Dave’s Carry-Out

My kind of place. Big servings, tasty food, modest pricing, and kind personnel. I had the seafood platter, with Mistic punch. Feeling content now.

Where do I start???
Very friendly! Like that southern hospitality type welcome. The smell hits you when you open the door. It smells so good it makes you wanna order everything on the menu!
I ordered the pork chop sandwich. Not only was it only $ 5 bucks but it was HUGE! Not to mention seasoned to perfection! I LOVE THIS PLACE & will definitely be back!!!
Thanks Dave!!!

You’ll get a huge portion of food for the price, great customer service, excellent fresh food, and one of the best cooking shows around. Skip all the uppity overpriced seafood places downtown and stop here. It’s incredible.

Dave’s truly is as good as it gets. Stay focused, you’ll get lost but be persistent and you will be rewarded. I go for one reason only: fried shrimp, but the rest of the menu looks fantastic and I’ve only heard good things. Terry is good people and will take great care of you. The place is spotless, the service is kind and friendly and you could close your eyes and point at anything on the menu and not be disappointed. The red rice is moist and delicious, not dry like at some places. The shrimp are luscious, taut, sweet crescents fried in a light batter to absolute perfection. I wish I lived in the neighborhood!

no frills! just good food! very affordable. I always enjoy the conversation with the owner.

Good seafood. take out. but has a few tables… not expensive. Good customer service. Fast in and out. complements this area of SC. by the way down SC is amazingly beautiful. I have been to Bermuda and this town looks a lot like it. Enjoy!

Amazing fried seafood that is super consistent! Chefs go here for reason.
Staff makes you feel like regular every time! Pro tip: ask for extra tartar sauce.
Get the seafood platter with fries if it’s your first time! You’ll love everything!

Great experience, mom and pop spot, definitely worth going to. real food, cooked by a real down home guy. food is on point. you won’t be disappointed

After almost two years of living in Charleston, I finally made it to this Charleston Institution and only wish I discovered it sooner. Dave’s son Terry is one passionate dude, slinging food like crazy from morning until night with his mother. A kind of dedication that he said only allows him 3 hours of sleep a night– all out of a desire to keep his families tradition alive. Although extremely busy, he gives every customer personalized attention, a task not easy to do. I went on a weekday night and ordered the $ 3 Deviled Crab, $ 5 Fried Pork and $ 3 Limas & Rice. The Crab is combined with bread crumbs, sautéed vegetables and seasonings and fried, served in the shell. Although delicious, I couldn’t help but wish their was more crab meat to filing ratio. The Limas & Rice were particularly amazing– huge in portion and served with bits of meaty goodness. If you are looking for a quick and inexpensive place to grab greasy & satisfying Seafood or Soul Food in Charleston, this is your spot. I recommend getting your order to-​go, as their name suggests, with only a few small tables located inside. I can’t wait to go back again for their Fried Fish or weekly lunch specials like BBQ Ribs, Turkey Wings or Cornish Hen.

Found this hole-​in-​the-​wall thanks to Unilocal!My husband and I are dying to get back here! The shrimp was made to order and the deviled crab was amazing. And for both of us it was under $ 20! That’s about 10 – 12 shrimp and a HUGE order of fries. The cocktail sauce has a slight kick and it is amazing.

It may be a hole-​in-​the-​wall seafood fry place surrounded by some fancy pubs and popular hang-​out spots, yet that’s an awesome 4.5-star joint when I want food that can fill my stomach with one (1) single $ 20-​bill in my pocket.
Dave’s Carry-​Out is probably the most affordable, unpretentious, and down-​to-​earth in downtown Charleston. As a street-​savvy Chicagoan, I have no problems with walking into a cage-​filled building or a run-​down shack on a regular basis. In addition, their Unilocal rating should help cast all your anxiety away because the fried seafood at Dave’s was as legit as it could be.
Hubby and I walked in and felt right immediately. The two (2) young men who worked there (assuming one of them was that famous Dave) were very chill and friendly. We ordered the shrimps & scallops and seafood platter for $ 26. These two (2) combos also came with fries.
Everything, like most similar-​style joints, was made-​to-​order with their southern charm. The stuffed crab from the seafood platter was delicious. That certainly stood out in the crowd. Nevertheless, all other goodness had the right amount of breading and flavoring.
The only minor complaint was that the temperature of the freshly-​fried seafood melted the styrofoam as we were transporting it by foot back to our hotel a couple blocks away. Mama J. has a styrofoam-​phobia, so she ensured that I would bring this up in my review.
Now you all know there’s a way to tour downtown Charleston frugally without spending a fortune.

Sweet jaysus this place is insane. Apparently open whenever they feel like it, their fry cooks are second to none.
If you want a gut bomb for about six dollars, get the fried fish platter. Huge piece of fish. Fries. Bread. Some salad things. Ranch dressing. Hot sauce. Tartar sauce.
Nothing healthy in the entire establishment, which is the way a place like this must be to maintain its integrity.
Go there. Maybe the nba playoffs will be on. During the day, could be any one of a variety of TV judge shows.
Either way, you will both regret and relish your decision. A paradox in a styrofoam box.

There were a few things we had in mind for lunch today: cheap and greasy, preferably local, and Southern! We found Dave’s Carry Out on Unilocal and figured we would give it a try. It was what we were looking for and definitely was satisfying. My friend got fried salmon with some yellow rice and cole slaw while I got the ribs with green beans and
cole slaw — both very good and quite nice for the $ 6.75 we paid for it.
I wouldn’t suggest eating in since it is a small hole in the wall and you’ll probably feel like grease afterwards. It definitely was a filling $ 6.75; I only wish that the ribs were a bit more flavorful and even the fried salmon had a bit more body but I’m happy with what I paid for and felt the real southern living in the meal :]

I swear I wrote a review for Dave’s before. Is Unilocal deleting some of my reviews? Do I dream of writing reviews and remember them as fact now? What is going on?!
At any rate, Dave’s is a great place for cheap fried seafood. Dave (I assume that was Dave) is one of the nicest people to both new and old customers. A shrimp dinner ($ 8) will get you 12 large fried shrimp that are excellently seasoned and a heaping of your choice of fries or white or yellow rice. We split the entire dish and opted for the yellow rice. It definitely satisfied us without that overstuffed feeling.
You have your choice of three different sauces too. Personally, the cocktail and hot sauce go really well with the shrimp. Now, if only I could get Dave to move to where I am.

Fried shrimp were delicious and cheap! Best deal in town! Better than most seafood restaurant’s in town. Staff was super nice as well!

Save $ 6 for after getting your king st. drunk on, and make your way to Dave’s. Otherwise, feel free to get non-​consensually buggered for atmosphere and a hot server. If value is what you are looking for, Dave’s fish sandwich is only $ 5!
Do tip that spare buck because you’re a drunk asshole, and this is a very generous serving of bread & fish that will feed the multitude.

After a long day cold dealing with a bunch of kids I needed some down time and was looking to have a nice meal with no distractions. I was downtown and was not wanting anything fancy. I realized I was near Dave’s and thought that was the perfect comfort food on this cold day. Got a parking spot right outside the door and went in and ordered the shrimp and fries dinner and a diet coke. Sat at the bar and decided I would just stay there and eat. Had a great conversation with the chef/​cook/​owner. What a good guy. Really made me feel welcome. And the clientele who came in were also characters and just happy to be coming by for their weekly fix at Dave’s. People driving from 30 miles to get this very casual seafood plate to go. I watched as he served his loyal clients and thought I really need to come here more often. And when I got my dinner I asked whether sitting at the bar was ok and he was very gracious and welcoming. We talked throughout the meal. And the shrimp were just out of this world with their tasty tartar sauce. Sweet but not too sweet. The shrimp were fried perfectly and of real nice size. Dipping the fries in the tarter made them even better. I cannot say when I have had a better meal where I felt more at home. I do know that it made my evening and it is a few days later and I am still thinking of it and my mouth is watering just a little bit and it is just after breakfast time. I am betting it won’t be that long before I go back. Will probably sit at the bar again. What a great experience!

I can’t believe I forgot to review this place because I’ve been talking about it constantly since going with my father in August. My father is a big time fisherman and super picky about getting fresh fish, so he heard of this place and talked me into trying it. It’s our favorite type of place, divey, but clean, inexpensive and very fresh fish. There’s a very limited menu, mostly fried seafood, but all of it was very tasty. Even the side dishes were very tasty. Unfortunately, it’s out of the way for me, so I haven’t been back, but I think and talk about it often. If I lived downtown, I’d be there quite a bit.
Even though it’s called Dave’ Carry-​out, there are a few small tables to enjoy your meal there.

This was all I hoped for when I came to Charleston. Some good olé unhealthy fried food that would leave me feeling like I needed a nap. Well Dave’s gave me exactly that…
It’s a hole in the wall take out joint with a few chairs and a small tv if you wanna eat there. It’s a bit off the beaten path a few blocks off King street. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was gonna be good. I got an order of fried fish and shrimp that comes with fries. Took about 15 minutes to prepare it and it was worth every second. Lights out delicious. Exactly what southern soul food is supposed to taste like. Flavorful, crispy and plentiful. Adding hot sauce only enhanced what was a perfect meal.
I grabbed a seat on one of the couches and ate my food there while watching some baseball. Even hung out there for a few after I finished eating.
This is THE soul food spot in Charleston. If you’re looking for some good old fashioned southern fried food, look no further and bring your appetite!

Based on these Unilocal reviews telling me this is a hole in the wall, I expected a tiny space with a counter and 2 stools. This, people, is not a hole in the wall. Sure it’s small and it’s not quite a restaurant, but holes do not have the space for TV and a bathroom! Come to NYC to see what I’m talking about.
Now for the food, we got the fried seafood platter with fish, scallops, shrimp, a deviled crab with red rice, and a fried fish sandwich. Everything was fresh and fried nicely, but as with most of our meals in Charleston, it was too salty. They have different lunch specials every day and it was BBQ ribs during my visit. If I wasn’t set on fried seafood I would have gotten it because it looked and smelled amazing.
This is a great no-​frills, local place that’s definitely worth checking out. It may be a little too out of the way if you’re visiting without a car though. Good food, generous portions, fair prices.