All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC

When I was trying to figure out how to squeeze our weekend in Charleston into one blog post, I quickly realized that just wasn’t going to be possible. We packed so much into those couple of days, and I want to share it all with you! Today’s post is all about the food, because let’s face it, it deserves a dedicated blog post. (You can check out our travel guide of things to do & see here, and our tour of the historic Nathaniel Russell House here.) Good food is such an integral part of any vacation, and Charleston boasts some of the best dining options in the country, if you ask me. So let’s get down to business.

Where to Eat in Charleston, South Carolina

There are so many wonderful restaurants in Charleston, and there’s no way I could possibly cover them all here. Today I’m going to focus on where we ate during our short weekend getaway, as we tried to choose the best of the best, as well as a few new places we had never been before. You can always hit the tourist hot spots like Hyman’s (which we skipped this time), and we had planned on going to Hank’s (another highly recommended high-end spot), and Hominy Grill, but we just didn’t have time.

Let’s start with our absolute, hands down favorite spot: Husk.

All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC (Husk is amazing!)

Known for their Southern cuisine and charming atmosphere, with award-winning chef Sean Brock at the helm, this amazing restaurant’s ever-changing menu is dictated by which local ingredients happen to be readily available at any given time. We tried to get a reservation several weeks in advance and they were all booked up, so we made it our mission to get there right when they opened at 5:30pm and put our name in. With an estimated wait time of an hour and 45 minutes, we were able to go shopping on nearby King Street and hang out at Husk’s bar next door while we waited on them to text us to let us know our table was ready. We had drinks and appetizers at the bar and ended up getting seated 30 minutes earlier than predicted, which was nice. We got a prime spot on the upstairs balcony. I ordered the grouper and Chris got the catfish, both of which were delicious.

All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC

We shared a side of cornbread which was amazing.

All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC

For dessert, I got the Apple Cider Sorbet with Poached Peaches and Berries. Wow, is all I can say. I did let Chris try a bite, but I ate the rest.

All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC

Husk is pricey, so it’s definitely a “special occasion” sort of place, but we loved it and would definitely go back. It was worth every penny.

Another dinner spot we tried was Xiao Bao Biscuit, an Asian Soul Food spot with a seasonally-changing menu and rotating daily specials. It’s more of a hipster joint (so obviously Chris picked it), but it was definitely a unique and interesting place to try. Not your typical Charleston spot, but the food was good. A little spicy for my taste, but Chris liked it a lot. It’s worth a try if you’re looking for something new and different.

Where to eat in Charleston: Xiao Bao Biscuit

Now let’s backtrack and talk about brunch. On Saturday, we went to one of our favorite spots from our first trip to Charleston together 10 years ago: Poogan’s Porch. It’s located next door to Husk, also in an old historic home. There are plenty of fun ghost stories about this restaurant too! On our honeymoon, we ate there for dinner, but this time around we opted to try their brunch. I’m so glad we did!

I had the Chicken and Waffles which were crazy good. It’s actually a sweet potato waffle, which I had never had before.

All About the Food: Where to Eat in Charleston, SC (The chicken and waffles at Poogan's Porch are amazing!)

Chris had an omelet with home fries which he enjoyed too. The biscuits were also delicious.

On Sunday, we ate brunch at Magnolia’s. I don’t have any photos, but we went in with no expectations since we didn’t know much about the place. We were blown away! I had banana pudding stuffed french toast with peanut butter syrup (yes it was as good as it sounds), and Chris had a ham and cheese waffle with an over easy egg on top. He says it might have been the single best thing he ate, aside from his meal at Husk.

Since we did brunch, we skipped traditional lunches and just snacked in the afternoon. We did enjoy drinks and appetizers at a place called Craftsmen Tap House. We sat out on their little patio and we really liked the atmosphere.

We also grabbed dessert at Carmella’s which was great. It’s located on East Bay Street, and it gets crowded at night but we were able to score a little table out front. Chris had a Tiramisu cup and I had Oreo Mousse.

I’ve been craving all of these wonderful foods since we got back home. We’re already plotting our next trip. We just can’t get enough!

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