Alchemy Food & Wine

Think they shut down. Believe they were closed last three days including new years eve. :-(

My wife and I were staying at a nearby hotel and got back late from the wedding we were at all day. By the time we wanted headed out to dinner, there weren’t many options open. Not being from the area, we picked a spot on Seven Farms Dr. that looked to have a couple of options open, and go from there. I saw Alchemy online and the food offerings looked good but a bit to overdone — we were looking for something simple that night. So I was surprised that, when we passed by it, it looked more like a dive bar than a gastropub. We passed it by, walked down the street and found only a VERY crowded sports pub open. (It was the night of the SC/​Clemson game after all) So we went back to Alchemy and had a pretty nice experience.
We walked in to a rather small crowd watching the game — mostly Clemson fans and one vocal (but not obnoxious) SC fan rubbing it in. We asked the bartender if they were still serving food — she had to check in the back, but came back and said yes, welcomed us to sit at the bar and presented us a full menu. Still, having to check to see if the kitchen is open can mean getting a weak effort from the kitchen, but everything we had was done very well. We started with the steak pebre for appetizers, and served an ample portion of well-​cooked steak and awesome risotto cakes. It was an ample and satisfying appetizer for $ 8.
The wife and I both went for sandwiches for dinner I went with the Banh Mi — definitely not a traditional Banh Mi, but the pork was nice, and the wasabi mayo and pickled vegetables gave it that nice Asian flavor I was looking for. My wife got the Turkey Bacon Brie sandwich, which she loved. We both thought the fries were awesome, crispy but not overdone. I like my fries salty, but I did think they were a tad heavy on the salt. My wife doesn’t like salty fries, however, and she didn’t complain.
I mentioned that the place had a divey feel … and it does, but in a GOOD way. Dive bars can be great — the dim lighting and neighborhood feel is warming and welcoming. It doesn’t mean the place is dirty, and Alchemy is certainy not dingy. And the beer selection here is nice. They have around 15 taps — no NASCAR brews but a few of the standard imports and large craft brews — Sam Adams, Fat Tire, Guinness. Credit for their Sierra Nevada Brew being the Celebration Ale seasonal instead of their overrated (IMO) Pale Ale. Celebration is good stuff on tap. They also offered smaller crafts like Harpoon (IPA) and Highland (Gaelic Ale), Red Hare (brown ale) and a couple of selections from local Holy City. (Porter and Pecan Ale). I went with a Pecan Ale and thought it was solid, although I prefer Abita’s Pecan Harvest a bit more. I was a bit sad to hear that Sweetwater 420, which their menu said was a «mainstay», had rotated out, but overall it’s a solid beer selection. Not the best I saw in town, but solid.
We received a 10% off online coupon for Alchemy for checking in on Unilocal.This was unexpected, and when we showed it to the bartender she didn’t seem to recognize it, but gave us no fuss and happily applied the discount. Overall, the wife and I were happy with the food and excellent service we got, especially that late at night in what seemed to be a quiet neighborhood. We could have done a lot worse, and we’d come here again if we were staying in the area.

I work on Daniel Island, so I have been here twice. First time I met my fiancé for a drink after work. It was a nice place to grab a drink, and I thought the menu looked alright for maybe an app. However, we just have a few beers and that was it. The beer selection was good, so we were pleased. The atmosphere too was nice and I like that they had a bit of an out door area. Also, I love darts so any bar with a dart board calls to me. The bartender was nice, and this was a positive experience.
Second trip was for lunch while my mom was in town. Once again, I work on the Island so this made for a convenient lunch destination. We walked in and the place was literally empty except for a boozy looking older couple at the bar. No employees to be seen so we just kind of stood there wondering if we should go somewhere else. After about two minutes someone came around to seat us. The guy kind of rubbed me the wrong way from the get go giving us a smug greeting and a joking ‘no, you can’t sit there’ when we indicated a table we wanted in the empty place. I wasn’t in the mood for those antics.
I’ll get straight to the food now. We ordered the pumpkin black bean soup to start, I ordered a Bahn Mi sandwich and my mother the Kobe Beef burger with some add ons. I was a little nervous about my mothers kobe beef burger. For one, I didn’t have much faith that when a restaurant offers a beef burger AND a kobe beef burger that you would necessarily get the kobe. Who know what is going on in the kitchen and I could just imagine the staff either mixing it up or even not having the kobe on hand and subbing the regular beef assuming we wouldn’t know the difference. Just me being paranoid.
So food is served after way too much time in my opinion (we were the only people in there save for another table that arrived after we ordered). Pumpkin Black bean soup is not exactly what i expected. It tasted like chili, and should have been billed as that. Not a black bean soup, not a pumpkin soup. It was chili with some black beans in it and any pumpkin was indistinguishable. But still we were hungry and though it wasn’t what I expected, it was eaten and enjoyed. My Bahn Mi was more like a pulled pork sandwich with a sweet bbq sauce on a thin french roll. Not exactly what I was expecting, and I wasn’t very happy but at that point we were making the best of the situation (which was lunch with my visiting mother and not as much a culinary experience). My mothers kobe beef burger was overcooked (she asked for med/​rare and it was well done). If it were me I would have sent it back, but she insisted it was fine. I could go to Halls or The Macintoch and get a much better burger for less, so that irked me. At $ 47 for lunch and considering what we received at the end of the day, i was not impressed with the food but I would still come by in the evening for a few drinks and maybe some nachos. For lunch I will go somewhere else.

Went there for brunch with my friend and her dog (90 lb lab). I ordered the French toast and a glass of milk. I also wanted to get a bowl of water for the dog. After about 10 mins I’m informed I can’t have the French toast or the glass of milk because the «milk shipment» didn’t come in… huh? There’s a publix within walking distance. So I ordered some scrambled eggs and bacon… out comes an omelet with bacon bits in the middle. I guess that way they felt ok charging me 8 $ for it. I had to ask for some water for the dog 3 times… when she finally got some it was in a small soup bowl… about as wide as the dog’s tongue. We were the only patrons… it was around noon on a Sunday.

We stopped in our way home from downtown Charleston with friends from Hilton Head and San Francisco, The wait staff was very knowledgable about all their wines and everything on the menu. Their shrimp and grits was prepared differently them I’m used to but was some of the best I’ve ever had, spicy and grits were a cake instead of soupy. Other in our party had the eggplant parm and it was excellent. Seeing we live on Daniel Island we will definitely be back. Their kobe meatball appetizer was really good.
Ed C.

I loved this place. We went early for lunch because the PQC wanted to get up early so we had our breakfast at oh, 7:00 a.m.
The outside seating area looks like a lovely place to hang out, it was still too chilly to go outside on Saturday, though. The server? Manager? Young man from Vegas, I completely forget his name, but he was SO SO NICE. The whole ambiance of the place was very relaxed. They were appealing to my 90’s kidness — Counting Crows, DMB, Blues Traveler… they did sneak in some Mumford and Fun, was pleased about the former, was peeved about the latter but at least it wasn’t that awful We Are Young song. I mean, really, human race? That’s what passes for music these days?
Focus, Meg.
Beer list: solid. Big, dark, heavy beers plus they had Allagash on there and other lighter hues for the faint at heart. I think anyone could be pleased with this selection.
The food: I actually had a real challenge deciding what I wanted; everything looked great. I decided on my go to burger. So, it was a decent burger. As JR C. mentioned, it was begging for some seasoning — we snagged some s&p from the server station and after a healthy dousing (I know salt and pepper aren’t wet but I’m having trouble finding the right word for «completely covered») the burger was very good. The potato wedges shockingly, WERE PERFECTLY SEASONED. I think this was the only thing that made me angry — you can execute ye ol’ fried tater with perfection but what happened with the burger? I saw the management’s comment re: fixing this and that’s why I am excited to return and try some other stuff off their menu!

The wife and I needed lunch on Saturday, and had been talking about heading to Daniel Island to try some of their other restaurants for some time. She found the review for Alchemy on Unilocal,and it looked like the type of place we’d frequent, with good food and craft beer. We arrived with the little one, and while it was empty (it was pretty early, before noon), the restaurant didn’t feel like it was too quiet to have a child there. I’m sure it wouldn’t be as good for kids at dinnertime, but Pax is pretty quiet, other than the occasional excited squeal, so I wouldn’t be afraid to bring him here for dinner. The ambiance is really nice, with a couple TVs showing sports and a nice, large wooden bar.
We ordered a couple pints, and while the beer list isn’t huge, it’s pretty solid. I had Point End of the World Porter, then a Holy City Pluff Mudd Porter (which is fast becoming my go-​to local brew). Both were great!
As for food, we both ordered burgers — I had a rare burger with goat cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and bacon caramelized onions, and it was very good, though it needed seasoning. It’s served with a good portion of very well seasoned potato wedges, which really made me wonder about why the burger wasn’t well seasoned. Anyway, I put some salt & pepper (oh, this is the type of restaurant that seems to believe that you don’t need salt or pepper at your table, and that you should ask for it, because their food is meant to be eaten the way it’s served — BAD IDEA, at every restaurant, ever) on the burger, and really enjoyed the hell out of it. The goat cheese had a great tang and worked well with the onions and mushrooms. I’d definitely order the burger again!
We haven’t had dinner here, yet, but it’s reasonably priced for lunch. I looked at the dinner menu, and it does trend a little more expensive, especially the $ 17 kobe beef burger (it might be great, but is it worth $ 9 more than the $ 8 burger at lunch???).

I have been to Alchemy a couple times. I have yet to try the food so I can’t speak to that. This review is all about the suds… thats right baby, we’re talking brewski’s, cold-​ones, grogs, & pints. Whatever you like to call it, Alchemy’s got it. They have an impressive selection of rotating taps in here and Bud Light does not occupy one of them. Easily the best selection on the island, and one of the best in the area I have seen.
I try to seek out amazing beer and both times I have stopped in here, I have been shocked by the beer list. It ranges from local to… practically everywhere else and I have noticed that someone choosing the beers is a big fan of Southern Tier, one of my favorite brewmeisters. The first time I was there, I went straight for the Pumking by Southern Tier (a tough find around these parts) and most recently I noticed they must have had 3 or 4 Southern Tier brews on drought. Good pickings! This particular day called for something different though. It was a beautiful day out on the island but, it was still February. I needed that perfect sweet-​spot between a «southern winter» and «here comes early spring». Alchemy had exactly what I needed… Kona Brewing’s Koko Brown.
A malty brown ale with toasted coconut nibs, how could you go wrong? An unattainable balance between winter and summer has been achieved in a glass. The coconut is definitely there but, not overpowering being that it’s toasted and not raw. The malty richness brings up the rear leaving a slightly sweetened (not nearly as much as other browns) malt taste. It was so nice I had to get all Bob Marley on it, and order the same thing twice.
You might want to stop calling beer by the inferior names of suds and brewski’s. Start referring to it by it’s proper name… liquid gold because Alchemy has discovered the ancient philosophy of turning regular liquids into liquid gold through their majestic taps.

Over priced! The food is too fancy for a lunch place. Service is sub par. Scary waitress had tattoos on her face.

Went to Alchemy today with my husband who was looking for some lunch. This used to be TJ’s Beef and Brew and before that was an Irish joint that I can’t remember the name of. We went around 2p on a Sunday and were the only people there which was unfortunate. We sat at the bar and chat with the friendly bartender. Their Sunday brunch was going until 3p and looked good. We’ll be back for that. The hubs got the steak sandwich and said it was real good. Plus the steak fries were thinly cut and seasoned well. For $ 8 it was a solid meal. My mom went the week before and got the turkey brie sandwich and loved it.
So here’s the good:
–friendly staff
–motivated chef — he came out to chat with us and talked about his ideas for the future, including seasonal, local menu, HH prices, etc
— so far, the food as been good
— they deliver to local DI businesses
— Great craft beers on tap
Here’s what needs work:
–the dinner prices are steep. Generally this wouldn’t matter but I fear they’re too high to make this a DI staple. That said, lunch and brunch prices are great
— I didn’t see a kids menu? Seems like this would be needed to compete with DIG
— The décor needs work. It’s still pretty dark with not a lot of character
Bottom line… this place is deserves your business so far. Food is good, staff is friendly, and DI can surely use some variety as we can only eat DIG’s subpar food so often.