A look at the increasingly popular all-in-one meal inside a bowl

Some nights call for a finely plated dish with an Instagram-worthy smear of sauce and gently placed garnish. Others, though, call for a dish that’s a little less delicate but packed with flavor and textures — a mishmash of different ingredients tossed in a single bowl and ready to eat on a table or in your lap on the couch. Sounds simple, right?

Food bowls are pretty simple but can be very versatile. Think of them like evolved salads with endless possibilities. Instead of a leafy green base, you can start the bowl with a grain, such as a short-grain rice or quinoa, then top it with several proteins, fruits or vegetables. Finally, garnish it with citrus juices or a spicy sauce — whatever you’re craving.

“I love bowl food because you are getting a little bit of a lot of things,” said Basic Kitchen executive chef Charlie Layton. “It’s easier to get a lot of nourishment out of one dish, especially when it comes to a restaurant setting.”

Added Kairo’s Mediterranean owner Cary Chastain: “It’s simple and fast, which is a big part of it.” And it’s perceived as healthy — if the restaurant that is providing the bowl is really acting like a restaurant and serving customers fresh ingredients. “It goes well with just about any cuisine.”

Many restaurants in Charleston are hopping on the food bowl train. Here’s where to find some in what may be becoming the, ahem, Bowlcountry.

Basic Kitchen
82 Wentworth St. (Downtown)
(843) 789-4568
basickitchen.com

Basic Kitchen’s Basic Bowl | Photo by Kirk Robert

Basic Kitchen has a variety of different bowls on its lunch, brunch and dinner menus, but its namesake bowl, the Basic Bowl, can be found on all three.

“It’s got your three key food groups,” Layton said. “We base the original [Basic Bowl] on kind of like a macro bowl and then try to balance everything out.”

As of Oct. 1, the Basic Bowl is made with roasted sweet potato, broccoli, citrusy kale, curried chickpeas, chimichurri and grains. But Layton said the bowl will soon change “into something new and a little bit more balanced and just a bit more healthy,” so keep an eye out on the updated bowl, or stop in now to try it as is.

Beech
864 Island Park Circle (Daniel Island)
1739 Maybank Hwy. (James Island)
315 King St. (Downtown)
475 E. Bay St. (Downtown)
1973 Riviera Drive (Mount Pleasant)
beechrestaurants.com

Beech serves bowls packed with fresh fruits and veggies Credit: Provided

Beech’s menu focuses on health-conscious food with several acai and poke bowls packed with fresh fruits, granola and vegetables. Each bowl is based on “the four pillars of a balanced diet: fruit, fish, rice and vegetables.”

With its acai bowls, like the Beech Bowl, the restaurant uses organic fruits and gluten-free granola for a bowl filled with nutrients and antioxidants. Its poke bowls follow the same method, using fresh fish, grains and vegetables for a flavorful Hawaiian-inspired bowl.

Dellzville
(Edit: Dellzville has closed to concentrate on getting their products into stores)
1617 Ashley River Road (West Ashley)
dellzville.com

Dellzville offers tasty bowl options for vegetarians and meat eaters | Photo by Ruta Smith

Dellzville, once the beloved Dellz Uptown on Rutledge Avenue, is now a fun spot in West Ashley with a bright pink building and red sign on Ashley River Road. Like the other restaurants on this list, Dellzville offers health-focused foods, making nearly every dish from scratch and sourcing from local farms. Though many options on the menu are vegan and vegetarian-friendly, there’s options for meat-eaters, like the Mahi Bowl.

The Mahi Bowl is a well-rounded dish of creaminess, crunchiness, sweetness and acidity. With wild-caught mahi, the bowl’s base uses organic rice, topped with black beans, tomato and carrots and mixed greens for some crunch, and mango salsa and avocado for a creamy texture. Squeeze the lime wedge served in the bowl to balance the meal with a tart topping.

Gogibop
221 Spring St. (Downtown)
(843) 793-4441
gogibop.com

Gogibop is one of the latest additions to downtown Charleston, located just before the bridge into West Ashley. Inspired by the Korean dish, bibimbap (rice and veggies in a bowl), Gogibop offers combination rice bowls with vegetables and fresh-cooked proteins such as pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu and beef. Think of a poke bowl, but with hotter ingredients.

While Gogibop offers a handful of signature bowls, you can always customize your own, picking from dozens of ingredients. First, start with a base, choosing from different kinds of rice, sweet potato noodles or kale. Follow it up with a protein, vegetables and fruits such as corn, bean sprouts, mango and more, house-made sauces and dried toppings like wonton chips or peanuts.

Huriyali Gardens
401 Huger St. (Downtown)
2016 Wappoo Drive (James Island)
(843) 207-4436
huriyali.com

Though many health-conscious folks flock to Huriyali for its juices and smoothies (winning Best Juice/Smoothie Bar in City Paper’s Best Of awards for several years), the couple-owned establishment is known best for its acai bowls (winning Best Acai Bowl in Best Of Charleston 2023).

The chocolate acai bowl may not sound healthy, but it’s packed with nutrients and antioxidants. It’s a tasty treat that can be both dinner and dessert. The bowl is based with acai, banana, strawberry, cacao, house-made peanut butter and coconut water for an acidic, sweet and bitter trifecta of flavor and topped with cut fruit, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and vegan peanut butter bars for a crunchy texture. A house-made chocolate drizzles the flavor-packed bowl for some extra creaminess.

Kairo’s Mediterranean
975 Savannah Hwy. (West Ashley)
1100 Bowman Road (Mount Pleasant)
1200 North Main St. (Summerville)
eatkairos.com

Choose your own adventure at Kairo’s Mediterranean where you can build a bowl from the base up, adding proteins, veggies and more | Photo by Jonathan Boncek

Though Mediterranean food can typically be found wrapped in pita (gyros, for example), a lot of traditional Mediterranean ingredients such as hummus or tzatziki “jive well together” with vegetables, proteins and falafel, according to Kairo’s Mediterranean owner Cary Chastain.

With the Kairo’s Bowl, you can make it a whole different meal each time, choosing from dozens of options of greens, rice, protein, vegetables and even sauces. For Chastain, his go-to Kairo’s Bowl is half a scoop of rice and lentils, chicken, sweet potatoes, cucumber, cabbage, feta and red peppers, topped with hummus or a spicy harissa.

Poke Bowls

Poke bowls are a classic food bowl from Hawaii, with a rice base, ahi tuna and some vegetables. The poke bowl has found its way across the world to the Lowcountry with a handful of shops dedicated to sharing the fresh delicacy of the islands.