Circa 1886 - Charleston Restaurant Review

Sometimes it seems like the amount of love restaurants in Charleston receive is directly related to their proximity to the Market. The further the tourists have to walk, the less likely the establishment is to get recognition it deserves. Now, I’m not saying Circa 1886 doesn’t get any respect - that’s certainly not the case, but I have noticed that it very rarely creeps into the “favorite Charleston restaurants” lists of local residents. I’m not sure if that is simply because not enough people have given it a chance or what, but I definitely think that needs to change.

Mercato - Charleston Restaurant Review

Don’t get me wrong, I love southern Italian cuisine. When I was a kid, it was pretty difficult to convince me to eat much else besides spaghetti, tortellini, or ravioli covered in marinara and parmesan. To this day, I still buy the industrial size jars of pasta sauce from Sam’s Club and go through them [...]

39 Rue de Jean - Charleston Restaurant Review

39 Rue de Jean has long been near the top of my list of Charleston-area restaurants I’ve been dying to go to, but haven’t yet had the opportunity. It’s frequently mentioned by locals and out-of-towners alike as one of the best restaurants in the city and possibly the best French restaurant in town. In addition, Rue de Jean is a part of the highly-regarded Holy City Hospitality family that also runs Coast (one of my personal favorites) and Virginia’s on King. Going into my meal, I couldn’t have had much higher expectations.

Coast - Charleston Restaurant Review

There are lots of locations in downtown Charleston that will draw plenty of tourists off the street as they saunter by, window shopping for overpriced clothes and stereotypical paintings of marshes. One address that doesn’t fit that description, despite its location just a block or so from Marion Square, is 39 John Street #D.
Coast, a [...]

Dining for a Good Cause

My friend Andre Guillet over at McCrady’s asked me to pass this information along. I think this is a very worthy cause, so I am happy to help spread the word.

About Nemaline Myopathy and the Foundation (from Andre’s e-mail):
As many of you know our family started A Foundation Building Strength, a 501(c) (3), to raise [...]

Poogan’s Porch - Charleston Restaurant Review

Living in Charleston, it would be pretty easy to dine out on a regular basis and never eat in the same place twice. That makes first impressions all the more important. After all, when you’ve got seemingly unlimited options, why would you go back to a restaurant that left you unimpressed?
I came away from my [...]

Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) - Charleston Restaurant Review

If you spend any amount of time browsing the “Best Restaurant in Charleston” threads on Chowhound.com’s “South” message board, you’ll notice how a few of the major names rise above the pack. While I’ve been lucky enough to dine at a few of them (e.g., McCrady’s, Charleston Grill, FIG), until last week I hadn’t had [...]

The Buccaneer Restaurant & Museum - Media Event Notes

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend the media lunch for The Buccaneer, the newest restaurant from the people who brought us McCrady’s and Queen Anne’s Revenge.
The Buccaneer is occupying the Faber St. location that has been empty since City Bar shut down a couple years ago. The McCrady’s ownership group, never one to [...]

Alluette’s Cafe - Charleston Restaurant Review

I’ll admit it. I’m a little bit of a food elitist. I probably wouldn’t run a restaurant blog if I didn’t have a bit of that in me. I may live on a typical college student’s budget, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to settle for the mass produced, watered down culinary equivalent of a [...]

Virginia’s on King - Charleston Restaurant Review

When most visitors come to Charleston, they’re usually looking for two things when it comes to food, seafood and traditional home-style southern fare. This is the reason why Hyman’s and Jestine’s, two decidedly uninspiring restaurants, in my opinion, consistently have hour-and-a-half waits.
While anyone who has spent more than a few days in Charleston could point [...]