When it comes to celebrating Valentine’s Day, there are few activities more intimate and romantic than sharing a fantastic meal together with the person you love. Luckily for you, Charleston’s culinary scene is chock full of delicious options perfect for celebrating Valentine’s Day Dinner. Whether you live in Charleston or are looking to complete your romantic vacation in the Holy City, these are restaurants you’ll definitely want to add to your list!
Chez Nous
Downtown Charleston
Located in a repurposed historic Charleston home downtown, Chez Nous is hands down one of the most romantic downtown Charleston restaurants. The restaurant offers limited seating, so the atmosphere feels extra intimate and cozy, almost like they’re cooking just for you! The menu is limited to 2 choices for appetizers, entrees, and desserts, and changes daily depending on what Chef Jill Matthias is inspired by that day.
Halls Chophouse
Downtown Charleston
Halls Chophouse is definitely the kind of restaurant that lends itself well to a special occasion like Valentine’s Day. The quality of the food is leagues above your typical steakhouse, and the waitstaff will go out of their way to ensure your dinner is special and perfectly suited to your tastes. The sides are served family-style, so you and your honey can each order your own protein and split an array of delicious sides, like pepper jack creamed corn, lobster mac n’ cheese, and loaded mashed potatoes.
.jpg)
Wild OliveJohns Island
Although definitely off the beaten path, the drive to Wild Olive on Johns Island is lined with towering live oak trees draped in spanish moss, which will help set the mood before you even get to the restaurant. The restaurant is a bit more casual relative to the other entries on this list, but its focus on authentic, homemade Italian cuisine and sustainability definitely make it worth noting. Chef Jaques Larson’s handmade pasta is both unique and familiar, the perfect combination for a Valentine’s Day meal.
R Kitchen
Downtown Charleston & West Ashley
For a truly unique dining experience, you’ll want to make reservations in advance for R Kitchen, which is more of a showcase than a restaurant. You’ll want to get there early and make sure you have a seat at the chef’s counter so you can watch as the R Kitchen team prepares a 5-course meal (with daily rotating menu) that can be completely customized to your dietary restrictions and preferences.
Burwell’s Stonefire Grill
Downtown Charleston
While Hall’s is much more of a traditional steakhouse, Burwell’s brings the steakhouse vibe into a more modern sphere. They feature certified wagyu beef, craft cocktails, and inventive dishes across the board. Their happy hour specials are some of the best in the city, and since Valentine’s Day falls during the week this year, that might be the perfect solution for you and your sweetie. Be sure to order the deviled eggs, and for a fun twist, try cooking your own steak tableside on their famous hot rocks.
.jpg)
Coda Del Pesce
Isle of Palms
The sister restaurant to Trattoria Lucca (located in Downtown Charleston), Coda Del Pesce lets you feel as if you’ve left the hustle and bustle of the city behind. The calming blues and browns of the decor inside the restaurant offer the perfect complement to the ocean views right outside the window and the Italian-style seafood that features heavily on the daily-changing menu. Consider pairing your dinner with a staycation at a beach house on IOP, and you’ll have the recipe for one of the most romantic getaways in SC!
Zero Restaurant + Bar
Downtown Charleston
By far one of the best restaurants in Charleston (or perhaps all of South Carolina as a whole), Zero Restaurant + Bar is the total package when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Located inside the ever-charming Zero George, a boutique hotel across from the Gaillard Center downtown, Zero Restaurant’s cozy interior and foliage-lined courtyard makes you feel as if you’re dining inside a secret garden. Chef Vinson Petrillo--a veteran of Food Network’s Chopped--curates a pre-fixe menu that is both simplistically elegant and inventively unique at the same time. Although at $135 per person (price including 6 course-meal and drink pairings) for the omnivore menu it’s likely the most expensive meal on this list, it’s definitely a meal you won’t soon forget. They also offer a pre-theater menu for those attending a show at the Gaillard, so feel free to try to work that into your Valentine’s Day plans, too!
.jpg)
Posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2018 at 11:34pm.