City Consensus · Charleston, SC
Southern in Charleston, SC
Community consensus
The consensus is still forming.
Top Tier Editorial has a take on Southern in Charleston, SC below. The community ranking opens up once a few locals have weighed in.
Top 5 Southern in Charleston
Charleston's Lowcountry and Southern canon — cross-referenced from Garden & Gun's 'Ten Must-Eat Dishes in Charleston' and the Charleston City Paper Top 50 fall 2025.
- #1
Husk
Downtown
“Garden & Gun's Sunday pick — 'quail and johnnycakes at brunch' — and MICHELIN Recommended 2025. Sean Brock's 2010 reset of Southern cooking on a strict Southern-ingredients-only platform.”
- #2
FIG
Downtown
“Garden & Gun's 'seasonal cuisine' anchor and MICHELIN Recommended 2025. Mike Lata's 2003-opened bistro — the James Beard Best Chef: Southeast winner widely credited with lighting the fuse of modern Charleston dining.”
- #3
Hannibal's Kitchen
Eastside
“Garden & Gun's must-eat smothered pork chop — 'lightly breaded pork chop enveloped in salty smooth gravy' — and a 40-plus-year Eastside soul-food institution. City Paper Top 50 fall 2025.”
- #4
Bertha's Kitchen
North Charleston
“Garden & Gun pick for Charleston soul food — 'okra soup, fried pork chops, red rice, lima beans.' 2017 James Beard America's Classics recipient (women-led since the 1970s).”
- #5
The Grocery
Downtown
“Garden & Gun's Lowcountry seafood pilau pick — Carolina Gold rice with shrimp, steamed clams and fried sheepshead — in Chef Kevin Johnson's vegetable-forward Cannon Street dining room.”