Overview:
In any food-driven city — but especially one as competitive as Charleston — owning a restaurant is not only a gamble, but a constant commitment.
In any food-driven city — but especially one as competitive as Charleston — owning a restaurant is not only a gamble, but a constant commitment. For many of the city’s culinary institutions, struggles and triumphs are served in equal measure, community support is vital and sustained success is a moving target.
It all begs the question: In 2024, what does a successful restaurant look like?
Butcher & Bee: A case study on Morrison Drive
News broke in August 2023 that Butcher & Bee, Michael Shemtov’s much-loved Southern-Israeli restaurant, would close after more than a decade. The decision came as a surprise and a reflection of the common trials owners face and the shifting landscape of “what works” today.
Butcher & Bee was no stranger to pivots, beginning as a lunchtime and late-night King Street sandwich shop and evolving to a more polished operation on Morrison Drive. According to Shemtov, however, running “the Bee” was an uphill battle. The need for a huge staff was met with a dwindling labor force. Rising production costs complicated the wholesale bakery arm.
“You can only keep a passion project going for so long,” Shemtov said. “I would have loved for it to be a passion project that was also profitable.”
Though the closure was certainly financial, Shemtov called it a lifestyle choice, too.
“If you look at what’s working in Charleston, it’s smaller places that are truly owner-operated,” he said. “At this point in my life, I’m just not interested in being on-site six nights a week to make something work. I had the luxury of raising my hand and saying, ‘that was enough.’ ”
In its final months, the space converted to a pop-up of The Daily, the group’s beloved neighborhood cafe. The experiment was consciously geared toward locals, who’d long felt crowded out at the King Street location.
Despite instant community support, “We weren’t able to find the spark from key team members as we transitioned from full-service to a daytime cafe,” said marketing director Tara Pate. “It goes to show how a restaurant can and should be of the people, even if it doesn’t work out as we’d hoped.”
The state of the neighborhood restaurant
To James London of Chubby Fish, Shemtov’s read on the role of the chef-owner rings true.
“One thing they don’t teach you in culinary school is that you have to live and breathe this business,” he said. “You have to be so invested that you push everything else aside to make it work — even here, in this tiny, 1,000-square-foot space. There aren’t many people who can make that sacrifice.”
He said he feels a few key commitments — local, daily catch only and a no-nonsense approach in the dining room — have paid off. A no-reservations establishment, Chubby Fish still draws an enthusiastic crowd at nearly every service, despite resisting any formal public relations in an attempt to keep much of its patronage local.
“It may hurt us when it comes time for awards and whatnot, but at the end of the day, we get a room full of people that we know, and that’s huge for us,” London said.
Brooks Reitz, owner of Leon’s Oyster Shop, Little Jack’s Tavern and Melfi’s, added the way that his team markets to customers has completely changed since his arrival in Charleston 15 years ago.
“[Back then], you opened a restaurant, hoped for a good review and built a crowd steadily,” he said.
As the scene gets more crowded, however, it’s become a game of catching (and keeping) folks’ attention.
“We took the risk, and it paid off, opening our restaurants in an area without much competition. But there’s a lot of noise now, and the appetite for content is exhausting,” Reitz said.
Still, he preaches the gospel of consistency.
“I think diners still crave familiarity, and that’s our formula,” he said. “Everyone’s busy the first couple months. What matters is the consistency you deliver six months, a year, 10 years in. That’s what keeps us on our toes.”
To Nayda Hutson, co-owner of Renzo, the secret to survival lies in flexibility. While the wood-fired pizza spot opened in 2018 as an upscale wine bar serving “esoteric” small plates, Hutson quickly realized people wanted something different.
“You can choose your own adventure here,” she said, reflecting on how Renzo eventually evolved. “You can sit at the bar and have a margherita pizza and a house red, or you can order hand-made pasta and a bottle of nice burgundy and have a night that feels special.
“A lot of places claim to be neighborhood restaurants, but they’re not actually for the neighborhood,” Hutson added.
Today, Renzo operates with those neighbors in mind, whether it’s retaining as much weeknight pricing as possible, running popular special menus a few nights a year, or clinging to a hybrid of reservations and walk-ins. This way, she said, out-of-towners typically visit the restaurant “on purpose,” and regulars can often count on a seat.
The new guard
While stalwarts of the scene find ways to stay afloat, a new crop is also finding its footing. In Cannonborough, Kultura’s opening has fed an appetite for a richer diversity of cuisines — one chef-owner Nikko Cagalanan observed while running his Filipino pop-up, Mansueta’s.
The sanctity of a brick-and-mortar isn’t lost on the chef, who spent years hauling burners, borrowing kitchens and building a following. Today, he’s an intentional advocate for the city’s pop-up concepts, often helmed by underrepresented chefs.
“This is more than just a restaurant to me,” he said. “It’s a chance to represent my culture, and hopefully give other chefs the opportunity to come in and share theirs.”
While major press accolades, such as being named Eater’s South Carolina Restaurant of the Year, have spurred an initial wave of diners, the team hustles to keep momentum.
“There’s little divide between front and back of house,” said Cagalanan, who opened Kultura with his now-fiance, Baguette Magic co-owner Paula Kramer. “In this industry, I highly suggest finding your equal partner,” he added. “It’s 100% easier when you have somebody sharing the goal, the hardships.”
Also in Cannonborough, the success of Vern’s has proven that the small, neighborhood model is worth its salt. Opened in July 2022 by chef Daniel “Dano” Heinze and operations manager and sommelier Bethany Heinze, the intimate space seats a mere 50 guests, and the owners are hands-on in every conceivable way — by enthusiastic choice.
“When we decided to open an independent restaurant, we knew Charleston was supportive of that model,” said Bethany Heinze, who came up in the local scene with her husband before a half-decade in Los Angeles. “I think it really thrives here, more so than in other cities.”
Though the restaurant has already received major kudos — a James Beard nod for Best Chef: Southeast and inclusion on The New York Times’ America’s Best Restaurants 2023 list — the restaurant nurtures relationships with neighbors and industry friends first.
“We’re a place that really cares about regulars, so we work to make sure they can still get in the door,” Bethany Heinze said. “Savvy travelers want to know where locals eat. They want to know where their servers and bartenders go on their night off, and there’s no greater compliment than being a place they’d recommend.”
Shared challenges, collective evolution
Echoing the reality at The Daily, any proprietor will agree that a concept is nothing without the right people. To Hutson, deep confidence in Renzo’s team, helmed by chef Colin Marcelli, earns her a balance.
“I think when you’re an owner, people do want to see you there. They want to talk to you and know you’re part of it,” she said. “I am here a lot because I like being that glue, but on the food side, I trust Colin completely,” she said.
And while staff retention and wage demands remain some of the industry’s greatest challenges, many are working to flip the script.
“Historically, the restaurants haven’t taken care of their people,” said London, who’s made a point to close Chubby Fish twice a year — for many, it’s the first paid vacation they’ve received in hospitality. “I want my people to feel like they can make an actual life and career out of this business.”
Daniel Heinze agrees, and works to nurture an environment at Vern’s that’s different from the one he trained in. “It definitely weeded out a lot of people that might have gone on to be great chefs if they’d been treated more fairly,” he said.
As the year unfolds, there’s a clear understanding that enduring in the restaurant business is a constant test of time, finances and (often) peace, fueled by the drive to be a meaningful part of people’s lives. Still, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula.
“I think you make your own luck,” Reitz said. “But the real secret, if there is one, is remaining humble, being open to feedback, knowing what you don’t know and keeping your ego in check when success comes. Because it isn’t promised tomorrow.”
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