Charleston, South Carolina - The Food

So anyone who knows me well will know that I pick U.S. vacation destinations based on the quality of food in the location. Hence some of my favorite trips...


...Napa Valley
...Chicago
...New Orleans

I can now add Charleston to that list.

I had put out a Facebook plea right before my trip and got an unbelievably comprehensive list of places to go for culinary delights. I was also lucky that my friend (who was having the bachelorette weekend) had a sister who took care of most of our reservations. I love not having to do work... Note that most restaurants in Charleston will DEFINITELY need reservations for dinner, but probably not for lunch. Also note that most places are closed for food between 2 and 5 pm. We found that out the hard way. Heh.

I started off my food journey by scoping out the Wall Street Journal article that I had held onto...

My first meal (I was on my own the first day - I love traveling and exploring places on my own!) was at Husk, where I had the shrimp and grits and a midday cocktail of the Milan Mulberry (I think). I loved the touch of basil in the shrimp and grits, as well as the fresh taste of the tomatoes and okra. Low country cooking at its finest.

I walked around King Street a little and found the Savannah Bee Company store and sampled some different  flavors of honey. Couldn't bring any home because of the liquid restrictions in carry-ons, but mmmmm...

On Friday night we went to a restaurant on the beach on Folly Beach (about 20 minutes away from downtown Charleston), where I proceeded to enjoy several of my favorite food groups...

Pre-dinner apertifs...

Deconstructed Caesar salad...

And top sirloin with potatoes... (probably not the smartest food choice to eat with all of my friends who were vegetarian/Indian, but oh well). Sure was good ;-)

The next morning we walked across the street from our hotel (we stayed at the Francis Marion) to Marion Square where the Spoleto festival was happening. I had a yummy crepe for breakfast.

Walked through the farmers' market...

After walking around, we had a snack of flatbread pizza with cheese from Grill 225...

After an afternoon at the spa getting massages and our nails done, we went to the Peninsula Grill, which was possibly the best meal I have ever had. Ever. Also not the place to take incessant food pictures, so not much eye candy from here. Impeccable service. The waiters materialized out of nowhere like those guys from the Matrix movie. Service so good, it was scary. 

I will recommend their famous coconut cake to share amongst several people. Worth every calorie. It helped that one of the other girls was celebrating her birthday at the same time...

Before we left town, we stopped by Hominy Grill for breakfast...

I thought about getting a morning mimosa, but I got a cup of coffee instead...

Where I got a "Big Nasty Biscuit" for breakfast...

With a requisite cup of grits on the side...

My final Charleston meal was from High Cotton on East Bay Street...

Where I had a fried oyster Caesar salad...

I only made it to about 1/3 of the places on my list of restaurants to tackle in Charleston, which means I am going to have to suffer the hardship going back again. Poor me. :-)

Here is the list of places that were recommended to me, in case you ever get a chance to go yourself!

High Cotton 
Bessingers BBQ
Cypress
Magnolia
S.N.O.B.
Fig
Gin
Grill 225
Fish pearls
Hominy grill
Hanks
Venue inn rooftop bar
Poogan's porch
The Landing
Mccrady's
Husk
Poe's Tavern in Sullivan island
Rosebank Farms Cafe on Seabrook island
Jestine's
hyman's seafood 
Taco mamacita's on Sullivan island
Virginia's 

I can't wait to go back to Charleston again...