South Carolina is home to one of the nation’s best cities for food, new rankings show
If you come to one South Carolina city hungry, you may be in luck.
That’s because Charleston just earned two nods from Food & Wine magazine. The tourist hot spot ranked No. 5 in the nation for local restaurants and No. 7 for its overall dining scene, according to results published April 19.
Within the city, The Bar at The Spectator Hotel also was named one of the nation’s best places to grab a drink.
To come up with the findings, the magazine said its editors created a survey that readers completed from October 2021 to December 2022. Each respondent was “asked to rate airlines, airports, cities, cruise ships, hotels, restaurants, and bars on a number of characteristics” based on trips over the previous three years. The magazine did not share how many readers participated in the survey.
The resulting readers’ choice awards — also called the Global Tastemakers — consisted of the “best culinary experiences from around the world.” In the United States, Charleston made its mark when it was named the No. 5 place for neighborhood restaurants, defined as “smaller, family-owned joints.”
In its report, Food & Wine said go-to places for travelers to find local food in the Charleston area lie on James Island, along King Street and in the NoMo, North Central and Cannonborough/Elliotborough neighborhoods.
Charleston also landed at No 7 for its dining scene, ranking among the U.S cities “that serve up the best food and drinks.”
“It’s easy to fixate on Charleston’s seafood — and you certainly should spend some time doing that — but there are also a lot of dining experiences that make the most of the city’s scenery,” including a highly-rated history and food tour, the magazine said.
Between the two food-related categories, Food & Wine praised the city having top-notch places that dish out Southern favorites, such as oysters and biscuits. A coffee shop, wine bar and Italian restaurants also were among the places recognized, according to the results.
Charleston, the only place in South Carolina to earn spots on the two lists, repeatedly has ranked among the nation’s top food destinations. Within the past year, Yelp and Tripadvisor have added it to lists of places that food lovers can’t miss, McClatchy News reported.
On the most recent list, New Orleans ranked as the best place in the country for local restaurants, while New York City ranked No. 1 for overall food and drink.
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