Carter’s Kitchen

My Husband and I moved to the area in December and fell in Love with Carter’s Kitchen while looking for houses. We had wanted to try a restaurant in the area other than in Downtown Charleston and our Realtor swore by Carter’s Kitchen. Since that first dinner we kept coming back & bringing Friends and Family. Unfortunately, Carter’s Kitchen suffered a fire and are currently closed for renovations.
Get ready for when they open back up & be sure to order the Fried Okra for Starters if you want to be Bad– My SIL doesn’t like Okra & she loved it– so that’s saying something. My absolute favorite thing on the menu is the Baby Kale Caesar Salad– its perfect!

Had a very pleasant meal at Carter’s Kitchen over restaurant week. Our server was warm and friendly, and the food was delish. Would definitely go back!

Stopped by on our way to Wild Dunes. The brunch was awesome. Their french toast was possibly the best I ever had. Would definitely recommend — enough that we will probably come back (from Charlotte) for a weekend trip (they have a B & B too).

Excellent!!! We had the she crab soup and the bibb salad as appetizers. (both of which were great!) The entrees were outstanding. The fish and shrimp was delicious (the fish was probably the best fried fish I have ever had) and the scallop small plate was amazing! Also had the peanut butter cake, which is not to be missed. Good cocktails too and great service. Overall awesome dining experience!

Carter, get back in the kitchen.
Carter’s was one of our favorite restaurants, but sadly, no more. Today, our 6^th visit, I brought 9 family members from out of town. Service was very slow which was odd as it was only ½ full. This should have been our first indication that it may be going downhill. The bar and restaurant is usually bustling on a Sat. night.
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In a nutshell, the food is still good but the portions are extremely small.
3 minuscule scallops, 12.00, about 3 bites. The duck plate was 3 pieces of shaved duck (about the size of a ½ a piece of bacon) with some arugula and one toast point, that was 12.00. Two people had cheeseburgers which were ok but at 9.97 it was a very small burger and beware it comes with pesto on the burger, so if you dont like pesto or you are under 16 yrs of age, you will not like it. Two people had the prime rib which was 26.00 but worth it. The bread completely changed, it tasted like it came from Walmart, it was stale, boring and just bad.
Bottom line… Food still fairly good, portions extremely small, service slow. Chef was hanging out with the hostess most of the night, and not paying attention to the kitchen. Sadly, we will not be coming to Carter’s kitchen again unless Chef Carter comes back, and you get more than 2 sips on a 10.00 glass of wine.
Had a great restaurant and now not worth the drive from north Mt. Pleasant.

From the boyfriend: I like the food, I like the place, I like the location and I like the checkered napkins. –1 star for service, basic and barely there. He said he would like to send his tip to the kitchen rather than to the waitstaff.
He had a garden omelet and I had the fried chicken. The omelet came w whole wheat toast and home fries. My chicken came with ¼ c coleslaw and 3 half slices of tomato. I could’ve done without the tomato, wished for more coleslaw BUT the chicken breast was delicious! Crispy skin, soft juicy meat. Portion comes with 1 breast and 1 leg. ~14 $, I got a side of fries for an extra 4 $ and 2 biscuits for an extra 2 $. So basically $ 20 to make it a full plate. Also if you ask for your gravy on the side, you won’t get it at all — keep that in mind.
Next time I’m getting the French toast, saw it at a neighboring table and it looked great. The patio is the place to be on a beautiful day, request to sit there of you can.

The atmosphere is fantastic — relaxing, not too loud, people dressed well. You can definitely get drinks at the bar while waiting. They have some excellent local draughts on tap (a great weiss beir in particular) and an amazing blueberry mojito. They have a tomato soup with pimento grilled cheese as a starter as well. It’s amazing, but be warned about small portions. There is also a great bibb salad with goat cheese and caramelized strawberries. Don’t pass up the seared scallops — so good! and the crispy fish and shrimp (ours was catfish) melts in your mouth… sounds odd, but the fry is just so, so good. Finally, check out the tavern menu and grab some truffeled parmesean pomme frites — they are amazing. Everything we ordered was great!

Reserved via OpenTable and much anticipated with all the good reviews. Located in I’on community, a bit of a maze getting in and out of there at night. We dined indoors as it was a wet evening with torrential downpours.
After a short wait at the bar, we were seated and waitress Kathy Jo or KJ for short took care of us quite nicely. We opted for light since were are watching our calories. They do have vegetarian and gluten free items on the menu. Prices are above average high for the quantity that arrives at the table. The Bibb salad ($ 8) was good but very light for 2 to share. The «doormat flounder» was more napkin sized and overly battered and fried with too much oil residue for our liking ($ 23). The scallops light plate for $ 12 came w/​only 3 scallops, should have been 5 for the price. Overall Good but not outstanding this time around.
Met Bob Carter the owner/​chef, who is a jovial and friendly fellow. Chatted a bit in his kitchen. He has a place downtown as well. It is called the Rutledge Cab Co. and we will have to check that one out too.
Score: ⁹⁄₁₀ on service, ⁷⁄₁₀ on ambiance (–2 for noise level), Food will go with ⁸⁄₁₀.

Carter’s Kitchen is a warm and beautifully decorated restaurant in a gorgeous neighborhood. The food was thoughtfully prepared and delicious. Top notch.
Would highly recommend this restaurant.

I am giving this a 4 but it is really a 3.5 plus. Located in the unique area of Ion Carter’s tries a bit too hard to fill the «unique» moniker. It is an attractive restaurant with good service, where it come up short is the food. I ordered a series of appetizers as my meal and was disappointed. Their take on She Crab soup is more of a New England clam chowder than the traditional style, just not my thing. We had come because we heard that the mussels were better than Rue De John, so I ordered the mussels. They came with a tomato coulée and sausage, again not bad but i really wanted a classical preparation. Finally, I ordered the Crab cakes which were just bad. I will say one of my party had the pork shank which he enjoyed and another had the fish and grits which he enjoyed.

Most people would consider Carter’s a fine dining Restaurant, but you can go there dressed down & no one will think anything of it. I’ve eaten here many times for brunch, & dinner. I think they excel in their meats– steaks, & chops. I’ve only had two meals there that, for me, were just not up to par. Be prepared to be there a while, there’s nothing quick about Carter’s. Most meals, regardless of time of day take at least an hour, sometimes up to 2 hours. The servers are some of the best in the Charleston area, with little staff turn over. I would give it a 5, but there’s been a couple of visits that were lackluster. Skip the Alabama caviar, & mussels. The Filet of Beef & Lamb Chops are the stars of the menu! Try the Fried Chicken at Brunch!

There are three things at Carter’s that I am stark raving looney tunes fanatic about.
1. Peanut Brittle Cake with Salted Caramel.
2. The Seared Scallops on Mashed Sweet Potato with Bacon Marmalade.
3. Everything else.
Enough. Just go already.

I’ve taken some time to think about this one so I think I can accurately explain this establishment’s awesomeness after brainstorming.
JR C. was turning the Dirty Thirty. We had friends who drove 800 miles with their 8 month old son to celebrate with him — I really wanted to do a memorable meal. I called Carter’s around 6:00 p.m. as when you have little ones, they kinda decide when you eat dinner — «are the babies cool?» «Yeah — just ate.» «Sweet, we got 3 – 4 hours.» «Get in the car!»
Carter’s was happy to accommodate us at 7:15 p.m. with two high chairs — excellent. We arrived at 6:45 p.m. and snagged a high top — the manager had our server for the night actually take our drink order, which I thought was nice. It also made us wait for said server because I’m sure she was still taking care of her 6:15 p.m. seating!
Three out of four of us ordered one of Carter’s creative cocktails and none of us were disappointed! JR C. got a Ketel martini and he said it was great (he’s in a major fight with Charleston — they resist the extra dry martini and Carter’s got it right.)
We are seated promptly at 7:15 p.m. We’re not rushed to order food, or order a lot — just told to take our time and order when we were ready. We all agreed on the fried okra to start — this was AMAZING — pretty sure no one will ever beat this. We then ordered the mussels and these were actually the meh part of the night. But let me be clear, meh at Carter’s is freaking delicious at other restaurants.
For entrees, two ordered the shrimp risotto, I had the duck confit, and the other had the crispy pork shank. The risotto was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The duck confit was… wait for it… THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN. I don’t know if you can tell or not, but I love food. And this was the best thing I have ever eaten. I paused in between bites to enjoy it. My heart sank as my plate cleared. It was served with green french lentils that even my lentil hating husband loved. I had a tiny bite of the pork but it was indeed delicious and crispy.
The portion sizes look small, but they really aren’t. We were definitely too full for any dessert, but I had mentioned it was my husband’s birthday so we were brought this amazing peanut butter, 8 later hunk of cake. Not a sweets fan but even I was impressed.
Our server was Megan and I could not have been more pleased with the level of attention we received. I cannot wait to return to Carter’s!

WHOA MOMMA!!! THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!
Meghan C., my lovely wife (and the woman that puts up with my constant shenanigans) wanted to take me out for a great dinner for my thirtieth birthday this weekend, and called Carter’s Kitchen on Sunday evening to see if she could get a table for four, plus two high chairs. They were more than accommodating, and said they could get us in for a 7:15 reservation.
We arrived a little early to have a cocktail before dinner, and were brought into the bar area, where our server came over and took our orders (and as she was the server for our table, we didn’t have to deal with transferring tabs or closing one out). I ordered a vodka martini, and really shouldn’t have. Not because the martini was bad, just because the other drinks on their menu are SO. FREAKING. GOOD. Meghan ordered a martini that had a caramel/​salt rim, and it was tasty, just not my style. A friend ordered the Southern Manhattan, and that was just… amazing. I ordered it for my second drink, at the table, and was blown away. Sweet, but still bourboney, just… I can’t describe it. You have to taste it.
Once we were seated, we ordered the fried okra, which comes with a really tasty tomato aioli. The batter was just right, and didn’t drop off the okra, and they really weren’t slimey, at all. I’d definitely order this again. We also ordered the mussels, which came with a relatively small portion size, but MASSIVE mussels. They were ok, but that ok is only relative to the rest of the meal, not to other mussel appetizers we’ve had. Compared to mussels from other restaurants, these were tip top, but compared to the rest of the meal, they were decent. Nothing spectacular.
For dinner, I ordered the shrimp risotto, as did a friend. Meghan ordered the duck con fit, and another friend ordered the crispy braised pork shank. Words cannot describe how amazing the risotto was, but I’ll try — creamy, well seasoned, perfectly tender, and the shrimp themselves were great. It’s a somewhat small portion, at least for me (I’m a big guy), but I didn’t leave the restaurant feeling empty, portions were just right. The duck con fit was delicious, as was the pork shank, but I’m still thinking about that risotto. Phew.
All in all, an amazing restaurant, an amazing dinner, and we’ll DEFINITELY be back! This restaurant is small, quiet, and intimate, but surprisingly good for kids! We didn’t have any issues with our son, or the other 8 month old that was with us, and for that, we thank you.

This is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to and there was nothing that the table wasn’t impressed with. They took us on a last minute call right before they filled up and man do they fill up! They are in the I’on development in Mt. Pleasant, attached to the Inn at I’on and while they ended up on my «watch list» because of Esquire’s Top Restaurants of 2012, I doubt there are any that can top this!
Chef Robert Carter, who is apparently working on a new place in Charleston called Rutledge Cab Co, though sadly delayed, is amazing with Southern cuisine and this really shined through with the Fried Chicken Gizzards app with housemade ketchup and the Sunday Blue Plate Special Fried Chicken. The gravy, while tasty, isn’t even needed for the fried chicken thanks to the 24 hour salt brine and 24 hour hot sauce soak and the gizzards are poached before being fried… ok I’m drooling.
Happy hour specials, pimento cheese, she crab soup, oh and quite possibly the best lamb chops ever paired with a mushroom pot pie. We didn’t have the gall to even hear about the desserts, but apparently the pastry chef is top-​notch as well. It’s a super cute area that’s very Truman Show-​like and the baffling on the ceilings is a nice touch that helps keep the overall experience very homey feeling.

Came here for Sunday brunch while visiting the area from California. It was surprisingly not busy like we were expecting for 11:00. It was a rainy and fairly cold day, and we were seated on the enclosed patio right away. They had just started up the outside heater, once it kicked in we were warm. However, they should turn these on earlier in the morning expecting having to seat patrons out there, because it did take a good 15 minutes to warm up.
The menu is original and tasty, portions not huge but priced well. Where we struggled with our visit today was the service. The waitress was very sweet and pleasant, but I think all her tables were inside except for us. Our initial drink order took awhile, but the Bloody Marys were delicious. We ordered some appetizers which arrived promptly, but then it was a half hour before we saw her again. We sat arms crossed and thirsty for bit before we went inside and tracked her down to order more drinks. Our food came about about 10 minutes later, but still no second round (it did arrive about half way through our meal). My husbands steak was smaller than we were told and overcooked. My mother in law’s fries were cold. These concerns were promptly addressed, though, and we were brought new fries and the steak was comped along with apologies.
Overall, the food was tasty and the reviews are good, so we will be back. Maybe next time we will try the main dining room for dinner.

My wife and were taking a break from the restaurants in the historic district, and went for a one night stay at Mt. Pleasant. We came across Carter’s Kitchen and it was perfect.
My wife had the duck confit salad as a starter and it was amazing. Lots of duck on fresh mozzerella along with a great dressing.
I had the lamb chops that were great, and was only $ 18. They came with homemade gratin potatoes that were amazing.
If you are on Mt. Pleasant I highly recommend Carter’s.

My husband and I were staying at the Inn at I’on and decided to to stop in for a drink/​bite. It was a little before 5pm and they were not open yet but they still let us in while they did a staff meeting. The bartender was really nice. He chatted us up on where we were from then suggested a snack from the bar. We ended up with fried chicken gizzards and they were awesome! Just like the dark chicken nugget taste, he said. The ketchup that came on the side was delectable too.
We also had an amazing breakfast in there, which is included when staying at the Inn. My husband had a shrimp, sausage and grits. The sausage gave the dish a good color and spicy taste.
I had the waygu beef skillet. Made just as it sounds with sauteed peppers in a little cast iron skillet, topped with a poached egg. Wow! This was delicious. What a way to start the day. I had tons of energy.
We got the pleasure of meeting Chef Carter while dining. He had roots in Boston where we are from and it was a trip recalling stuff that was still around.
The interior of the restaurant was beautiful with a Southern feel dining room and attached porch for outdoor seating. If you are in Mt. Pleasant or Charleston check it out!

I’ve had the pleasure of dining at Carter’s Kitchen three times since its opening — and each time the food, and overall dining experience, has been terrific. Most recently, I came in with a large group of friends — none of us had seen eachother in some time — and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to catch up. We sat on the veranda and enjoyed a warm breeze as the sun was setting. I almost forgot I was in a crowded restaurant and felt more like I was dining in the home of a good friend.
Some of my favorite things that I’ve had at Carter’s Kitchen: The pimiento cheese is to die for. Served in a small mason jar, the presentation goes along with the homey, Carolina atmosphere of Carter’s Kitchen. I’ve had the kale salad, wedge salad, and duck confit salad — all very hearty portions, and delicious. For small plates, my favorite has been the fettucine w/​spinach and goat cheese (very rich!), however am really looking forward to trying the blue crab ravioli (they were unfortunately out the last time I came in). The Roast Pork Tenderloin has been my favorite entrée thus far … very tender and perfectly balanced by the tomato jam.
They have a vodka drink made with blueberries and mint on the menu (I can’t remember what it’s called), but hands down, one of the best drinks I’ve had. Ever. That’s saying a lot.
One of the highlights of my evenings spent at Carter’s Kitchen has been the personal greeting by Chef Carter himself. Every time I’ve been in, he’s come out to our table — whether it be to drop off food or say hello. It’s not too often that you get a personal greeting and welcome from the executive chef or owner of the restaurant, and it’s made my experiences there that much better.
Congratulations to Chef Carter & his team –

Though it hasn’t been open for very long I have now had the pleasure of dining at Carter’s Kitchen twice in the past few weeks. I was a fan of its predecessor, Jacob’s Kitchen, but Chef Robert Carter has taken the place to a whole other level. The interior is understated but casually elegant, the service extremely attentive and knowledgeable, and the food is delicious.
I listed it as Southern cuisine but it’s actually a mix of different types of cuisines with a Southern base. Myself and our group has so far had the scallops, tile fish, goat cheese fettuccine, as well as several appetizers, and all three desserts. The portion control is a little restrictive so be aware that when you order a small plate you are definitely getting a small plate. If you’re looking for an overall great dining experience you could easily consume an appetizer or salad, small plate, and a dessert. This weekend the scallops were of high praise which came with a potato purée and carmelized bacon. Some in the group raved about the scallops being cooked perfectly and others were blown away by the sheer delicious simplicity of a well crafted potato side. I myself am a big fan of the desserts, in particular the lemon meringue tart and the peanut brittle cake. The tart is light and refreshing while the cake is salty-​caramel-​peanut perfection! As if the food wasn’t good enough they also have some interesting cocktails on the menu to help liven up the evening.
Both times we’ve been to the restaurant Chef Carter himself has brought out our food and has stopped to talk to us about his recipes and his vision for his new restaurant. I had never been to the Peninsula Grill while he was the chef there but have only heard amazing things about it. I’m so glad he created this new restaurant where he can share his love of food in a more comfortable and affordable way. Thanks Chef!
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Notes: their new website is not up yet but you can view the menu on their Facebook Page. Be sure to check out the daily specials!