I was in Charleston for 4 days last month for a wedding. Did some serious eating:
The Westendorff- Wonderful diner type of restaurant. Food and drinks and service are all top notch. We went our first day for a late lunch and then our last day for brunch.
Slightly North of Broad (SNOB)- This was recommended numerous times to us and while it was very good, it just wasn’t great. I will say the tamale was unreal, but service was lacking and compared to everywhere else, the price did not justify the food.
Xiao Bao Biscuit- Just absolutely delicious Asian comfort food. Really great. Would eat here all the time. The pancake dish is superb.
Husk- I really liked all of the small plates we had better than the entrees. I got to try almost every small plate as we were in a group of 10. I had this place so hyped up in my head that it may have been impossible to have as great an experience as i thought i would. Still really high quality food in a beautiful atmosphere.
Obstinate Daughter (Sullivans Island)- Such a cool spot. Food is outstanding and they have Cheerwine on draft. We had a huge lunch and everything was spot on.
167 Raw- We had a fantastic lunch here. This in my opinion is a must. I will go back here every time I am in Charleston. Amazing oysters, fish tacos. Great value driven wine list.
Xiao Bao, thanks for the reminder, heading there soon !
Wow, I am really glad you mentioned Xiao Bao Biscuit. What a treat! Fantastic food, and the cabbage pancake with egg and bacon was out of this world. We shared 4 dishes and they were amazing, we had the Pad Kra Pow, Paratha, and Som Tum Gai, along with the Okonomiyaki. Every other place we went to, the staff would say “oh , you went to Xiao Bao Biscuit? Love that place”
Also, Mexican food - Minero was incredible. They make their own tortillas, the queso with Chihuahua cheese and chorizo was fantastic, the 3 salsas were super creative and delicious, the Chilaquiles were other-worldly. Who knew there were “heirloom black beans”, but they were really big, and delicious. Best chicken wings I’ve ever eaten.
Our only fine dining stop was Charleston Grill. I know there are always newer, cooler, trendier places in Charleston, but this place hits home runs for service and food every time we go. An amazing crab cake, the side of beets was crazy good, and and absolutely perfect medium-rare beef tenderloin.
Now, time for a diet, my pants are tight.
bumping this old thread up
heading down in a week
recent experiences?
will be on sullivan’s island but of course can get into charleston easily
thanks
I was just there a few weeks ago and the restaurants that truly stood out were Husk for dinner and Hominy Grill for brunch. I’d go back to either of those in a heartbeat!
Do Minero and Xiao Bao Biscuit take reservations?
Unfortunately neither do. Minero is also in a popular spot, so it gets traffic. If you go at prime dinner times there is a wait. We stopped, the wait was a bit long, but we found 4 spots at the bar and had great service.
Xiao Bao is an old gas station, total dive, but really cool and trendy. It’s off the beaten path so you may have better luck, we went at lunch and had no problems.
FIG is still spot on in my opinion. Great food, decent/reasonable wines including by the glass.
For a hunk of red meat Halls is just fine in my book.
Butcher&Bee good on a recent visit.
And don’t forget Martha Lou’s Kitchen for fried chicken.
Husk…eh. Too much attitude.
Hall’s makes a fantastic steak. It’s pretty pricey, but I really like it. We have one now in Greenville and the service is just fantastic. I am also not in love with Husk. It’s good and all, but there are a lot of Southern cuisine places that compare. Another Husk is opening in Greenville soon. I won’t go out of my way to dine there again, but who knows.
Dined at McCrady’s once and it was super.
thanks all.
scott, have a list of southern places you’d go to before husk?
Oh, I don’t know, that’s a tough one. Husk is good, just like SNOB is good, I just never feel like the food is worthy of a $30-40 price tag - I never walk out thinking WOW. For example, a southern staple is shrimp and grits. A place like Hominy Grill in Charleston would be my choice for that or for fried chicken.
I am a bit jaded because in Greenville, every restaurant you walk into serves shrimp and grits, fried chicken, and catfish (which I do not like at all). So when I go to somewhere like Charleston, I’ll likely seek some fresh seafood over Southern cuisine. Oh, and if your idea of southern food is “low and slow smoked meat” then you need to go to a dive bbq joint. The guy sitting next to me said Swig and Swine is a good choice. Menu - Swig & Swine BBQ
So, again, I am jaded, if you live in another part of the world, and you want to enjoy “southern cuisine” then they are all fine. I’d still probably say Hominy Grill. If you want fine dining in Charleston, I’d say FIG, Hall’s, McCrady’s, Charleston Grill. Last year Trip Advisor had Hall’s rated as the #1 restaurant in the US, it’s currently at #4, and Charleston Grill is #6, if those ratings mean anything.
If you went to Husk, maybe try Alston’s idea of trying a bunch of small plates. It’s fine.
Casual: Xiao Bao, White Duck Taco, Minero (they even have shrimp and grits)…on Sullivan’s is the Obstinate Daughter. Poe’s has a good burger.
Now, if you are asking about my Greenville list of Southern food, wow, it’s a long list.
is corkage allowed in sc?
and what about dress for the higher end places? (i own no seer sucker)
Mark - Some older threads mention corkage is allowed at many places and that it’s pretty low.
I’m heading there next week. Never been. Looking forward to it.
Many places allow it, just give a call ahead of time to confirm. We did BYO at McCrady’s.
No sear sucker required, but people tend to dress quite nicely at the nicer places. Like Charleston Grill, a jacket was not required but a lot of people wore them.
thanks again
now to try and get some reservations!
Charleston Grill tasting menu and wine pairings.
Fulton Five. Ask for the window seat.
Fig.
Edmunds Oast is a must for me every visit since it opened several years ago. Especially if you like beer. But excellent wine list too. Food is top notch. Kick ass charcuterie program. Great space.
Believe it or not, southerners tend to dress up a bit more. It is easy to spot a northern tourist in New Orleans they are dressed “down.” Of course they also look like they are melting into the sidewalk if it is a bit warm. If you don’t own seersucker, linen is perfectly acceptable. Madras works as well. Of course the ultimate is linen shirt, seersucke suit, white bucks. You barely know you’re dressed.
My wife’s company is based in Charleston and is she is down there monthly. She’s eaten in many if not all of the restaurants over the course of last 5 years. She’s been partial to Chez Nous recently. You may want to refer to the menu day of however as it is constantly changing. I’m still a fan of FIG and Hominy Grill as well.
Recently returned from Charleston. Our favorite dinners were at The Ordinary and Husk. Had a nice 2009 Serra Paitin Barbaresco at Charleston Grill for $85; but the food was only good, not great, and the ambiance not really to our liking. SNOB was also good, but we probably wouldn’t have eaten there if the hotel hadn’t offered us a $50 gift certificate. Had two lunches at Xiao Bao Biscuit - needless to say we liked it a lot. Sat at the bar, no wait. We were told that the owners are opening a 2nd restaurant soon, serving non-Asian food in a more traditional space. Tried to get into 167 Raw for lunch, but line out the door and an hour wait. Went to Obstinate Daughter for lunch, which we also enjoyed. Overall, great food, terrific weather, and a real interesting city.