Some other suggestions: You aren’t in easy walking distance. Drive and park. Restaurants are concentrated in 3 areas: Upper King (the newer, trendier area), East Bay (the older, established area), and Market (some good things off Market but Market is very touristy). Once you park, use the pedi-cabs to get around the City.
Cool places for cocktails:
Cocktail Club
Market Pavillion/Grill 225 (go to rooftop).
Definitely check out the menus. Places like Hank’s and Magnolia’s are consistently good, but IMO, rather uninspired menus. However, they have a wide range of options that appeal to a lot of people.
I would not wait and call for reservations now. Magnolia’s is taking online reservations (Open Table) for your date but only for smaller groups. You may have to secure the table with a credit card for a party of 6.
SNOB, Hank’s, Penninsula Grill, Barony Tavern all have spots (at various times) for 6 people on the 2nd. Chances are FIG and The Ordinary are already booked. Did you check Open Table?
You posted as I was posting. I would recommend going on OpenTable to see what is available for your size of group and time that you want to dine. There are so many great places in town. We love Ordinary (and FIG) for seafood but it is pricey. As mentioned, it is Bridge Run weekend so reservations are important. Where is the wedding? We got married downtown and live in the Charleston area.
Definitely make your reservations ASAP. That is probably the busiest spring/summer weekend in Charleston. Unfortunately, that HI Express is not in the historic district so you’ll have to drive, and park (which is a challenge at the best of times in Charleston!). If you can switch your hotel to the HI in the historic district, it will make things far easier for you.
We aren’t switching hotels…because the wedding we are attending is at the Charleston Yacht Club which is less than a mile from this Holiday Inn Express.
+1 on Husk. If you can’t get a dinner reservation, at least stop by for a cocktail. I almost stepped on Susan Lucci there (she was coming out of the ladies’, and I was headed in), but I don’t think that was due to the cocktail
You’re going to Magnolias (never been but hear it’s good!) but you can also eat (from bar menu) in their bar or, take your chances, and eat a late dinner at Husk as a walk-in after 8:30 or so. Their bar is a separate brick building behind the restaurant.
Husk is just around the corner from the Gibbes Museum of Art. Magnolia’s is closer to the market, maybe half a mile from Husk. Both are north of Broad.
BTW, our favorite menu item at Magnolia’s is their homemade potato chips topped with blue cheese.
Our magnolias reservation is at 9:40. Wondering if we could have drinks at Husk beforehand…with appetizers. Would this be crazy on that Bridge Race day?
Also…is this t Holiday Inn Express Charleston Dwtn - Ashley River a lousy location? Not that we can change…but we gave this a LOT of thought because it is closest to the wedding venue. We thought it was sort of conveniently located!
