Charleston Local Guide

Dining

Due at least in part to the presence in the community of a world-class culinary training program at Johnson and Wales University, Charleston is rapidly becoming a favorite destination for gastronomical tourism. Other factors re, of course, the availability of a fresh and steady supply of Lowcountry seafood and produce and a diversity of ethnicity that dates back to the city’s founding.

For fine dining, Carolina’s behind the Old Exchange Building is an opulent and excellent place for regional cuisine.

In the at least swanky and perhaps fine range are 82 Queen, located – not surprisingly – at 82 Queen Street, and some of the plantation dining rooms. According to Southern Living magazine readers, 82 Queen is the Best City Restaurant in the South, with its menu focused on Lowcountry cuisine and brilliantly executed desserts. They are also said to serve the best She-Crab Soup in Charleston. Among plantations, Middleton Place, fourteen miles north of downtown on Highway 61, is probably the most elegant dining experience, though the food at Boone’s Hall Plantation Kitchen Restaurant is certainly worth a visit.

Melvin’s Barbecue is a generally revered institution in a region where people know their barbecue. Their two locations, at 538 Folly Road on James Island and 925 Houston Northcutt in Mount Pleasant, are favorites for casual dining. Melvin’s does great casual catering, too.

A.W. Shuck’s on Market Street offers the most extensive seafood menu in Charleston. Charleston’s oldest family restaurant, Old Towne Grill and Seafood on King Street, serves Greek food, flame-roasted steaks, slow-roasted chickens, and desserts from their open kitchen.

For magnificent views while dining, nothing beats Toucan Reef on Aquarium Wharf, with its twelve foot tall window wall overlooking the harbor and the new Ravenel Bridge. They advertise their menu as International Comfort Cuisine. It is quick and inexpensive without being fast food or cheap food. They have recently started serving Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.