Charleston’s Hottest Neighborhood

Charlestonians like eating food almost as much as they like talking about it. And whether it’s your Uber driver or the hotel concierge, food-focused locals are more and more likely to advise visitors to venture just off the well-trod tourist track to the blocks between President Street, King Street, Septima P. Clark Parkway, and Morris Street. Yes, you should order the seafood pilau at the Grocery and slurp the smoked oysters at the Ordinary—both fine-dining landmarks sit on the edge of the neighborhood—but it’s the rapidly expanding number of small, risk-taking restaurants that will make you a regular here.

Just up Coming Street, the year and-a-half-old Chubby Fish—chef James ondon’s perennially packed, forty-seat restaurant—is rooted in real relationships. “We only use small, independent fishermen,” London says. “And we don’t order by species, which means our menu has to stay fluid.” There’s almost always a smoked fish curry, though. Order it, along with a glass of Txakolina; the slightly effervescent Spanish wine holds up well with the spice. And if you like heat, visit Xiao Bao Biscuit for fiery pan- Asian comfort food and cocktails that are as cool as co-owner Joshua Walker’s playlist. On a given Friday night, you’ll hear everything from Indian disco to Afro-blues inside this converted forties-era gas station.

Max Kuller, owner of Estadio, the new Spanish tapería on Spring Street, describes the neighborhood’s thrumming energy as “Austin-like.” But a host of Cannonborough/Elliottborough restaurateurs, Kuller included, are looking across the Atlantic for inspiration. He and Estadio chef Alex Lira spent several weeks in Spain before inking the menu, which includes an entire section built around local Carolina Gold rice.

Babas on Cannon, which serves house-made pastries and coffee in the mornings, sandwiches and salads at mid-day, and Italian apertivo service in the evenings, would be considered a bar in most parts of Europe. The descriptor didn’t translate stateside, so owners Edward Crouse, Marie Stitt, and barman Lane Becker dubbed Babas an Old World cafe. You can call it whatever you like, but go for pastry chef Amanda Plunkett’s riff on old-fashioned Betty Crocker banana bread (ask for it buttered and toasted with a dusting of fleur de sel), Stitt’s mother’s recipe for pickled shrimp, and one of Becker’s bottled G&Ts.

Fill your bicycle’s basket with souvenirs as you browse the neighborhood’s growing number of independent boutiques. At his hip menswear outpost Indigo + Cotton, Brett Carron reimagines the modern Charleston wardrobe, highlighting smaller creative brands such as Engineered Garments and Shuron Eyewear that offer edgy contemporary style and enduring classic appeal. Nearby, J. Stark is both workshop and showroom. Designer Erik Homberg and his team of artisans construct the company’s well-made, unisex carryalls from sturdy waxed canvas and heavyweight twill in rich Earth tones(and the odd blaze orange) while you shop. Step inside Mac & Murphy, a tiny, light-filled stationer on Cannon Street, and you’ll never want to type an email again.

The hotel boom currently sweeping Charleston hasn’t reached Cannonborough/Elliottborough yet. No matter. The joy of staying at 86 Cannon—the circa-1862 property was once the home of noted civil rights activist Septima Clark’s brother Peter Poinsette— is that it doesn’t feel like a hotel. Instead, the five-room inn, which opened in 2017, feels like the gorgeously designed historic home of a well-housed friend. You’ll find breakfast, including fresh-baked pastries, in the airy upstairs cafe. And beginning this year, 86 Cannon will welcome guests to a pair of new suites located in the restored 1880s cottage next door complete with a private garden.