A rich blue-crab bisque thickened with cream and finished with a splash of sherry, traditionally made with the orange roe of female crabs.
She-crab soup is a Charleston invention attributed to William Deas, butler and chef to Mayor R. Goodwyn Rhett, who reportedly enriched a simple crab stew with crab roe to impress President William Howard Taft on a visit in 1909. The dish lifted Charleston's reputation as a coastal kitchen city and remains the menu opener at nearly every Lowcountry dining room. Restrictions on female crab harvesting now mean most kitchens use crab roe sparingly or substitute with crab stock and cream; the dish is named for the original technique rather than today's recipe.
4 editor picks for She-crab soup in Charleston, ranked by editorial score. All Charleston signature dishes · She-crab soup across every city.
Slightly North of Broad ★ 4.6
downtown · 192 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401
Slightly North of Broad in Charleston has run on East Bay Street since 1993. Frank Lee's reworked shrimp and grits became the canonical restaurant version of the Lowcountry plate.
Poogan's Porch ★ 4.2
downtown · 72 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401
Poogan's Porch in Charleston has run since 1976 from a restored Victorian on Queen Street. Lowcountry brunch institution with shrimp and grits and house buttermilk biscuits.
82 Queen ★ 4.2
downtown · 82 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401
82 Queen in Charleston has poured she-crab soup for 40 years from three historic buildings on Queen Street with a courtyard garden under a magnolia tree. Lowcountry institution.
Hyman's Seafood ★ 4.0
downtown · 215 Meeting St, Charleston, SC 29401
Hyman's Seafood in Charleston has fed the city from a Meeting Street row of historic buildings since 1890. Five generations of family ownership and a queue that wraps the block.