Pool Repair in West Ashley, SC

More often than not, tipsters, readers, friends, and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? What are the new restaurants? What's everyone talking about? While the Eater 18 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the "it" places of the moment. Enter the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to highlight the spots crowds are flocking to at the moment or generating a big buzz. Folks are asking, "Have you been yet?" Try one of these newbies today.

New to the list:

December: Blanca EstradaNovember 2024: Legami, Chef Loong Dim SumOctober 2024: Linnette’s September 2024: the Archer August 2024: the SelectJuly 2024: Marbled & Fin, MakanJune 2024: Downtown Co-OpMay 2024: Sissy Bar, CoterieApril 2024: Da Toscano Fugazzi, XO Brasserie March 2024: Bodega Mount PleasantFebruary 2024: Cleats, Lowland Dining Room, Palmira BarbecueJanuary 2024: the Harlow, Da Toscano Porchetta ShopDecember 2023: the Quinte, Lowland Tavern, Lost Isle, Costa, BearcatNovember 2023: King BBQOctober 2023: Honeysuckle Rose

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

The team from downtown bar Dalila’s opened a fun new spot in Park Circle. Sissy Bar takes inspiration from Southern California, from mezcal drinks to breakfast burritos to a massive barbacoa taco platter. Bring friends to sample all the sharable plates.

Slow-cooked brisket and whole hog meet Puerto Rican flavors at Palmira Barbecue. Pitmaster Hector Garate has been popping up around the Lowcountry for several years, but now he has a permanent address in West Ashley.

The crew from hip breakfast spot Daps opened a sports bar with better food and drinks found at typical sports bars. Find pit beef sandwiches, Thai-flavored hot dogs, green hatch chili wings, and waffle fries.

Herman Ng grew up working in his family’s Chinese restaurant, and now he owns his own with the opening of XO Brasserie. The menu focuses on Cantonese and Sichuan cooking, including XO lobster, mapo tofu, and garlic pepper beef. Don’t miss the fun cocktails or the desserts.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

D.C.-based Malaysian restaurant Makan now has a second location in the Lowcountry. Chef James Wozniuk wanted the South Carolina location to feature local seafood. The ikan asam pedas, a Malaysian hot and sour fish curry, is a must-try if you like spice. There’s also rendand daging (dry beef curry), curry mee (noodle soup with chicken sausage), and kerabu mangga (mango salad).

Charleston is going crazy for soup dumplings, and newcomer Chef Loong Dim Sum delivers. The restaurant offers four flavors (pork soup, chicken soup, pork tomato soup, and truffle pork soup). The rest of the menu is quite extensive as well, with selections ranging from Sichuan mala chicken, crab rangoon, dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, and more.

The team behind Italian favorite Le Farfalle has an enticing new cafe in Charleston. The focus of Da Toscano Porchetta Shop is the housemade focaccia and everything that can be sandwiched between the airy bread. Chef Michael Toscano serves a filling chorizo and egg sandwich in the morning and a sumptuous porchetta sandwich in the afternoon. There’s also choices like prime rib, roast chicken, marinated eggplant, and so much more.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.

The team from downtown bar Dalila’s opened a fun new spot in Park Circle. Sissy Bar takes inspiration from Southern California, from mezcal drinks to breakfast burritos to a massive barbacoa taco platter. Bring friends to sample all the sharable plates.

Slow-cooked brisket and whole hog meet Puerto Rican flavors at Palmira Barbecue. Pitmaster Hector Garate has been popping up around the Lowcountry for several years, but now he has a permanent address in West Ashley.

The crew from hip breakfast spot Daps opened a sports bar with better food and drinks found at typical sports bars. Find pit beef sandwiches, Thai-flavored hot dogs, green hatch chili wings, and waffle fries.

Herman Ng grew up working in his family’s Chinese restaurant, and now he owns his own with the opening of XO Brasserie. The menu focuses on Cantonese and Sichuan cooking, including XO lobster, mapo tofu, and garlic pepper beef. Don’t miss the fun cocktails or the desserts.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

D.C.-based Malaysian restaurant Makan now has a second location in the Lowcountry. Chef James Wozniuk wanted the South Carolina location to feature local seafood. The ikan asam pedas, a Malaysian hot and sour fish curry, is a must-try if you like spice. There’s also rendand daging (dry beef curry), curry mee (noodle soup with chicken sausage), and kerabu mangga (mango salad).

Charleston is going crazy for soup dumplings, and newcomer Chef Loong Dim Sum delivers. The restaurant offers four flavors (pork soup, chicken soup, pork tomato soup, and truffle pork soup). The rest of the menu is quite extensive as well, with selections ranging from Sichuan mala chicken, crab rangoon, dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, and more.

The team behind Italian favorite Le Farfalle has an enticing new cafe in Charleston. The focus of Da Toscano Porchetta Shop is the housemade focaccia and everything that can be sandwiched between the airy bread. Chef Michael Toscano serves a filling chorizo and egg sandwich in the morning and a sumptuous porchetta sandwich in the afternoon. There’s also choices like prime rib, roast chicken, marinated eggplant, and so much more.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.

A new fishing store in West Ashley is filling a gap for fly fishermen.

While the Lowcountry has numerous nearby shops aimed at anglers, including Haddrell's Point Tackle on Windermere Boulevard and West Marine on Savannah Highway, there isn't a store focused solely on fly-fishing — a popular hobby in the Lowcountry given the geography.

The Fly & Lure, managed by Shane Terblanche, opened at 1760 Ashley River Road to satisfy the specific need with rods, a wide variety of hooks, clothing and books, and lessons starting Nov. 21. The shop sells high-end brands, such as Shilton reels and Thomas and Thomas rods, with more offerings coming over time.

"They are expensive, but they have lifetime warranties," Terblanche said. "They're premium products."

Business

For Summerville resident and avid angler Gaither Baumgartner, it's exciting to have another option closer to home.

"Typically, when I need to restock on supplies, I have to travel to Mount Pleasant," he said. Baumgartner is a loyal shopper of Haddrell's Point Fin to Feather on Ben Sawyer Boulevard, but when he needs a quick pickup "that means up to an hour in the car each way depending on traffic."

He said the demand is there for community anglers and as fly-fishing is only gaining popularity in the Lowcountry.

The area has a growing number of guides who will take anglers out and plenty of inshore opportunities, such as marshes and rivers, for people who don't want to head out too far into the ocean.

Just about anywhere from Georgetown to Hilton Head Island is prime for fly fishing, Terblanche said.

The Fly & Lure caters both to novice and experienced anglers. While some come in on a mission for an exact need, Terblanche noted, others spend time asking questions and learning different lures for different catches and environments.

Those interested in studying the art of fly fishing can also attend casting lessons and fly-tying nights when they kick off Nov. 21. Terblanche plans to host public events outside of the shop with food trucks and music to foster a local fishing community.

"Fly fisherman are like eccentric artists, everyone will want to tell you everything they know, and they won't stop," Terblanche said. "So, if you want to learn more or just chat for two hours about fishing, there'll be plenty of people to talk to."

Teeter traffic

Grocery stores follow rooftops and continuously pop up all over the Lowcountry.

Trader Joe's opened its second Mount Pleasant location Oct. 18. Aldi's opened another discount grocery store on James Island Oct. 2. A Publix at Nexton is underway and expected to open in 2025.

Today, Harris Teeter, headquartered in Matthews, N.C. and part of The Kroger Co., has 19 locations in the Charleston area. The local office of commercial real estate firm Lee & Associates took a spin at figuring out the most popular, ranking the Charleston-area stores by foot traffic using data from Placer.ai. Here are the results:

Updated: Nov. 14, 2024 at 4:53 PM PST

WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCSC) - Homeowners living along Lake Dotterer and the Church Creek Drainage Basin may soon feel a sense of relief with the first phase of a flood reduction project.

The body of water is surrounded by several neighborhood homes, a portion of Glenn McConnell Parkway and the West Ashley Park. It serves as a popular nature stop, but also a hotspot for flood-prone events.

“During large storm events, especially if there is a high tide, that water from Church Creek, or the tide coming from under Highway 61, can come over the berm into Lake Dotterer,” Stormwater Management Director Matthew Fountain said.

The city has approved the first short-term step of a multi-phase project to reduce flooding in the area, costing $116,500. The funding is also sourced from an agreement with Charleston County amounting to $790,178.81.

Over time, Fountain expects the project to reach a multi-million-dollar price tag, but they are starting small.

“We are going to look at things like increasing the height of the dam, improving the ability to have water flow out from the dam, restricting some of that tide coming into the lake, as well as adding storage into the lake or improvements in those neighborhoods that we are draining into the lake,” Fountain said.

Nearby residents have provided photos that show water seeping up into backyards and through fence lines. Some go back to the 2015 floods, while others are as recent as a few months ago

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“We have to be smarter with growth, we have to make sure as we have properties being developed, that water can be held back,” Councilmember Kevin Shealy said. “We have some of the strongest, most strict rules as far as new construction going up along Church Creek Basin.”

Shealy hopes the project could be wrapped within two or three years. He asks homeowners to expect more crew presence in the area throughout the next few months, surveying and studying the area.

An early plan would have created pipelines under Glenn McConnell to drain water into Long Branch Creek, but crews determined it would not make strong improvements, and would create a mega-project over several years.

This new effort would separate the plan into studied portions and aim to build up long-term resiliency for the area.

“We need this remedied as quickly as we possibly can because we don’t know when the next storm is coming. We need that solution, we need that fix,” Shealy said.

The next phase, which will include the preliminary engineering work and an add-on contract, could be expected as soon as the next six months

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.