Special Coverage
Gin, vermouth and Campari. The Negroni is deceptively simple. Joy Richard, a bartender at Mash, thinks the Negroni has become a classic because it's complex in flavor and well balanced. "It's plays to a lot of different flavors," she says. "And it's pleasing to the palate."
You could opt for the margarita on tap at Pancito & Lefty and that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Made with fresh macerated fruit and Partida tequila, it's a prime example of a perfect summertime drink.
Iced coffee is a staple of Charleston summers. Too hot for a steaming cup of Joe, the summer swelter calls for a lighter, cooler caffeinated option.
Served in a julep cup with pebbled ice and garnished with herbs and flowers, the Chartreuse Colada is a perfect pairing with the 90-degree heat we've been having.
Cannon Distillery in West Ashley's Avondale neighborhood hasn't been around long. It opened last fall and has three products, all of them vodka. The Grit Vodka is an 80-proof spirit made from corn grown by Geechie Boy on Edisto Island.
Don't think about ordering a pitcher of sangria at Barsa. The fruity red wine concoction is made by the glass, and it's worth the extra care they take.
Rose season has taken a little longer to get here than usual, but this week the temperatures look to be rising into the 70s again. Spring weather pairs great with pink wine, but when it comes to packing up for the beach or pool, my favorite portable option is Wolffer No. 139 (there's also a …
Brewers Brian Bogstad and Ben Mayer love their community at Rusty Bull Brewing so much that they left it up to their fans to decide from what favorite cereal they should make a beer. The winner in the social media poll was Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch, a challenging choice to say the least.
Sometimes you just want to pretend you're a tourist in your own town and settle in at the Thoroughbred Club, one of downtown's most luxurious spots located in the lobby of the Charleston Place hotel. I did that just last week in the midst of Bridge Run chaos when our narrow streets were pack…
With the proliferation of all-day breakfast joints comes the breakfast martini, a phenomenon encountered at both Dap's and Millers All Day.
Kelly Chu is an international gelato ambassador. She collaborates with local chefs customizes Cirsea ice cream flavors for them (can you say WildFlour and Cirsea ice cream sandwich?). And she's been making ice cream for her Chinese restaurant Red Orchids in West Ashley for more than a decade…
When beer guys talk, they'll sometimes drop the word "sessionable," referring to a beer that is easy to drink, usually not too hoppy, not too bitter, and not too high in alcohol.
Ordinary and FIG co-owner Adam Nemirow traveled to Britain last year and says he encountered gin and Seedlip everywhere. Gin goes without saying, but Seedlip was something he'd never seen before. Seedlip is a distilled nonalcoholic water that comes in two versions. As Nemirow says, "One tast…
There's a new beer on draft at Husk, and it's a riff on rice and peas (aka Hoppin' John) made with koji, the ancient Asian fungus that's the starter for making soy sauce, miso and other fermented sources of umami.
A North Charleston craft beer business expects to create 15 jobs under its previously announced plan to relocate to the city's bustling Park Circle area.
Each year, the Charleston Wine + Food Festival hosts a cocktail competition and invites local bartenders to battle it out for the opportunity to have the signature drink of the festival.
The Dewberry is gorgeous. From the gleaming brass bar to the perfect spheres of ice that bob in frothy drinks, everything is elegant and simple. Behind the bar in The Living Room, the bartenders wear white dinner coats and slick their hair stylishly to the side.
Cold-brewed contraptions lead to clever cocktails at 1Kept, a bar and restaurant located within the Renaissance Hotel on Wentworth Street in downtown Charleston. Pay attention as you sit at the bar, and you'll see a collection of wooden apparatuses that look like something Igor would use for…
You shouldn’t be surprised to see a cocktail from Proof in this column since it’s my favorite bar in downtown Charleston. I love the bartenders, the vibe, the free jazz on Monday nights, the boiled peanuts and the salty Marcona almonds. The cocktails are good, too, and probably the main reas…
The perfect time to enjoy The Watch is at sunset, particularly during the colder months. If you do it right, you can watch the sky around the ornate steeple of the Grace Cathedral turn from seductive pink to orange over the bartender’s shoulder as he mixes you a cocktail.
I intended to drink a mocktail, it being a new year and all, but the beet margarita at Basic Kitchen seemed a good compromise. General manager Kelly Holmes describes it as the epitome of the philosophy of Basic Kitchen, which serves clean, veggie-heavy food. Instead of chicken wings, you get…
The Spectator Hotel's bar, despite being only two-years-old, feels old — but not old in a bad way. Old in a moneyed way. As if someone’s rich grandmother had been collecting expensive pieces of furniture and knick-knacks her entire jet-setting life and set about creating a room to quietly ex…
In the midst of last week’s snowstorm, the crud was creeping up on me. A scratchy throat and incessant cough signaled that the sniffles were soon to come. So when local restaurants started posting pictures of hot toddies on Instagram, I decided to brave the icy sidewalks to investigate this …
The Getaway pays homage to Latin culture with a menu of tropical treats, from Chef Emily Hahn’s spicy chicken empanadas to a steamy bowl of Chilean fish stew. The cocktails created by owner and bartender Genevieve Mashburn pull from Latin America with ingredients like yerba mate, Paranubes r…
Best of 2017 - The Warthog
Hardscoop
Local Holiday Cocktail: The Poinsettia
Seasonal Cocktail: French Master 75
Apple Harvest Julep
Twisted Cypress Pumpkin Ale
Gingerbread Martini
Craft Beer: Oh My Darlyn!
Island Coastal Lager
Limited Release: Virgil Kaine Electric Owl
Cocktail: The Warthog
Cocktail: Humble Bee
Canned, local, organic beer
Bottled Cocktails: The Bar at Husk
Cocktail: The Tickler
Sparkling Wine Cocktail: The Sun & Moon Flufftail
Cocktail: Industry Sour
Commissioned beer: Up Sh*m Creek by Revelry Brewing
Cocktail: Summer Breeze
★☆☆☆☆ Pawpaw does not live up to what Southern food means in Charleston.
Southern | French Quarter
★★★★☆ Rodney Scott's BBQ lets the good times, good food roll.
Barbecue | North Central
★★★★☆ Bar Normandy on Broad Street is unconventionally delicious.
Small plates | South of Broad
★★★★☆ SNOB
★★☆☆☆ High Cotton
★★☆☆☆ Old Village Post House
★★★☆☆ Unpretentious, comforting Goulette is a true neighborhood restaurant.
French | Cannonborough-Elliotborough
★★★★☆ Rappahannock's Charleston location is fresh and inventive.
Seafood | Eastside
Charleston and New Orleans aren’t exactly the same, but when visitors who’ve been to The Big Easy first come to The Holy City, they’…
Our food critic visited three Charleston restaurants when they first opened in the past year. After giving them all two stars in the first round, she revisits them to see what's improved and what stays the same.
Royal terns may fly, but Charleston area diners tend to drive, so when John and Ben Williams opened a restaurant named for the seabi…
The massive Folly Beach restaurant, which measures three dining rooms and 6,500 square feet in all, has good intentions that spawn nothing but disappointment.
There are some places where it doesn’t take a compass to know which way the culture goes. People in Miami have to go north to reach …
Shrimp-and-grits hasn’t been a Lowcountry signature for very long, but the dish has more than made up for lost time with ubiquity.
Answering readers' food questions
Q: I misplaced my recipe for spaghetti sauce from LaBrasca’s Restaurant recently and I really thought I would not be able to find it again. I, like many others, miss the "L…
"There’s apparently a new rage for patty melts that inspired me to revisit my prior conclusion," food critic Hanna Raskin writes.
It’s a critic’s job to accurately describe a restaurant so potential patrons can knowledgeably decide if they want to go there. Readers can do as they choose with the accompanying opinions.
Charleston's newest restaurants
When the small bar located beneath Elan Midtown Luxury Apartments was occupied by Crooked Crown, the idea was for patrons to cool of…
The half-acre plot that serves as MUSC’s Urban Farm is an ideal venue for teaching people about growing vegetables, but volunteers l…
At Sunrise Bistro, the restaurant he first opened in 2009, Brian Appelt had limited opportunities to serve lobster. But the self-tau…
There isn’t a Betty Lou behind Betty Lou’s Bistro, but it took three partners with food-and-beverage experience to create the new We…
Interesting drinks around town
Exploring what locals eat throughout a day
Joseph Edge lives in Moncks Corner.
Allison Viverito lives in Mount Pleasant.
David McClain lives in Mt. Pleasant.
More Food
The half-acre plot that serves as MUSC’s Urban Farm is an ideal venue for teaching people about growing vegetables, but volunteers looking to …
When I was 30, I found myself running a restaurant in rural Majorca, Spain, one hour's drive from the major city of Palma. Armed only with a r…
"There’s apparently a new rage for patty melts that inspired me to revisit my prior conclusion," food critic Hanna Raskin writes.