Five new restaurants are setting tables throughout the Charleston area, offering a menu of diverse culinary offerings.
In Goose Creek, Chicken Salad Chick will hold the grand opening of its third Lowcountry venue Feb. 21 at 220 St. James Ave.
The first 100 customers after 7 a.m. on opening day will get a container of free chicken salad once a month for a year. Other specials will follow Feb. 22-25 during regular operating hours of 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
The Goose Creek restaurant will bring the Atlanta-based company’s store count in South Carolina to 13.
The Palmetto State expansion is led by Julie Beville and Michelle Singleton of Sing Bev Hospitality. They opened their first Chicken Salad Chick in Greenville in 2013 and now have 15 sites throughout the Carolinas, including two Lowcountry locations in Mount Pleasant and Summerville.
Pakistani restaurant Malika Canteen of Mount Pleasant plans to open a second Lowcountry location on James Island in March. Provided
Second helping
On James Island, the Charleston area’s only Pakistani restaurant is planning a second location.
Malika Canteen plans to take over The Pour House‘s Container Kitchen on March 7 at 1977 Maybank Highway. Malika now operates in Mount Pleasant Towne Centre.
The new restaurant site will be open 5-10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.
Owners Raheel Gauba and his wife Maryam Ghaznavi also plan to soon open Ma’am Saab at 251 Meeting St., where Jestine’s Kitchen operated for 24 years before closing in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are holding a ticket-only, sold-out event March 2 at Ma’am Saab as part of the Charleston Wine & Food Festival, an indication of an imminent opening to the public that has yet to be announced.
Gauba said the couple is concentrating on getting the James Island operation up and running before launching Ma’am Saab.
Alcove Market is a new café and specialty food market now open on the ground floor of The Jasper apartments on Broad Street on the Charleston peninsula. Easton Porter Group/Provided
Now serving
On the lower peninsula, a new café and specialty food market is now open.
Alcove Market can be found at 320 Broad St. on the first floor of the 12-story Jasper apartment development in Harleston Village.
It offers grab-and-go dishes, coffee, craft beers, wine and gourmet pantry items.
The new venue is a product of hospitality firm Easton Porter Group, which also owns Zero George Street hotel and events venue Cannon Green. The market is led by chef Orlando Pagán, also executive chef at sister restaurant Wild Common.
The menu is rooted in “wellness-forward and health-conscious cuisine,” according to Easton Porter Group co-founder and CEO Dean Porter Andrews.
The group plans to open coastal Italian restaurant and bar Costa by the summer at The Jasper.
On the way
Also among the new culinary offerings, a Philadelphia-based bagel shop plans to venture south for the first time with two new cafés planned in the Lowcountry.
Spread Bagelry is bringing its wood-fired bagels from its home base in Philadelphia to the Lowcountry, with plans for two locations in the Charleston area. Spread Bagelry. Provided
Spread Bagelry will open at 1400 Shucker Circle in the Oyster Park development off Ben Sawyer Boulevard in April and on the ground floor of Hoffler Place Apartments at 595 King St. in downtown Charleston by mid-summer, according to a company spokeswoman.
The business serves wood-fired bagels after they are made from farm-fresh ingredients and boiled in honey water.
The Montreal-style bagels are different from typical New York-style bagels, according to the company. The dough is sweeter, and the wood-firing produces a crispy exterior around a denser crumb.
The bagel vendor currently has 10 locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with three others planned in the Keystone state and another in Savannah, Ga.
Specific opening dates will be announced later after restaurant buildouts are completed. The new eateries will be open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.
Outdoor gear retailer REI Co-op will host its grand opening on Shoremeade Road in Mount Pleasant Feb. 17-19. Warren L. Wise/Staff
Grand opening
A new outdoor gear shop opens this weekend, bringing an array of camping, hiking, paddling and biking wares to the Lowcountry.
REI Co-op will host its grand opening Feb. 17-19 at 1720 Shoremeade Road in Indigo Square Shopping Center in Mount Pleasant.
The 21,535-square-foot site previously housed Publix supermarket’s specialty store, GreenWise Market, which closed in 2020 after the grocer determined the space was too small.
The opening weekend will include giveaways of coffee and camp mugs while supplies last when the store opens at 9 a.m. Feb. 17-18 and 10 a.m. Feb. 19.
From 1 to 5 p.m., REI will host an outdoor social that includes community partners, giveaways, music and attendance by representatives of major brands.
Headquartered near Seattle, REI has two other South Carolina locations, in Columbia and Greenville.
Upscale retailer Gucci is now open in a new location on King Street on the ground floor of The Charleston Place hotel. Brian Berkowitz/Provided
A high-end fashion retailer is ready for its close-up in a new location in downtown Charleston.
Gucci is now open at 242 King St. in the Shops at Charleston Place after moving from around the corner on Market Street.
The 4,200-square-foot shop showcases a wide collection of men’s and women’s shoes, handbags, luggage, small leather goods, jewelry, watches, eyewear and other items.
The store also is one of the few locations in the U.S. to carry leather handbags and shoes for women and men.
Several contrasting elements make up the interior, including vintage brass racks versus rich fabrics adorning the rooms, round and rectangular tables, and varnished pink iron wall finishes mixing with moss green velvets in fitting rooms.
Large chairs, vintage oriental rugs and energy-efficient lighting also are part of the new store.
The store is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
Lights out
Fifteen months after a Brooklyn-based dessert shop brought its eccentric flavors to downtown Charleston, the business has gone dark. OddFellows Ice Cream Co. recently closed its 1,400-square-foot shop at 550 King St. after opening in the fall of 2021 with a revolving menu of 30 unusual flavors. A company representative did not immediately respond for comment on the closing.
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