Charleston, South Carolina is a full-fledged foodie town. The city’s restaurants expertly use the sea and surrounding areas to create quintessential Southern menus. The city sits below the original coastline of the Carolinas and is therefore often referred to as the Lowcountry. Regional favorites, such as she-crab soup, shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes are staples of Lowcountry cuisine.

This past fall, I spent a long weekend with Annie and two of our friends, eating and drinking our way through Charleston. While there’s no shortage of fabulous dining options, below are my favorites.

The Top 4

Poogan’s Porch

My favorite meal of the trip was lunch at Poogan’s Porch. The restaurant opened in 1976 and is located in the heart of downtown on Queen Street. Originally a spacious home built in the late 1800s, it still exhibits much of that old-world charm.

Even on a Monday in October, we had to wait around 20 minutes without a reservation. That’s usually a good sign! Luckily they have a decent-size bar, so we enjoyed cocktails while we waited. Once seated, we browsed the menu of typical Lowcountry staples. This was our last full day in Charleston and I had already checked off most of the “must-have” dishes on my list. So for this meal, I focused on regional favorites I’d yet to sample.

The four of us began our meal by splitting the fried green tomatoes appetizer. The tomatoes themselves are outstanding but the delectable pimento cheese and bacon jam sauce takes it to a new level. The dish combines the crispy texture of the tomatoes and hits you with a mix of sweet and savory flavors. It was a definite highlight!

Annie and I decided to split an entree, so I also ordered a cup of she-crab soup for myself. It’s a traditional Charleston soup that incorporates blue crab meat, heavy stock, sherry and crab roe. It was very similar to a lobster bisque, with a beautiful rich taste.

Leon’s Oyster Shop

My favorite dinner of the trip was the one we had at Leon’s Oyster Shop. Even though the casual and relaxed restaurant is located on “famous” King Street, it’s not actually downtown. However, it’s not far, taking only 10 minutes by car from our downtown hotel.

Leon’s opened in 2014 in an old autobody shop. They preserved much of its old life, with functioning garage doors and concrete floors. It gives off a “roadside joint” kind of vibe and is known for its oysters, Southern-style seafood & fried chicken. In 2020 they intensified that vibe by whitewashing the front facade and adding a large “filling station-style” covered patio.

My order was the fried chicken and I didn’t even need the menu. A few months before the trip, Leon’s fried chicken was featured on an episode of Bravo’s Southern Charm. In the episode, cast members Shep Rose and Whitney Sudler-Smith ordered in Leon’s fried chicken for a boys night in. It looked so good on television, I knew I’d order if given the opportunity.

The fried chicken entree comes in either a 2-piece or half chicken size, and you get to choose a couple sides as well. It came out hot and crispy and had a great flavor.

While the food is certainly the draw, I think Leon’s is so popular because of the atmosphere. It’s a fun and lively place where people can enjoy everything from cheap beer to fine champagne.

167 Raw Oyster Bar

Our first lunch of the trip was at 167 Raw Oyster Bar, located on King Street. The restaurant’s interior has a Cape Cod feeling to it and they also have a cozy courtyard. Luckily we didn’t have to wait for a table because that doesn’t seem to be the norm.

Food-wise, we decided to split a bunch of dishes including raw oysters, ceviche, a lobster roll and an oyster po’ boy sandwich.

With “raw bar” literally in the restaurant’s name, of course we had to try the raw oysters. The oyster varieties change daily based on what the fishermen bring in. We didn’t know the differences between the various oyster varieties, but our waiter went over everything for us. The ones we chose were quite good.

The ceviche was fine but I’d skip it next time. However, the lobster roll was terrific and so was the oyster po’ boy. They also offer shrimp po’ boys and scallop po’ boys and I’m sure they’re delicious as well.

Blind Tiger Pub

The Blind Tiger Pub was another food destinations that came to our attention from Bravo’s Southern Charm. Shep Rose mentioned it as a favorite spot of his and that was good enough for us. Located on Broad Street, the restaurant’s entrance is unassuming, giving it speakeasy vibes.

From the street, you couldn’t even tell if anybody was inside the place. However, upon entering, it was full of people enjoying weekend brunch. While the inside reminded me of your standard college bar, it’s their enormous back patio and elevated pub fare that makes it a destination.

We had to wait for a table on a Sunday at lunchtime. To pass the time we enjoyed cocktails at the bar and waited patiently for a table to open up outside. The award winning outdoor patio is really cool. There’s nice brick work all over the patio and it seems to go on forever. It also has a full bar right out on the patio.

For this meal, I zeroed in on the shrimp and grits. It was another Lowcountry staple I wasn’t going to miss! The dish had pan-seared shrimp, andouille sausage, peppers and caramelized onions, in a sherry cream sauce and served over grits. My arteries might’ve been angry with me, but the flavor was so rich and fabulous! I wanted to slurp up that sherry cream sauce with a straw!

Other Restaurants

Home Team BBQ

Barbecue was the last regional food we’d yet to try on our trip. There’s no shortage of available options in Charleston, so we searched online reviews to narrow down the choices. We settled on the downtown location of Home Team BBQ for our final dinner of the trip. The place itself is looks very cool and is decorated just how you’d imagine a barbecue joint should be. They have plenty of seating and a large bar inside. They also have a big open air patio, plus a screened-in patio that can host private events.

The food itself was good, but not remarkable. We have good barbecue in Chicago and this was on par with that. However, it didn’t compare with the outstanding barbecue we had in Austin, Texas. I don’t know whether to chalk that up to Texas barbecue being better or if we would’ve been more impressed somewhere else.

While the food was solid, the main disappointment was the service. It was a Monday evening, so the place wasn’t packed. However, it took a really long time to get the waitress to take our order. Once the food arrived, we pretty much never saw her again. I even had to flag her down to ask for the check. It could’ve been an off night, but it definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Mesu

Another Southern Charm inspired meal was dinner at Mesu, located right in the heart of the action on King Street. It’s owned by Leva Bonaparte, who’s been a cast member on the show for a few years. The food is a fusion of Mexican and Sushi, which sounded really interesting.

As we’d done a few times in Charleston, we split a bunch of items so we could try more dishes than we could on our own. We started with chips and salsa, which were just as you’d expect. For our entrees, we split a variety of tacos and sushi rolls. I found the food to be quite good, but I wouldn’t really call it fusion. The menu just has both Mexican food and sushi.

The atmosphere, however, was not what I expected. Leva owns several restaurants and bars around Charleston, and the vibe that comes through on the show is very upscale. That being said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mesu on the show, so I shouldn’t have assumed it would be similar. As it turns out, it’s not an upscale place at all. It’s way more casual than I expected and felt more like a neighborhood sports bar than anything else. The decorations are vibrant, but the restaurant was loud and hot. Plus the seating wasn’t too comfortable which made me not want to hang out long after we were finished.

Bottom Line

Almost our entire Charleston trip was focused around food. Dining out was the entertainment and there’s no shortage of incredible establishments to choose from. Charleston’s history, dating back to the 1600s, and its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean have inspired a hyper-local food known as Lowcountry cuisine. Experiencing the different culinary specialties Charleston has to offer is a great way to experience the city and absorb the culture.

Trip Report Index

1. Using Points and Miles to get to Charleston
2. The Lindy Renaissance Charleston Hotel
3. Where to Eat in Charleston