Opal

This is my new favorite restaurant! Everything was so delicious. We started with a charcuterie that is hands down the best in Charleston. The smoked duck was out of this world. We then had a butternut squash ravioli with a creamy spinach sauce and duck with farro and some amazing glaze. From the food to our server, Brittany, everything was absolutely perfect.

I’m embarrassed! I have been in the Seaside Farms shopping and dining area countless times, but only last night did I dine at Opal. So yes, I’m red-​faced for overlooking this beautiful gem of a restaurant.
Beef tartare — amazing! Entirely delightful.
Mussels were half-​priced (Wednesday night) and doubly-​good!
My charcuterie and cheese board was as good as I’ve ever had.
I’m proud to be Opal’s newest fan.

Came in with friends. This was one of their favorite places and we can see for good reason. Opened up things with some CHARCUTERIE and a selection of cheeses. The Chicken dish, while the least expensive on the entrée menu was possibly the best of all three orders. (yes we all tasted off each others plates). My duck was nicely done. Overall meal would have to be ranked in the top 10 of our dining experiences in Mt Pleasant.
(+) Easy to make reservations with OpenTable.
(-) Parking is a bit of a hassle.
SaleebScore: Service: ⁹⁄₁₀; Food: ¹⁰⁄₁₀; Value ⁸⁄₁₀.

Well… What a hidden gem ! I cannot believe I haven’t been here before now. We came here last night for a little Christmas get together. The food here is outstanding, the service impeccable & the ambiance. A cool vibe! I loved it. We had fresh local oysters which were in special & phenomenal, Oysters Rocker-​fellers (sp) which were to die for. Then I had steak. Yum cooked to perfection and of course the most delicious dessert with a good strong coffee. I’m very picky about my steaks because I’m unconventional in that I like my steak like jerky! Difficult to get in most restaurants. Here however it was perfection & I might add like butter when I cut into it. I don’t know how he did it but he got a ¹⁰⁄₁₀ from me. I’m also very very picky about my coffee & it was excellent. I will definitely be returning here & encouraging friends to do the same. The chef came to check on us at the table & sent out fresh raw oysters to taste. Yum. What more could have happened to make this night super special ?! Nothing. Don’t miss this spot on Seaside.

Opal has been one of my favorite restaurants in all of greater Charleston for years. Located off IOP connector in Mt. Pleasant it is worth the drive as either a local or tourist. The interior is a contemporary wooden and stone look with large booths and tables. Overall Opal is a modern Mediterranean inspired restaurant, and they offer superb seasonal choices. Begin your dinner with either an adult cocktsil or a fine winr. For starters you can choose one of 3 mussels, spicy shrimp brushetta or create your own charcuterie from the multiple choices of meats & cheeses. They are well known for their hand crafted pasta dishes, my favorite being the tagliatelle bolognese. Other delicious entrees include local fresh market fish, crispy chicken, pan seared duck breast and more. We always have a hard time deciding from the many selections, but I always steef towards a pasta choice.
Today we decided to try their Sunday brunch, and we left as happy and full as every previous visit. We had the confit pork hash with biscuits and the shrimp & house sausage on creamy grits. Be warned, both are large servings that are full of flavor and deliciousness.
And the biscuits, well they are definitely homemade and taste just as good. We enjoyed our Sunday brunch, and will definitely return.
If you’re looking for place to enjoy special occasion or just a fine dinner with your spouse, check out Opal. There is no need to travel to downtown Charleston when you can find it here in Mt. Pleasant. I recommend it to everyone.

A fantastic menu albeit a tad pricey. 5 of us had different entrees and it was all excellent. Our server could not have been more professional.

We were staying at the Residence Inn and wanted a place that was walkable to the hotel. Opal was highly rated on Unilocal,so we ventured in. The food was underwhelming and unimaginative for the price.

I highly recommend the bar here. Go on a Tuesday night which is half price charcuterie! The service is spot on and the portions of the meat and cheese are always decent.
The entrée selection is hit or miss, the tagliatelle with mushrooms is consistently amazing but I have to say for the price I just expected a little bit more out of some of the meat dishes. Stick with the amazing apps and the pasta.
I would 100% give this place 5 stars for food and service and even for the wine selection. My three star review is a direct reflection of what I would consider an embarrassment to restaurant management everywhere. Two times now I have been in here and the same moronic drunk customer has been causing trouble for your staff. Shame on you for not having your employees backs! You are leaving them exposed in an awkward situation. Both times your team has performed to the best of their abilities but without having a manager on duty you and handcuffing their posible response. If I had not worked in a restaurant and had a decent idea of what your team was go8jg through; I would never ever come back and I promise that this one drunk a$$-hat has cost you a lot of business, I’ve personally seen multiple people get up and walk out. Empower your staff or be there yourself! As soon as that happens this place is a solid 5 star. Until then (unless it’s a tuesday) I’ll be next door at Ardoa where they seem to have it a little more together.

Haven’t been back in ages, and I mean ages, after a lousy first time. However, I do think they have improved greatly… however, the party of 5 agreed not only the lobster bisque, but all entrees were «too salty» and I don’t remember ever saying that about a meal. That being said, the charcuterie was amazing; the salmon, pasta with shrimp and hanger steak proved to be bountiful and lovely paired with pairings. Just can’t get over the salt problem. Our waitress, Michelle, could not have been better. 5* girl who knows her craft. I’d wondering if I’d go back, but the menu is really intriguing. BTW, I would consider it $$$$, not cheap.

In all honesty, most everything I’ve tasted here is really delicious and Opal deserves a solid 4-​stars for the food quality, but I take one away because this place is so pricey!
This restaurant is located in a shop/​work/​eat row of buildings in the heart of Mt. Pleasant – this is not on King or East Bay downtown Charleston and I just think it is too much to ask of patrons to pay $ 30/​plate! What’s more, I can certainly find a comparably delicious Napa Valley cab for $ 8−10/glass vs their $ 12/​glass just around the corner.
Grilled swordfish, parpadelle, salmon, scallops, charcuterie, salad… I come back, admittedly, again and again because it’s all delicious, but only after momma gets paid.
I visited for the restaurant week menu, hoping for a better deal but with 3 courses for $ 40 and 2 glasses of wine at $ 12ea, I’m in it for $ 70 before a generous tip, which the servers deserve. And that is a bill for just me! The tagliatelle with shrimp and chorizo was a generous portion but significantly oversalted – the first time I’ve had an issue with seasoning here though. The salmon was so perfectly cooked that I can’t even stand it. I want to go back tonight for more salmon – it’s easy to get suckered back into this place because of the goodness, but at the end I feel like the sucker after paying the bill.

I knew the meal would result in at least a three star review … but, there were two additional actions that needed to occur … one, at the start; the other, at the end … to make the evening a total winner. Both easily achieved if the host/​hostess/​greeter actually read my notes in Open Table: First, my husband’s BFF, Mike, joining us for dinner, is confined to a wheelchair, so we needed to be seated at a table that would give him easy access while not restricting the path for servers and other diners. Next, we were celebrating my husband’s birthday (and it’s been a hard year) and I requested that they acknowledge this event though we would be passing on dessert,
It was a beautiful evening … generally, a good sign. We were greeted warmly and escorted through the bright and beautiful dining room to our perfectly positioned table next to large glass windows. Within minutes, our delightful server introduced herself and explained the specials. (Note: I must apologize for not giving a shout out to our server by name. I can’t find the slip where I wrote it down.) First up, (of course) the beverages. My husband opted for a lower-​end red, «Gertrude,» which came as a decent pour ($ 9) and he was satisfied enough to order s few glasses through the meal. Mike selected, and was pleased, with his Tanqueray and Tonic. I adored my Pecan Palmer … Cathead Pecan Vodka infused with pecans, blended with fresh lemon and house brewed iced tea, served tall and icy cool … perfect. (Strange, I don’t recall prices on the menu for cocktails … oh, well).
Joe (my hub) and I both ordered a salad for our starter … unfortunately, the same one … which was not necessarily a bad thing … lol. The slices of juicy local peaches, almonds, and creamy chèvre cheese complimented the large mound of fresh, peppery arugula … all tossed with a light balsamic-​vinaigrette dressing. The portion was huge and well worth the $ 9.00 price. While Mike was initially disappointed that the menu did not include She-​Crab Soup, his fave, his frown sure turned upside down very quickly when the huge (at least 4, maybe 5 pieces), beautifully plated portion of local spicy shrimp bruschetta with garlic and chilis ($ 12) was placed in front of him. I did get a taste and … my oh my … I’m coming back! So many layers of spice and flavors and nice chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp in just my thimble sized taste. After our third basket of hot crusty bread (actually, I think, a large, sliced roll) and soft yummy butter, we decided to pass on more bread to save room for our soon to arrive entrees. Let me me mention here that we certainly noticed, and appreciated, the fact that our server was attentive, but not overly so … and gave us sufficient time to enjoy our wonderful first course before our entrees arrived.
Joe’s dinner sized portion of Free Form Lasagna Bolognese ($ 23) was one of the largest entrees of lasagna I’ve seen served since we’ve moved here … and what made it so spectacular is the ton of beef (the ricotta was just a large ‘spoonful’ on top). If you love ‘noodles and meat’ you need look no further than Opal. It was so rich and the portion so huge that Joe had to take home a doggie-​bag, something that it very unusual, as Joe can really put it away. I ordered the same dish, but, the ‘smaller’ portion ($ 16). I ate the whole thing … I was delirious. Mike selected the ‘small’ portion of ricotta gnocchi with local shrimp, grilled corn, sliced cherry tomatoes and pancetta ($ 17). It was gorgeous and according to Mike, «Delicious.» He did not offer me a taste and I knew not to ask; however, I loved the look of this dish and it’s on the top of my list (along with the Shrimp Bruschetta) when we return.
Once the dishes were cleared away, our wonderful server returned to our table, looked at Joe and said, «I understand we’re celebrating your birthday this evening. We don’t do cake with a candle but we’d love to bring you some gelato» and told us the flavors available. Joe selected Salted Caramel and Mike requested 3 spoons. OMG … it was yummolicious … creamy, dreamy and everything wonderful. I think each of us could have eaten a gallon.
Well, the evening was perfect. I wish there were more stars …

I believe brunch is relatively new to Opal, but they are already serving up some of the best tasting brunch food I’ve had in a while.
Their biscuits are as good as home made, their holandaise sauce on their salmon entrée was some of the best holandaise I’ve had, and everything else we tried exceeded our expectations. We’ll be back for more.

Had dinner tonight. What I love about Opal is the warm feeling I get in their dining room. It may be just the simple candle on the table, but whatever it is, it works for me.
I had the tomato basil soup with lobster pieces. It went down easy.
For my entrée I had the butternut squash agnolotti. It was beautifully presented and tasted delicious.
Service was attentive. You leave here thinking that you really had a good time. Go and find out for youtself!

Another fantastic meal at Opal. We had the standbys of shrimp bruschetta and the clams with sausage and they were awesome as always. My wife had the mozzarella and it was also excellent. My wife had the shrimp with homemade pasta and I had the ricotta gnocchi with duck ragout and both were absolutely incredible.

Service was subpar & lackluster. Felt like a world apart from the food we had.
Highly recommend the handmade pasta, cooked perfectly and was fantastic!
Wine pours were a little slim on the by-​the-​glass options :(

Went here after we could not get a reservation at three other places we wanted to go. Thank God they were all full! This meal was absolutely perfect! I had the special which was a ribeye with marscapone mashed potatoes and asparagus. Words cannot describe how amazing it was! My husband had the lasagna bolognese that was equally impressive. Other food at my table was the gnocchi ricotta and pappardelle with wild mushrooms and some crazy delicious chicken! We topped off this fabulous meal with quite an impressive lineup of desserts. Meyer lemon crème brûlée, flourless cake with salted caramel gelato and chocolate amaretto gelato. I wish I could give this place more stars! They earned every one of them!