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.
Hour of Operation:
Mon – Sat – 5:30pm – 10:00pm
Bar Menu – 4:00pm – 10:00pm
Sun Brunch – 10:00am – 3:00pm
Butcher & Bee has two locations, the original in Charleston and a second location in Nashville. We hear that while they share a name and concept that they each have their own distinct vibe and menu. We ate lunch one day at the charming Charleston cafe located on Morrison Drive.
With a quirky interior and open concept,, Butcher & Bee is a fun place for a meal complete with concrete floors, bright colors and a beehive motif on the ceiling.
The menu here focuses primarily on Mezze or small plates like tapas plus a few sandwiches and salads or bowls. They locally source ingredients daily, including sustainably raised meat.
We each ordered a sandwich with a mezze as a side. I tried the Sabich Pita and Whipped Feta drizzled with a puddle of honey. That feta was something else. It was fluffy, lightly salty, and deliciously airy. The pita was loaded with vegetables and a couple of different sauces, which was good, but not the flavor bomb I was expecting. I might not order that particular sandwich again and were I to return would probably stick to the mezze menu, which seemed to be their specialty.
And then this is the I.F.C. with Crispy Stuffed Olives. The sandwich is Israeli fried chicken with schug, tahini slaw, and pickles on brioche. Again, the Mezze of olives was delicious and while the sandwich had really great flavor, they used a chicken thigh, which we didn’t care for. Chicken thighs seem to be a trend right now in the restaurant scene. They are cheaper, and work great with stews & sauced dishes because of the tendency for darker meat to not dry out. But it’s just not our personal preference for a sandwich. To each their own. You might love a good chicken thigh. 🙂
Butcher & Bee
1085 MORRISON DR
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 619-0202
info@butcherandbee.com
Monday–Friday: 8am–10pm
Saturday–Sunday: 10am–3pm / 5pm–10pm
When you run across a local and ask them where a visitor should eat while in town, they are bound to mention Wild Olive.
Wild Olive is some of the finest Italian cuisine you will experience and it’s found on Johns Island of all places.
The lighting was great for ambiance, but not so much for getting pictures, so apologies again for the slightly blurry photos. But this food is SO deserving of being included in this post. This was a meal for the top 10 list – one of the best dinners we’ve experienced, from the amazing Italian food down to the super friendly service. We started with the risotto fritters stuffed with sausage, spinach, parmesan, mozzarella and they were delicious, crunchy, gooey bites of flavor.
We decided to share two pasta dishes and then an entree. This was the hand-made ravioli filled with roasted carrot puree and goat cheese, topped with gingered pistachios, aged balsamic, and a thyme butter sauce. It was…To. Die. For. I am still dreaming about this amazing pasta. All of the flavors were just so incredible together, the pasta was buttery and the carrot puree was lucious. Then…that sauce was delectably rich, but not too heavy. It was just right.
We also tried the pappardelle with guanciale (Italian cured pork jowl), local mushrooms, arugula, and parmesan. While it was also quite tasty, this dish just couldn’t compete with the ravioli. Not to do any disservice to this dish, because it was delicious in its own rite, but it paled after enjoying the ravioli.
Then we shared the swordfish entree. As you can see from the picture, this is a sizeable entree and plenty for two people to share. This bowl was loaded with fresh seafood – grilled swordfish, shrimp, calamari, and mussels all delicately cooked with vegetables in a fumetto. Fumetto is a light Italian fish broth cooked down with milk and butter – this one was made using coconut milk, which paired so nicely with the grilled swordfish that was melt-in-your-mouth tender.
By the time we were ready to order dessert, Asher was losing his cool closing in on bedtime, so we opted to take it to go and failed to get good photos of it. The dessert menu offers daily specials, including a seasonal cheesecake, which we ordered. It was a pumpkin cheesecake that was really delicious. We also tried the tiramisu, which was a solid rendition of the classic sweet. Needless to say, Wild Olive is a must eat when in the Charleston area
Wild Olive Restaurant
2867 Maybank Highway
Johns Island, S.C. 29455
(843) 737-4177
info@wildoliverestaurant.com
Sunday – Thursday
5:30pm to 10:00pm
Friday – Saturday
5:30pm to 11:00pm
Husk really needs no introduction. Sean Brock, James Beard award-winning chef and owner, pioneered the food revival in Charleston when the restaurant opened in 2010. He has since opened three more locations for Husk in Nashville, Greeneville, and Savannah. Husk’s kitchen reinterprets the cuisine of the surrounding area, beginning with the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in the South.
Knowing Husk is a nicer restaurant that serves a slightly more casual lunch, we opted to make reservations for lunch thinking it’d be less of a disturbance at lunch if Asher got a lil’ noisy. No worries though, the lunch menu still features several of the same entrees and items as dinner and at a little better price point.
My handsome lunch dates. 😉 If we had any fears about taking an infant to a nicer restaurant in Charleston, those were squashed during our lunch. No one seemed phased that we had him there with us, including the other guests, and the service was outstanding. So, tip for any other parents taking their kids to Charleston…go for lunch and you won’t feel so anxious about taking them to a fancy establishment.
We started off with a cocktail each since Husk’s menu featured some very interesting drink options. The red colored drink was a rum cocktail featuring earthy beets called Beets on Tour 95. Seriously. Made with golden beets, rum, aperol, amaro, agave, lemon, and rose water, it had a very distinct flavor profile. Sadly it’s no longer on the menu but you never know, it may return since their menu changes constantly.
Benne seed rolls are brought to the table with super creamy honey butter served in a classic Charleston seagrass bowl. They were so pillowy and delicious topped with smoked bourbon sea salt! The perfect start to what was an amazing meal.
Fried chicken is ubiquitous in the South and Husk’s menu is no different. However, Sean Brock’s fried chicken is celebrated for it’s elaborate preparation and touted as the best in the U.S. This is fried chicken that will send you searing back to your grandmother’s kitchen table; it’s perfectly golden and crunchy with a crust that doesn’t fall off in the first bite. Isn’t that the worst? It’s served with a field pea salad dressed with buttermilk ranch. Definitely some of the best fried chicken of my life and the pea salad was a nice cool, tangy accompaniment to the rich chicken.
This is the country fried steak with summer squash and charred corn. This steak was flat-out phenomenal. The light sauce served with it tastes like a broth of summery vegetables tinged with onion, and it was amazing. Remington said it was the best country fried steak he’s ever eaten and it has ruined all other country fried steaks forever. Nothing will ever come close to it.
We also shared a side of the Sweetwater Valley cheddar cheese grits. They were baked with about a pound of cheddar cheese on top and they were creamy deliciousness. Basically we had a very enjoyable lunch at Husk filled with remarkable food and stupendous service. Cannot recommend fitting in a meal at this gem enough – it’s one meal that definitely lived up to all the hype.
Husk Restaurant
843.577.2500
76 Queen St.
Charleston, SC 29401
LUNCH: mon-sat
11:30am-2:30pm
BRUNCH: sun 10am-2:30pm
DINNER: sun-thu 5:30-10
DINNER: fri & sat 5:30-11
Sunrise Bistro is a great little joint on Johns Island for breakfast and lunch where breakfast favorites are served all day. If you are looking for a local favorite good for a decent cup of coffee and a hearty breakfast, then this is your spot. Their menu features classic dishes like omelettes, shrimp & grits, and corned beef hash with daily specials using local fresh seafood and other ingredients.
Servings are plentiful. This was a big bowl of the shrimp and grits special with a creamy fresh crab sauce. Incredibly rich and filling, more than half of this plate got boxed up to come home with us. I ordered the breakfast burrito, which was not so photogenic, but it was a loaded tortilla filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, onions, and peppers.
Service here was super friendly making us feel like family. Food came out fast and just as we expected. Coffee was strong and hot, and unlimited refills are available at the serve-yourself station where you can even take a cup to go! We will definitely return here when in the area and in the mood for a good comfort food meal.
Sunrise Bistro
1797 Main Rd
Charleston, SC 29455
(843) 718-1858
Tuesday-Saturday
7 AM- 2:30 PM
Sunday
9 AM- 1 PM
A perfect, easy dinner in Charleston is a salad and pizza from Crust Wood Fired Pizza. They have two locations – one in Summerville and one on James Island. Thanks to a long standing partnership with Lowcountry farmers and purveyors, daily menu specials incorporate the very best seasonal ingredients delivered each morning and they have a focus on fresh, simple items made from scratch in house or sourced locally. Try the Crustacean pizza pictured above – you’ve not had lowcountry cuisine until you’ve experience shrimp on wood fired pizza. Yum!
Crust Wood Fired Pizza
843-762-5500
1956 B Maybank Highway
Charleston, SC, 29412
Sunday – Thursday: 11AM to 10PM
Friday – Saturday: 11AM to 11PM
A dive by any definition of the word that may not look like much, but if you are staying on Seabrook then you cannot miss the deep fried seafood goodness found at Fischer’s Sports Pub. Locals and other tourists alike kept recommending it time and again, so despite its appearance we decided to try it for takeout. Saddling up to the bar to order and we were greeted yet again by another endorsement that you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. A menu which promises that the Crab soup will be the best of you’ve ever had; a promise that delivered in our opinion. We devoured the crab soup. It was indeed quite possibly the best we’ve ever had – so luscious and creamy, so rich and decadent. I could take a swim in that crab soup.
We also shared a combo platter with fried shrimp and fried flounder, french fries and cole slaw. It was a huge portion plenty for us to share for dinner. The fish and shrimp were super tender, falling apart with every bite, but with a nice crunchy batter on the outside. When you are in need of a fried fish fix at the beach, this is the place to go.
Fischer’s Sports Pub & Grill
1883 Andell Bluff Blvd.
Seabrook Island, SC 29455
Info@mysite.com
843-243-0210
Sweets! The last part of this post will focus on the dessert and ice cream shops that are a must when in the Charleston area.
Belgian Gelato is located near the Waterfront Park on Vendue Range. We decided to have gelato at 10:00 in the morning one day because we were nearby at the park and they were open, so why not? She said we weren’t the first to have ice cream for breakfast (or second breakfast in our case).
They have super creamy gelato style ice cream in some basic and more interesting flavors, including pistachio and coconut. Their menu also includes coffee drinks, belgian sandwiches, milkshakes, and parfaits. It’s not the very best gelato we’ve tried (our very own Coolato Gelato in downtown Knoxville is hard to beat), but a solid option when in the mood for ice cream.
Belgian Gelato
6 Vendue Range
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
Sugar Bakeshop is located off the beaten path a bit in a neighborhood near downtown Charleston. This snug, playful bakery whips up a selection of small-batch desserts from unique cupcakes to fruit tarts using fresh, local ingredients.
They have unique cupcake flavors that aren’t oversized (meaning they are a reasonable size) like honey, grapefruit, lime curd coconut, and pistachio. While the offerings were interesting, the taste and texture were a little lacking. However, we are extremely biased when it comes to cupcakes because we used to have a cupcake bakery. Sugar is a great choice if you are in the Charleston area and looking for a local bakery for cupcakes or a sweet pastry. And the building is too cute!
Sugar Bakeshop
59 1/2 Cannon Street
Charleston, SC 29403
843.579.2891
info@sugarbake.com
If you are looking for something slightly more distinctive to Charleston for a sweet bite, check out Peace Pie – the ice cream sandwich with a layer of pie filling.
The original location is technically in Cape May, New Jersey, but they’ve become so popular in Charleston that there are now multiple locations!
You can get bostom cream, coconut cream, pecan pie, key lime pie, salted caramel apple…they each come layered with a soft chewy cookie, decadent ice cream, and pie filling mixed in.
Remington had the Red Eye, which is coffee ice cream with latte mousse on chocolate shortbread cookies. Talk about your caffeine overload, but it was delicious!
Then I tried their Key Lime Pie flavor, which was vanilla bean ice cream with a layer of key lime filling on two cinnamon shortbread cookies. It was tangy and sweet and so refreshing!
Peace Pie
1-843-764-9611
223 Meeting St,
Charleston, SC 29401
509 King St,
Charleston, SC 29403
Check the website for hours by location
You cannot go to Charleston and not eat a slice of the famous Coconut Cake at Peninsula Grill, a Relais & Châteaux Four-Diamond restaurant hidden amidst a lush garden in the center of the city. You can easily order it to go throughout the day from the bar by just walking right up through the Peninsula Grill entrance and requesting it. They have it pre-cut and boxed up ready to go.
The coconut cake is a 12 layer masterpiece of coconut cake and coconut buttercream where each individual slice supposedly weighs one pound. It’s incredibly dense and moist, BUT for like $12 per slice (or $130 for the entire thing) it’s not the most amazing coconut cake I’ve ever had. But worth the splurge just to say you tried it.
Peninsula Grill
112 North Market Street
Charleston, South Carolina
(843) 723-0700
Our favorite go-to for dessert during our trip to Seabrook & Charleston was a new little creamery and pastry shop on Johns Island right next to the Tattooed Moose called Baker & The Farmer.
Owned by a young local family (with a brand new baby to boot), Brian started his culinary career in Manhattan, but most recently worked for Edmund’s Oast in Charleston. They also own a local farm called Northern Roots and are looking to become self-sufficient producing close to 100% of their own ingredients. Their bakery case is filled with fresh made cakes, pies, cheesecake, cupcakes, cookies, and muffins.
And while all of that was good, the star of the show was the ice cream, which was to die for. Seriously, it was some of the best ice cream we’ve ever had. It was super creamy and the flavors were genius. They featured things like chocolate banana with peanut butter, brown sugar bourbon, buttermilk with lemon bar, strawberry with chocolate chip cookie, and chocolate with strawberry cheesecake. The first time we stopped by I tried the chocolate banana with peanut butter. It was incredible. Just incredible. Who doesn’t love chocolate and banana and peanut butter paired together, but in ice cream form it was so creamy and decadent.
We also got a piece of hazelnut cheesecake and the husband had to try a coconut chocolate chip macaroon. The cheesecake was very good, especially the rich hazelnut flavor. But that macaroon…and I don’t even like coconut!
When we went back a few days later, I tried the chocolate with strawberry cheesecake, which was also super rich, creamy, and delicious. The flavor of the strawberry cheesecake was very fresh with a nice tang from the cream cheese!
Finally, we also tried their coffee cake and a slice of the yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I was really wanting to try their famous caramel cake, but they had just sold the last slice. Oh well, next time! The coffee cake was moist with a hint of sweetness, but not cloying, so it would pair really well with your morning joe or on it’s own. The yellow cake with chocolate frosting had a nice flavor, but it was honestly actually a tad dry. I have to wonder if that is from how they were storing already sliced pieces in their chilled bakery case. The frosting was a perfect buttercream balanced with rich milk chocolate.
They opened in August 2017 right before our trip, so I was so impressed that their shop was as organized and impressive already considering they had only been open for about a month. No start up jitters going on here – these are seasoned chefs experienced in how a business should run where you can tell they’ve devoted their heart and soul to making this dream a reality for their family.
Baker & The Farmer
3338 Maybank Hwy
Johns Island, SC 29455
(843) 718-2695
Mon-Thur: 8:00-7:00, Fri-Sat: 8:00-8:00
Sun: Closed
One final suggestion is if you are in need of a caffeinated beverage, then stop by Caviar & Bananas where they have an assortment of coffee and tea drinks along with their sandwich and salad menu board. You can find them inside the City Market while you are shopping or they also have a main location on George Street and one inside the airport. The set up is market style in case you are in a hurry and need a quick grab and go bite as well. They are a local institution opening in Charleston in 2008 and you know how much we like to support local. 😉
Caviar & Bananas
info@caviarandbananas.com
(843) 577-9997
Until next time and the next adventure…
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