Managing to eat poorly in a foodie-centric town like Charleston is no easy feat considering you can spit in any direction and land on another amazing restaurant. Needless to say, we ate incredibly well for the week we visited the area, including some well-known favorites like Husk and Wild Olive. So saddle up and prepare for a rundown of where to eat in Charleston…I hope you aren’t hungry.
Starting with Swig & Swine. We had lunch here on our way to Seabrook from the Middleton Inn after getting stuck in awful traffic and rerouted multiple times trying to find a different way into their parking lot. There happened to be a bad wreck practically in front of their building, which meant that there was zero wait once roads opened back up. Anyway, the deal here is barbecue by the pound or sandwiches and sides. They have a dog friendly patio out front lined with umbrellas and fans where they will even offer a bowl of water for your furry pooch.
Aside from the quality and flavor of the meat, the mark of a good barbecue joint is their sauce. Swig & Swine has a variety to choose from, but they are all crafted incredibly well. They’ve got all of your basics covered from a vinegar based North Carolina style, a spicy jalapeno, Alabama white, sweet red Kansas City style, and a mustard based sauce. The sweet red was a nice, bold traditional sauce and the mustard had a hint of heat to it. We honestly enjoyed each of these in their own right. Impressive that we had zero criticisms for any one sauce!
We enjoyed those sauces on their 2 Meat Plate with an option of two sides. We chose different meats so we could try a good sampling – the pulled pork, brisket, smoked turkey, and sausage. For sides, we got the collards, mac & cheese, brunswick stew, hash & rice, and beans with brisket. Our favorites were definitely the pulled pork and brisket, collards, mac & cheese, and beans. All of the meat was really tender with a nice smoke ring, except the sausage, which could have been smoked for longer. Thanks to it being restaurant week, they were offering a special, which included dessert. Remington had the mini coconut pies and I had a chocolate pecan pie topped with delicious whipped cream. Both desserts were tasty. Remington thoroughly enjoyed the coconut pies and my chocolate pecan was up there with the tops. We were pretty amazed that a barbecue restaurant could churn out such masterful pastries.
Swig & Swine
West Ashley Location
1217 Savannah Highway
Charleston, SC 29407
Summerville Location
1990 Old Trolley Road
Summerville, SC 29485
843.225.3805
info@swigandswinebbq.com
Monday – Sunday
11 am – 10 pm
The Tattooed Moose is a dive dishing up delectable duck fat fries and unique sandwiches to families and sports fans alike. They’ve got two locations – one in downtown Charleston and one on St. John’s. We had dinner at the St. John’s location and were pleasantly surprised to find this dive bar offered up quirky decor mixed in with great service and all family-friendly. Their bathrooms even featured a changing table in both restrooms. P.S. Not sure why these pictures all turned out a bit blurry, but there was something funky with our camera.
Must eats at the Tattooed Moose are items with the word duck in them, like these duck fat fries that were probably the most delicious fries and the duck club, which we did not try, but hear is amazing.
We shared the Smoked Chicken Salad BLT and the Lucky #1 Club sandwiches. Both were surprisingly good and very flavorful. The Lucky #1 Club was an asian style club sandwich with seared pork belly, kimchi, wasabi mayo, and sweet red chili sauce. A total flavor bomb. And the Smoked Chicken Salad BLT was not just your every day chicken salad – it had a really nice smoke flavor to it.
The Tattooed Moose was one of the most surprising dining experiences we had in Charleston. It’s the kind of place that teaches you to not judge a book by it’s cover. Just because this is a scruffy dive bar with a wall of bar, beer on tap, sports on tv, and lots of writing on the walls doesn’t mean that they aren’t cranking out supreme quality food and service in family friendly space.
Tattooed Moose
http://tattooedmoose.com/
Open Every Day from 11:30am – 2am.
Fat Hen is famous on Johns Island for their Sunday brunch where they serve up caraffes of mimosas alongside delicious southern, lowcountry dishes. I recommend getting there before they open at 10:00am or making a reservation. We showed up just before opening time and there was already a line forming outside the door. We were able to get a table without a reservation though.
Every square inch of this brunch menu is perfect. It sounds amazing and we both had a really hard time making selections.
However, this caraffe of mimosa helped us make a decision! Hint: it’s cheaper to just get the caraffe than two separate mimosas!
Remington enjoyed the open face waffle & pastrami sandwich with gruyere cheese and a delicious maple dijon aioli. The pastrami was housemade and pretty amazing. It was served with a classic southern side – cheese grits! It was a really unique dish.
I ordered the shrimp and grits – the quintessential lowcountry brunch food and what I often use to gauge the quality of a brunch restaurant. This was maybe some of the best shrimp and grits I’ve ever eaten. So creamy and loaded with lots of flavors, but those huge gulf shrimp were just perfectly cooked. We can most definitely recommend a meal at the Fat Hen, go for dinner, but brunch is preferred and reservations are helpful.
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