Day-by-day eating plans for Charleston. weekend classics, family routes, vegan plans, on-a-budget editions.
Day-by-day plans
Charleston weekend: Lowcountry classics, done right ★ 4.7
A peninsula weekend built around the dishes Charleston invented, the rooms that wrote the modern Lowcountry rulebook, and one Sullivan's Island seafood dinner.
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Day 1: Saturday: biscuits, oysters, Lewis Barbecue, Husk
- Morning
- Open at Callie's Hot Little Biscuit on King Street at 09:00, cheese-and-bacon biscuit, latte from across the street. Walk over to Charleston Farmers Market on Marion Square for the Sea Island pea and produce stalls.
- Afternoon
- Lunch at Lewis Barbecue on Nassau Street, brisket sandwich and a sausage plate with two sides. Coffee back at Babas on Cannon and an hour wandering Cannonborough.
- Evening
- Dinner at Husk on Queen Street, 18:30. The skillet cornbread baked with Anson Mills cornmeal and Benton's bacon, whatever the wood grill is running, a pour from Husk's deep Southern bourbon list to start.
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Day 2: Sunday: brunch, the City Market, raw bar, Sullivan's dinner
- Morning
- Brunch at Poogan's Porch on Queen Street, 09:30. Buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy, the canonical she-crab soup, sweet tea.
- Afternoon
- Walk the Charleston City Market on Meeting Street for sweetgrass baskets and benne wafers. Walk the market stalls then stop at Fleet Landing on Cumberland Street for oysters on the waterfront deck (open Sunday).
- Evening
- Drive across the Ravenel Bridge for dinner at The Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan's Island, 19:30. A wood-fired pizza, ricotta gnocchi with short-rib ragu, oysters from the raw bar.
Charleston on a budget: three days under $40 a meal ★ 4.4
Soul food counters, walk-up biscuits, food trucks and happy-hour oysters. Three full days of Charleston eating with no dinner over $40 a head.
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Day 1: Day one: counters, biscuits, BBQ lunch, late-night tots
- Morning
- Biscuit and coffee at Callie's Hot Little Biscuit on King Street, under $9 for a full breakfast.
- Afternoon
- Cross over to Hannibal's Kitchen on Blake Street for the Eastside soul food lunch: crab rice, smothered pork chop, lima beans, under $16 with iced tea.
- Evening
- Lewis Barbecue lunch-counter format for an early sausage plate, then Tater Tachos and a PBR at Recovery Room Tavern on upper King past midnight.
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Day 2: Day two: food trucks, soul food, $1 oysters
- Morning
- Find Roti Rolls' green truck on streetfoodfinder.com, a Thurman Merman wrap and a drink off the truck's $2 menu, under $13.
- Afternoon
- Lunch at Bertha's Kitchen in North Charleston, fried chicken, okra soup and red rice from the steam table, under $16. Cash and card both fine.
- Evening
- Happy hour at Pearlz Oyster Bar on East Bay, 16:00-19:00: $1.25 oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, crab dip. Dinner stays under $20 a head if you stick to the bar menu.
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Day 3: Day three: Folly Beach day trip and a King Street dive
- Morning
- Drive to Folly Beach, beach time before lunch.
- Afternoon
- Lunch at Jack of Cups Saloon on Center Street, cheap Asian and Indian inspired plates off the seasonally evolving chalkboard menu.
- Evening
- Back on the peninsula, Smash City Burgers on Cooper Street for a Classic Single and crinkle fries, then a Death Burger at A.C.'s Bar & Grill on King past midnight.