It’s awards season in foodie land! Earlier this month, Bon Appetit released its list of the country’s best new restaurants (including King BBQ and Bintü Atelier).
And today, The New York Times announced its list of favorite new (and old) restaurants in America, including Johns Island’s Lost Isle.
The methodology for these lists varies by publication but generally includes writers and editors who traverse the country, looking for the best food — and ambiance — that restaurants have to offer. This particular NYT list includes 29 new restaurants opened in the past year, plus 21 older establishments that are “still in top form.”
Patrick Farrell wrote this of Lost Isle, which opened in December 2023: “There’s a party going on behind a tattered ranch house outside Charleston: a cluster of tables, under swoops of sailcloth and some improbable-looking outdoor chandeliers, where the entire menu is cooked just a few feet away over open fires of white oak.”
“A party” is an accurate way to describe Lost Isle, with its open air concept, live-fire cooking and house cocktails on tap. In an interview with Charleston City Paper last year, co-owner T.J. Lynch said: “A lot of people are just excited for something different. When options become very similar, it gets boring very fast.”
- Learn more about the restaurant online at lostislechs.com and check out the NYT’s full list of favorite restaurants at nytimes.com.
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