What could be more luxurious than going to a leisurely breakfast during the week? Perhaps you took the day off, need to conduct a morning meeting, or simply want a great plate of eggs. Here are the essential weekday breakfast establishments to know in the Lowcountry.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

The Junction Kitchen & Provisions quickly is the go-to for Park Circle inhabitants to find a full breakfast near the neighborhood. The morning menu is served all day, including the doughnut sandwich layered with coffee-rubbed bacon, over easy egg, and served with a coffee dip.

Mercantile is one of the most spacious breakfast options to open on the peninsula, so bring the laptop and get some work done too — plenty of seats. The stylish spot opens early for those looking for coffee, yogurt bowls, breakfast sandwiches, or house-smoked salmon on a bagel. Bonus: free wifi and a large parking lot.

Bright spot the Daily carries creative coffee drinks, like the black sesame latte, and some of the quickest breakfast items around. Stop by this hip cafe for an avocado toast or breakfast pita before heading to the office.

Vicious Biscuit serves other items than biscuits, but the fluffy carbs are the big draw here. Prepare to feel the need for a nap after indulging in a fried chicken biscuit the size of your head. There’s dozens of biscuit combos to try.

James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence brought Big Bad Breakfast to Charleston a few years ago, and it has been serving solid examples of Southern and diner cuisine at a brisk pace. This restaurant might just have the best flapjacks in town.

Daps Breakfast & Imbibe offer breakfast/brunch every day of the week and all day long. The vibe is chill and the food is filling. The Fruity Pebble pancakes and breakfast burrito with chorizo gravy are solid choices.

Tuck into cozy cafe Little Line for a big Southern breakfast with cheddar grits at the counter or order a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel to go. The chic Westside spot has proven consistent in its delivery of breakfast staples since it first opened. And if you’re running short on time, you can order ahead online.

West Ashley eatery Early Bird Diner is the greasy spoon of contemporary Southern dreams. The waitstaff leans quirky and tattooed, the food is filling and comforting, and the hours allow you to visit for brunch or late night. Try the chicken and waffles with honey mustard drizzle at least once, and then move on to the traditional sides and other comforting menu items.

Marina Variety Store is Charleston's diner by the sea. With views of the Ashley River, there's no better place to tuck into a bottomless cup of coffee and a bowl of shrimp and grits when the weather is clear.

Thoughtful pastries are the big draw at Harken Cafe, like the Apple Tahini muffins or brown sugar cake with pumpkin butter. But, if you have a free morning, grab a seat in the Parisian-inspired cafe and order a slice of quiche full of local produce or a fluffy egg sandwich on a ricotta biscuit.

Queen Street Grocery is nestled in the French Quarter, so customers can watch the carriage tours go by as they cut into a crepe or omelette. For those on the go, choose a hot-pressed breakfast sandwich on a croissant or bagel.

As the name states, Millers All Day does indeed serve breakfast all day. Look for big fluffy biscuits, pancakes, grits, and plenty of bacon in a hip, yet comfortable, dining room.

Fast & French serves a no-frills breakfast of croissants, toasts, ham plates, and cream cheese on rye with raisins. There might not be any eggs, but it's hard to resist the European charm of the cafe and the full carafes of French press coffee.

Super cute spot Baguette Magic offers carbs on carbs on carbs. Patrons rave about the recovery baguette — a hangover-curing combination of scrambled eggs, bacon, prosciutto, white cheddar, tomato jam, and arugula. For those in search of something sweet, check out the homemade Pop-Tarts or the chocolate croissant.

Lost Dog Cafe on Folly Beach is a chill place with an extensive breakfast list. From bagels to Benedicts to breakfast burritos, Lost Dog can accommodate a wide range of tastes.

The Junction Kitchen & Provisions quickly is the go-to for Park Circle inhabitants to find a full breakfast near the neighborhood. The morning menu is served all day, including the doughnut sandwich layered with coffee-rubbed bacon, over easy egg, and served with a coffee dip.

Mercantile is one of the most spacious breakfast options to open on the peninsula, so bring the laptop and get some work done too — plenty of seats. The stylish spot opens early for those looking for coffee, yogurt bowls, breakfast sandwiches, or house-smoked salmon on a bagel. Bonus: free wifi and a large parking lot.

Bright spot the Daily carries creative coffee drinks, like the black sesame latte, and some of the quickest breakfast items around. Stop by this hip cafe for an avocado toast or breakfast pita before heading to the office.

Vicious Biscuit serves other items than biscuits, but the fluffy carbs are the big draw here. Prepare to feel the need for a nap after indulging in a fried chicken biscuit the size of your head. There’s dozens of biscuit combos to try.

James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence brought Big Bad Breakfast to Charleston a few years ago, and it has been serving solid examples of Southern and diner cuisine at a brisk pace. This restaurant might just have the best flapjacks in town.

Daps Breakfast & Imbibe offer breakfast/brunch every day of the week and all day long. The vibe is chill and the food is filling. The Fruity Pebble pancakes and breakfast burrito with chorizo gravy are solid choices.

Tuck into cozy cafe Little Line for a big Southern breakfast with cheddar grits at the counter or order a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel to go. The chic Westside spot has proven consistent in its delivery of breakfast staples since it first opened. And if you’re running short on time, you can order ahead online.

West Ashley eatery Early Bird Diner is the greasy spoon of contemporary Southern dreams. The waitstaff leans quirky and tattooed, the food is filling and comforting, and the hours allow you to visit for brunch or late night. Try the chicken and waffles with honey mustard drizzle at least once, and then move on to the traditional sides and other comforting menu items.

Marina Variety Store is Charleston's diner by the sea. With views of the Ashley River, there's no better place to tuck into a bottomless cup of coffee and a bowl of shrimp and grits when the weather is clear.

Thoughtful pastries are the big draw at Harken Cafe, like the Apple Tahini muffins or brown sugar cake with pumpkin butter. But, if you have a free morning, grab a seat in the Parisian-inspired cafe and order a slice of quiche full of local produce or a fluffy egg sandwich on a ricotta biscuit.

Queen Street Grocery is nestled in the French Quarter, so customers can watch the carriage tours go by as they cut into a crepe or omelette. For those on the go, choose a hot-pressed breakfast sandwich on a croissant or bagel.

As the name states, Millers All Day does indeed serve breakfast all day. Look for big fluffy biscuits, pancakes, grits, and plenty of bacon in a hip, yet comfortable, dining room.

Fast & French serves a no-frills breakfast of croissants, toasts, ham plates, and cream cheese on rye with raisins. There might not be any eggs, but it's hard to resist the European charm of the cafe and the full carafes of French press coffee.

Super cute spot Baguette Magic offers carbs on carbs on carbs. Patrons rave about the recovery baguette — a hangover-curing combination of scrambled eggs, bacon, prosciutto, white cheddar, tomato jam, and arugula. For those in search of something sweet, check out the homemade Pop-Tarts or the chocolate croissant.

Lost Dog Cafe on Folly Beach is a chill place with an extensive breakfast list. From bagels to Benedicts to breakfast burritos, Lost Dog can accommodate a wide range of tastes.

A 3,000-acre development nearly two decades in the making is moving forward in West Ashley.

Long Savanna (with the “h” now dropped), a long-planned mix of homes and businesses off Bees Ferry Road, will include 10 neighborhoods developed on 1,200 acres, according to updated plans.

The remaining land will be placed into conservation .

The specific subdivisions are still awaiting approval by the city, but to date Mungo Homes and PulteGroup have signed on as builders.

Of the neighborhoods, nine will will be residential with the 10th intended as a master-planned urban center with an option for Charleston County to add an elementary school and a fire station.

Talks are also in the works to develop a YMCA, said Taylor Bush, president of the Long Savannah Co.

As part of the development agreement negotiations, Bush said, some of the land also will be used for two public parks.

The main entry point will be the future Long Savanna Parkway, an extension of the Glenn McConnell Parkway currently being engineered. The road will connect the neighborhood to the West Ashley Circle.

“The property was a timber tract when we purchased it, so there are miles and miles of logging roads on the property,” Bush said. “We plan to convert a significant amount of these roads into a trail network which may also connect to adjacent neighborhoods.”

Mungo has filed plans to build more than 800 homes in Long Savanna on two tracts totaling 212 acres. Three years ago, the company paid $11.75 million for about 56 acres within the development, county land records show.

Pulte has options to buy lots through a so-called land bank arrangement with an investment firm that paid nearly $35 million for a 147-acre tract at Long Savanna last year.

Planning ahead

An upcoming community on Maybank Highway will gain another neighborhood restaurant.

SUMTER — A German business planning to open its first U.S. site for producing magnets used in electric vehicles has received an additional $111.8 million from the U.S. government.

The company, e-VAC Magnetics, which announced in December that it would invest half a billion dollars and create 300 jobs in Sumter, was given the funding through a federal tax credit program that aims to expand clean energy manufacturing, according to a statement.

The plant will produce rare earth permanent magnets used in EVs.

The Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit was established in 2009 and expanded over a year ago as a part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The federal government will hand out $4 billion in the first round of tax credits.

It's at least the second larger lump sum of public funds provided to e-Vac. The initial announcement of the plant came a few months after the Department of Defense announced plans in September to invest in domestic manufacturing of the magnets. Those plans included a $94.1 million award to the company.

The Sumter plant is set to come online next year amid a significant push by state to become a leader in the EV manufacturing industry, with large economic development boons like Scout Motors, a Volkswagen subsidiary set to create 4,000 jobs at a factory in the Midlands, and AESC, a battery manufacturer making two major investments totaling more than $3 billion in Florence.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Residents who live near one West Ashley development learned more about the future of their community during a meeting hosted by developers.

Cameron Property Company, the company overseeing the development of 26 acres near the Essex Farms community, invited residents to share their concerns and provide input at a meeting Thursday night.

The 26-acre lot runs from Essex Farms Drive, down Skye Drive and extends to Dorothy Drive.

Developers were accompanied by Charleston city officials representing the council, planning department, and traffic department to discuss what potential businesses residents could expect to see.

During the meeting, community members said they were relieved to learn that the developer withdrew its request to change the zoning language to include drive-thru windows at restaurants.

The developer is in talks with a grocery store and gas station, but plans have not been finalized.

Some residents said they are less than pleased about the big changes coming to the Essex Farms community.

Residents also expressed concerns about traffic congestion and the potential for a gas station to be built on the property.

“Tonight’s the first time we’ve heard gas station. That was a shock for all of us. When we purchased our properties, we were told specifically that a gas station wasn’t allowed to be there,” resident Kellie Kinard said.

Development Manager Collins Moe said he wants community input but that the company has the right to build to the zoning order, which does allow a grocery store and gas station.

“We’re going through the appropriate city of Charleston permit steps which require traffic studies. Things that outline what we’re proposing to make sure they meet all the standards with the county, the state, and the city, more importantly, based on where this property lies. At the end of the day, we’re still very far out,” Moe said.

Kinard said she is disappointed and was left with even more concerns and questions.

“I think my husband and I are going to have a serious conversation about whether or not we’re going to list our home. Which is really unfortunate because we love our neighborhood. We have great neighbors, but we do not want this type of development that they’re talking about potentially literally within several feet of our driveway,” Kinard said.

City officials stated that this development was approved many years ago and the zoning goes back to 1997.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Pizza is that feel-good companion that goes with any time, place, or occasion. The Lowcountry may be known for Southern favorites like shrimp and grits, but there is certainly no shortage of pizza joints serving up irresistible pies. Charlestonians have the luxury of not having to choose a favorite style, as influences from all over the world make up the eclectic pizza scene. New establishments may be the talk of the town, but these 13 mainstays are where to go for a quality slice that’s guaranteed to hit the spot.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Grab take-out or delivery from this North Charleston establishment. Choose from one of the many creations like the pepperoni and pineapple topped Big Z or the barbecue chicken Bird on the Wire. Any pie can be made into a calzone, and the eatery also offers toasted sandwiches and salads.

Each component of this Park Circle parlor’s Neapolitan-style pies is chosen with care, from the bakery-quality dough to the local cheese. EVO’s ingredients are picked from local farms to form masterful combinations like the pancetta, Brussels sprouts, and pear pie. Meat eaters can’t go wrong with the renowned Pork Trifecta made with handmade sausage, bacon, and pepperoni.

Customers can find creative neo-Neapolitan pies out of Renzo, like the classic margherita or the creative Cheli with feta, lamb sausage, pickled peppers, and honey. There’s also non-pizza options like charred broccolini with XO sauce or a crunchy Caesar salad. The wine list is pretty rad too.

2018 Eater Pizza of the Year award winner Melfi’s offers thin and crispy Roman-style pizzas in an elegant atmosphere with white tablecloths. The Stretch Armstrong, an amped-up margherita pie highlighted by a stretchy homemade stracciatella cheese.

This Mount Pleasant eatery uses imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Try the standby thin Neapolitan slices or go for the thick, square Sicilian, both of which are topped with the highest quality ingredients.

Welton’s Fine Foods started popping up around the Lowcountry with its naturally leavened, slightly charred pies in 2019, and now it has a home base for its pizza parties at Welton’s Tiny Bakeshop. Most Sundays, owners Zachary and Hannah Welton announce the pizza lineup for the day on Instagram, which usually includes a hot honey and pepperoni pie or a seasonal selection, like a recent green garlic pie.

Philadelphia natives Nick and Ben D’Allesandro wanted D’als to be a casual shop with cold beer and handmade pizza, which is exactly what it has become for the Cannonborough/Elliotborough neighborhood since opening in 2006. Diners can go for a classic meat lovers or head for one of the more unique — and tasty — options like the Beetnick topped with bacon, goat cheese, and golden beets.

In addition to fresh pastas and seasonal starters, King Street Italian restaurant Indaco offers several wood-fired pizzas. Selections range from the classic margherita to a lamb version with ricotta and olives.

Find New York style slices at Slice Co. in West Ashley. One of the few spots to order by the slice, this spot is great for a taste of pure cheese, sauce, and dough. Chef Todd Lucey perfected his pies in Brooklyn, before moving to the Lowcountry.

Hip hotel restaurant Frannie and the Fox offers woof-fired creations in a buzzy atmosphere. The standout pizza is the classic margherita with its perfect portions of flavors, but if a meatier option is required, take a look at the fennel sausage pie with red onion.

The name says it all, as the wood-fired oven is the star forming charred crust and sizzling cheese. The kitchen tops pizzas with locally-sourced ingredients meant for high-heat cooking. Squash and onions caramelize before being finished with truffle oil on one called the Butternut, while five meats roast to perfection to make up the Crustavore.

This lively beach-side getaway is a place for oysters, handmade pastas, and most importantly, pizzas. Most consider the Old Danger a must-get when dining at The Obstinate Daughter — it comes with dots of pancetta and a runny farm egg in the middle that melts throughout the white sauce pizza.

There are multiple Famulari’s Pizzeria locations in the Charleston area, but the James Island one doubles as a brewery offering house brewed beers like the Cup of Clouds New England style IPA. For pizza, find a seemingly endless variety of topping options, from pineapple to pesto to cheese steak.

Mobile kitchen Dough Boyz Pizza has amassed an army of fanatic followers around the Lowcounty. The charred crust and just-thin-enough dough makes for repeat customers. The truck can be found at the Sea Island Farmers Market, various breweries, and sometimes Graft wine shop. The pepperoni and banana pepper pie brings the right amount of spice and tang to satisfy, while the prosciutto pie is an indulgent blanket of ham-y goodness.

Grab take-out or delivery from this North Charleston establishment. Choose from one of the many creations like the pepperoni and pineapple topped Big Z or the barbecue chicken Bird on the Wire. Any pie can be made into a calzone, and the eatery also offers toasted sandwiches and salads.

Each component of this Park Circle parlor’s Neapolitan-style pies is chosen with care, from the bakery-quality dough to the local cheese. EVO’s ingredients are picked from local farms to form masterful combinations like the pancetta, Brussels sprouts, and pear pie. Meat eaters can’t go wrong with the renowned Pork Trifecta made with handmade sausage, bacon, and pepperoni.

Customers can find creative neo-Neapolitan pies out of Renzo, like the classic margherita or the creative Cheli with feta, lamb sausage, pickled peppers, and honey. There’s also non-pizza options like charred broccolini with XO sauce or a crunchy Caesar salad. The wine list is pretty rad too.

2018 Eater Pizza of the Year award winner Melfi’s offers thin and crispy Roman-style pizzas in an elegant atmosphere with white tablecloths. The Stretch Armstrong, an amped-up margherita pie highlighted by a stretchy homemade stracciatella cheese.

This Mount Pleasant eatery uses imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Try the standby thin Neapolitan slices or go for the thick, square Sicilian, both of which are topped with the highest quality ingredients.

Welton’s Fine Foods started popping up around the Lowcountry with its naturally leavened, slightly charred pies in 2019, and now it has a home base for its pizza parties at Welton’s Tiny Bakeshop. Most Sundays, owners Zachary and Hannah Welton announce the pizza lineup for the day on Instagram, which usually includes a hot honey and pepperoni pie or a seasonal selection, like a recent green garlic pie.

Philadelphia natives Nick and Ben D’Allesandro wanted D’als to be a casual shop with cold beer and handmade pizza, which is exactly what it has become for the Cannonborough/Elliotborough neighborhood since opening in 2006. Diners can go for a classic meat lovers or head for one of the more unique — and tasty — options like the Beetnick topped with bacon, goat cheese, and golden beets.

In addition to fresh pastas and seasonal starters, King Street Italian restaurant Indaco offers several wood-fired pizzas. Selections range from the classic margherita to a lamb version with ricotta and olives.

Find New York style slices at Slice Co. in West Ashley. One of the few spots to order by the slice, this spot is great for a taste of pure cheese, sauce, and dough. Chef Todd Lucey perfected his pies in Brooklyn, before moving to the Lowcountry.

Hip hotel restaurant Frannie and the Fox offers woof-fired creations in a buzzy atmosphere. The standout pizza is the classic margherita with its perfect portions of flavors, but if a meatier option is required, take a look at the fennel sausage pie with red onion.

The name says it all, as the wood-fired oven is the star forming charred crust and sizzling cheese. The kitchen tops pizzas with locally-sourced ingredients meant for high-heat cooking. Squash and onions caramelize before being finished with truffle oil on one called the Butternut, while five meats roast to perfection to make up the Crustavore.

This lively beach-side getaway is a place for oysters, handmade pastas, and most importantly, pizzas. Most consider the Old Danger a must-get when dining at The Obstinate Daughter — it comes with dots of pancetta and a runny farm egg in the middle that melts throughout the white sauce pizza.

There are multiple Famulari’s Pizzeria locations in the Charleston area, but the James Island one doubles as a brewery offering house brewed beers like the Cup of Clouds New England style IPA. For pizza, find a seemingly endless variety of topping options, from pineapple to pesto to cheese steak.

Mobile kitchen Dough Boyz Pizza has amassed an army of fanatic followers around the Lowcounty. The charred crust and just-thin-enough dough makes for repeat customers. The truck can be found at the Sea Island Farmers Market, various breweries, and sometimes Graft wine shop. The pepperoni and banana pepper pie brings the right amount of spice and tang to satisfy, while the prosciutto pie is an indulgent blanket of ham-y goodness.

A new kind of forest is soon taking root in West Ashley, and it's one you could eat right up — literally.

Pluck an apple, cut some herbs or pick some berries at South Carolina's first food forest, a new free-of-charge grove being built in the Ardmore community.

With an expected seven stories of canopies and an estimated $25,000 annually in produce by its fifth year, Charleston Parks Conservancy director Darlene Heater acknowledged it's a remarkable undertaking for the local nonprofit.

"It's creating access in food deserts but creating it in a way that is low-maintenance and little barrier for people to be able to participate in it," Heater said.

The food forest on Mulberry Street near Grech Street, and off the West Ashley Bikeway, is being funded by a $50,000 grant from the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

While the conservancy is handling the horticulture, the City of Charleston's parks department is working to excavate the land, add pathways and install a new playground at the park. It is one of several conservancy projects this year, in addition to working with the city to manage 24 parks on the peninsula, on James Island and in West Ashley.

Parks Department director Jason Kronsberg compared the collaboration between the city, the conservancy and the community to a three-legged stool. The conservancy liaises with the neighborhoods, like Ardmore for the food forest, and then fundraises with them before going to the city to bring a project to life.

The food forest is intended to help the Ardmore neighborhood, recently identified in the Charleston parks master plan as a community of high need, along with the surrounding community.

Besides providing free access to produce, the forest can help people better understand where their food comes from, Kronsberg said. It's also an opportunity for folks to lend a hand with some maintenance.

"The parks are owned by everybody," Kronsberg said.

The project will not be without its challenges, though. As the weather in Charleston gets more severe, Heater said that the conservancy will need to tend to the forest carefully and make sure plants or produce don't wash away.

Teaching the community how to use — and not overuse — the one-of-a-kind forest will take time, too.

The conservancy plans to lean on its volunteer base to maintain the forest, such as harvesting, packing and sending excess produce to local nonprofits. There will be no constraints on harvesting to start, as to not adversely impact food accessibility, Heater said. Part of it will be trial and error, and much of the plan is flexible based on the demand the conservancy sees for certain produce.

"What we may learn is that this community really loves sweet potatoes but doesn't care as much about turnips," Heater said. "So let's look at how we can expand growing our sweet potato patch so that we can continue to serve the people adequately who most need it."

This spring will mark the first planting of the fruit trees, brambles and herbs. Heater said that best practices dictate not harvesting during the first year, so by the second year the conservancy expects to have herbs, mushrooms, brambles and possibly bananas to harvest.

By the fifth year, with an estimated 70 trees bearing fruit, Heater said she expects 10,000 pounds of produce.

The food forest comes two years after the adoption of a new Charleston parks master plan and months after the overwhelming approval of a bond referendum question last November.

"Citizens spoke loudly and clearly that they supported the referendum and improved park spaces," Kronsberg said. "Coming out of COVID, when parks became critical infrastructure, it was natural that there was that much support for a referendum."

As the Ardmore food forest begins to yield, relieving supply-chain issues might just become an additional perk. And in a world reshaped after the pandemic, the food forest is one project that shows how to branch out from the traditional park.

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