Food Crawling Through Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

Decisions, Decisions. Choosing from among the many fantastic restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina can be overwhelming, particularly if you have a limited amount of time to experience it all. A food crawl, where you select one food item and one drink at each restaurant, is a great way to sample the variety that the city has to offer. Charleston is perfect for food crawling, with restaurants lining the streets of each neighborhood. On a recent visit, we met up with some local Charleston friends to explore the city. We started in the French Quarter, an area within the original colonial walled city of Charleston, and spent a cool rainy day nibbling our way down the sidewalk.

We started on East Bay Street at the Amen Street Fish and Raw Bar, a popular seafood restaurant in a beautifully restored historic mercantile building. The space was filling quickly at prime lunchtime and we were lucky to score a table for four. Amen Street supports local fisherman, so the South Carolina oysters were an easy choice from the raw bar. A glass of unoaked Chardonnay was a nice clean match for the mild, crisp oysters. The special of the day, a soft-shell crab sandwich with bacon and garlic aioli, was hefty enough to share between two of us. We also added an artfully arranged roasted beet salad with pea tendrils to supply a healthy start to our afternoon. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).