Stono Market and Tomato Shed Cafe

Loved the atmosphere and the people ! Had a wonderful lunch on a rainy day! The menu has a wide variety of choices for your pleasure ! There is something for everyone to eat here — wide variety of sides! People were so friendly. Would definitely return !

Amazing tomato pie and fresh fruits!!! Lovely farmers market attached for all the seasonal things you’d want. Definitely recommend!

Good olé’ Southern Cooking.
The tomato shed has sweet tea, unsweetened tea, lemonade, or water that come with every meal. There are multiple sides to choose from and all seem to be awesome. I ordered chicken salad on top of a tomato and lettuce with crackers. My two sides were green buttered beans and an AWESOME side citrus salad of toasted pecans, mixed greens, and oranges. My sister ordered chicken and taters. THEY WERE GREAT! Mouthwatering, amazing, delicious. I would definitely recommend the chicken and taters over my chicken salad.
She said not to get the apple salad as a side. It was a fruit salad with a sauce. It was not your typical lettuce, apple and walnut salad you would expect.
The place was very laid back (styrofoam plates, plastic silver wear) but very welcoming and homey. Be aware! They close for lunch around 3.

Now that they serve beer and wine. 5 Star! Sandwich’s and gift shop had nice local gifts.

GREAT food & great service! If you want some home cooked veggies — you will LOVE this place!

I heard about the Tomato Shed Café from a co-​worker, but hadn’t planned on coming here just yet. I was exploring with the family for a new dinner location, unplugged from the grid, and just driving around, when I drove by and saw the sign (I might have hit the brakes a little too quickly). The parking lot was busy, but the seating inside was plentiful so we sat down rather quickly. The menu for dinner is honestly a little piece of heaven, and if I could have tried every item, I would have. Luckily, each of us chose something different, and we shared. The special of the day was a yellow fin tuna, and I went with that, along with a tomato pie side dish and a sweet potato casserole. Oy vey. I cleaned that plate after helping polish off an appetizer of crab dip, which was loaded with chunks of crab meat and assorted crackers. My wife got the shrimp n grits and the flavoring was wonderful. My son got the ½ chicken, and although the skin was a little too seasoned for him, the meat itself was cooked perfectly and very juicy. I enjoyed the seasoned skin, personally. In addition to the food at our dinner table, there was a farmers market inside to browse through, as well as refrigerators full of prepared foods and pies to take home with you. We left with our hands full, and will definitely be back again to try out their dinner and lunch menu. Dinner is only served on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

Oh yah! Went here after visiting the Tea Plantation. Lots of local produce and seafood on the menu. Recommend crab cakes and shrimp entrees. The side of grits were cheese and perfectly cooked. The beets had a hint of ginger.
Prices were quite reasonable especially since there isn’t anything else between here and the Plantation.
Go visit Angel Oak too!

If you have not tried this place for lunch, you are truly missing out. Love the Shrimp and so many amazing sides. Great part is that you also get to shop and buy their food as well as fresh produce and local, farm fresh items. Worth the drive to John’s Island, for sure.

You would have to have zero taste buds or be a damned Yankee not to love this place! Try it all! Grits are out of this world!

A solid choice for dinner – high quality ingredients combined with locally raised produce at reasonable prices. We stopped in for dinner on a Thursday night (only open for dinner Thurs-​Sat.). We enjoyed a very nice dinner salad with tomato pie side. We also ordered crab cakes with two sides included in the $ 17 price. We chose honey glazed rainbow carrots grown by Ambrose farm and a sweet potato casserole.
The crab cakes are full of crab meat and superb – equal to anything I’ve had downtown at far fancier restaurants. A substantial portion of carrots were colorful and lightly honey-​glazed but somewhat bland – or looking at the positive side, they were delicately flavored. The sweet potato casserole was wonderful. It included bits of pecans, raisins, dried apples as toppings. Freshly cooked and whipped sweet potato made this a standout dish. Add the accommodating, helpful service and you end up wishing you lived a bit closer to the Tomato Shed Café.

Sorry folks but I just don’t get it. Sure it’s a funky place but what food they offer is expensive and not much of it. Items for sale can be purchased elsewhere much cheaper. Place is small and crowed with stuff. Vegitables for sale are sub parr and expensive. I don’t get it.
Frank G

Great meal ! One previous post said this place was not good cuz it served its food on paper plates! Charleston is full of food snobs ! If you like great food and you are not to pretentious, this place is a good enough !

What an interesting and fun place to stop for lunch. It’s like a southern café and general store put together. So friendly! My wife and I stopped in for a quick lunch as we finished our vacation to Charleston. Didn’t know what to expect but went with one of the servers suggestions… the crispy fried pork chop with gravy. Great suggestion. The pork chop had fantastic flavor and the nice crunch. I went with a side of tomato pie (wow…my first time trying it but not my last) and of course, grits! Overall, a wonderful meal at a great price, about $ 10. Just needed a good nap afterwards. Ha!

I came here with a bigger group, and there were some things I loved, and some things I didn’t really like. I’m an NC transplant new to the area and this was a good welcome.
The greats: customer service, free sweet/​unsweet tea and lemonade, fresh ingredients, GREAT cook and seasoning on both the fried fish and the grits. Grits were a revelation, y’all.
The good: nice combinations of flavors and ingredients and it’s simple so it highlights how fresh the ingredients are
The not-​so-​good: almost everything – except the fish and grits, mashed potatoes and gravy – was underseasoned. For example, I’ve had chicken salad in some other places (including places in SC) that were much more well-​seasoned, had more crunch, and had less mayonnaise. The beets were nice and sweet, well-​cooked, but missing some acid (for which I added the vinegar they had available). The tomato pie was easily my almost-​favorite because the tomatoes were nice and sweet, herbacious, just cooked through but not mushy, and the dish was nice and cheesy; however, it tasted pretty much like no one bothered to put salt beyond what was built into the cheese. I don’t know, I so badly wanted to give this charming place a 5, but I couldn’t because the food wasn’t amazing. I would say food = 3.5 (3 without the amazing fish and grits special), charm + service = 0.5 – to make 4 total.

I was taken here for lunch today and I could not rush to review (and rave) about this place fast enough!
First, let me make clear: the food is AMAZING. I’ve had a lot of traditional southern fare around Charleston, and after a while it all starts to blend together. But man, they do it right here and it definitely stood out! Don’t mistake this for another run of the mill southern food type place– this food is rich and flavorful and everything is just WOW.
I had the vegetable plate– and while that sounds boring– all of their sides are AMAZING– and the list is delightfully long– with many interesting choices. I had the tomato pie, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole with raisins, pecans, and apples, and mac and cheese. Everything was filling and delicious! Then we each followed up with a slice of pie. I got my pecan pie with ice cream and it was a very nice touch that they made sure to serve the slice of pie warm.
The atmosphere is fun– not fancy– but cute and casual. The food is served on styrofoam plates and the tables are simple with colorful flowery table cloths. Everyone was SO friendly! Our server and every staff member we spoke to was chatty and helpful and in good spirits. Other diners were also friendly! The atmosphere was absolutely wonderful and made the whole trip/​meal into a memorable experience.
Plus they have baked goods and some other things for sale, so you can poke around and possibly bring home a treat too! A very nice added touch!
I would take this wonderful meal and restaurant over downtown Charleston fancy fare ANY DAY. Go, go, go!

Reasonably priced authentic southern food. We ate here at the recommendation of some friends. It’s truly a hidden gem! Best sweet tea I’ve had in a while. SO MANY sides to choose from – there’s something for everyone. I couldn’t decide which to get for my veggie plate! Save room for dessert. There are like 5 kinds of pie, éclair cake, coconut cake and some other sweet specialties. On a busy weekend day, there may be a short wait, but there’s a lot of goodies to peruse in the market while you wait.

The Tomato Shed Café is a real southern (and seafood) restaurant. It may not look the most «fancy“restaurant, but it has amazing local, southern-​style food.
I got the Geechie Boy Shrimp and Grits Special. The grits themselves were creamy, rich, and some of the best I’ve had. The shrimp tasted juicy and very fresh. The sauce on it was a ham gravy and was delicious.
The shrimp and grits came with two sides. I got braised cabbage that had delicious bacon and carrots in it, and I also got tomato pie. I would definitely suggest that you get the tomato pie. It is the BEST side! Also, all the meals come with corn bread.
One thing that I love about this restaurant is that they have so many sides (almost 30!). I also love their market that is attached to the café. The market has lots of local produce and also sells the café’s pre-​made food. I definitely think anyone who’s passing through John’s Island should try this place out.

Excellent. This is some LEGIT, home-​style southern food! No frills — They are not messin’ around here. It’s all about the FOOD! They’ve got a great thing going and do NOT intend to change.
So, aside form the restaurant — which there is usually a wait for (because it’s awesome), they have a craft/​gift/​antique store and a market with local products including produce, seafood, chicken from local farms and a bunch of pre-​made (take home and bake) items like tomato pie, squash casserole, etc.
They also have some baked goods which are OUT OF THIS WORLD! My favorite is the chocolate zucchini bread — absolutely incredible! They also have a few other types of breads, cookies, etc.
The food at the restaurant (which is inside the gift shop/​store — it’s really all ONE place) is exceptional. They do it «picnic» style with disposal plates, cups, etc. You get up and get your own drinks, silverware, etc. They have a big ice and water machine, and tea, lemonade, etc. Small selection, but it’s complimentary (well, I’m sure it’s built into the price of everything else).
So, after you wait for a table, browse the selection of gifts and food, and probably buy a small chocolate zucchini bread to snack on while you wait… you are now ready to EAT!
The food, well the food is AWESOME! I had the fried softshell crab (very seasonal) over grits with tasso gravy. Mmmmm mmmm mmmm! Everything was prepared perfectly and it really hit the spot!
One GREAT thing about his spot, is that they have like 20 different side dishes, and you get 2 with almost every item on the menu. I had the stewed okra and tomatoes and mac and cheese. Both were exceptionally prepared and seasoned perfectly. The okra had a crunch to it, but was still stewed! The mac and cheese was perfectly creamy, no hard crust, and was not overly salted — great cheese flavor (not just salt!).
Everything is great here. Like really great, so expect to wait. Also, they have like one or 2 servers for what is probably a 50-​person restaurant: so, know what you want to order!
I will go here again and again and recommend it to many people!

I just can’t believe how lucky I am to have recently moved to Johns Island. Every place I eat here is fantastic and Tomato Shed is no different. What a great place. I love everything about it from the very friendly staff to the fantastic shrimp and the wonderful sides — tomato pie (Yum), squash casserole (yum), pineapple ham salad (yum), broccoli salad (yum). The gifts available for purchase were wonderful to look at and reasonably priced and the fresh produce section in the back was wonderful.
I will definitely be eating and shopping there again in the very near future.
One word of warning, it fills up quickly. We got there at 11:45 on a Tuesday and it was almost full, but they are very good at turning over tables and getting you sat.

Quite the hidden gem! Loved everything we ordered and our server Jenny was top notch. Shrimp salad was delicious and so was the pulled pork. I also tried the tomato shrimp and that was also delicious and full of flavor. In addition, I thought it was extremely cool that they have their own shrimp boat so the shrimp is fresh and there are no preservatives added.
The actual place itself has a cute shop where they sell goodies, and even some prepared food to go. It’s a great mom and pop type environment and it is easy to pass when your driving since it looks like a hole in the wall, however it is most definitely worth the stop and as I said earlier, is a hidden gem. I will for sure be back next time I am in the area.
P. S. If you order dessert the coconut pie is delicious!!!