With so many great restaurants in Charleston, we thought it would be helpful to create a new list of great longtime, proven restaurants that always offer an outstanding experience to create some space in our Top 50 list for the increasing volume of places where you can get a superb meal. Here are 11 Charleston Classic restaurants that we return to time and time again, knowing we’re going to have an enjoyable evening with food prepared by masters.
Organized in alphabetical order.
82 Queen (1982)
Southern
Moderate
Downtown. 82 Queen St. (843) 723-7591
82queen.com
Serving Dinner (daily), Lunch (Mon.-Fri.), Sunday Brunch
The story goes that in 1982, three local restaurateurs decided to open a restaurant that focused on fresh, local cuisine and quintessential Southern hospitality. The result was longstanding French Quarter favorite, 82 Queen, which serves tasty, Southern fare, from fried green tomatoes to shrimp and grits. You’d be remiss, though, to visit the spot without ordering its famous she-crab soup. 82 Queen’s sous chef Lamont Ferrebee said the 43-year-old restaurant’s soup, made with a pound of white crab meat, is a longtime favorite for a reason: “Experience and consistency are the keys to any great product, and our she-crab soup is no different.”
Bertha’s Kitchen (1981)
Soul Food
Inexpensive
Downtown. 2332 Meeting Street Road.
(843) 554-6519
Serving Lunch, Dinner (Mon.-Fri.)
Head up Meeting Street until you see a two-story robin’s egg blue building with purple trim and a line stretching out the door. The Southern soul food platters here are so tasty, generous and inexpensive, that the line starts forming well before it’s open for lunch. Businessmen, laborers and far-flung tourists alike shuffle through the quick cafeteria-style service counter loaded with a smorgasbord of meat and threes, such as fried pork chops, fish specials, yams, stewed greens, home-style mac-and-cheese, limas nestled with smoked turkey necks, dark roux okra soup, moist cornbread and fried chicken better than anyone’s Grandma ever made. Bertha’s building was for sale earlier this year, but has since been taken off the market.
Bowens Island Restaurant (1946)
Seafood
Moderate
James Island. 1870 Bowens Island Road.
(843) 795-2757
bowensisland.com
Serving Dinner (Tues.-Sat.)
Don’t expect white tablecloth and maitre d’service at Bowens Island. It’s famously no frills, but it’s worth it. The nightly crowds are a testament to the family fish camp. Since its founding in 1946, it’s grown from a grimy, albeit quaint, cinder block outpost to a pluff-mud pantheon that offers up damn good fried seafood, hushpuppies and cold local beer in its upstairs dining room. Follow your nose downstairs and elbow-out yourself a space at the all-you-can-eat oyster tables and slurp down tasty local oysters by the shovelful that were likely pulled off the marsh that day. Oyster season or not, we struggle to pass up the Frogmore Stew, a pot full of potatoes, sausage, corn on the cob and shrimp steamed together as God intended it.
Dave’s Carry-Out (1997)
Soul Food/Seafood
Inexpensive
Downtown. 42-C Morris St. (843) 577-7943
facebook.com/Daves-Carry-Out-111720082197029/
Serving Lunch, Dinner (Tues.-Sat.)
This soul food joint offers a true taste of Charleston. For under $10 you can get a takeout box filled to the brim with the best of Lowcountry cooking like pork chops, crispy chicken wings and finger-lickin’ ribs. The selection of sides is small but tasty — try the lima beans, thick steak fries or rice. The lunch specials change daily, but your best bet is to go with a seafood platter, which ranges from $10 for a generous portion of shrimp to $20 for shrimp, fish, scallops and deviled crab. If you want a true local experience, opt for the lima beans and rice. It’s meaty and filling. A few tables allow customers to dine in, but most folks get their Dave’s to-go, whether for lunch or a greasy late-night snack.
FIG (2003)
Modern American
Very Expensive
Downtown. 232 Meeting St. (843) 805-5900
eatatfig.com
Serving Dinner (Tues.-Sat.)
In 2003, chef Mike Lata set out to prove that “food is good.” After blazing a trail for the robust local farm-to-table restaurant scene, FIG still stands out, winning awards and creating devotees year after year. Although snagging a reservation can be a challenge, the seasonally inspired cuisine and impeccable service are worth the effort. Change is a constant, but stalwart menu standbys, like the pillowy ricotta gnocchi alla bolognese, never fail to satisfy. Be sure to check out the wine offerings, as — along with two nods for Best Chef Southeast — FIG is also a national James Beard award-winner for Outstanding Wine Program.
G&M Fast and French (1984)
French
Moderate
Downtown. 98 Broad St. (843)-577-9797
fastandfrenchcharleston.com
Serving Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (daily)
Gaulart & Maliclet Café, also known as Fast & French, has graced Charleston for more than four decades. While it certainly doesn’t have trouble keeping seats filled, this luscious little jewel doesn’t get half of the praise it deserves. Any place that can actually survive in a downtown location for 40 years is practically a memorial. Fast & French walks the line between relevant and quaint, trendy and authentic, and it keeps things wallet-friendly.
Halls Chophouse (2009)
Steakhouse
Expensive
Downtown. 434 King St. (843) 727-0090
Hallschophouse.com
Serving Dinner (Mon.-Thurs.), Lunch (Sat.-Sun.)
Sure, there are newer and “hotter” restaurants, but Halls Chophouse is a special occasion classic for a reason. You can’t get better service with your steak, the wine list includes some unexpected offerings and the cocktails are generous. And the steak, of course, is fabulous. Pro tip: Order the giant tomahawk cut and split it. One diner told us to order any of the dried aged steaks, especially if you need a reason to cry tears of joy. “While I have only eaten there a few times for dinner,” he said. “I dream of the next opportunity to go back.”
Oak Steakhouse (2005)
Steakhouse
Expensive
Downtown. 17 Broad St. (843) 722-4220
oaksteakhouserestaurant.com
Serving Dinner (daily)
Located in a restored 150-year-old bank building, Oak is a long-running favorite for a big Charleston night out. Hefty prime ribeyes and strips are the main attractions, with luxurious family-style accompaniments like creamy whipped potatoes and lobster mac and cheese. Within the traditional steakhouse format, there is always a twist or two, like a daily local seafood special or beef belly with sorghum barbecue sauce. The deep wine list focuses on California reds, and the service is reliably top-notch whether you eat downstairs in the bar area, with its exposed brick walls and clubby red leather booths, or at the white cloth-draped tables in the second-story dining room, its high windows looking out over Broad Street.
Peninsula Grill (1997)
New Southern
Very Expensive
Downtown. 112 N. Market St. (843) 723-0700
peninsulagrill.com
Serving Dinner (daily)
There are milestones in life that require a fancy steak. Or at least the kind of place where one can get a fancy steak. If you’re in the midst of such an occasion, Peninsula Grill has got you covered. Even after more than two decades, Peninsula Grill continues to impress with its luxurious fare. Pro tip: Don’t forget a slice of the spot’s iconic coconut cake.
Slightly North of Broad (1993)
New Southern
Expensive
Downtown. 192 East Bay St. (843) 723-3424
snobcharleston.com
Serving Lunch (Mon.-Fri.), Dinner (daily), Weekend Brunch
SNOB is the perfect place to introduce visiting friends to Charleston cuisine, for it embodies so much of what makes the city’s dining scene special. Since taking the reins in 2016, executive chef Russ Moore has deftly balanced the restaurant’s traditional dishes with forward-looking fare. Pristinely fresh seafood gets an elegant Southern touch on plates like New Bedford scallops with tomato ham hock broth, or seared tuna topped with crisp -fried oysters and tart yellow “mustard Q” sauce. SNOB was a local charcuterie pioneer, so a platter of hearty country pate, savory pork rillettes and lush chicken liver mousse is a can’t-miss starter.
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