Sunday, September 4, 2011

Charleston Restaurant Week Preview

Restaurant Week starts next Wednesday (the 7th) and, as you know, we are big fans.  I wanted to take the time to list all the restaurants available, along with our take on them.  We plan on eating at 3 of them (Husk, Cypress and McCradys.)  We'd like to eat at more, but will be traveling the 2nd half of the week.  Here we go!

(I will not use individual hyperlinks.  You can use the Restaurant Week(RW) link above for all restaurants.)
Blue names are ones I would strongly consider.

Caliente Lowcountry Mexican: No information
Charleston Crab House:  Good place for seafood.  Sometimes hit or miss on quality and service.
Cherrywood BBQ: No Info
Firewater Grille:  Ate here once with good food and good service.
Fish Restaurant:  Ate here once.  Very Good.  Good reputation.
Gilligan's:  Very hit or miss.  Wouldn't waste W deals here as they are inexpensive anyway.
Hyman's:  Used to be great.  Then got complacent.  Stopped going but have heard they made a turnaround.
Iacofano's:  I can't believe we haven't eaten here yet!
J. Paulz:  No Info
Juanita Greenberg's:  Ate here once.  Okay.
Locklears:  Used to eat here a lot.  Good reliable food.  Not sure why we haven't been back in a while.
Noisy Oyster:  Hit or Miss.  Same principle as Gilligan's for RW (though they are better than Gilligan's).
North Towne/Old Towne:  We love these guys.  Everything on the menu is good and reasonably priced!
Queen Anne's Revenge:  Excellent pirate themed restaurant.  Awesome prime rib.  Great place for kids and guests.  Pirate museum atmosphere.
Southend Brewery:  An old standby for us, especially for lunch or when you are with people who are picky about too fancy foods.
Sunfire Grill:  Changed a bit over the years.  Used to be slam dunk good, but now I would probably only go for lunch, and only because the salad bar has tapanede and hummus.
Swamp Fox: No Info
Tabbuli: No Info
Toast!: Good inexpensive food.  Would not waste RW deal on it.
Tsunami: No Info
Vespa Pizzeria: No Info
Virginia's On King:  Ate here once.  Keep planning on going back.
Wild Wing: Good wings and atmosphere.  Not a RW thing.
Yokoso: Standard Japanese hibachi type restaurant
Zeus Grill: No Info
17 North: No Info
39 Rue de Jean:  Tried once.  Excellent.
82 Queen: Been here several times.  Never disappointed.  High end food.
Amen St:  Had oysters here once - excellent.
Anson:  Never had a bad experience here.  Excellent RW choice.
Atlanticville:  Not been, but on our short list.
Bambu: No Info
Barbadoes: No Info
Blossom: Been several times.  Great service, food and atmosphere!
Blu: No Info
Bocci's:  Mixed experience.  Last few have been good.
Chai's Lounge: No Info
Circa 1886:  Not been.  On short list to go.
Coast Bar and Grill: No Info
Cork: No Info
Cypress: Easy Top Ten.  A must do on RW.  Last year RW menu was top notch!
Eagles Nest: No Info
Eurasia: No Info
Fat Hen:  Ate here once.  Good meal and service.
Fleet Landing: A good place for visitors due to the good food and view of the harbor.
Fulton Five:  Another Easy Top Ten and excellent menu from RW last year.  Great Northern Italian cuisine!  Great place for a romantic dinner.  Very small - RESERVE EARLY!
High Cotton: Not been, but on short list.
Huck's Lowcountry Table:  Been once.  Excellent experience.
Lana: No Info
Magnolia's:  Go here often (even Thanksgiving once!)  Great food, service and atmosphere!  Probable Top Ten!
Woodland's Inn:  This is a tough one.  We've been here several times and it was always awesome, except...Restaurant Week.  Last year we felt they lowballed RW.  The service and food was not up to their usual high standards.  I mean, these guys are 5 star (literally) every other day.  I guess for $40 they couldn't be bothered.  Might have just been us.
MUSE: No Info
O-Ku: No Info
Oak: Not been, on short list.
Old Village Post House: No Info
Opal: No Info
Osteria La BBottiglia: No Info
Poogan's Porch:  Used to go all the time.  No reason we haven't been lately, always good food.  Nice backstory.
Red Drum: No Info
Red's Ice House:  I would go here for a lot of reasons (crab legs, view, drink, sports) but probably not RW.
Roadside Kitchens: No Info
Saffire: No Info
SNOB:  We love this place.  Kari loves the vegetable plate.  Great service, great food.  View of kitchen.  Top Ten!
Social:  Wine bar, good food.  Nice interior.  Not RW.
The Atlantic Room: No Info
The Boathouse:  Been here twice with great experience each time.
The Jasmine Porch: No Info
Husk: If you do only one - this is it.  All southern ingredients, but innovative execution.  Stop in at the bar next door while you wait for your table.  RESERVATION!!
Il Cortile Del Re: No Info
Jacob's Kitchen: No Info
La Fourchette: No Info
Golf Resort: No Info
The Library at Vendue Inn:  Haven't been, but on short list.
The Palm Tree Grille: No Info
Tomasso: No Info
Trattoria Lucca: No Info
Tristan:  Been once, great experience, will be back!
Wentworth Grill:  Been once, no memory.
Carolina's:  Another solid Top Ten.  Awesome high end restaurant.  What RW is for!
Charleston Grill:  Another excellent RW choice!
Grill 225:  Not been, on short list.  Very fancy!
Hall's Chophouse:  Another one on the shortlist!
Langdon's: No Info
McCrady's:  Another must do.  Same chef as Husk (Sean Brock, James Beard award, Iron Chef contestant, Rockstar!)  RESERVE EARLY!
The Ocean Room: No Info
Middleton Place:  Good choice if you're going to the Ashley River plantations.

I know it's short on details, but it's a long list.  I would go to any one in blue on a moments notice.  Don't waste this!  The next one's not until January.  Go out every night!!

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