How to Spend a Weekend Eating in Charleston, South Carolina

Friday

Charleston offers a lot of bang for your buck.

Most cities have their own certain aura when you’re traveling there:

• New York City to live large, hail a cab, and eat pizza and bagels
• Nashville to buy a cowboy hat and listen to country music while eating BBQ and hot chicken
• New Orleans to drink more than ever imagined while stumbling your way up and down the French Quarter to the exciting sounds of jazz

On a Charleston visit, you can hit several different vibes in several different parts, almost like New York boroughs each with their own personality. You go Downtown to enjoy some history and explore King Street. You go to Mt. Pleasant for a quiet but classy mix of restaurants and sightseeing. And take your pick of Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, or Folly Beach for your classic beach town experience.

Yet what unites every one of these is an impeccable food scene.

So I ventured east to check out each of these charming Charleston experiences and enjoy dining of all kinds in all types of environments.

1:00 PM – Leaving Atlanta

We drive up to Charleston. This drive is in that murky 4.5-hour window, where you can’t quite knock it out in one fell swoop but it’s not something you need to clear your whole day for. There’s a decent amount of “keep straight for X miles” stretches so this is a largely mind-numbing drive. I still don’t know what we will be eating at Graze at 7:00 PM but I do know I will be needing a drink.

5:00 PM – Arrival in Charleston

We begin our descent into Charleston. We are staying in the small suburb of Charleston called Mt. Pleasant, which is connected to the main city via the scenic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, cutting over the Cooper River and offering a stunning view in the meantime. It certainly makes the Friday evening bumper-to-bumper traffic that much more tolerable. 

I have a personal policy that as soon as I enter a coastal town between the months of March and October, the windows must be down. This makes for a lovely final stretch of our drive as we arrive at our Airbnb.

7:00 PM – Graze Restaurant

Our first meal of the weekend is a much-needed dinner at Graze, a Mt. Pleasant staple. We seized the opportunity of a perfect spring evening in the low 70s and sat on the patio. As the prophecy foretold, we got cocktails to shake the road trip rust off. I got the Cilantro Jalapeño Margarita with El Jimador Reposado Tequila, cilantro, jalapeno, triple sec, and lime juice; my fiancee got the Aviation 10 with Botanist Gin, Luxardo, crème de violette, and lemon juice. Both libations were perfect for sipping on a crisp twilight in March.

For our appetizers, we split two dishes. The House-Made Perogies are the talk of the town, and it was clear why as soon as we tried them. They had a simple yet fulfilling bite and were elevated to the extreme by the mounds of caramelized onion and bacon. The Pulled Pork & Collard Green Mac n Cheese was delicious by mathematical inevitability: how could these items combined not turn out tremendous, especially with the addition of crispy pork rinds? The BBQ flavor was forward but not overwhelming.

For our entrees, we split two Craft Tacos: Citrus-Chili Short Rib with honey-chipotle crema and mango relish (delicious) and Cilantro-Lime Buffalo Shrimp with arugula, bleu cheese, and celery leaves (double delicious). We also got the Shrimp Pad Thai which was satisfying but probably not the best thing we could have ordered at a non-Thai spot.

We made sure to save room for a quick trip to Sullivan’s Island for my favorite treat in the southeast.

8:30 PM – Beardcat’s Sweets Shop

While The Obstinate Daughter is one of the most beloved and respected restaurants in South Carolina, I personally believe the star of the show is downstairs in their ice cream shop, Beardcat’s Sweets Shop. They have ice cream sandwiches on homemade cookies with homemade ice cream. Similar to the Pulled Pork & Collard Green Mac n Cheese, how could these factors not yield a mindblowing sum?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We got three ice cream sandwiches (we were on vacation, after all): chocolate chip cookies with vanilla gelato, oatmeal cookies with cream cheese gelato, and sugar cookies with strawberry gelato. Each was unique in texture and flavor yet bonded by the theme of deliciousness. The chocolate chip with vanilla was a classic that got better with each bite. The oatmeal with cream cheese could very easily have been a brunch dish (please alert me if you see it for $24 on a brunch menu so I can get my credit as well as order it). The sugar with strawberry reminded me of a strawberry shortcake, with an unassuming flavor profile from the simple sugar cookie with the gaps filled by the rich strawberry flavor.

This was a mighty way to christen our Charleston weekend. We got back and called it an early night because Saturday was shaping up to be a marathon.

Saturday

8:00 AM – Mozzo Deli

We started our day nice and early (after all, the earlier you eat breakfast the earlier you can eat your mid-day snack, then lunch, etc.) at a popular spot called Mozzo Deli, which specializes in breakfast, lunch, and anything and everything served on bread. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mozzo Deli is the kind of place that makes me wish I was a Mt. Pleasant local just so I could eat here every day. There are so many breakfast and lunch options, all propelled by their phenomenal baked goods and other deli specialties, so it was a grueling challenge to figure out the two dishes we were ordering.

The Breakfast Burrito was one of the best I’ve eaten, stuffed to the max with sausage, green chilis, potatoes, cheese, and chipotle sauce. The potatoes have a soft, cloudy texture that complements the crispy tortilla nicely, and the green chilis add a tart spice that elevates the creamy and saucy chipotle sauce. 

We also got the Egg Sandwich on ciabatta with bacon. It was a huge challenge to narrow it down to the bread and meat, yet another reason I wish I could live a block away and become a regular. 

10:00 AM – Driving Downtown

One of the most convenient parts of staying around Charleston is how centralized everything is; getting from point A to point B is never longer than a 20-minute drive. We made our way to the bustling main road of King Street, Charleston’s version of Bourbon or Beale Street, lined with restaurants, bars, and boutiques. 

We couldn’t have pulled strings for a better day of weather, so we made sure to maximize the amount of time spent outdoors. After finding a prime parking spot (the meter was down so every hour or so we made sure to pass by to make sure my car was still there), we walked to the Hotel Bennett which we heard had an unmissable rooftop bar. 

It’s unmissable unless it’s before noon because that’s when it opens. So we grabbed a quick drink on their ground-level patio before making our way over to the Charleston Museum, the oldest in the country (250 years old in 2023, predating the USA itself!) to kill some time with a little taste of history. 

12:30 PM – Fiat Lux at the Hotel Bennett

We finally made our way up to the long-promised rooftop bar of the Hotel Bennett, called the Fiat Lux. It offers a stunning panoramic view of downtown Charleston, which would have been impressive no matter the day, but it was taken to the next level on a cloudless day in the high 70s. 

There was a considerable crowd, thanks to a few weddings and some sort of Zeta sorority event (I don’t mean to generalize or stereotype but these ladies in matching pink dresses literally sounded like anybody’s drunken impersonation of sorority girls: “I just got you an Aperol Spritz” “Oh my God, that’s EXACTLY what I wanted!”)

Once we finally put in our drink order, my fiancee got the aforementioned Aperol Spritz (she’s also a sorority girl at heart) and I got the Bennett Buzz: a tequila-driven take on the espresso martini with Casamigos, espresso, Frangelico, and hazelnut. It’s tough to find a much better way to kick off the afternoon. 

2:00 PM – Félix Cocktails et Cuisine

Sprinting through the Charleston Museum and drinking on a rooftop are surefire ways to build up an appetite. We weren’t sure where to visit, but on our way out we visited the hotel concierge who recommended we go to Félix and get the unbelievable club sandwich (experiences like this are why I personally believe hotels will ultimately beat out Airbnbs).

After a quick stroll back down King Street, we ended up at this bright and charming French-inspired brasserie. Due to the mid-afternoon hour, we were seated right away and got the concierge’s recommendation as well as the Salade de Chèvre Chaud. 

The salad was so much better than it had business being: arugula tossed in a champagne vinaigrette, candied pecans, pickled red onions, and warm chèvre toast points. The chèvre was an absolute flavor bomb, maybe the richest thing we ate all weekend, and the autumnal warmth of the sweet and spicy pecans was a comforting add-on.

I fully see why the Brasserie Club came so highly recommended: it was loaded up with impossibly juicy chicken, thick-cut bacon, tomato, arugula, Parisian ham, and jalapeno-leek aioli on buttered up and toasted brioche. This was one of the tastiest and moistest bites I’ve ever had, literally dripping with each bite but never in a greasy or overly heavy way.

Our long day was starting to take its toll, so I ended the meal with an espresso shot.

3:00 PM – Republic Ice Cream

The day was starting to warm up and the forecasted rain was gracing us with some humidity, so Republic Ice Cream was a welcome sight. We got the Cherry on Top flavor, which was made with a sweet vanilla blend and cherries soaked in French brandy. This was the cherry on top of our afternoon.

As we started walking out, we came across a coronation event of sorts for the Citadel, so we stood idly by as they marched down the shut-down King Street with pomp and circumstance. We took a quick stop down the street at the historic Joseph Manigault House (only giving tours by the hour so, rather than wait another twenty precious minutes, we took a lap then left)

4:00 PM – Dewberry Hotel

Once you get bitten by the rooftop bar bug you can’t go back, so we went to the nearby Dewberry Hotel with the Citrus Club on the roof. Unfortunately, due to the impending rain the rooftop was closed so we bide our time in the “living room” lobby bar. It turned out to be a viable substitute, where we sipped espresso martinis while chatting with a few other couples sitting in our section. After an hour or so, we were ready to move the car towards our eventual dinner spot, Anson Restaurant. 

5:30 PM – Church and Union

We found a lot close to our dinner spot, then we strolled right around the corner to this spot that used to be a church. The Church and Union experience is memorable from the moment you walk in, with stained glass windows framing the bar and the full manuscript to The Art of War written on the ceiling. We each got a drink and split a half dozen oysters before heading up the street to our next spot.

6:30 PM – Well Hung Vineyard

I don’t have much to say about Well Hung Vineyard since we just each got a glass of wine. The branding was playful and the food menu looked promising, though we had to hold out for our dinner.

7:30 PM – Anson Restaurant

I don’t know what was going through my mind when I booked a 9:00 PM dinner reservation, besides a lack of available slots, but this was not going to work so we decided to try our luck and stop in earlier to see if there was any negotiating to be done. Maybe I’m a shrewd negotiator or maybe there were just several available tables but we were luckily able to be seated 90 minutes before our original time. 

This meal was a belated engagement celebration of sorts so we wanted to ball out a bit more than usual for this meal. We started off splitting half a bottle of cabernet sauvignon (the half bottle concept is one I’d love to see more of in the restaurant world) before placing our dinner order.

The Fried Green Tomatoes came out first, served with a delicious smokey bacon jam and a healthy dollop of pimento cheese. Next we got a side order of Crispy Brussels Sprouts as an appetizer; these were extra flavorful thanks to fish sauce, chilis, scallions, and cashews, each of which added its own layer of umami, spice, and crunch.

For our entrees, we got the Filet Mignon and were talked into adding on the chili crisp butter, which was honestly unnecessary and didn’t really add to the flavor of the steak. The Pan Seared Scallops were rich and served with a cheesy gnocchi that complemented them well. We also got a side order of house-ground Grits, which was nice and basic but super fresh and flavorful. 

We had initially put in a dessert order of Pecan Pie a la Mode, but nearly 12 hours of constant eating and drinking had bested us so we regrettingly had to cancel that order.

After we paid, we walked around a bit, befriended some carriage horses, and made our way back to call it a night. 

Sunday

8:00 AM – Acme Low Country Kitchen

As soon as we woke up, we could tell there was an impending storm. As much as I love driving several hours in intense weather conditions, we opted to grab breakfast as early as possible and hit the road. 

After spending time in downtown Charleston, Sullivan’s Island, and Mt. Pleasant, we wanted to show Isle of Palms some love so we went to Acme Low Country Kitchen.

This spot is down-home and oozing with comfort, so we each got a dish that met the mark. I got the Holy City Hash, roasted potatoes topped with braised corned beef, red onions, and fried eggs, and topped with a heavy smoked gouda cream, and my fiancee got the Mount Pleasant Benedict: fried green tomatoes and poached eggs on an English Muffin with hollandaise sauce. The potatoes in the hash were particularly crispy and flavorful, the corned beef was super pleasant, and the gouda cream, while heavier than I typically aim for with breakfast, was a nice element.  

9:00 AM – Leaving Charleston

With full bellies and a clear road, we embarked back west to Atlanta in predictably disastrous weather.

Farewell, Charleston, Isle of Palms, Mt. Pleasant, and Sullivan’s Island. Until we meet again.