11 Center Street
Tapas
Entrées $5-$10
Folly Beach. 11 Center St. 588-9898
Lunch and Dinner
The ‘tapas-y’ menu at 11 Center Street features really, really good lamb chops and a Greek appetizer plate that make a fine dinner for two. That’s not all, though. The wine shop that comprises most of the first floor has a great assortment of reasonably priced wine that you can purchase right there for a sea breeze-laced dinner on the open top floor.
Amuse
Tapas
Entrées $5-$10
West Ashley. 1720 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. 573-8778
Dinner
One of the most exciting new spots in town in one of the most nondescript locations Charleston has to offer. Amuse is tucked away on Sam Rittenberg, but there’s nothing retiring about the style of the food or the articulate, attentive service. The room itself is fairly plain, but marinated boquerones (anchovies), pork trotters, and about 25 other delicious tapas dishes all for $8 or less, with wine pairings that are uniformly wonderful, offer a value-packed mini-vacation to Spain in the most unexpected locale.
Chai’s Lounge and Tapas
Tapas
Entrées $5-$10
Downtown. 462 King St. 722-7313
Dinner
Basil brothers Henry and Chai Eang strike again, this time with the newest redux food trend in town — tapas. They turned the grungy Portside Cafe into a great-looking dining room with sophisticated lighting by Ann Yancy, tiny tasty dishes that feature fish, meats, and upscale snacks for the wanna-be-seens in town. The papaya salad or mini-Angus sliders are eclectic snack choices, but the raw sashimi tuna on a thin, baguette-sized crouton, is one of our favorites.
Raval
Tapas
Entrées $5-$10
Downtown. 453 King St. 853-4866
Dinner
It’s cozy yet elegant, with a dose of authenticity brought by a chandelier of real votive candles. Raval is part of the tidal wave of Charleston tapas, but this one is special in its simplicity and the tiny kitchen in the King Street window. The dark bartops throughout the restaurant create a communal atmosphere for the small, but rich grilled sandwiches, marinated olives, and little domino-shaped patatas bravas, perfectly crispy fried potatoes spiked with hot spices and served with a garlicky aioli that stays with you through several quartos of wine.
Voodoo
Tapas
Entrées $5-$10
West Ashley. 15 Magnolia Road. 769-0228
Dinner
This ‘snazzy on the cheap’ restaurant and bar in West Ashley has captured camp and whimsy in equal measure. The red walls, thrift-store style furniture, and gold lamé curtains give patrons a ‘to hell with it, give me a Singapore Sling,’ kind of attitude. That’s perfect, because there’s a long list of tropical drinks, complete with three different kinds of liquor, fancy glasses, umbrellas, and even flames. The menu is casual but exotic enough to be interesting with great duck tacos, tasty hummus, and a pupu platter that is lots of fun, with a little grill in the middle to heat up your chicken kabobs. Be careful, though — one good cocktail from the picture menu may make your situation a little dangerous.
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