While downtown often gets the glory when it comes to Charleston’s best cuisine, some of the most delicious restaurants in the area are off the peninsula. From a treasured beach spot to the 2026 Best New Restaurant winner in Charleston City Paper’s Best Of Charleston awards, here are five stellar meals you’ll find outside downtown.
Obstinate Daughter is an island trailblazer
When Jacques Larson and Doug Godley opened the Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan’s Island in 2014, the duo was well-versed in fine dining outside of downtown. Wild Olive, their Italian restaurant on Johns Island, has been a Lowcountry favorite since 2009.
At Obstinate Daughter, Larson — a two-time James Beard Award nominated chef — serves a seasonal Southern menu influenced by French, Italian and Spanish cuisine. Think pizza, pasta, small plates and a raw bar highlighting the best that local ingredients have to offer.
Diners enjoy plates like a shrimp roll with Marsh Hen Mill frites, ricotta gnocchi with short rib ragu and pesce a la plancha (fish grilled on a metal plate) with Carolina gold rice “risotto.”
“The Obstinate Daughter has evolved into something bigger than I ever would have imagined,” Larson said. “In a profession that is notorious for its high turnover, I am grateful and proud that we have created two restaurants in Charleston where people enjoy working and dedicate themselves to be some of the best in the food and beverage industry in Charleston.”
Larson shared an early Wild Olive anecdote when an octopus special quickly sold out. It showed that sky was the limit, a sentiment that he took with him to Obstinate Daughter.
“I felt like we could accomplish something ‘out in the boonies’ that I was never able to do downtown. I was so excited. It was possible to do serious food off the peninsula.”
Lost Isle sizzles on Johns Island
Lost Isle has been dazzling diners since it opened on Johns Island in December 2023. Listed as one of The New York Times’s 50 best restaurants in the United States in 2024 and Southern Living’s 2025 Restaurant of the Year, Lost Isle is an open-air concept centered around open-fire cooking.
When dining there, guests are surrounded by towering trees while the smell of smoke engulfs them — a sensation almost impossible to find downtown.
“We wanted to do something a little different than everything else in town,” said Josh Taylor, chef and partner at Lost Isle. “A spot popped up on Johns Island that seemed like it would be the perfect fit, so we jumped on it.”
The restaurant has small plates like smoked fish dip and whipped ricotta with charred tomato. Mains like fire roasted Sapelo Island clams and charcoal grilled chicken are complemented by sides like curry braised collards and crispy grit cakes.
“I think my favorite part is the people we get coming back over and over again from the neighborhoods on the island,” said Taylor. “We are super happy to be on Johns Island and be able to offer a unique experience and have people be open and receptive to it.”
Lola Rose bridges downtown and North Mount Pleasant
Kevin Johnson, a multiple James Beard Award nominee, opened Lola Rose in North Mount Pleasant in August 2023. He has been at the helm of downtown’s The Grocery for more than a decade, and geography played a big role when he and his wife Susan looked for a location for their second concept. They picked North Mount Pleasant because they have lived in the area for more than two decades. And while you could find casual dining, they thought something a step above was elusive.
As anyone who has driven north on U.S. Highway 17 recently can attest, development has been exponential. Johnson noted that with the increase of commercial development, the needs of the growing population have also increased.
“It’s fulfilling to do something in your own community, and fun to see so many people we know through our kids’ schools, sports, or neighborhood.”
The Lola Rose menu highlights many of the same producers that shine at The Grocery. Diners will find dishes like field pea hummus, Sicilian meatballs and potato and ricotta gnocchi with spring peas, mushroom and crispy prosciutto. The pizza offering is extensive and pies include a margherita and a cacio e pepe.
“This is our first experience being a truly neighborhood spot,” Johnson said. “It has been incredibly rewarding for our staff to build relationships with so many regulars and wonderful to reconnect with old teachers, parents from past sports teams, all while giving back to our neighborhood.”
Laura doubles down on Summerville
Chef Nico Romo and his hospitality group are no stranger to successful Charleston restaurants. A native of Lyon, France, Romo started as executive chef at downtown’s FISH restaurant before opening NICO in Mount Pleasant in 2017. Bistronomy, his French bistro, opened downtown in 2020 and Romo ventured to Summerville to open Laura two years later.
“Summerville was a great choice for our next property because the area was growing quickly,” said Romo. “We loved that Summerville had the growth opportunity to support more and more restaurants and local businesses entering the area, while still maintaining a charming small-town feel.”
That feel plus the close-knit vibe in the area even propelled the group to open a fourth property, Kersey House, right across North Main Street from Laura.
Laura serves food like a tomato tart with whipped ricotta, Neapolitan pizzas, classic fettuccine Alfredo, scallops with asparagus risotto and eggplant parmesan.
Hesitant to make the trip north?
“If you live in Charleston and haven’t been to check out what Summerville has to offer in terms of awesome restaurants and local businesses, you are missing out,” Romo said. “It is truly worth the drive.”
Cane Pazzo is Charleston’s best new restaurant
Mark Bolchoz, a native Charlestonian and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, opened Hanahan’s Cane Pazzo in June 2025. Just this week, City Paper readers crowned it as the area’s best new restaurant in the newspaper’s 2026 Best of Charleston awards.
The restaurant is Bolchoz’s first solo venture after cooking in kitchens like Peninsula Grill, The Grocery and Indaco. Most recently, he oversaw Italian concepts as culinary director for the Indigo Road Hospitality Group.
He and his wife Ariana “created the kind of place they’d always dreamed of: family-owned, approachable and welcoming to all,” as shared on Cane Pazzo’s website.
The menu is built on ingredients from an all-star list of local purveyors such as Abundant Seafood and Storey Farms. Dishes like wood-fired oysters, crispy mozzarella, linguine with local clams and house pancetta and Kansas City strip steak with wild ramp chimichurri highlight seasonal ingredients and the wood fire oven.
Bolchoz said that with every passing week, his choice to open in Hanahan makes more sense
to people.
“We still have plenty of people who are surprised, but I think a lot of people probably thought this was a moonshot in June when we opened. That’s all been kind of proven untrue so that’s been huge.”
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