Charleston Part 2: Eat

If you happened to miss Part 1 {Stay and Do}, you can read it here.

We've made it to the really good part of the trip! Or I could call this the part where I make you all really hungry for some good ole Southern comfort food...whichever. Sorry in advance.

Charleston isn't one of those places you should try to stay in and not go out to eat. You.must.go.out.to.eat. and OFTEN! Too many great restaurants to try and chicken and waffles to be enjoyed (my personal favorite, so says the girl that was a vegetarian for years before becoming pregnant...)

HERE WE GO!

EAT

Before leaving for any vacation, I almost always turn to you guys for tips on what to do and most importantly, where to eat. Trust me when I say I don't just ask to ask, we actually go to them! We have had some of our yummiest meals thanks to you guys-I trust your opinions! It's pretty awesome to have "friends" all around the world to steer us in the right direction. Anyway..my point with this is that it would've taken me literally two weeks to eat at all of the places that were recommend to us. We tried our best to get a good mix of different types of restaurants, and we most definitely ate our way through the city.

Brunch:

+Our favorite restaurant by far was....drumroll....Poogan's Porch. In hindsight, I could've ate there for brunch every single morning of our trip (they serve lunch as well). It was exactly what I wanted when looking for a good Southern meal. Order the chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, and bisquits and gravy....HEAVENLY, I tell you! All three items were our favorites here, even when trying at the other restaurants.

Note: Earlier you get there the better! It gets crowded. And if the humidity level is tolerable, request to sit on the porch! We sat inside (ahem humidity) and thought it was just about one of the cutest and most charming restaurants we've ever ate in. So either way, you can't go wrong! 

 

+Another brunch favorite of ours was Toast. We got the corned beef hash (Billy), biscuits and gravy (to split), and the Jumbo Breakfast Sandwich (me). If you like Shrimp and Grits, I heard theirs are the best (I'm not a big fan otherwise I would've). They also have some pretty awesome mimosa options that I was dying to try, so if mimosa's are your kind of thing you will love the bar and options here!

Other favorites....
+Hominy Grill (get the Big Nasty)

For Fresh Juices or Smoothies:

There were two places right by our inn, so I was pretty happy that I could get one in the mornings. They made me feel a little better about eating not so healthy the rest of the time, ha.

+We loved Whisk! The juices and smoothies were both delicious and they have some bakery items as well. Plus, the decor inside was on point! They even let Rocky sit inside at a seating area they had...he "read" the paper with Billy, can't you tell? ;)

+Freshii (on Kings St, they also had great healthy lunch options as well)

Lunch:

Most of the time, we were too stuffed from brunch that lunch often got skipped. Sorry lunch.

+When visiting Folly Beach, we loved Lost Dog Cafe! A cute little place with great food and fast service. They also serve breakfast all day (I am a HUGE fan of this concept and think more restaurants should follow along...)

the best international eggs benedict

the southern BLT (with fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese on it!)

+In Mt. Pleasant, we had a great lunch on the marina at Red's Ice House. Casual atmosphere, outside bar, live music, pet friendly, and right on the water so you can see all the boats pull up. We got lucky and saw a ton of dolphins up close!

Other favorites....
+Nick's BBQ

Dinner:

+Now, this might be hard for some of you to read so please don't hate me. I have to be honest and say we weren't that impressed with the really popular recommendation, Husk. Maybe it was just our experience, but we had better meals on our trip elsewhere. The portions were really small, we both didn't love our entrees, and it was just so-so for what you are paying. The bar, though? AWESOME! We loved that part and would definitely recommend grabbing drinks there. It was also extremely gorgeous here...there's no denying that!

 

+82 Queen (Southern food)
+California Dreaming (A little bit of everything-good salads and seafood options...pretty views!)

+Magnolia's (get the fried chicken entree! read below under dessert section)

+Fleet Landing was a great place to eat on our last night. We watched the sunset on the water here and they had a big outdoor bar area while waiting for our table. They have a pretty big menu, too. Downside? It was really crowded (with a lot of tourists like us it seemed) so be prepared to go early and wait!

Dessert:

+Kaminsky's for their pies! SO good!
+Charleston's Candy Kitchen (shown on my post yesterday)
+Magnolia's...get their Southern Pecan Pie-DELICIOUS.

 

And just like that I'm really wishing I could have some chicken and waffles or bisquits and gravy delivered to me all the way from Charleston... 

What was your favorite meal you've had in Charleston? Have you been to any of these? I hope this list will be useful for any of you planning to travel here in the future!

Happy weekend!!