Weekend in Charleston, SC
What this foodstroll is
Our guide to some of the best things to do and eat in Charleston, SC.
Why this foodstroll works
Charleston is our idea of a perfect city to spend a weekend, or longer. It's walkable, has a distinct local cuisine, incredible architecture, and beautiful beaches less than 15 minutes from downtown. So long as you avoid the summer heat, the weather is great too. The food scene is world famous, but you can keep it simple by focusing on its regional specialties - low country cuisine and South Carolina style BBQ. Depending on how much time you have, the architecture could keep you busy for weeks, but if you stick to certain areas you can get a great sense for it in just a few days.
Strolling
Where you go and what you see depends on your priorities. As usual ours is to stay outdoors, experience the city from a local perspective, and look for things that make a place unique. We divided the trip into four half day segments.
1 - walk the French Quarter, Rainbow Row, South of Broad, and The Battery to see Charleston’s most spectacular colonial and ante-bellum architecture.
2 - walk around Hampton Park, The Citadel, and Wagener Terrace to see where everyday people and families actually live in Charleston. These neighborhoods are popular with locals and you’ll find dozens of breweries and restaurants with almost no tourists.
3 - if you have shopping in mind, walk Charleston’s main drags of Broad and King Streets. Market Street is also a fun area (hot sauce lovers don’t miss Pepper Palace on N Market Street)!
4 - drive out to James Island and Folly Beach to see how close by suburban Charleston and a great little surf town are from Downtown.
The most historic and architecturally fascinating neighborhoods are all in the lower section of the Charleston peninsula, and if you get an early start, you can see them all on foot in an afternoon. Start on Market Street and walk to the Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park. From here there are views of Fort Sumpter in the distance.
Rainbow Row is a stretch of Georgian era townhomes restored and painted pastel in the mid 1930s. Technically it’s just outside the old walled center of Charleston known as The French Quarter. If you walk from Waterfront Park west toward Meeting Street, and then down to Rainbow Row, you’ll pass you right through it.
From Rainbow Row, walk west along Tradd and choose any street to turn left and head down toward S Battery. This is where you’ll find many of Charleston’s historic residences, mainly ante-bellum mansions in the Georgian, Neo-classical, Italianate, and Greek Revival styles. Once you hit water you’ll be at the Civil War era defensive seawall known as The Battery. Along with several war memorials, you’ll again be given great views of Fort Sumpter, where the War’s first shots were fired.
Meeting and King Street may be Charleston’s most famous commercial stretches, but Broad Street has tons of shops and restaurants too, along with Saint Michael’s Church, Charleston’s oldest surviving religious structure. Built in the 1750s, it’s one of the few remaining in the Colonial style. Continue walking west down Broad to the end and you’ll hit Colonial Lake, another area perfect for a stroll.
Magnificent King Street runs all the way from the Harbor to uptown, with three distinct shopping districts - the Antique District on Lower King, the Fashion District on Middle King, and the Design District on Upper King.
The Citadel, or Military College of South Carolina, is a nice place to stroll around. If you’re an early morning run type of person, run through here. Trust us the cadets wake up earlier than you do. The residential neighborhoods of Hampton Park Terrace and Wagener Terrace are nearby, and you can see all three places, including stops at Rodney Scott’s BBQ or Leon’s, in just a few hours.
One of the most interesting things about Charleston was how quickly you could get from the urban center of downtown to more rural Lowcountry. The suburb of James Island is five minutes away across the Ashley River, and within 15 minutes you can be on all dirt roads where, quite literally, your kids can ride in the trunk.
Just past James Island is Folly Beach, a quintessential beach town with surf shops, island themed bars, and seafood restaurants. The Folly Beach Pier is a popular spot for surfers, some of whom reminded us New Yorkers that in South Carolina, you only need a wet suit in the winter.
Food Spots
1. Bowens Island
If there’s one restaurant in all of Charleston that gives you the low country experience, it has to be Bowen’s Island, which has been around since the 1960s. Prepare to shuck ‘em yourself when you order their half tray, full tray, or all you can eat oysters.
Perched at the end of a dirt road over a marsh, the remote location is still just 15 minutes from downtown, and 5 minutes from Folly Beach. Open from 5-9:30pm daily, the lines are typically long. You can bring drinks to enjoy while you wait, and the lines are shorter after 7pm.
The menu is a screenshot of low country classics, like fried fish, shrimp & grits, and seafood boil, which in South Carolina they call Frogmore Stew.
The Seafood Platter has all our favorites, including shrimp, fish, crab cakes, and fried oysters. Unlimited cocktail and tartar sauce is available at the bar, and we suggest you take advantage.
All platters come with coleslaw, fries, and the classic southern accompaniment to fried seafood, Hush Puppies. We recommend ordering a side of Grits no matter what.
This might sound like hyperbole, but fried shellfish just might be our kids’ favorite food in the whole world. And our kids eat a lot of different foods!
Rodney Scott’s BBQ is perhaps the most famous hole hog joint in the Country. The menu is varied for a smokehouse, and everything is good. We never hear complaints when BBQ is on the menu, and it was all smiles at Rodney Scott’s.
In Eastern North Carolina and South Carolina, the regional style of BBQ is to cook entire pigs. You might think this puts pit masters at a disadvantage versus those who cook just ribs, or just pork butts individually. But we can assure you, any pork menu item from Rodney Scott’s will be memorable.
All the sides are classic Southern, like the Baked Beans which come with pulled pork inside. Everyone agreed that the spareribs (the longer, flatter, and tastier sibling of the baby back) were some of the best we’ve had. And we know a thing or two about ribs…
There’s a lot of BBQ in NYC, but the emphasis on whole hog in South Carolina was new to us. Also sides like Hush Puppies, which you don’t find much of up north, quickly became a favorite of our kids.
Leon’s is a Southern spot serving great oysters and friend chicken, among other things. We’d been told from some locals who befriended us that it was Bill Murray’s favorite restaurant in town. We can’t confirm that, but thought it justified a visit.
It’s open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. We ordered a whole bird with two sides, and it was as advertised. Damn good fried chicken.
Transportation
Charleston International Airport is a joint civilian and military airport, with service from most major US cities. It’s 12 miles north of downtown.
A car is unnecessary unless you intend to venture to James Island and beyond. Theoretically you could Uber/Lyft to James Island and Folly Beach. If you do come with a car, parking is possible away from the center on streets and in parking garages, but we recommend walking.