 for private dinners.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
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.
Marc and Liz Hudacsko opened The Archer in August 2024 as what City Paper calls the more grown-up sister to their Rutledge Avenue spot Berkeley's. It is a restaurant and cocktail bar with free parking on site and a daily happy hour. The kitchen serves until 11pm and the bar until midnight.
A seafood house at the foot of the Breach Inlet bridge, family-owned since 1997. The restaurant says it pioneered a focus on fresh local seafood when it opened, and the daily fish comes grilled, broiled, blackened or roasted. Upstairs is a rooftop bar; the screened Waterfront Deck looks over the inlet, the marsh and the sunset. Sundays are seafood boils.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
The Crab Shacks say they have been locally owned and run for more than 30 years. The Folly room has a raw bar that stays open an hour later than the kitchen and a patio with a dog-friendly area. Its West Ashley sister on Ashley River Road closed for good at the end of 2024.
The Crossing is the second-floor dining room of The Cooper, the new hotel beside Waterfront Park that opened its restaurants in 2026. Executive Chef Nick Dugan cooks what the hotel calls coastal Mediterranean cuisine with a Lowcountry twist, with harbor views and interiors by Meyer Davis. It serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.
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 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.
The Establishment opened in May 2018 in the James Gregorie House, built around 1791 and named for the Scottish merchant who lived there. Executive chef Elliott Howells has been in the kitchen since opening and took the top job in 2021; he came to Charleston in 2002 and trained at the French Culinary Institute, per Charleston Wine + Food. The menu centers on sustainably sourced seafood and changes daily. The house has two dining rooms, a wine cellar, two private rooms and a chef's counter on an open kitchen, plus live music on Saturday nights. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Owner and executive chef Chris Stewart is an eighth generation Alabama native who learned to cook from his grandmother, who ran a meat and three in Birmingham through the Depression. The dishes he grew up on, country fried steak, fried chicken, deviled eggs, pies and cobblers, turn up on the menu. Locals name it more than any other room when asked for a good dinner that is not downtown prices.
A Southern breakfast and lunch counter built around grits bowls, with waffles and biscuits beside them. It is a sister to Grace & Grit in Mount Pleasant ... gift cards work at both Grit Counter rooms and at Grace & Grit. It stays open for dinner on Friday and Saturday.
Chef Kevin Johnson's restaurant at the corner of Cannon and King calls itself a neighborhood gathering place built on ingredients from its favorite farmers, fishermen, foragers and artisans. City Paper describes the cooking as new Southern cuisine that is not bound by borders. The venue posts dated menus, the latest dinner menu dated 16 September 2026.
The Harlow calls its cooking Island-Americana ... Southern seafood traditions next to classic American dishes, led by Chef Brett Riley. There is a covered patio the site describes as kid-and-dog-friendly and an open-air bar that seats walk-ins first come, first served.
City Paper's Spring 2026 Top 50 describes The James as a blend of neighborhood joint and comfortable elegance on Maybank Highway.
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.
The Indigo Road group's restaurant at the Daniel Island Waterfront, next door to The Dime. Indigo Road is the Charleston-born group behind rooms such as Post House in Mount Pleasant.
The Lick opened in March 2026 in the South Windermere shopping center. It pairs a steakhouse with a raw bar ... wagyu and USDA Prime beef, East Coast oysters, crab cakes, and a house bread with honey butter. The kitchen is open to the room and there is weekend brunch. The Post and Courier called it a swanky American restaurant.
The second Longboard ... the first opened on 1 May 2015 in Cruz Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. The Sullivan's Island room is a hybrid of that original and its sister restaurant The Easterly on St. Thomas: seafood-led, with a raw bar, weekend brunch and Caribbean-leaning cocktails.
A tavern on Mill Street at Shem Creek. Moultrie News reported ahead of its opening that it would open in July next to Shem Creek Bar and Grill.
The Obstinate Daughter opened in 2014 on the second story of a building on Middle Street, behind a live oak, per The Post and Courier. The venue says the name honors 'the spirit, sass and determination of Miss Carolina Sullivan'. Chef Jacques Larson, a two-time James Beard nominee, cooks Lowcountry seafood through Italian, French and Spanish habits, with a wood-fired oven, a plancha and house pasta. The restaurant holds Green Restaurant Certification and buys from local farmers and fishermen. Beardcat's Sweet Shop is downstairs. It is the only Michelin-designated restaurant in the Charleston area off the peninsula: Recommended in the inaugural American South guide.
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.
A weekday lunch window with three things on the menu. Tippling House owners Matthew Conway and Carissa Hernandez renovated the old Taco Spot building at 221 1/2 Coming Street for grab-and-go pressed burritos, City Paper reported on 11 January 2022. Pick-up is at the window and the owners said it can be done without parking the car. In June 2026 City Paper listed a veggie bean burrito at $10, chicken at $12 and steak at $14, pressed crisp on a flour tortilla with cheese, fries, avocado and pico de gallo.
Chef and owner Ben Berryhill's restaurant, which the site calls 'the intersection of South by Southwest' ... Southern cooking crossed with his Texan background. It bills itself as the islanders' hangout, with a bar that opens at four and a Sunday brunch.
Patty Lamond's restaurant in the Harris Teeter shopping center on Palm Boulevard, away from Front Beach. Moultrie News called her a 10-year restaurateur in March 2026 and reported her saying it took years to build the business and that locals carry it through the winter.
The Restaurant at Zero George is the dining room of the Zero George boutique hotel in Ansonborough, and it works out of an unusually small kitchen. Chef Vinson Petrillo runs a tasting menu that The Post and Courier describes through technical dishes such as a liquid-nitrogen shrimp cocktail and wagyu over Japanese charcoal. The hotel also runs The Caviar Bar, which draws on Petrillo's time as chef de cuisine at Caviar Russe in New York, and a cooking school with chef-led classes. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
A bar and music room in an old ironworks on the upper peninsula. The venue says it is in the Ole Charleston Forge building and has served food, drink and live music since 2011, with the kitchen open until 1 a.m. every day. The Post and Courier's 2026 itinerary sends readers there for $5 pitchers of Miller High Life on a patio that faces the Ravenel Bridge, and City Paper (June 2026) points to the $13 disco fries and the $12 patty melt.
This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.
The Royal Tern describes itself as 'a fancy neighborhood eatery' serving freshly prepared seafood and steaks with a curated wine list. Chef Kyle Kryske leads the kitchen. City Paper's Spring 2026 Top 50 says the menu keeps its focus on fish.
An oyster-led neighborhood restaurant inside I'On Village, with indoor and outdoor tables. The daily menu is posted on Instagram rather than printed on the site. The homepage carries a line of praise from the food writer Michael Ruhlman.
The Southern General has been 'innovating for the lowcountry palate since 2013' from a shopping center across from Minero. It is a sandwich shop first ... a Cuban, chicken schnitzel, a pulled pork sandwich called the Super Butt and a sesame shrimp sandwich are the ones it names.
The Moose is known for the Duck Club ... duck confit, applewood smoked bacon, hickory smoked cheddar and garlic aioli on a Hawaiian roll ... and for a long craft beer list. Guy Fieri featured it, and the venue notes a 2024 return on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Its own site now lists two rooms, Park Circle and Johns Island, and the tourism office says it has been a local favorite since relocating to Park Circle.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
Charleston Magazine's dining guide tells readers to find this out-of-the-way dive behind the Shem Creek docks, and says it is named for a ship stranded on the same spot during Hurricane Hugo. The seafood is sourced fresh and the locals' orders are the deviled crab and the fried seafood platter. The restaurant has no private dining room; its outside patio rents to groups of 35 or fewer, and events and buyouts are only booked October through February.
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.
Three Little Birds Cafe opened in August 2007 in the Windermere shopping strip in West Ashley, with indoor and outside seating and carry out. City Paper readers voted it runner-up for Best West Ashley Brunch in 2026. Locals name it for breakfast, with one saying the prices keep it from being a regular stop.
Tideland is a North Charleston brewery on Dorchester Road with a 5,000 square foot beer garden, a fire pit and a full kitchen that does lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
Owners Shawn and Gabriella have more than 25 years in restaurants between them ... Shawn managed Bennett's Calabash Seafood in Myrtle Beach for 15 years. The room is bright and tropical, the sauces are made in house, and Charleston City Paper's 2017 taco crawl sent people here for taco cecina, salted dried beef. It has grown into a small local group with rooms in Summerville.
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.
Bethany and Dano Heinze opened Vern's in 2022 in a converted corner grocery store at Bogard and Ashe streets, according to The Post and Courier. Dano Heinze is the chef-owner. The room is known for escargot with tarragon and Gruyère, handmade pastas, roast chicken and house sourdough. It earned One MICHELIN Star in the inaugural American South guide on 3 November 2025, with the food and the wine program both cited in local coverage.
A Neapolitan-style pizzeria on Seven Farms Drive, founded in 2009 on what its site calls a simple belief that great pizza starts with great ingredients. The menu runs to artisan salads, sandwiches and sweets.
Nick and Kelly Ruhotina, the couple behind Nick's German Kitchen in Mount Pleasant, opened Vinea on 18 September 2025 in the space Sermet's Courtyard held for years. Sermet Aslan had retired; the Ruhotinas kept the layout and some of his artwork as a tribute. The Post and Courier reported housemade pasta, fish from local purveyors and lamb, beef and veal dishes, with the menu rotating every couple of weeks.
A Shem Creek seafood restaurant on Shrimp Boat Lane with an outdoor bar on the lower level facing the creek. Sunday opens with a brunch buffet from 10 to 2.
Executive chef Orlando Pagán, who came out of McCrady's, runs a multi-course tasting menu here with optional caviar and wagyu add-ons, a chef's counter facing the kitchen, and wine pairings. The Post and Courier says the restaurant opened about seven years ago and moved to the tasting-menu format after the pandemic. Pagán was a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2022, per The Post and Courier. The room shows work by Lowcountry artists through the Charleston Artist Collective, and a mezzanine room called The Overlook seats up to 12. It earned One MICHELIN Star on 3 November 2025.
Wild Olive opened in 2009 on Johns Island, in what its own site calls Charleston's farming community. Executive chef Brad Grozis and general manager Jason Parrish have both been with the restaurant seventeen years. House-made pasta is the center of the menu. The site says the kitchen recycles and composts 85 percent of its waste, about 1,000 pounds of raw material a week, and describes itself as 'farm to table, but table to farm'.
Workmen's Cafe is Angie Bellinger's meat-and-three on James Island. The Post and Courier lists pork chops and lima beans, meatloaf, ribs and fried chicken, served weekday lunch only. Explore Charleston includes it on its list of places to eat Gullah cuisine, and the Southern Foodways Alliance made a short film about Bellinger and the cafe.
XO Brasserie serves updated Cantonese and Sichuan-influenced cooking on Morrison Drive, with family-style tables set around lazy Susans, as City Paper describes it.
Xiao Bao Biscuit has been at the corner of Rutledge and Spring since 2012, in a former gas station, and the venue still calls it the origin location. The Post and Courier credits Josh Walker, Duolan Walker-Li and Joey Ryan with opening it. The kitchen pulls from Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese cooking, and the okonomiyaki is the dish most often named. The house rule is on the site in capitals: no reservations, just come, with one large-party booking a night on a fixed shared menu. It is Recommended in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide American South.
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