Aunt Bea’s
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $5-$10
N. Charleston. 1050 E. Montague Ave. 554-3007
Lunch and Dinner
It’s a post office, antique store, and one of the best meat-and-three’s in town, all rolled into one. The rolls are cheap and soft, like something from your high school cafeteria. The mashed potatoes are fluffy, the butter beans porky, and the tea sweet. With some fried chicken or country fried steak, dining at Aunt Bea’s is a countrified, heavenly path to obesity.
Carolina’s
Southern/ Lowcountry
Entrées $20 and up
Downtown. 10 Exchange St. 724-3800
Dinner
With chef Mama Rose out of the kitchen, Carolina’s enters a new era, and does so very nicely, thank you very much. Chef Tin Dizdarevic kept the menu’s strengths, stressing Southern food with Asian touches that lighten and add interest to the cuisine, cheese grits that never fail to satisfy, carpaccio that can make a carnivore cry, and an old-style charm that doesn’t disappoint. Don’t worry about South-of-Broad parking — the valet is complimentary and sanity-saving.
Hominy Grill
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $10-$15
Downtown. 207 Rutledge Ave. 937-0930
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Sunday Brunch
Hominy Grill fully deserves the attention and faithful patronage it has received from Charleston. The old house on Rutledge Avenue truly feels like grandmother’s house with pressed-tin ceilings, ladderback chairs, and really good meatloaf, sandwiches, and salads. Dinner, while still faithfully Southern, tends to be a little more sophisticated and is even more exciting than lunch or brunch. The prices are reasonable, the service prompt and respectful of busy schedules, and there’s even a small parking lot — a real treasure for downtown dining.
Martha Lou’s Kitchen
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $5-$10
Downtown. 1068 Morrison Dr. 577-9583
Breakfast and Lunch
It’s a bizarre-looking pink cinder-block building on Morrison Drive, you know, the one with the big fish painted on it, and the inside is no less strange. The cooking is good, though, and that’s what matters. It’s meat ‘n’ three for the most part, although there’s a bunch of breakfast items too. Order up a fried pork chop, kick back and gaze at the, uh, décor, and try not to eat all your friend’s lima beans.
Rosebank Farms Cafe
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $20 and up
Seabrook Island. 1886 Andell Bluff Road. 768-1807
Lunch and Dinner
Bohicket Marina is the home of Rosebank Farms Cafe, and it’s run by local character Julie Limehouse. Her fun, carefree spirit reigns in old-fashioned Southern touches like drunk butterbeans and rice, Black Strap molasses BBQ sauce, and tobacco fried onions. The dining room is comfortable and sophisticated without trying too hard, and her hardcore Lowcountry spirit and accent infuse the whole cafe with an authenticity that has earned a cadre of faithful followers.
St. Johns Island Cafe
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $10-$15
Johns Island. 3140 Maybank Hwy. 559-9090
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Sunday Brunch
St. Johns Island Cafe on Maybank Highway is a warm, homey spot for brunch and a bit of comfort. If you’re not a Johns Islander, it can be a hike, which takes it out of the lunch running for most folks, but it is absolutely worth it to combine a leisurely trip out through the live oaks for great biscuits, eggs, grits, and the newly spiffy atmosphere. New ownership has resulted in a nice dining room redo, complete with fish tank and fancy new bar area. The bright yellow paint makes for a friendly lunch or dinner under the live oaks that line the highway.
The Old Village Post House
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $15-$20
Mt. Pleasant. 101 Pitt St. 388-8935
Lunch, Dinner, and Sunday Brunch
The Old Post House menu is dedicated to the use of charcuterie and includes a delicious salmon terrine, great cheese plates, and lovely renditions of paella against the heavier duck, beef, and lamb shank. The atmosphere manages to go upscale without interfering with the casual waterfront elegance of the Old Village, and the attached B&B makes for a wonderful overnight stay.
Slightly North Of Broad
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $15-20
Downtown. 192 East Bay St. 723-3424
Lunch and Dinner
Chef Frank Lee created the original ‘Maverick Southern Kitchen’ and with it, the center of the downtown ‘power lunch’ a long time ago. SNOB’s still going strong, and serves as the flagship of the Maverick group, which includes High Cotton across the street and The Old Post House in Mt. P’s Old Village. One of the first restaurants to depart from traditional Southern cuisine and serve pad Thai, SNOB broke new ground in Charleston, getting lots of great press and accolades, many of which hang in the front window to this day. Lucky for us, however, the pad Thai is still around as well.
The Old Post Office Restaurant
Southern/Lowcountry
Entrées $15-20
Edisto. 1442 Hwy 174. 869-2339
Dinner and Sunday Brunch
If you go to Edisto, you cannot miss the Old Post Office. Colorful Chef Philip Bardin has been serving up timelessly tasty meals in this hopelessly-dated dining room for many years, and there’s no reason to expect that to change any time soon. The menu is classic Southern seafood, the mood in the mirrored, fake-flowered, ’80s dining room is so laid back you’ll think you’re on a boat dock somewhere, and the best way to approach the Post Office is to get a room and drink all the wine you want.
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