492

Service was great! The atmosphere was even better! And the food although over priced for the plates, weren’t bad. I would go back for cocktails definitely.

Perspective from a local: If you are visiting charleston, do not waste money eating here, at this price point you can truly get the best meal of your life at multiple other local restaurants. We tried almost every entrée on the menu and every appetizer, and we’re willingly giving our food away to some else at the table, it looks beautiful but has poor to no flavor.
Still gave this place 2 stars because I would 100% still recommend to get drinks here (before you go to dinner somewhere else). Has beautiful interior/​outdoor patio section and great drinks making it a nice per dinner cocktail spot.

The duck and signature old fashioned were both absolutely phenomenal. Our server was knowledgable about every dish and the whole experience was top notch. Enjoyed sitting out on the patio for a drink after dinner as well.

492 is hard one to call. The location, atmosphere and service are excellent. However, the food is just ok. I was expecting a better quality of food prepared in a more exceptional manner. Instead, the small plates were just average in originality and quality. My potatoes were under cooked and the shrimp were over cooked. The pasta was cold and doughy. I didn’t try one of the entrees. A perhaps, they are better.

Had a spectacular meal last night. Great service… great cocktails and great food. Shared about 7 different played and two deserts between. All were happily satisfied. Menu changes often but we can guess it doesn’t matter because we liked everything we had. Relaxing environment and nice background music.

*** Review for bar only ***
I came to 492 with my fiancée for drinks one night. We chose to sit outside.
What’s cool is that the bar has a window to the outside, so you don’t have to go back in to get your drinks.
The bartender worked swiftly to whip up my Old Fashioned, using a small straw to extract and sample his creation. That’s attention to detail you won’t get at lesser bars. He was really good.
The outdoor patio area has several nice chairs and tables where you can sit and get sloppy under the lights hanging above. The outdoor bar counter also had bug spray — a nice touch.
I can’t speak to the food, but our bartender was aces and the drinks were very good.

We saw the beautiful exterior of the building after dinner, and just had to stop in for a drink. The interior is probably even more impressive than the outside. The drinks at the bar were excellent. It is just so unique and stylish inside. I want to stop again to dine for sure.

Love this place! Super stylish and cozy! Perfect for date night! Make reservations for their booth. The trout spread is amazing! Super nice service and acceptable pricing! We will for sure be back!

I was drawn in by the lovely patio space, but would return for the food. I had a light dinner of smoked trout pâté and a farro/​kale salad. Everything was delicious, and the service was quick and courteous (we went 30 minutes before closing.)

My husband and I just stopped in for a quick cocktail and loved the cool vibe. The décor was really eclectic and there was a large outdoor patio. I got the Maximilian Affair and it was delightful. The salt foam was so lite and fluffy!

My husband and I visited tonight with reservations and it was so/​so. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. Our server came across a little snobbish, he didn’t bring us any bread yet tables around us got some. The portions were fine, but he warn us. The atmosphere was a little weird. It should have been hip but it came across stuffy. Not sure why.
Food was excellent although I think the menu could do more descriptions. I was not expecting my kale salad to be more like collard greens. It was excellent but my husband was right, it looked awful and more like a side vegetable.
Probably won’t eat there again with so many other choices. And it was really far from east Bay Street with other bars.

I first entered 492 with a pre-​conceived notion that I would dislike the place. I had heard numerous friends around town complain about the small portions and big prices but wanted to check it out for myself. My friend and I met there for dinner and overall I was extremely pleased with the experience. The menu can be very confusing if you don’t have a game plan and I think the key to not going broke is to order a few of the smaller priced dishes (say around 3) to share along with one or two main entrees when dining with one other person. My friend and I split the Chicken Liver Mousse, Holy City Farm Tomatoes (with pistachios, vanillas & white chocolate), Braised Kale and Short Rib Pasta. Paired with the $ 5 Geechie Boy Grit Loaf we left surprisingly full and paying under $ 35 a person (minus drinks). The Short Rib Pasta was perfectly chewy in texture, rich in flavor and was much larger in portion than I imagined– just about enough for a light meal when paired with the bread. While not normally a huge fan of Chicken Liver, this Mousse was melt-​in-​your-​mouth amazing, served atop perfectly toasted brioche squares. My favorite dish of the evening was surprisingly the tomatoes– I have never seen vegetables served with chocolate before but it totally worked. Overall I think 492 can be a delicious, non-​break the bank experience when tackling the menu correctly. With that being said, with most of the Seafood and Meat dishes hovering around $ 18 – 23, in addition to $ 10 cocktails, you can blow the budget just as easily ;)
Must-​Order Items:
Chicken Liver Parfait
Holy City Farm Tomatoes
Strozzapreti Pasta (short rib)

We had an epic dinner yet again… Chef will always deliver a great experience. That being said, you never know what fresh and local ingredients will show up to surprise you on the plate. Who would have thought… Tomatoes and white chocolate. Order tons of small plates, share and indulge.

This place has so much potential! I’m having a really hard time trying to rate it. 5++ stars for the food, but 2 stars for the price, so I’m settling on 3 stars. I went with a group of girls for an early dinner before a CHS fashion week event. We got there around 5:15 on Friday, so we were able to check out the restaurant with almost no patrons there. The place itself is beautiful. I love the big chairs at the single tables and the round booths for the larger parties. They also have a table along the kitchen which i would love to sit at. The patio area is awesome. There’s also an upstairs with a cool outdoor garden.
Drinks — The drinks were phenomenal. I had the Disco Sour which came with purple ice cubes. They are infused with some flower, and the drink itself was an artful masterpiece. The other girls tried the tequila drinks — The Maximillion Affair and Oaxacan on Sunshine. The Max Affair had sea salt foam on top which was interesting. Recommend all.
Service — Our waiter, Brian, was very helpful, and suggested that we order a few appetizers for the table and for us each to order our own entrée. The menu may change based on availability, so they print a new menu each day. The menu is divided into four columns with about six options under each. Brian explained that the items were priced in terms of portion — so a cheaper item is sized for an appetizer. Hmmm… ok, I figured this was a fair and interesting concept. Read on.
Food — For the apps, we got the Braised Kale ($ 7), Golden Beets ($ 9), Holy City Farm Tomatoes ($ 9), and the Berkshire Pork Belly ($ 18 on Brian’s suggestion). Everything we tasted was amazing. I absolutely HATE tomatoes, but these were insanely good. They were paired with white chocolate and it was an indescribable combination that made an devout tomato hater attempt to get a second bite. I’m also not a beet fan, but the Golden Beets were so good! The Pork Belly was also great; the shiitake mushrooms, peanut purée, and ponzu sauce were just fantastic combinations. Each plate was artfully prepared. It was seriously a beautiful tablescape with all of the dishes. We had 5 girls with 4 apps, and we all basically got 2 bites of each appetizer. While I thought the apps were on the small side, I wasn’t put off by them based on price, except for the $ 18 Pork Belly dish. While it was bigger than the others, I still can’t understand the price tag.
For our entrees, 3 of us got the scallops, one swordfish, and one duck. We will all blown away by the flavors. My scallops were perfectly cooked. I got 3 scallops over cornbread purée with poblano peppers and strawberry. The purée was amazing. It was sweet and flavorful, and I really just want to drink it because it was so good. There was also a a few bites of the peppers/​strawberry/​some sort of couscous combination along with some crunch from the cornbread. The strawberry pieces (which i admit I thought were watermelon until I read the menu again), were the perfect way to add just a bit of sweetness.
So with all the glowing reviews, why am I giving it 3 stars? Please check out the size of my $ 27 entrée. So small. That’s how it was with every plate. From appetizer to «entrée.» Brian explained that the original idea was to get many dishes for sharing, but that the concept got reworked so that dishes were priced according to size. Ummm — I’m thinking it missed that mark (or I’d hate to see what the portions were like before). I get that I’m on King Street, but come on. I would love to come here again and again, but I just can’t afford it if I want to leave satisfied. We all headed to The Darling for dinner #2 after our event.

We visited 492 tonight and it was fantastic. We tried five dishes between me and my wife and each was better than the last. Each dish had a unique flavor profile with bold, even surprising results. The kale dish and the pickled shrimp stand out the most, but they were all fantastic.
The food was clean, simple, and perfectly prepared to bring out the absolute best flavors in each dish.
The cocktails were fantastic, the service was impeccable and the entire experience was capped by a personal visit to our table by the chef (Nate.) He’s really a great guy with a desire to please his customers. I can’t thank him enough for his time and generosity tonight.
(Quick side note: my wife inquired about where she could purchase the grits we had and he GAVE us some to take home and cook for ourselves.)
We’ve eaten at most of THE places in Charleston and 492 deserves a spot right with them. Check it out now!

So, we went into the city without a reservation on a Friday night to go to another establishment but the wait for a table was 1:45 and we did’t want to wait… So we tried 492… we’ve been meaning to try it anyway it just was’t in the plan for that particular night. On our walk there, we ran into a couple that asked where we were dinning. We told them 492 and they basically tried to convince us NOT to go there. They said the drinks are expensive, the plates are small, and the food isn’t that great. That’s far from what we’ve been hearing and decided to ignore their suggestions and went anyway. Good decision! I’d say the only thing they were somewhat accurate about was the drink prices. However, they were not out of line with other nice restaurants in the city. The food was fantastic from start to finish! We had two different salads to start, I had a basic greens salad with strawberries, nuts, and goat cheese, my wife had a beet salad, both were good. For our main course, she had cod and I had the scallops. They were presented nicely (see scallop pic) and quite good. We chose to skip desert. We’ll be back.

I had heard great things about 492 before going here, and I can say that my expectations were exceeded. The food was incredible and everything I tried I enjoyed. I went with three other people, so we all ordered 2 – 3 dishes and shared table-​style in order to try as many things. All their plate options are very unique and a good portion of food. I would highly suggest the veal, smoked trout, and duck egg confit.
The service was equally as excellent as the food. Our server was extremely knowledgable about each item on the menu and was able to offer helpful suggestions on the food and wine. He was very attentive but did not hover.
The saying «everything is under $ 16» associated with this restaurant is a little deceiving. The menu is a quarter menu, so you are expected to get several dishes to equal the size of an entrée. So yes, one item from each quarter is under $ 16, but your total bill will be 2 – 4 times that. However, I found most items very reasonably priced and everyone in my group only needed 2 or 3 dishes to fill up.

Since we had heard that 492 was great for drinks and not so much for food, we stopped here before heading elsewhere for dinner reservations. The atmosphere is definitely on the upscale side of trendy, although we saw many people dressed casually. I wish we had a chance to sit on the patio but it was a little cooler than expected and we didn’t have sweaters or jackets with us.
Instead we sat at the bar, where two bartenders answered our never ending questions about what they were making (they have very colorful, fun drinks that smell delicious). I ordered an Autumn Rum Punch and my sister got the Always Summer Sazerac. Both were absolutely delicious. We glanced at the menu and found a few things that looked appetizing although we didn’t have enough time to order. A friend we made whilst sitting at the bar ordered the scallops and deemed them delicious. It was a short but sweet visit. Let’s hope they stick around so I can try them again next time I’m down.

For girl’s night this weekend we headed to 492 on Friday night. Our plan was to do drinks and apps at a couple different places so we didn’t make reservations anywhere and were just going to chance it. We got lucky enough to get 4 seats at the inside bar. The interior is gorgeous. I really like the different light fixtures throughout the place and the clean and modern feel.
Since I’d read and heard mixed things about 492 I was excited to try an array of different things and judge for myself. Our friend Sarah is somewhat of a regular so she knew the cocktail and food menu well. We each started with the Disco Sour or The Maximilian Affair. I tried a sip of The Maximilian Affair and it was tasty but way more salt foam than alcohol in the glass, so for $ 10 I wouldn’t order it. The Disco Sour on the other hand was very tasty and a good size. I didn’t know what the heck Pisco was so I asked the bartender and he said Pisco is Pisco. Thanks buddy! Turns out it’s an amber colored brandy. Now I’m in the know!
For food we ordered the watermelon salad, indigo popcorn custard, burnt rye tonnarelli, ace basin clams, and day boat scallops. The only items I’d order again is the pasta and scallops. Both dishes are very rich but offered the best flavor. The clam dish had good flavor too but unfortunately the clams were inedible. Extremely dense and chewy. (A couple of us actually had to spit the clam out into a napkin…)
But I won’t let a bad clam hold me back from returning! The vibe is lively, the bartenders were a lot of fun (even with how busy they were), and 492 has great outdoor seating along with valet parking. Speaking of the valet, I went back and tipped the guy before 11, got my keys back, and he said it was cool that I left it there until I was ready to leave downtown so that was really awesome to not have to move the car!

Very nice experience. Terrific wait staff and beautiful surroundings. Manager showed us around their upstairs garden which includes some impressive tower gardens growing kale and chard, as well as raised beds. The restaurant specializes in small plates, with some much larger than others.
First off, the house made grit loaf (a grit-​infused bread) was wonderful… hard to remember a better restaurant bread other than Normandy Farms «country» loaf served by MacIntosh and a few others around town. The chilled pea soup was very good according to my dining partner. Another appetizer size portion was the whipped salt cod – kind of a whitefish salad type consistency on top of rye (?) crostini. Small portion — 3 small squares for $ 6. A bit pricey. But very, very tasty. I’d probably get it again. If they would just offer 4 or 5 then it could be shared.
We then went on with a Broccoli Salad with Golden Raisin, Sesame, Vietnamese Dressing. Salad was good but overly dressed. By the end of the dish, one suffered from dressing fatigue… needs a lighter touch.
Both of us tried the Tomato Braised Farro… with blood orange, celery, and basil. It was OK… but encased in soup of thickened tomato sauce, the farro loses its characteristic chew. You end up with something like farro porridge. Somehow the blood orange and basil, celery did not make this dish more than ordinary. Odd because the flavors sound great. By the way, the farro as well as the Jimmy Red Corn Grits below come in 2 sizes, $ 6-​$ 12. We got the $ 6 size and still bought a good amount home. Pretty generous helpings.
Finally, the «Jimmy Red Corn Grits» were delicious. The dish includes «Rye Crumble, Mepkin Abbey Shitakes, Butterbeans.» But I didn’t get any shiitake mushrooms. Mentioned this to the waitress and she thought they were the lumps in the grits but nope, they were rye crumbles of different sizes. Not a huge deal and I didn’t pursue it, since this was the second week of operations. If I go back and get the dish again, I will.