Charleston's climate makes outdoor dining a year-round possibility. This ranking leans on what critics and local guides say specifically about patios, decks and waterfront dining, then on overall quality.
Updated October 2026
← Back to all rankingsCharleston's downtown waterfront restaurant in a converted naval degaussing station at 186 Concord Street, with a wrap-around outdoor deck over Charleston Harbor and views of the Ravenel Bridge and the Cooper River. Southern seafood classics including she-crab soup, Charleston shrimp and grits, Lowcountry seafood pasta, fried green tomato BLT, and crab cakes. Women-owned.
Hours, prices and booking details are from our 2026 checks. Confirm with the restaurant before you go.
An oyster hall and Southern seafood restaurant set inside a 1927 bank building at 544 King Street. Two stories with vaulted ceilings and a marble raw bar counter. Menu favors the East Coast: smoked oysters, oyster sliders, seafood towers, swordfish schnitzel, and New England fish chowder.
Hours, prices and booking details are from our 2026 checks. Confirm with the restaurant before you go.
The highest-ranked restaurant here that costs less than every podium pick and has a Crowd Score of 4.3 or better.
Left the podium this month: Coda del Pesce (was #1, now #6); The Obstinate Daughter (was #2, no longer ranked in this category); Lewis Barbecue (was #3, no longer ranked in this category).
Tell us about a patio, deck, rooftop or waterfront table we should look at. Nominations aren't votes: each one goes into next month's research, and we check it against the same evidence as everything else.
Where the top-ranked spots in this category are, from downtown to the islands. The number is each restaurant's overall rank in Outdoor Dining this month.
Each card shows the evidence behind the rank: critic and local-guide coverage (linked), diner ratings, recent news and staying power. We log every list, award and rating with its date and source, apply the same rules to every restaurant, and refresh the ranking monthly. Arrows compare each restaurant with last month. Read how TasteSignal ranks restaurants.
As of October 2026, Fleet Landing is #1 in TasteSignal's Outdoor Dining ranking for Charleston, SC, followed by Bowens Island Restaurant and The Ordinary. Why it leads: outdoor dining recognition: Charleston City Paper (May 2024, winner, Best Waterfront Dining), Post and Courier (2024, winner) and 8 more.
Every restaurant in the category is ranked from named, dated evidence: critic and local-guide coverage, diner ratings on Google, Tripadvisor and Yelp, recent news and how long it has stayed on critics' lists. The data behind this category is still developing, so next month's update could reorder the top 3. Rankings refresh monthly.