High Cotton Charleston

This is a very nice looking restaurant in downtown/​French district Charleston. I attended a rehearsal dinner here. Our room was pretty crowded, but the waiters managed to keep us all well watered.
The salad with peaches and ham was excellent. My hisband had the crab bisque, which was even better. The lamb chops were not quite as seared on the outside as I would have liked, but they were still good and tender. Brussel sprouts were a great side dish. The family style desserts were utterly forgettable.

Definitely make a reservation on the weekends. The service was first class. The oysters are a must have. Overall great dining experience.

Just ok to us. Went for dinner our last night in town. Fried oysters were interesting as well as good. I had the scallops and lobster, hubs had the fillet. His fillet was undercooked. Ordered the grits and brussels as sides. Grits were cold and had no flavor. Brussels were great.

Superb service, great ambiance, with background music jazz accompaniment. Shrimp and Grits were amazing, recommend the Portabello fries as an appetizer but would have preferred my wife’s fresh oysters. Definitely a must stop on your «fancy night» out in your visit to Charleston.

Best friend chicken sandwich I’ve ever had! Plus the combo of live jazz, ambience and friendly service — loved this place! (In fact went twice for brunch during our stay!)

This place was a typical high-​end restaurant experience. We had 5 people and out bill was through the roof. That being said, the food was excellent. Meat is served al a carte, which is a little disappointing but my side of asparagus was amazing. My filet was cooked to perfection, and not an ounce of fat. Good place for a very special occasion or celebration!

Beautiful setting, decadent menu, stellar service, impressive cocktails. These are what come to mind when reflecting on a dining experience at High Cotton. Our most recent visit was a big success and has left me feeling like there is a great reason for us to journey slightly north of broad again. The bar is where it’s at: full menu + killer cocktails + live jazz + fun staff = happy customer.

I absolutely loved High Cotton! The service was excellent, the food was fantastic, and the live music was the cherry on top!

We sat in the bar area, which was preferred, and listened to live Jazz music on a Saturday night. The food was amazing to say the least. Don’t miss the buttermilk fried oysters! The she crab soup was delicious, and not your typical heavy cream. You could taste so much crab! Delightful. I also had the bib lettuce, blue cheese, bacon and tomato salad which was spectacular! As a special, they had a pickled beet, arugula and pistachio salad atop a goat cheese purée. Hands down, best thing we had in Charleston over 4 days! Perfect salad!

That’s 4 – 5 stars for the dining room and 3 – 4 stars for the waitstaff and less than 1 star for the food.
Soups to start were OK, but not hot. The eggs with filet were ordered with both medium and both came rare. I could see the eggs were almost uncooked, so I sent the order back. I just didn’t want to send it back for the rare meat a second time. My wife ate some since she likes rare and the shrimp and grits she ordered were too hot to want much of — almost left untouched.
Wine — a very average and vinegary pinot noir.
Dessert — Key Lime (ordered with whipped cream on the side, but that was ignored) was on a very hard crust and quite sour. The chocolate cake was dense and OK, but undistinguished.
We planned on having dinner at their sister restaurant Hall’s Chop House, but were disappointed enough we cancelled. I thought it interesting that when I cancelled based on our High Cotton experience, the Chop House reservation clerk laughed, I guess they are amused by their failure. Going back to the Charleston Grill instead for much better food and service.

Went here for a work event and had a fixed menu but everything was pretty good. The waiters that helped out our event were spot on and super nice and friendly. I started off with crab soup which had a lot of big chunks of crab which I liked but I kind of felt it wasn’t super flavorful. I tried duck for the first time and it was cooked to perfection, the juice/​sauce covering it was also a little bland. The grilled asparagus was delicious. The dessert was my favorite, an apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream… Sooooo good! I would totally come back here as they had some amazing live music and I was having allergy problems so may not have helped the food flavor. Give this place 3.5 stars.

Had the Oscar filet with crab meat, girlfreind had. the filet. I can tell you it was one of the greatest meals I ever had. The filet was delicious tasted every bite.
The service was wonderful. and we went to the bar for a after dinner drink. The jazz band was terrific and the the place is just great. Best place can’t wait to go again.

We had brunch here this morning after the Cooper River Bridge Run. I have done this race 5 times as of today and spent a fair amount of time in the city in the past, 4 of the remaining 5 were charleston residents, and yet only 2 of our total 6 people had dined at High Cotton before… pretty much a Charleston sin in the highest form.
Despite it being bridge run morning, the service DID NOT falter. This is fine dining and no amount of runners will deter that. Our waiter was proper but warm, with impeccable attention to detail. I honestly adored the service that is so rarely treasured lately in other places.
The food. Fiancé and I shared the crab soup (yum! Heavy on sherry, which gives a sweeter than usual taste to the crab that we and another diner devoured), then I had the crab cake Benedict and he had the soft shell crab sandwich special… hey, we’re from Kentucky, so when someone offers crab, you take it! My Benedict, which two other diners also ordered, was huge and I forfeited my English muffin in an effort to save room for delicioussssss crab cakes (little to zero filler, a true sign of excellence!) and runny eggs! Fiancé’s sandwich was big (great for 21.00!) and the batter on the soft shell was crunchy and well fried, possibly tempura based. Others at our table ordered French toast (giant and reportedly decadent deliciousness) and the donut holes (renowned by everyone at our table… what a concept, donut holes with candied bacon?!?)
The drinks were delicious, innovative without totally recreating the wheel, and the wind list was great also.
Pricey, for sure, but justified in my opinion. We will be back for dinner next time in charleston!

The fried oysters and shrimps wrapped in bacon were good.
The crab soup was tasty.
The highlight of the dinner was the rack of lamb (three pieces) with tender asparagus and potatoes.
The service was efficient.
The Southern décor was charming.

We could not have enjoyed a better dining experience than our dinner at High Cotton.
When I made the reservation through OpenTable I noted that we were coming for a birthday celebration. As soon as the hostess pulled up our reservation she wished my boyfriend a happy birthday and grabbed a handwritten card wishing him well that was displayed at our table during dinner. Not sure if it was related to the birthday celebration but we got an excellent corner table with views all-​around of the streets.
We started with the Southern Mule which came out promptly and was refreshing. Before we ordered the waitress brought us an amuse bouche of marinated raw tuna on a cucumber. It was so amazing it swayed my entrée decision from the scallops to the tuna.
Our starter was a split of the she crab soup, which was lighter than expected but the delicate flavor was the perfect way to ease into dinner. The boyfriend ordered oysters on the half shell which aren’t my thing but he gave rave reviews. The tuna entrée I selected was sourced locally and perfectly seared to showcase the wonderful natural flavor. The risotto was the perfect complement to the pesto drizzled on the tuna.
To end the occasion they brought out an impressive soufflé and chocolate covered cream puff on the house. This touch, along with the handwritten birthday card, gave a celebratory feel to the dinner which was exactly what we were looking for. If you are looking to celebrate a special occasion in Charleston, High Cotton would be my top recommendation.

Rarely do you find a clean, spacious restaurant looking out to a street by the water for people-​watching, with live jazz music and champagne for ONLY $ 7 — at least not in New York, where I live.
High Cotton was pleasant from its lovely ceiling fans to the attentiveness of the wait staff. We shared the crab cake benedict and the seafood crêpe. You MUST try the seafood crêpe; I’ve had many, many crepes in the past and this is one of a kind.
The eggs on the benedict were perfectly poached — soft and runny yolk — but I thought the crab cake itself was a bit dry.
We also had the espresso martini and the fall sangria. The martini was a bit sweet but the sangria was perfectly flavored.
I don’t think this place deserves triple dollar signs. The prices were reasonable (again, I live in New York where a glass of champagne is ~$ 15).
So, the décor, the service, the food, the live music and the good price all scream excellence.

Fried green tomato, fish, and vanilla crème brûlée for Charleston Restaurant week… makes me happy. The restaurant was very classy and upscale, and the service was phenomenal. The flavors of the restaurant gave a Southern charm in how we were treated and with the style of cooking.

I don’t hand out 5-​star ratings frequently, so if that’s any indication on where this review is going– you’re in for a treat.
We went to High Cotton for NYE. They had a prix fixe menu; sometimes I’m not thrilled about these, but this was actually what made me make the reservations.
This was a three course menu: I went with the Buttermilk Fried Oysters, Scallops and Lobster with Chocolate Crème Pie. If this combination was a roller coaster, it was the most amazing coaster on the planet. First the oysters: perfectly fried with a Green Goddess sauce. So much yum. I’ve become an oyster addict since moving to Charleston and these were probably the best oysters I’ve had. The scallops were so tender and buttery– it melted in my mouth. I was delighted by the potato risotto that came with it– but I knew what was coming for dessert, so I didn’t finish them. Guys– CHOCOLATE CREME PIE. I died with every bite. I’m pregnant– and this was absolute heaven to a woman craving chocolate.
Husband ordered the Shrimp and Lobster cocktail (huge shrimp but needed some cocktail sauce), a filet with crab cake and hollandaise (delicious– the sauce really added to the filet) and the butterscotch cheesecake.
If this was the set menu, I can’t wait to go back and see what they offer regularly. Best place I’ve been in Charleston so far, hands down!

Beautiful atmosphere and setting. Service was fine.
Biscuits with jam — the biscuits weren’t overly buttery and maybe a little dry, but the jam was delicious. Also found black fuzz on one of my biscuits…
Huevos Rancheros — I asked for scrambled eggs and there were barely any eggs in my dish. Plenty of black beans and lightly boiled corn with chimichurri sauce. Would have preferred more eggs, guacamole, and better hot sauce! Also the potatoes tasted very Indian (curried)…would have been fine with an Indian dish but didn’t really fit in with this one.
Overall, with all the other great options in Charleston I wouldn’t come back here. Sadly, some of the better brunch places don’t take reservations but High Cotton does.

Visited sisters in my sorority for the weekend and one of them set up brunch here. At first glance, I had high hopes. It was decorated nicely, there was live jazz music over toward the bar, and it just gave you a great «Old Southern Charm» feel.
The food is just decent. I got the Crab Cakes Benedict and to be honest it was not anything special. The best Crab Cake Eggs Benedict I’ve had is in Columbia, SC back in college.
To make matters worse, I requested a Bellini for my drink and our server just brought me a mimosa (maybe he didn’t know the difference).
To make matters even worse, my friend found a black hair in her food — Not sitting on the edge of her plate but INSIDE her crab cake. They took it back and the manager came by, apologized, and offered her a free sorbet, but at that point we all had already lost our appetites. When we looked to the back of the kitchen we realized both of the cooks had thick black beards. Not sure what the rules are in regards to facial hair and preparing food but it just (literally) put a bad taste in our mouths.
Maybe it was a one-​time thing, though. I would be willing to try again when I am back in the area.

I hadn’t initially planned on eating at High Cotton but I am glad that I did get the opportunity to do so on Tuesday, March 17^th (2015). Upon completion of our training for the day, a group of 11 of us were touring the Waterfront section of Charleston and needed to eat.
Trying to get a table for 11 with no reservation is no easy task. Fortunately, it was just before 6 PM and High Cotton was nearby and not busy yet. I advised the group of the three dollar sign Unilocal rating ($$$) but everyone was in the mood for a good meal, even if it was slightly pricey.
As soon as we crossed the threshold and entered the restaurant, we knew were in for a good experience as the restaurant exuded class. We only had a 5 –10 minute wait while they configured a few tables to accommodate us. While we waited, some of us enjoyed a drink at the lavish bar and some us us enjoyed the three man jazz trio that was playing live jazz.
The menu was mind blowing and I was torn between several entrees, most of which appeared on the Chef’s Specialties section of the menu. I started with an «Heirloom» Caprese salad. The locally sourced tomatoes were deep red, almost blood red, but were firm and tasty, as was the freshly made Buffalo mozzarella. There was just enough balsamic reduction to enhance the dish, but not so much as to overpower it.
For my entrée, I ordered the Elk Osso Bucco. For those unfamiliar with Osso Bucco (Italian for «bone with a hole), it’s a cross cut shank on the bone and is usually veal or lamb. The elk was not gamey at all and was nearly as tender as a good veal. The Osso Bucco was served on top of grits with braised Brussels sprouts and was served in the classic style with a gremolata (chopped herb condiment). I ate every morsel and only wish they had provided a small marrow spoon for me to extract the buttery goodness. I did manage to get my butter knife a few inches into the bone (from both sides) and extract some while no one was looking.
My only disappointment was a personal one, as I had given up all sweets for Lent and was unable to try their soufflé for dessert. But if I’m ever back in Charleston, I ‘m definitely coming back and getting dessert.
Our server, Eric G., was awesome and took great care of us, all the while tending to his other tables. He definitely earned his 25% gratuity and is probably one of their top servers.
All in all, this was a great restaurant experience and they are worthy of the rave reviews. If you are in Charleston and want a great dining experience that is borderline «fine dining», stop on in.