Black Bean Co

Supposed to be a health conscious fast food type joint.
A friend who lives in the area usually enjoys the gyros which are not like typical NY gyros so i wasn’t interested in that. I decided to splurge and get the terriyaki salmon and sesame fried rice for a ridiculous $ 17. yes i saw the price and like i said i wanted to splurge, but these people do not understand what sesame fried rice is. I can tell you it is NOT rice that sticks together soaked in sesame oil with lima beans.
Wonder if it was things like this that were the reason for its closure. Still sad when any place closes down because all places have their fans. Bummer.

This location is closed. It was very good and fresh however pass on the couscous. It is dry and tasteless.

FYI-​went there today to find it closed down. Apparently, Rick Hendrick bought out that entire area, as verified by Black Bean’s website. The downtown and James Island locations remain open.

I just moved to Charleston from Northern California and had no idea what to expect. Yet, Black Bean Co really brought a great first impression to the small city.
I am a very healthy-​eater and strictly pescatarian so I was excited to have heard of this establishment. I was just as excited when I saw all of the menu choices and could barely even pick one because each option sounded fantastic. I was EVEN MORE excited to see my food in front of me face.
I was in love when I took my first bite.
The wraps, my fellow Unilocalers, are to die for.

It’s been a few months since my last visit and boy what change… not for the good. Cannot stand a cashier with an attitude. If you don’t want to serve the public, please don’t pick food service. I blame the manager for that road bump. As in the past, the food was great, love the Baja style wrap and fresh spring rolls. Miss the little cup of yogurt. Pineapple water… refreshing. Food gets 5 stars, front of house gets 1. No more Belly, what gives?

I was impressed. I had the portobello wrap with horseradish sauce and my husband had baby Gouda with tofu. Both were really good. The pasta salad side was great but Matt’s couscous was a little dry and bland. We both had water. $ 25 lunch with tip. I think a tad on the pricey side for lunch but the veg options were very nice.

I really enjoy Black Bean Co– West Ashley. I prefer to order out or go through the drive thru. It doesn’t take very long to go to either one, but if you sit in and dine– it takes forever to get your food.
The food is fresh and delicious. The portions are average, but they do come with a side. I quite enjoy the in-​house made yogurt with granola and dried fruit. I am a fan of the honey turkey wrap. I usually omit some things and add others, which they don’t mind doing. They are very accommodating.
They are a bit pricey versus other wrap places in the area, but I would still recommend them. They are quite convenient if you are on the way to the beach (there is one toward Folly, on the way– easy in/​out). They offer call ahead ordering and you just run in and grab it then go on your way. They pack them in small boxes– which fit perfectly into a cooler for the beach.

Disappointed. Two tables were in dire need of bussing… it wasn’t busy at the time and they had plenty of workers. Things throughout seemed a bit off, the manager needs to focus. My pasta container was greasy on the outside, beer can in cooler leaning up against door ready to fall out when door is open, etc. My pasta was such a small portion it should have just been put on the plate and then you don’t have to waste the plastic container.
I had the fresh tofo wrap and it just so-​so. My wife had the chicken gouda wrap and it was better, but nothing special either. Both wraps had too much lettuce/​greens. We’ve never ate at this place before so we didn’t know what to expect. We are not big fans of arugula and that is what they seem to use in their mixed greens. Not much flavor either in both our wraps.
Neither of us finished our lunch, which I don’t remember the last time that has happened. Don’t need to come back to a Black Bean Co.

This is more between a 2 – 3 stars for me, but settled on a 3 because I’m generous. I’ve been to BBC once before when they were located on Cannon St. This morning I found myself in West Ashely and thought I would stop in for a quick breakfast to go. Although they seem to have a lot of breakfast menu items, they are really just the same things in different combinations of ingredients. Since I was on the go, I decided to get a breakfast wrap, the Tuscan Wrap which is supposed to have eggs (or tofu) homemade Mozzarella, Vine Ripened Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, Spinach. Despite not appearing that busy (only two of us there), it took quite awhile to get my food (to go).
While I was waiting for my food, I got some coffee which was part of a combo. They have self serve coffee in a few different varieties. I settled on the Caffe Sumatra. They have a station to the side with stirrers and sugar. They have sugar in the raw, table sugar, Splenda, and sweet’n low and equal, no stevia though, which I was a little surprised by since I thought this was more of a health food place… I’m surprised they had so many artificial sweeteners… but I digress.
So I got my wrap and got in the car ready to devour it. It was pretty tiny for how much I paid for it and very, VERY bland. Not even a hint of basil or balsamic which makes me think they forgot to put it in there. It was totally unseasoned eggs, cheese and tomatoes. It didn’t taste horrible, it just didn’t taste like anything really and I was so hungry.
I’m sure other items on the menu are more flavorful, but they are rather expensive overall for what you get. I probably won’t make a point to go back there.
If you are looking for vegetarian/​vegan options, while they certainly have many, I think Dellz Deli or Dellz Uptown is not only better but more affordable for what you get.

The service is always great, and the food is good. I just always feel like it’s missing something.
I got the roasted caprese chicken which came out so dry it was almost inedible. And this is coming from a girl who usually asks for her chicken to be on the drier side.
I brought my vegan cousin here when she was visiting because their menu online touted a vegan brownie. When we asked the waiter about vegan desserts he said the only vegan dessert he could think of was «yogurt parfait,» which is absolutely not vegan. Not even a little.

Food great, service was worse than horrible. Had to ask to be seated (obviously standing there patiently doesn’t work), no salt and pepper or sweetener on table so has to ask for those. Waited really long time for food and check. California gyro was awesome !!!

Came here with the family. It was suggested and I’m always down with good fresh food. This place reminds me of a small restaurant in Cincinnati called Melt that also had many many vegan and vegetarian dishes. Black bean Co. has cute décor with many cuckoo clocks throughout. It has a natural feel to it without being overdone. I ordered the international wrap, which had avocado (which is my fav) and it was pretty good. I feel like they’re one of the healthier choices in the area, but I don’t know.
Overall I would definitely come back again. Maybe to get the beet salad — cause beets are amazing,

We went for brunch a couple of weekends ago. There was barely anyone else in there which probably should have bed a red flag. Needless to say, it was horrible! I only give the three stars because I do still enjoy their regular lunch menu. We ordered a breakfast burrito which came with grits and the biscuits and gravy which came with breakfast potatoes. The burrito was mediocre; something we easily could have put together at home. The grits were undercooked and underseasoned. Now getting to the biscuits and gravy– fowl! I realize this is a health food restaurant and biscuits and gravy are typically an unhealthy dish, but their attempt to make it a healthy one was disgusting! The gravy just tasted weird, and then there were slabs of plain white pork («local») on top– no seasoning– a new experience to me with biscuits and gravy. Bottom line– DO NOT go here for brunch. Yuck.
Normally we love Black Bean, so we were a little surprised. We decided not to say anything but just leave with barely eating anything (we did pay obviously ha) which I am definitely regretting now because it was just so horrible and they needed to know! Now they do, maybe.

Our second attempt was okay.
The service: Raymond was our server and the only one on the floor. He was doing his best, and was a very pleasant person. Not the best service I have received in Charleston, but it got the job done.
The food: We started with a crab cake and spring rolls. We had the rolls before and they were still as delicious as we remembered. The crab cake was also SO WONDERFUL, but we were only able to get one. We had originally just wanted 2 crab cakes for an appetizer, but were told they only had one. It was only 6pm… how do they not have any crab cakes left?! For my entrée I had a wrap (see picture). It was tasty, and much better than the previous wrap I had tried. My husband tried the pad thai. He was very confused when it came out… it wasn’t pad thai at all. It seemed to be noodles/​veggies with a coconut curry sauce. He also had an issue with it coming out barely even warm… it should have been hot! For dessert we shared the strawberry shortcake. We knew it had lemon curd based on the description, but what we basically got were two biscuits, some lemon curd sauce, and sliced strawberries. The biscuits were just placed on the plate… no strawberry juice on them or anything, leaving them quite dry. The only thing that saved this plate was the massive amount of whipped cream. I wish they would have cracked open the biscuits, drizzled them with some strawberries/​juice, and layered with the curd and cream.
My last issue with this dinner was that we got there at 6pm and didn’t leave until 7:30pm…so long for this type of food… not sure why things were moving so slowly, there were only a handful of other customers in the place.
Also, be warned, when you walk in it is quite confusing to know what to do… seat yourself or not? Very little direction/​timely assistance.
I am glad this experience was better than the last, but I still think there are plenty of other places (with better service, food, atmosphere) in town.

I read the reviews before I went to Black Bean, so I guess I didn’t have super high expectations, but I thought it was fine. 3 of us dined in and we all had various «energy» wraps and sides. The menu is the same as the other black bean locations in Charleston but there is a dinner menu that is fancier– none of us wanted that though (the waiter did try to sell it by telling us a chef comes in at night to cook it).
The wrap I had was the heart and spinach wrap. Artichoke hearts, tofu, spinach, goat cheese, olives, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and basil oil. It was on a green wrap and came with vanilla yogurt with granola. I thought it was really tasty, the wrap wasn’t too thick and bready like some can be, but it held together. My friend got the Green Beach Burrito with added tofu and enjoyed it (she gets that at the other Black Beans), and another friend got the Southwest Chicken. All of us liked it. I will say most of the wraps sound the same on the menu, they just have different items added or left out. The menu looks a little overwhelming at first.
But the service was great– our waiter checked on us several times and kept our water refilled. Our food came out quickly and we had no issues. I don’t think I’d use the drive thru unless I called in an order, because I don’t think a drive-​thru at a restaurant like this works well. You can’t tell that it used to be fast food though– the inside is really nice and there’s a garden outside to eat in.
I’ll knock one star because the portions aren’t huge (hey, it’s healthy food) and the prices are a little steep. It’s $ 11 – 12 for a wrap after tax and tip. I left full but not stuffed. I’m a small girly and not a huge appetite. If you’re hungry (or a dude), you’ll want to get an appetizer to go with your wrap… and app, wrap, and soft drink will run you upwards of $ 20. So not cheap, but worth a try.
I would definitely go back and try the other wraps and salads.

Update ⁷⁄₁₄ — Today is the «official» grand opening. Service is much better! Hope it stays this way and isn’t just for the grand opening.
I’ve been to this four or five times since it opened. The food is wonderful: some of the best (and most creative) wraps I’ve ever had. As for service — it’s definitely lacking. The first couple of times I wrote off as grand opening pains, but it’s still just as bad a month or so later. I’ll keep going back and hoping for best as I’m confident they’ll figure it out.

I love Black Bean! It is a great idea and it does bring healthier food options to the Lowcountry.
I do have an on-​going issue though. I am a vegan and whenver I order my food whether is it drive thru or I walk in, my orders are WRONG about 80% of my order (e.g. 4 out of 5 orders). I have to always check before I leave the restaurant. I get so agitated because I order very clearly with simple requests to leave ONE item out. I request the cashier to repeat to ensure order accuracy but yet to my suprise, the kitchen staff in the back, still repeatedly fail to pay attention to the orders.
I am paying 10.00 a salad. I have had times when I forgot to check and then got home and low and behold. there is cheese all over my salad… SIGH…I emailed the owner about this, Ellis Grossman, and he has yet to reply.
I love the place but I really have grown to hate the entire experience of getting food there. :(…Sorry, won’t be going as often and won’t be promoting it.
** Addition: July 3– I did get a personal email from David Lickiss (general manager for BB) after I had already posted this review. He apologized for the poor service and indicated they were currently taking customer feedback to improve BB experience. Thank you David for getting back to me.

Poor training and lack of management! How can you promote yourself as a healthy fast food alternative when you don’t even know the difference between vegan and vegetarian, the kitchen has no idea what GMO means and the management was rude! It was not the servers fault, by any means, I place all the blame on owners and management! Learn what you are selling and then teach your employees. It’s a shame because the food was pretty good, over priced, but good. I’ll grab some drive through in a rush but never sit down again.
If you don’t get new management soon your test run for a ‘sit down dining’ atmosphere will fail, miserably. The manager was sitting in the booth next to us telling our server they are all out of unsweet tea as we were ordering our drinks… lack of communication? How do you not tell your staff this at the beginning of their shift? Create an 86 board, do a line-​up, or learn to order properly… certain foods I can understand… but unsweet tea, really? Then as we went to leave a different manager cut us off as we were exiting the restaurant with not so much as an «I’m sorry» «thank you for coming» «have a great evening» «we’ll see you next time» instead he stopped to talk to a server directly in the middle of the isle so we had to walk behind the hostess stand to exit.
Again good food, over priced, next time it’ll be the drive through after I inform myself of the menu options.

Wow, I have mixed opinions about this experience.
I think I must have went on an off day. It was a Sunday afternoon and it was packed. I was told that they normally don’t have table service but they did when I was there. It was obvious that it wasn’t the norm because the staff seemed confused and efforts seemed duplicated. The food wait time was also incredibly slow, especially considering we got a gyro and a wrap. That shouldn’t take long, right? Although it was slow, everyone was friendly.
Despite the above, the food was fresh and tasty and the ambiance was pleasant. I had a gyro with tofu, tomatoes, feta, and onions. I also had hummus and pita. The only thing I did not like was the «citrus green tea.» It tasted like Arizona tea and was definitely not freshly-​brewed in-​house.
I really want to like this place a lot. Maybe just go any other time but Sunday afternoon?

I don’t normally take the time to contact restaurants, even if I have an enjoyable experience, but following my visit to the new Black Bean Co. location in West Ashley I had no other choice.
My husband and I eagerly awaited the opening of the newest location as it is only minutes from our home. We always stop at the James Island location on the way to or on the way from Folly. We always enjoy our meal and the counter service is always quick and friendly — so we presumed that the newest location would be the same.
When we entered the new location we stood around confused, waiting for instructions. When the hostess finally spoke to us and seated us, we weren’t offered the wrap menu at all — we were only offered the «Local Dinner» menu. This was new to us as none of the other locations have menus with what I would call «entrees.» What we love about Black Bean is that it is no fuss, delicious, fresh food.
Well, about halfway through our two meals (one wrap and one salad — which were only «okay» compared to the James Island location), which took nearly 20 minutes to receive, the head chef — dressed in all black with a green apron — along with a member of the kitchen staff walked to the sunroom right beside where we were seated. I proceeded to listen to the chef FIRE this employee in the middle of the dining room. I heard every word loud and clear. I have never been so disgusted or embarrassed. No one should ever be fired where guests can hear it. I was so turned off by that experience I could not finish my meal. This is reprehensible and your «head» chef should know better.
Overall our first experience at the West Ashley Black Bean Co was awful and we won’t be back. I felt these things were worth bringing to your attention.
Also, on the laminated wrap menu I noticed at least 8 typos and misspellings, further evidence of just how unprofessional this restaurant is.
Final note — I emailed the restaurant and have yet to receive any sort of response.