Charleston dining saw a year of expansion and contraction in 2024, with some longstanding restaurants shuttering and some up-and-comers opening their doors. More notably, perhaps, were restaurants that pivoted — changing or adding to their existing concepts to better fit the fabric of the city.
While no year can be entirely summed up by bullet points, buzzwords and pithy highlights, we’re certainly going to try. Here are our top dining stories of 2024:
Stalwarts close around town
Some big name restaurants closed this year, including Cru Cafe, Rutledge Cab Co., Harold’s Cabin and, most recently, Barsa Tapas and Lounge.
Cru Cafe owner and executive chef John Zucker cited the lack of good staff as the 23-year-old restaurant’s reason for closing. Every other space noted that new owners would be taking over the restaurants.
New (and not so new) to the scene
Restaurateur/chef Michael Toscano had a banner year. Best known for Italian spot Le Farfalle, Toscano opened three new concepts in 2024, including the sandwich-centric da Toscano Porchetta Shop; da Toscano Fugazzi, an “un-authentic” Italian concept operating out of Revelry Brewing and Blanca Estrada, a pop-up concept dedicated to Mexican cuisine.
Writer Abby Tierney looked “Inside the Uptown Hospitality empire” this year when she talked to the group’s senior partner, Keith Benjamin. UHG opened a second Bodega location on Coleman Boulevard earlier this year, and just this December opened Spring Street spot, By The Way.
Other new and notable bars, restaurants and bakeries include (but are not limited to):
- Tiny Line Street wine bar Roseline
- Durant Avenue bakery Cakette Bakeshop
- Downtown Italian restaurant Legami (which takes over the long vacant space at 492 King Street)
- Felix Cocktails et Cuisine’s sister restaurant, La Cave
- Johns Island bar and restaurant Bar Copa
- Avondale bar All My Exes
- LGBTQ+ friendly North Charleston bar Bar Polari
- Family-friendly Park Circle dining joint Barnyard Chicken
- Brasserie-inspired Meeting Street spot The Select
- Buzzy upper Meeting Street bar and restaurant The Archer
- East Bay’s upscale, modern steak house Marbled & Fin
- Line Street coffee shop City Lights Eastside
- So-Cal inspired Park Circle spot Sissy Bar
- NoMo’s modern Chinese restaurant Xo Brasserie
- Downtown sports bar Cleats
Checking the pulse of restaurants
Tierney also checked in with six area chefs/restaurateurs to attempt to answer the question: In 2024, what does a successful restaurant look like?
While the answer varied for each restaurant, the general consensus was that the relentless food and beverage industry requires full commitment from its participants. As Chubby Fish chef James London said:
“One thing they don’t teach you in culinary school is that you have to live and breathe this business. 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.”
Bars and restaurants pivot
Passion and hard work can only get you so far; sometimes, local bars and restaurants have to change their concepts to meet the changing needs of Charleston diners.
Writer Helen Mitternight chatted with five chefs/restaurateurs about how they had to change to remain relevant.
Cocktail bar Proof decided to add dollar shots to its menu to meet the demands of King Street revelers. Wine bar Bar Rollins chose to close its small location to find a bigger space for its cult followers, and chef Anthony Marini added a nighttime tasting menu to his popular sandwich shop, The Pass, to fuel traffic during dinner hours in an increasingly popular corner of town.
Food festivals see challenges, success
You can’t talk about 2024 without mentioning the record rainfall and high tides that essentially obliterated Charleston Wine + Food’s Culinary Village, in addition to several other high-profile fest events. Wine + Food executive director Alyssa Maute Smith managed to make “wine out of floods” with last-minute changes, but the damage left a lasting impact on the way the festival planned its 2025 schedule. In the coming year, attendees can expect more weather-resistant venues.
The Food & Wine Charleston Classic debuted in town in 2024, bringing with it a number of celebrity chefs and specialty panels. Held during peak hurricane season, the festival narrowly avoided the impacts of Helene, which devastated other parts of the Southeast. The focus on chef demos and discussions — deemed “seminars” by Food & Wine — set this fest apart from the city’s homegrown Wine + Food.
Charleston restaurants in the news
Charleston restaurants continue to top national publications’ and organizations’ lists of best restaurants.
Johns Island’s Lost Isle made The New York Times’s list of favorite new (and old) restaurants this September.
Both Bintu Atelier and King BBQ made Bon Appetit’s rundown of the country’s best new restaurants this fall.
Former Charleston City Paper contributor Robert Moss deemed Palmira Barbecue one of the South’s Best New Barbecue Joints in Southern Living in August. Yelp selected both Xo Brasserie and Costa as two of the best new restaurants in the South this July.
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