495 King American, emphasis on locally produced $$$ If you’ve been living under a fricken rock (for the last month) then you likely missed King Street’s newest member of the culinary club. Stars has been one of the most highly anticipated restaurants to open in the area since The Macintosh or The Grocery—and, when you’re going up against those two for patrons, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Planning to open in August before the PGA tournament, it finally opened the first week of October – just in time for my birthday. And, while we’re comparing it to
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Fire Street Food
293 King St. Asian, street food $ How to save $$: Eat here, not at Basil. I love Thai food. And I (used to) love Basil. But, then I started eating at more authentic Thai restaurants (think: hole-in-the-wall with lots of Buddahs), and realized Basil might be good, but cheap Thai food is better. Fire may not be decorated with Buddah’s and it serves food other than Thai (which, I’d argue, is a good thing)… but this is the new place to go for Thai food on King Street. The best part? One-third the price of Basil! Fire is
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Mellow Mushroom
309 King Pizza, large draft beer selection $$ How to save $$: Go Monday from 4pm-close for a $5 small 1-topping pizza Mellow Mushroom has been keeping Joe College full since the ’70s in a college town near you. Currently, it’s sporting 120+ franchised locations (3 in the Charleston area) and, as of recently, has made a big push outside of its comfortable college-town-only business mode and expanded into larger urban areas in the Southeast. It has, for the most part, brilliantly branded the “stereotypical pizza joint.” And the pizza is freakin good. When you enter, you’ll find psychedelic décor,
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Taziki’s Cafe
306 King Greek/Mediterranean $ How to save $: Use either FREE HUMMUS coupon, CHICKEN ROLL UP FOR $5.95 coupon, or Restaurant.com gift card. If John Stamos were coming to Charleston, I bet he’d eat at Taziki’s for lunch. The name gives it away: Taziki’s Cafe is a Greek not-so-hole-in-the-wall, literally busting at the seams at 12:30 p.m. on a weekday with co-workers and families grabbing a quick lunch. Don’t waste time waiting to be seated, just grab the only empty chairs you can find (we sat on the stools overlooking King St.). Once seated, you can go up to the
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Virginia’s on King
412 King Southern/Soul: Breakfast, Weekday Lunch, Weekend Brunch, Dinner (except Sundays) $$$ How to save $: Use a Restaurant.com Gift Card. We did the $25 off $50 for some good savings. Virginia’s On King, which shares an owner with Coast and Rue de Jean, is the final restaurant of the trifecta that we needed to review. With this task complete, we can say that the guys behind these restaurants are doing something right as all are delicious (but, if forced to rank, Rue de Jean will take the cake 10 times out of 10). The only one of the
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Verde
347 King Salads: Lunch, Dinner $ The first impression you’ll have about Verde is “this place must be a chain.” It is just so well put together that you get this impression… Sounds like the owners of this place are on to a hot concept that appears to be easily transferable to other markets. I went into this one thinking, okay, let’s scratch this chick salad joint off the list. I left full, satisfied and eager to return. You’ll notice that the concept is essentially a packed salad bar with limitless options (well, not limitless—I counted 45+ toppings, which is
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Chopstick House
86 Society $-$$ Chinese, Asian How to save $: 10% off with coupon from CofC discount book Chopstick House has more than its fair share of good reviews, making me hopeful for a better-than-average Chinese restaurant experience. We gave them a shot at lunch during the week and found the tiny dining room to be about half-full – already better than most take-out-only places. I can’t say the interior was decorated by a “licensed” interior decorator, but it was decent enough and the atmosphere was busy enough that you didn’t feel awkward dining inside. We expected the menus to be
Circa 1886
149 Wentworth French/American $$$$- Fine dining experience How to save $: Best bet is to go during restaurant week but even that will put you at $85+ a person after wine, tax and tip! Eager to jump on Restaurant Week early, we made reservations at Circa 1886—a restaurant we’ve always wanted to try. Deriving its name from the construction of the Wentworth Mansion that it shares a property with, the restaurant is housed in a great historic building with lots of character. The first thing I noticed is that Circa 1886 is much more formal than I imagined. Plenty
Tasty Thai and Sushi
350 King Thai: Lunch, Dinner $$ How to Save $: It’s on Restaurant.com, so be sure to print off a coupon before dining Looking for some ethnic food on a budget with a good atmosphere? Look no further than Tasty Thai & Sushi, the sister restaurant to Taste of Thai in West Ashley. Be sure to sit in the front of the restaurant, so you can people-watch on King Street. If that’s what you’re after, I’d suggest going on a Thursday through Saturday night, when things are a bit more “interesting.” Tasty Thai and Sushi looks pretty cool from the
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The Grocery
4 Cannon $$$ – Dinner & Happy Hour Southern/Soul, International How to save $: Get a good sampling at Happy Hour where apps are between $5 and $7, wine is discounted and beers are BOGO The Grocery, located on Cannon Street, is one of the new up-and-coming restaurants in Charleston. Well, according to Charleston City Paper or really any other food blog for that matter. But, if you read Eat King Street, you’ll see that it’s not one of our favorites. I mean, if you like stuffy atmospheres and high prices, this might just be your place. I don’t mean to