Whether you’ve waited in line for soft-shell crabs in the Chesapeake Bay or savored sushi in New York City, you know there’s something special about finding the right spot to enjoy seafood. From ceviche to grilled salmon and towers of shellfish, the top-rated seafood restaurants in the United States serve up mouthwatering dishes across diverse cuisines like Japanese, Latin American, and Mediterranean to suit every palate.

Of course, certain areas of the country are known for particular delicacies. California’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, for example, makes it one of the best states for seafood. The Los Angeles area serves up everything from caviar to Santa Barbara spot prawns while San Francisco is a mecca for fish tacos, ceviche, and sushi. Further north, Seattle is legendary for its shellfish, showcased at the famed fish counter at Pike Place Market.

While Chicago may be best known as a pizza capital, many flock to the city for its king crab dishes; a bit further south and east, you have Miami and its sought-after stone crab season. Southern locales like New Orleans boast fresh crawfish from the Gulf of Mexico and the two noncontiguous states have their own signature offerings, too: Alaska is known for its pollock and salmon, while Hawai’i is known for its poke.

Dining at a seafood restaurant can be one of the most memorable parts of your trip to a new city or offer comfort food in your own hometown. To celebrate the best options near you, Stacker used insights from Yelp to compile a list of the highest-rated seafood restaurants in Charleston.

Businesses were selected using Yelp’s ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only restaurants with at least 10 reviews were considered. In an effort to highlight independent restaurants and local chains, those with more than five locations nationally, based on the Yelp data, were not included. Data is as of June 14, 2024.

Keep reading to discover your highest-rated local seafood restaurants for your next special meal out!

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#30. Fleet Landing Restaurant

– Rating: 4.2/5 (3266 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 186 Concord St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, american, southern
– Read more on Yelp

#29. Danny’s Philly Steaks

– Rating: 4.2/5 (30 reviews)
– Address: 320 East Bay St. Ste B Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, steakhouses, american
– Read more on Yelp

#28. & Lobster

– Rating: 4.2/5 (10 reviews)
– Address: Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: food trucks, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#27. Oak Steakhouse

– Rating: 4.2/5 (443 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 17 Broad St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: steakhouses, new american, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#26. The Palmetto Cafe

– Rating: 4.2/5 (131 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 205 Meeting St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: new american, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

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#25. Locklear’s on Little Oak

– Rating: 4.2/5 (103 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 2293 Folly Road Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#24. Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar

– Rating: 4.2/5 (1365 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 205 East Bay St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, bars
– Read more on Yelp

#23. Rappahannock Oyster Bar – Charleston

– Rating: 4.2/5 (333 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 701 East Bay St. Ste 110 Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, bars, live/raw food
– Read more on Yelp

#22. High Cotton

– Rating: 4.3/5 (1165 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 199 East Bay St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: cocktail bars, seafood, wine bars
– Read more on Yelp

#21. Revival

– Rating: 4.3/5 (246 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 162 East Bay St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: southern, new american, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

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#20. Tempest Charleston

– Rating: 4.3/5 (323 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 32 North Market St. Ste C Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#19. The Mason Jar By Fatboys

– Rating: 4.3/5 (350 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 2487 Ashley River Road Ste 4 Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, comfort food, soul food
– Read more on Yelp

#18. Pearlz Oyster Bar

– Rating: 4.3/5 (402 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 9 Magnolia Road Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, bars
– Read more on Yelp

#17. Anson

– Rating: 4.3/5 (437 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 12 Anson St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, southern, american
– Read more on Yelp

#16. The Ordinary

– Rating: 4.3/5 (783 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 544 King St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, desserts, coffee & tea
– Read more on Yelp

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#15. The Immortal Lobster

– Rating: 4.3/5 (65 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: food trucks, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#14. The Darling

– Rating: 4.4/5 (1424 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 513 King St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, cocktail bars, live/raw food
– Read more on Yelp

#13. Pearlz

– Rating: 4.4/5 (1386 reviews)
– Price level: $$
– Address: 153 East Bay St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, bars, live/raw food
– Read more on Yelp

#12. Co Hog

– Rating: 4.4/5 (13 reviews)
– Address: Charleston, SC
– Categories: seafood, food trucks
– Read more on Yelp

#11. Raw Lab By Empire Oyster

– Rating: 4.4/5 (31 reviews)
– Address: 99 South Market St. Port of Call Food Hall Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: live/raw food, seafood, wine bars
– Read more on Yelp

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#10. The Establishment

– Rating: 4.5/5 (205 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 28 Broad St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, new american, cocktail bars
– Read more on Yelp

#9. Delaney Oyster House

– Rating: 4.5/5 (206 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 115 Calhoun St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, beer bar, cocktail bars
– Read more on Yelp

#8. Dave’s Carry-Out

– Rating: 4.6/5 (214 reviews)
– Price level: $
– Address: 42 Morris St. Ste C Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, soul food
– Read more on Yelp

#7. CudaCo

– Rating: 4.6/5 (85 reviews)
– Address: 765 Folly Road Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood markets, seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#6. Edison James Island

– Rating: 4.6/5 (276 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 1014 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, new American, wine bars
– Read more on Yelp

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#5. Florence’s Lowcountry Kitchen

– Rating: 4.7/5 (26 reviews)
– Address: 1271 Folly Road Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, southern, cocktail bars
– Read more on Yelp

#4. Chubby Fish

– Rating: 4.7/5 (317 reviews)
– Address: 252 Coming St. Ste A Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood, tapas/small plates
– Read more on Yelp

#3. 167 Raw Oyster Bar – Charleston

– Rating: 4.7/5 (2987 reviews)
– Price level: $$$
– Address: 193 King St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: seafood
– Read more on Yelp

#2. Halls Chophouse

– Rating: 4.7/5 (2899 reviews)
– Price level: $$$$
– Address: 434 King St. Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: steakhouses, seafood, bars
– Read more on Yelp

#1. Maine Line Seafood

– Rating: 4.8/5 (33 reviews)
– Address: Charleston, South Carolina
– Categories: food stands, seafood, american
– Read more on Yelp

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Zeynep Guler Tuck, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 282 metros.

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Mass timber is still a small segment of the construction industry in the United States. A recent congressional report counts 1,753 mass-timber buildings in the country as of March of last year. “For context,” the report says, “5.9 million commercial buildings were constructed in 2019 alone.” But the market is growing. According to one estimate, mass-timber construction in the U.S. has doubled every two years for the past five years. Timberlab, a provider of mass-timber engineering, fabrication, and installation services, is betting that this trajectory will continue.

At the Greenville plant, Timberlab uses CNC machines to mill non-fabricated glulam billets, transforming them into custom, project-specific components that are then assembled on the building site. Photo courtesy Timberlab

Earlier this month, the company announced that a glulam fabrication plant it opened just over a year ago in Greenville, South Carolina, was now operating at full capacity, with the ability to support one million square feet of mass-timber construction annually, making it the largest such facility east of the Mississippi, and only one of three similar plants in the Southeast. Timberlab says that the facility has doubled the fabrication capacity of large glulam components for mass-timber structures nationally.

First started as a timber-focused division of San Francisco-headquartered general contractor Swinerton in 2016, and then known as Swinerton Mass Timber, Timberlab opened its first fabrication plant in Portland, Oregon, in 2020, followed by its formal launch as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2021. In addition to the Portland and Greenville plants, Timberlab recently acquired two glulam manufacturing facilities from American Laminators in Oregon. It has also announced plans to open a cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing operation in that state’s mid-Willamette region. LEVER Architecture, a Portland-based firm known for its work in mass timber, is designing the new CLT facility, which is expected to open by 2027.

Photo courtesy Timberlab

Timberlab chose Greenville due to the region’s abundance of southern yellow pine, its existing network of glulam manufacturers, and its proximity to high-growth East Coast construction markets. At the South Carolina plant, Timberlab uses CNC machines to mill non-fabricated glulam billets, transforming them into custom, project-specific components that are then assembled on the building site. Timberlab can source the glulam from nearby producers or from its recently acquired plants in Oregon. “It is easy to send non-fabricated glulam across country by rail,” explains Chris Evans, Timberlab president. “But Greenville is not exclusive to glulam manufactured at our facilities,” he adds. “We will do the best procurement for our clients.”

Among the first projects supported by the Greenville plant is an 67,000-square-foot office building for the LS3P-designed Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina, and a 42,00-square-foot career and student center at the University of Southern Maine designed by Elkus Manfredi. Projects with mass-timber components milled at Timberlab’s Pacific Northwest fabrication plant include Atelier Jones’ Heartwood, an eight-story, 216-unit apartment building in Seattle that features unusual all-wood mortise-and-tenon joints.

An LS3P-designed office building for Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina, is among the first projects supported by Timberlab’s new Greenville plant. Photo © FLOR Projects

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If Timberlab’s expansion sounds rapid, Evans maintains that the company’s evolution has been measured and methodical, spanning eight years. Its investment in the supply chain, funded by shareholders (both Timberlab and Swinerton are employee-owned), will ultimately make mass-timber buildings more affordable, he says, while helping spur greater demand. “It is a chicken-and-egg situation,” he says. “You need to have the investment to support the market’s growth.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – South Carolina is one of just two states where lawmakers elect judges – and some critics have said that could give lawyers who are also lawmakers an unfair advantage in the courtroom.

Now a bill to revamp that process will soon be on the governor’s desk.

But it’s by no means the overhaul some wanted to see.

The bill was approved in the final minutes of what could likely be the General Assembly’s last day in session until after the November election.

It follows months of disagreements about how much reform is needed – if any at all.

“Some have argued that it isn’t broken, and some have argued that it needs to be thrown out,” said Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, Senate Judiciary Committee chair.

The bill would expand the membership of the committee that screens judicial candidates. It now has 10 members, and two more would be added.

Four of them would be appointed by the governor, who currently has no role in the judicial selection process.

It would impose term limits on members for the first time, while still allowing lawyers who are also legislators to serve on the committee – a ban some critics wanted to see.

The proposal would prohibit most current members of the judicial screening panel from serving on the revamped version.

“We want to have fresh ideas and different people in there, vetting these judicial candidates,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.

Under the current system, the screening panel can advance the name of up to three finalists for each seat to the full legislature for its consideration.

This bill would raise that cap to six finalists – while giving lawmakers more time to review them before they hold elections and before candidates can try to earn their votes.

To reach this compromise, some ideas were dropped – including a House of Representatives proposal to screen magistrate candidates – a selection that senators entirely control.

“Our Senate colleagues were not interested in magistrate reform. … We did not want to miss the opportunity to have meaningful reform in the way we elect and select judges in the state over that issue,” said Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, House Judiciary Committee chairman.

Massey said: “I think that is something that is likely going to be talked about into the future, especially if we continue to have problems in that area, there’s going to be more conversation.”

Gov. Henry McMaster has previously said he wants to sign a judicial reform bill into law, but that it would depend on the details.

His spokesman says the governor will review and make a decision on this bill when it reaches his desk.

Some advocacy groups that have also been calling for judicial reform in South Carolina laud the passage of this bill – and say it’s a good start, but shouldn’t be the end of this work.

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