The Best Places to Eat Oysters in Charleston
Eating oysters in Charleston can be a delicate affair, of course, with open shells served on beds of ice with lemon wedges, but it's more likely that you'll be served up a cluster of steamed oysters, pried open in front of you, ready for the slurping. Find the refined—and the local Lowcountry—bivalves at our selection of great restaurants for oysters.
1870 Bowens Island Rd, Charleston, SC 29412, USA
Bowens Island Restaurant has existed in one form or another since 1946. The original building, covered in Sharpie messages scrawled by diners over the years, burned to the ground in 2006. Owner Robert Barber rebuilt it...
Design is paramount at this corner spot on upper King Street that invites window shoppers to hunker down on a mint green barstool and slurp the afternoon away with raw oysters from across the Eastern Seaboard, including delectable local singles...
289 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
It’s well worth the wait for a lobster roll and littleneck clams at this pint-sized oyster bar (a critical stop on a Charleston seafood tour, despite its Nantucket heritage). The sampler of four oysters, four clams, and four shrimp is a warm-up...
434 King St, Charleston, SC 29403, USA
The Hall family’s restaurant empire includes SNOB, High Cotton, and steakhouses in three cities, but this Upper King headquarters is where their pride in hospitality is most prominently on display. Diners are greeted upon arrival and bade farewell...
544 King St, Charleston, SC 29403, USA
A two-story dining room with an always-packed raw bar, The Ordinary serves some of the South’s best seafood. Here, chef Mike Lata dishes up must-try options like a seafood tower, crab toast, fish chowder, and triggerfish with fingerling...
698 King St, Charleston, SC 29403, USA
Restaurateur Brooks Reitz built his name with this chicken-and-oyster joint that feels old-school despite its carefully crafted ambiance. On a first visit, it’s sinful not to order the perfectly salted, crispy/juicy fried chicken amalgam...
186 Concord St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
Chef Drew Hedlund combines classic and contemporary Southern fare here in a retired 1940s naval building on the east side of the Charleston peninsula. Long used for storage by the South Carolina Port Authority, today it's home to one of the city's...
