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.

Al di La - West Ashley Restaurant Review

There are some restaurants that have the kind of sparkling word-of-mouth reputation that no marketing budget can buy. A favorite of local residents and critics alike, West Ashley’s Al di La is one of those restaurants. The tiny Northern Italian-style trattoria tucked in an indistinct strip of shops just off the Savannah Hwy. near Gene’s [...]

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 [...]

Enjoying the Bi-annual Arrival of Charleston City Paper’s Dish Dining Guide

Stephanie Barna and crew over at the Charleston City Paper always do a great job with Dish, their biannual guide to dining in Charleston.
After completing another excellent meal at La Nortena tonight, my ladyfriend and I returned home, broke out the highlighters, and set out to plan our dining goals for the next several months.
So, [...]

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 [...]

Jacob’s Kitchen in I’On - Preview and Tasting

Though I had never been to Mt. Pleasant’s I’On neighborhood before, I certainly had some preconceptions about the type of restaurant I’d find there. I assumed that, amid the fancy homes and equally fancy people, I’d find a stuffy, overpriced, country club-style dining room where I’d feel a little uncomfortable and out of place. After [...]

Zia Taqueria - James Island Restaurant Review

In a world where up to 30 percent of restaurants fail in their first year of operation, it’s a risky proposition to get attached to any new eatery. When I had the opportunity to dine at Le Club Fez, Charleston’s first Moroccan/French restaurant, last spring, I instantly felt like I had found a new personal [...]