Charleston Cafe Serves Civility
By Becky Billingsley
For more than 20 years, the pink restaurant on the main drag in Surfside Beach has been where friends gather upstairs in the lounge for cocktails, nibbles and socializing, and then retire downstairs for casual-yet-impeccable dinners. Lunch service was recently added, further reinforcing Charleston Cafe's longtime reputation as a community gathering place for food lovers.
Owners Billy and Anita Cheezem and their daughter, Brayer Surratt, also own and operate the bar and grill at Marlin Quay Marina on Garden City Beach. But while Marlin Quay is ultra casual, Charleston Cafe is a relaxed gourmet haven.
With Surratt as a laid-back and welcoming manager and Chef Henry Friese Mills in the kitchen, this is the sort of restaurant where you can bring friends and feel confident meals will be delicious but not pretentious. As many longtime local regulars say, "This is proper dining."
Two dining rooms have slightly different ambiances. The front room has big windows facing Surfside Drive and an outdoor sidewalk dining area. Its rich blue decor is accented with white tablecloths and lovely landscape paintings produced by local artists. A rear room is comprised of cozy booths.
Between the rooms is a small bar and a grand piano, where several nights per week the ivories are tickled to produce soothing dinner music. Some people choose to eat in the upstairs Tree House Lounge where there is both bar seating and comfortable couches and chairs, and a special menu with pasta, seafood and finger foods for $10 and less.
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Lunches are extraordinary. While this is definitely a place you'll want to linger if you have the time, if you're in a hurry you may have a cup of the soup du jour with the chef's choice of half a sandwich for $7.50. Add $1.50 and you also get a side dish.
Lunchtime appetizers include house-made Pimento Cheese served warm, and the mellow spread comes with crispy pita chips that are almost as good as the cheese. A few other appetizers include Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers, Fried Green Tomatoes with goat cheese and roasted red pepper strips, and Crab and Shrimp Dip.
Entree salads are excellent choices here, such as Warm Wilted Spinach Salad with Andouille sausage, mushrooms, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. There's also a Salad Sampler where you can get up to four small portions of house-made tuna, chicken, seafood or fruit salad on a bed of greens.
Sandwiches include French Dip au jus, Fried Green BLT, Po' Boy, Pimento Cheeseburger, Portabello Sandwich or Fried Turkey Sandwich. Lunch entrees include Seafood Souffle with shrimp, crab, spinach and green onion and topped by exceedingly light and fluffy Hollandaise; and Fish and Grits where the grits are made using chicken stock and fresh tomatoes, and the fried flounder served with it is flash-fried to crispy deliciousness.
For dinner a few more appetizers are added to the menu such as Steak Quesadilla and Tomato and Artichoke Risotto. The entree section expands with additions such as Filet Chesapeake where twin three-ounce filets are topped with lump crab and lobster sauce; A pair of Lump Crab Cakes; Shrimp and Mussels Marinara; Sesame Seared Tuna; fried Low Country seafood; and the Seafood Griller served with corn pudding. Thursdays through Saturdays there is Prime Rib, and on your side dish choices I heartily recommend the Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Desserts are made by family member Abi Cheezem with choices such as Cinnamon Cheesecake, Lemon Blueberry Cake with cream cheese frosting, Banana Cake with coconut cream cheese frosting, and White Chocolate Raspberry Cake.
Charleston Cafe is at 815 Surfside Dr. in Surfside Beach, and operating hours are 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The number is 843-238-2200.
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