Charleston's Culinary Glow-Up: Where Tandoor Meets She-Crab Soup and Daniel Humm Crashed the Lowcountry Party

Food Scene Charleston

Charleston is having a culinary moment, and listeners with a fork in one hand and a flight confirmation in the other should pay close attention. This coastal city is blending deep Lowcountry roots with a new wave of ambition that feels both grounded and thrilling.

Downtown, Marbled & Fin signals how far Charleston’s steakhouse game has evolved. The Neighborhood Dining Group’s modern temple to beef marries prime cuts and local seafood with a sleek, wine-room–lined setting off East Bay Street, turning the classic chophouse into a polished, big-night-out production. According to Marbled & Fin, the focus is on premium beef, coastal seafood, and a global wine and whiskey list that feels tailor-made for celebratory splurges.

Across town, new restaurants are broadening the flavor map. Resy’s roundup of Charleston’s newest restaurant openings notes Rivayat Creative Indian in Cannonborough-Elliotborough, where chef Sujith Varghese channels the seafood-rich cuisine of Kerala. Think flaky fish and shrimp perfumed with deeply aromatic spices and finished in the tandoor, a striking contrast to—but surprisingly natural fit with—Charleston’s own shrimp culture.

Charleston’s love affair with reinvention continues at Eli’s Table in the French Quarter, recently reopened with an expanded bar, revamped courtyard, and a menu that riffs on Lowcountry staples through a three-course prix fixe format. Meanwhile, Daniel Humm’s year-long residency at The Charleston Place brings the Eleven Madison Park star chef into direct conversation with Lowcountry ingredients, treating local seafood and produce with tasting-menu reverence.

Trends here are as much about philosophy as flavor. Charleston City Paper’s look at new food and beverage trends for 2026 highlights a shift toward ingredient-focused cooking and elevated nostalgia. Executive chef Cheyenne Bond of Delaney Oyster House predicts dishes like Gullah garlic crab and chicken bog stepping into the spotlight, fusing fine-dining ambition with the comfort of home cooking.

Through it all, Lowcountry identity remains the city’s anchor. Charleston Magazine’s catalog of “very Charleston” dishes reads like a culinary love letter: she-crab soup scented with sherry, silky okra soup, roasted oysters under burlap, and, of course, shrimp and grits, which local historians compare to Chicago’s pizza in iconic status. These classics, rooted in Gullah-Geechee traditions, coastal harvests, and centuries of cultural exchange, give Charleston’s restaurants a pantry of stories as rich as their sauces.

What makes Charleston’s culinary scene unique is this tension—and harmony—between past and future. Listeners will find cutting-edge tasting menus and creative Indian seafood steps away from humble bowls of okra soup, oyster roasts, and shrimp and grits that taste like memory. Few cities serve nostalgia and innovation on the same plate as convincingly as Charleston..


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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI