Indaco

I love Indaco, one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston. The food is always delicious and pretty* close to real Italian food. The polpette are a must as an appetizer, and the two pizzas I have tried, the margherita and the olive are both good. Take advantage of their restaurant week menu to try a variety of their food. Only reason I didn’t give a 5 star review is because it is always on the loud side, and the cocktails are overpriced (but delicious).

Just recently moved to Charleston and my girlfriend took me to the perfect restaurant! I ordered the black pepper tagliatelle and it was the best meal I have ever had in a while! Service was fast and friendly, décor was beautiful, we just love everything about indaco. Should be the best Italian food here in charleston! We will be back!

We only had late-​night wine here, no food, but the ambiance was great, service was outstanding, and the wine list was one of the best we’ve seen around town!

Indaco impressed me in a number of ways but I still left with only a three star impression. My short take is that this would be a great place to come for a casual dinner: split a pizza and maybe a couple starters and have some top notch cocktails. I give them credit for a great atmosphere, comfortable seating, high quality service, and a killer cocktail program. The food was more of an up and down. We really enjoyed the pickled shrimp and grilled octopus to start: great flavors and textures all around. Our pastas left a little to be desired: the agnolotti with clams lacked anything to balance out the strong brine and overall clamminess the dish conveyed & the tonnarelli with uni did not actually have any of the roe itself as a part of the dish which was a disappointment (but the unmistakable flavor of the roe was certainly present which leads me to believe it was made into the pasta). For me, uni is just as much about the texture and mouth feel as it is the flavor. Regarding the ½ chicken entrée: I think more could have been accomplished with just an airline breast and more thoughtful use of garnish than just a plate full of crumbled cornbread and brussels sprouts (and a heavier hand with the fois gras jus, please!). I usually don’t like to nitpick in my reviews but I suppose it was really an expectation from the menu vs reality kind of issue that left things feeling a little less than stellar. However, as I suggested before I do believe this place has great upside given their fantastic cocktail program and some seriously tasty starters. I can’t wait to come back any try some pizza, and hopefully update this review for the better.

Loved this place! It was recommended by a friend and definitely didn’t disappoint. Service was great — our hostess was looking out for us and found us a table at a busy time without a red and it was some of the best Italian food I’ve had in a while! Will be going back.

This is one of my favorite restaurants downtown. I haven’t been disappointed by a meal yet. If the Brussels sprout pizza is on the menu, get it! Their restaurant week menu is one of the best deals in town. Great cocktail menu too.

Indaco stole my heart. It’s not a traditional «Charleston» restaurant, which means I was given a welcome reprieve from shrimp & grits and got to indulge in some authentic Italian instead.
One of my friends and I were getting together to catch up over dinner and decided to try somewhere neither of us had ever been. I beat her by a few of minutes and was promptly seated at our cozy high top table. This gave me some time to take in the Restoration Hardware-​esque atmosphere and get asked out by a stranger who thought I was dining alone. Yeah so that happened, and my super awesome server then came over to confirm, «Did that really just happen? That was a bold move.» I should also note that our super awesome server was literally the only guy working here without a man bun or beard — very hipster vibe going on with their hair here.
Once my dear friend Liz arrived, our server went through the menu item by item. He really knew his stuff. This ain’t no Olive Garden! I had initially been craving a pizza, but began to second guess myself after being presented with so many choices. We ordered drinks and the burrata appetizer because we needed a minute to decide. It should be noted that Indaco has a serious and pricey wine list. Spending $ 12 for a glass of wine isn’t something I’m used to doing in Charleston, but tis the season to be merry (My name’s Mary… sorry, Christmas Vacation is still on my mind). The burrata might have been my favorite part of the meal. It’s a huge plate of cheese, olives, and bread. It’s way fancier and tastier than I’m making it sound. Just do it.
For the main course, I had the farfalle pasta (I think). Our server most accurately described it as grown up/​classy mac ‘n’ cheese and was dead on with that description. It was a flawless dish that tasted eerily similar to the childhood favorite. My friend had the brussels sprouts pizza and obviously I tried a bite. It’s definitely the most unique pizza I’ve ever had — brussels sprouts, honey crisp apple slices, ricotta, and honey for a sauce. By the end of our meal, we were both too stuffed for dessert, but I have no doubt it would have been delicious as well.
All and all, service was impeccable — knowledgeable but never stuffy. The food was fantastic authentic Italian and the atmosphere is great. Indaco is definitely a spot you could go for a date, work function, or birthday party. Because it’s pricey, I’ll be reserving it for one of those three events, but it definitely makes the cut of my favorite restaurants in Charleston thus far.

Great place! Unfortunately ate before going out so had no appetite. Had a great conversation while everyone dined on flatbread pizza, black pepper tagliatelle, pickled shrimp, prosciutto diparma while sipping wine. Closed the place down. We all left happy. Will come hungry next time.

Wonderful food. Danny is so sweet and took great care of us. Definitely give the pastas a try! Nice classy quiet place with dim lighting.

While back in Charleston with my sister, she had asked if we could go back to the restaurant where she’d gotten the really good bread with burrata, so we headed back to Indaco.
To start out, we had the ‘Charred Broccoli’ and the ‘Octopus’. The charred broccoli was nice but the star was definitely the octopus. It was insanely delicious. The octopus was cooked perfectly and tender and added a great contrast to the lentils with chorizo. Just a great umami flavor bomb. As an entrée I had the swordfish. The swordfish was cooked perfectly and went perfectly with the clams and the light and bright sauce that accompanied them. I’ve also been told the pasta and the pizza is worth a try. I’d highly recommend Indaco for someone in Charleston looking for solid italian.

EAT HERE! A sweet girl that worked at a surf shop nearby recommended Indaco to me and my Italian loving boyfriend, and I am SO glad she did. To say it was fantastic would be an understatement. I had two mini pizzas which the chief did special for me since I couldn’t decide on just one to order. Both were phenomenal and my boyfriend had a duck ravioli that I can’t put into words of how good it was. The restaurant also had a pleasant and a romantic/​intimate feel to it. There was low lighting and a lot of candles, which were very pretty.

Hospitality at its finest. Came here for brunch and had a fantastic experience. The manager Ty was incredible! He and our polite waiter took the time describe each dish to us. I shared an apple and pear appetizer, eggs al forno (the sausage was delicious) and a Nutella dessert pizza. The peach Bellini was also delicious and light.
Our meal was rounded off with a digestif recommended by the staff. After today’s experience I no longer hold the same reservations about Indaco– it is more than simply a pizza place. It has so much more to offer. A very pleasant Sunday surprise.

Indaco is hands down my favorite thus far in Downtown Charleston. The ‘dixie-​talian’ approach, as described by our waitress, I feel is the best way to describe trip your taste buds are about to embark on. So get your mind out of the ‘Olive Garden’ cliché, and seriously say hello to some new flavors. Let’s walk through the experience:
I’m assuming you’ve walked in and been seated. You grab the menu to read it, and immediately not understand a word on it (unless you speak Italian, or know some Spanish in which case you can guesstimate). This of course is done on purpose. They want you to interact with your server, make it a well rounded experience, where the customer learns about the menu and the different experiences the dishes offer. Our waitress was fully knowledgeable of the menu, it felt as if she was the one that had cooked the meals herself!
We had the opportunity to dine in for their ‘Primo Anniversario!’ We were really fortunate since this gave us an opportunity to try a little bit of everything on the menu. The waitress also recommended we come back for brunch, which we did. If you want a different take on brunch, in a place where a lot of people still don’t know of this brunch gem, I beg you to give it a shot. You’ll also fall in love. Also before I go on and share the food items we’ve tried, let me share a few points 1) They make their pasta in house 2) They cut their own meats 3) They follow the philosophy of using all of their ingredients at hand (so they make sure they use the whole pig)
[Antipasti]
Prosciutto di Parma (w/​parmesan, honey, honeycrisp apples and flatbread) This dry-​cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked, was prepared superbly and was nicely complimented by the rest of the charcuterie type plate.
[Pizza]
Sweet Corn Pizza (which unfortunately I haven’t seen on the menu for a while since it changes seasonally from what I understood) This beautiful pizza is topped with sweet corn, ricotta cheese, pancetta and basil leaves. Unique and surprisingly delicious. This pizza alone had me sold.
[Piatti]
Grilled Swordfish: my boyfriend ordered this one and he was all about it. After all, swordfish is the steak of the sea! It was moist and flavorful, with a slightly sweet taste.
[Pasta]
Agnolotti (brisket, fontina fonduta, oyster mushrooms, pickled shallots, parmesan) This dish encompasses ‘dixie-​italian’. Come hungry for this one, because it is rich! Their homemade pasta cooked to perfection stuffed with brisket! Like hello, where has this been my whole life! (Even the left overs tasted good the next day! Cold pasta and cold pizza you know what I’m talking about!)
[Desserts]
Peanut Butter Mousse (scotch, sesame, chocolate, saba) If you’re addicted to peanut butter like I am, this is a must. The mousse is a perfect consistency and the saba syrup a truly good tradition Italian touch. It added a bit of acidity which paired really nicely with the sweetness of the mousse.
Lemin Semifreddo (caramelized milk powder, beet powder, pickled blackberries) I can not formally offer a review for this dessert. I just know by second hand experience my boyfriend enjoyed it. I however, was too busy with my Peanut Butter Mousse to even realize he was still sitting in front of me.
[Brunch]
Patatas Bravas (something I could read since it’s a dish native to Spain!) I’m so glad I was able to try this. It is served with a ’65 degree egg’. I don’t know what this means, but if it’s their way of saying the most delicious egg you’ll ever have in your existence of breakfast foods ever in this lifetime, that’s what it should mean. It is so soft, imagine a poached egg but the moment it’s in your mouth it melts. How on earth does that even happen?! I don’t know, but Indaco has the right witch craft for eggs.
So in conclusion, Indaco is wonderful. If you want a complete package on your date night, this is the place. It’s different, and it’s worth the doll hairs, because it’s not everyday where you can experience flavors like these.

Wow we had such a wonderful evening at this Upper King Street gem.
Six of us wandered down after enjoying cocktails at the lovely 492 to celebrate a friend’s birthday since we just didn’t want the evening to end early. The gracious hostesses at Indaco arranged their reservations to accommodate our party of six, which became 10 before the dinner ended, but it was no inconvenience to the staff who welcomed our additions with warm smiles and open menus.
The menu of rustic Italian cuisine seemed to have something for everyone, but the take home message is: order the wood-​fired pizza.
The prosciutto di parma is a plentiful starter, but the apples served were a bit mealy, and no one enjoys pilfy fruit at a fine dining establishment.
I enjoyed the black pepper tagliatelle, which was a rich flavor but a surprisingly limited portion. The pork chop was beautifully cooked, but the hands-​down winners of the night were the wood-​fired pizzas; I tried the margherita!
Italian for «Indigo,» this cool restaurant is decorated more with muted blacks, grays and whites, all warmed by the wood tones of the wide-​plank floors and butcher block dining tables. The open kitchen is framed with planks of reclaimed wood that speak to the rustic flavor of the classic Italian cuisine.
This is a lovely dining experience, and I look forward to future visits to sample more of the hand-​crafted pastas, house-​made cured meats and of course the Negroni on tap!

I always feel bad when I give out low-​star reviews, but someone’s got to do it. Indaco really needs to step up their game. The food here is nothing to write home about (literally). I was so disappointed that I wasted one of my four dinners in Charleston here. I would have rather not try it and gone back to somewhere I know to be good. You cant win them all tho, ay?
We tried the brussel sprout pizza– whatever. In all honesty, restaurants in general need to give up on this dish. It is a trend that needs to end. Although, shame on me for ordering it in more than one place. Touché (yes, you just witnessed a conversation with myself).
The short rib agnolotti and the tagliatelle pastas (which by now could have changed flavor profiles because Indaco likes to change it up) both lacked in flavor and needed something… ahh…something else… salt? Both dishes left us saying, no thanks. The meatballs were OK, but not terribly memorable either.
The restaurant also need to work on their heating/​air conditioning situation. The middle of the place had a fan blowing so hard on you that not only are you frigid, but the food gets cold. We switched tables because we (well, I) just couldnt take it any more.
Take it from me, if you are on limnited time here– pass.

Wow! Just Wow! This is only my second visit to this great Italian restaurant and it leapt onto my Charleston Top 5 list. I had the Black Pepper Tagliatelle and it’s among the best I have ever had. Much less meaty than Wild Olive but the pasta and the flavor of the sauce were fantastic. My wife (it was her birthday) had the Agnolotti, a pasta stuffed with roasted brisket, that’s right, roasted frickin’ brisket, and fontina fonduta cheese. One of the richest and most flavorful pasta dishes I have ever had.
We were too satiated for desert but, because it was her birthday, the staff brought her a Toasted Almond Budino that was just creamy goodness. (It lasted about one 90 seconds so I guess we were not as satiated as I thought.)
We were treated warmly and professionally by the staff. Chris, the Maitre d’ was helpful and Griff, our server was informed and on the spot. (Badass beard too). The lighting and ambiance were perfect for the occasion. We will return many times, at least until I can no longer fit through the door.

Great location –nice atmosphere –service poor for the «attempt» at upscale and Italian they portray –examples
1-​items like mozzarella, basil and tomatoes are listed BUT a request for a caprese salad was in a word «No” — a second request on my part was given this response-​the chef does not like to «mess» w the menu
2-​order an UN sweet tea — then I ask for some equal sweet and low –etc — response «we don’t like «to have customers add sweetener to our all natural tea –but I could take it to back and add liquid sweetener but we limit to one pump ??? What???
3-​order sword fish entrée –comes back very spicy –make comment to server –response «the unique word» describing the menu item is indicative of spice –we assume customers no that —What???
If the best thing you could say about an «upscale Italian «eatery is –the pizza was good — -well –

This is a place I wanted to give four stars, based on my friends’ experience, but I had to keep it strictly from my perspective.
It started out with the hostess asking if we had reservations, which we didn’t. Her response was an overly-​exaggerated «Wellllll, let me see if we have anything available,» reminding of a scene from a movie. I have to note that during the 1.5 hours we sat on the patio, more the 50% of the tables remained empty.
Next up, I asked about the happy hour special. The server didn’t know much about it, and contradicted part of what I had read online. Explaining to her what her restaurant’s happy hour entailed was awkward. More awkward was at the end, when I had to explain to her that she incorrectly charged me for the happy hour drinks.
The gin cocktails (Peering Through…) I ordered were very tasty. The sweet corn pizza I ordered was pretty good. The pasta dish (Creste de Gallo) I ordered was a bit dry, and didn’t have much flavor. When I ask for salt at a restaurant, it’s a key indicator the food is bland.
We ordered three desserts. Since I’m a dessert fanatic, many restaurants (that seem to consider desserts an afterthought) fall short. This was the case here. And I have to say the olive oil cake was simply not good, an opinion that was unanimous at the table. Dry and flavorless, the only thing I tasted was disappointment (the description sounded fantastic).
The ambiance was good.
It seems there were many areas where they almost got it right at the restaurant, or perhaps I just had bad luck. I’m willing to give it another try.

Definitely a 5 star establishment! The my favorite was the peach pizza which my friend ordered. I got the ravioli which was also delicious. Portion sizes are large enough to satisfy completely and if you want dessert afterwards you could even have some left to go. The staff is very unique. They arent just friendly they are knowledgeable and entertaining. There wasnt a dull moment in our time here. Ty, our waiter was great. Kept up with is and made wonderful suggestions. I especially liked that he’d actually tried almost everything on the menu and could describe it not just list ingredients. The décor and the volume was perfect. Not silent where you could here a pin drop but also not too loud for you to hear yourself think. We could maintain a decent volume in our conversations. Décor was not to dull but also not crazy. Perfect mixture of calm and character.

Five star all the way: food, décor, service, drinks.
We loved everything about Indaco. I wish I’d eaten here before I moved away from Charleston! We ordered the peach pizza (delish), the agnolotti with meat filling (I stole some not so clandestinely) and the raviolo with ricotta and egg yolk. Everything was great, I would order all three things again. We ordered three desserts afterwards: the almond budino, the bombolini and the honey gelato. Again, three great choices. The budino is rich and smooth with a scoop of whipped cream, salty caramel on top and a chocolate cookie. Our waiter, Ty, suggested mixing it all together and he was right! The bombolini were hot, bite sized donuts with a blackberry dipping sauce. The honey gelato was smooth and tasted just like you’d want: creamy and lightly sweet.
The décor in the restaurant was calming — beige and grey, kind of industrial with pipes exposed but refined. I would love to have a living room that looks just like Indaco. All the waiters are dressed in a version of the same denim outfit with an apron and brown shoes. The attention to detail here is impressive.
The service was smooth and friendly. I hate going out to eat and feeling like I’ve been processed through a place. «Hi, my name is Tami and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you with something to drink?» Yeah, none of that here. Jokes and suggestions and general good feelings all around. Being a waiter is like being an actor except the cast you’re a part of keeps changing and you have to roll with the punches to join the ensemble. Two thumbs up to Ty.
Overall, I wish every one of my birthday dinner happened at Indaco! The agnolotti are a can’t miss and they brought me back to childhood with the first bite.