Magnolias

Thanks to my NC Unilocal Community Manager for suggesting Magnolia’s. We visited on our first night in Charleston and it really set the tone for the entire week. Fortunately, we arrived early so we were able to be seated immediately. I understand there is generally quite a wait though.
For those that don’t know, Magnolia’s, Blossom, and Cypress are all owned by the same company. Sounds like they are on a theme to me! They also have free parking next door!!! That is worth an expensive dinner in my mind. Parking in downtown Charleston can be challenging.
Our server was lovely and very accommodating to my food allergies. They also have a GF menu with plenty of options. In all, we were pleased with the service, ambiance, food and overall experience. I was well overdue for a romantic meal and Magnolia’s was perfect for us.

The food was very good but to be honest, it wasn’t well executed. We dined at Magnolias this past Friday. The night started off on a good note. We had been greeted by the hostess and since we had a birthday celebration they wished our guest a happy birthday. This was a nice touch. We were given a nice table in the back portion of the restaurant. We had some time to settle in and then the server passed us and said she was very busy and she would be back.
We waited about 10 — 15 mins until we were able to put in our drink order and at that time we just put in our whole order. The server was very busy. Sometimes you just need to relax take a breath and ask someone to help you until you are caught up. Guests shouldn’t suffer because a server is busy.
We ordered the Egg Rolls for an appetizer and that was very good.
For our entrée’s I got the house specialty and that was the Shellfish and Grits. This was tasty but they missed the mark on the presentation. It looked like it was slopped out on the plate and not really arranged. For a 32 dollar entrée this should be well plated. It had most of the seafood on one side of the plate and the other was lighter on the grits almost that you could see the bottom of the plate. The food was tasty but it was definitely missed out on the presentation.
The other entrée was the Fillet of beef and the Fried Chicken. They were both well received.
For desert we shared the Warm Brownie with White Chocolate Ice Cream.
I would recommend this restaurant because the food was good but the service may have had a hiccup due to a couple other factors. That might change with other days/​nights. Magnolias is an institution and should reflect that in the experience. We have also dined at Cypress and Blossom and they were both well received.
I really enjoyed the birthday singer. He had a GREAT Opera voice! Well Done!
Someday we will be back for Brunch!

Great food. Had the eggroll and the fried green tomatoes for appetizers and then the fried chicken cobb salad and the seafood and grits dish. Everything was amazing! Ohh yeah the blue crab bisque was unbelievable.
Our server was not very sharp or attentive but we saw plenty of other ones around us giving outstanding service we just got a bad one.
Huge disappointment the bathroom does not have a baby changing table. A restaurant of this caliber MuST have one, period! And there was plenty of room on the walls for at least 2 of them. had to change my son on a sofa facing the busy kitchen! Not up to the level of this restaurant at all.

My girlfriend and I shared a Low Country Bouillabaisse and the Jambalaya. They were both very good. Similar, yet different. Nice size shrimp. A little spicy, the way I like it. The house made potato chips with scallions and blue cheese, were plentiful as well as tasty. The service was a tad slow, but very pleasant, so no problem there. Very nice décor.
Magnolia’s is listed in «1,000 Places To See Before You Die» and I think it is a worthy selection.
Like the Terminator, I’ll be back.

In my mind, this is The perfect example of a great restaurant in Charleston. (and the reason I look forward to a repeat visit)
I came for brunch, and everything was perfect — from the ridiculously soft and warm sourdough bread, some of the best seafood and grits I have ever had, definitely the best by far she crab soup, and absolutely amazing country fried steak.
The service was spectacular, and I loved the classy ambience on a nice Sunday afternoon.
Did I mention the price was very reasonable for brunch as well? My only regret was that the local bread shop that sells their bread to this restaurant was closed on Sunday — otherwise I would’ve bought a few loaves to bring back home.
The crème brûlée was also very good, and I definitely look forward to coming back to this place next time I’m in town.
Hungry Kat, two paws up approval.

Wow! Visit magnolias and be amazed by the delicious southern food that you will be eating.
We started with a bibb salad. Greens served with gorganzola and a very complimentary dressing. Lick the plate good!
Next, the bf got the southern fried chicken. For $ 21 it’s a steal of an entire meal. Served with 2 biscuits, mashed potatoes, creamed corn and the best collard greens you’ll ever have. This is smothered with a yummy beef gravy. You can only dare to try to finish the entire plate.
I ordered the crab cake appy as my meal knowing that I would scam some of the sides from the bf. It was very good. Great flavors and presentation, just a step down from my traditional jumbo lump cakes from Baltimore. Still very worthy of praise.
Although stuffed, I had to see if the pecan pie was the best in the world. Sorry to say, it’s second to my best friends mother in law who used to give me a whole pie that she always made me for thanksgiving. Southern hospitality! !!
Almost forgot to mention our two amazing drinks. .the Manhattan from the menu and the hibernia… loved them. Bread was a nice small crusty sourdough loaf served with cream cheese butter and chives! Easy to eat the whole thing, but try to save room for your meal.
Overall, the atmosphere was amazing, great service with unbelievable food. What a great night!

One of the best meals I have had anywhere! Fantastic service too!

+ great ambiance
+ that southern hospitality, friendly staff
+ all the southern comfort food you’ve been looking for with specialty beers and drinks!
+ plenty of seating for all
— long wait for service
— everything was very salty (esp. the crab soup)
— gets busy on weekends, reservations are key!
This place is so dang adorable! The wooden panels hanging over the roof set the tone for easy dining. This can be a semi-​casual to semi-​formal attire place, just depends how you play it. Their fried green tomatoes over grits is a signature dish and the waiter was kind enough to adjust the plating to fit my large group. normally comes with 3, but they gave us 4 since we had 8 people total so that each person got one.
pro-​tip: dip the bread and butter in the tomato sauce from the friend green tomato, so good!
I got the shrimp over grits as it was highly recommended by other reviewers, and while for $ 32, they definitely did NOT skimp on the seafood (which was yummy!), it was waaay too salty. There wasn’t enough grits to offset the salty cream sauce, so I just ended up profusely eating bread and drinking water. Their Crab soup is NOT a chowder if that’s what you were thinking (which we did), it’s more of a pureed soup which while delicious, also was very very salty!
Over all, everything was all the salty side, but they don’t skimp on content when it’s needed. It’s a fun place to go to experience some southern hospitality, but I wouldn’t go out of my way here.