Just left revival for their Valentine's Day dinner...the menu its self was sparse...it was a set 3 course meal with 3 selections each... the 6 items we had...all were DELICIOUS...the staff was friendly and very knowledgeable of the menu read more

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Great meal and a fun funky atmosphere. From the red gorilla at the entrance to the rather unusual urinal in the rest room, you know that you are in for a fun twist this evening. I started my meal with the fried oysters, even though it is not oyster season right now. They were perfect. Great cornmeal crust and juicy inside. Served over a slightly spicy corn mixture. It packed a lot of flavor. My wife ordered the she-crab soup that she said was delicious. There was not a drop left in the bowl. My main course was the Low Country Pirlou. I never had a Pirlou before. So, I can't compare it. But, I can tell you it was tasty. It has a gentle, light, buttery flavor. Not heavy at all. I cannot say that the fish stood out. But, the overall mix was quite pleasing. My wife's Shrimp and Grits was outstanding. Extremely well prepared. One of the best grits I ever had. Service was fun and impeccable. I recommend highly. (Ladies, ask some guy you're with to take a picture of the urinal. No, not what you use the urinal with, just the urinal. It will be worth it.) read more

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Absolutely fabulous food! Reserve ahead as they book up. We had the grilled octopus and beans appetizer, which we do enjoy, and it was amazing! Entrees were shrimp and grits-literally the best we have ever had- and the gnocchi which was also amazing. The key lime pie was delicious! Had several cocktails all were great! Highly recommend! read more

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Charleston is known as a haven for foodies with an endless list of great restaurants. I've tried a lot of them, but one of the newest kids on the block is going to earn my badge for best restaurant in Charleston. If you come to town, GO TO REVIVAL! Open only two years, Revival takes the traditions of Charleston's food scene - seafood, southern, simple - and perfectly accentuates them with simultaneous simplicity and upscale elegance like only a great chef could. We started our meal with two highly recommended seafood appetizers, the oysters casino and the she-crab soup. The oysters were tender, baked under a buttery garlic breadcrumb batter with hidden gems of thick-cut bacon and a dash of cayenne. The soup was a creamy bisque with just a hint of amontillado sherry and ample lump female crab meat at peak freshness. The soup and several dishes were decorated with edible flowers. This is not a restaurant where you're left scouring the bowl for occasional pieces of crab. When I say ample, I mean it! They don't hold back on the seafood here! With a difficult choice in main courses - because everything looked good - I settled on the ever popular Lowcountry Pirlou. If you've never had it, Pirlou is a dish unique to the Carolinas akin to Louisiana's jambalaya, made with wildly different variations. Needless to say, Revival's interpretation was magnificent, including the customary shrimp but more upscale with hearty chunks of succulent lobster and crab replacing the usual sausage and clams. With crispy rice and sweet peas, the sauce was such buttery perfection it had me fishing out every last pea - a vegetable I don't even like - and even dipping other items into the sauce until it was all gone! Take my advice, you'll want to order at least two fingerling potato sides, crispy little potatoes fried in duck fat! Many upper class restaurants are doing the duck fat thing now, and the flavor and texture are absolutely amazing! The creamed corn and the mac and cheese are alright. Everything else is a perfect ten! Dessert was a South Carolina favorite; key lime pie. I make this at home so I have lofty standards for such a dish. The key - no pun intended - to the perfect key lime pie is a beautiful overtone of lime, strong enough to satisfy citrus lovers, but not so overpowering that it sours the entire dish. The pie should be light, creamy, and airy while remaining thick and luscious, almost an impossible oxymoron. No surprise, Revival pulled this off impeccably! The graham cracker crust was perfect, as were the berry sauces on the side. This rivals the best I've eaten in Key West! Thank you Revival for making our anniversary perfect! read more

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If I could give this place more than 5 stars I would. The food was phenomenal, but the service was even better. Highly recommend!! read more

Revival - Fried oysters, crab cakes - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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It's so hard choosing restaurants in Charleston, since there are so many. I'm glad I booked Revival. One if the reasons, to be honest, is the ease of making the reservation. I didn't have to wait 30 days prior. I also went off of reviews and the menu. We really liked this restaurant. It is simple decor with white tablecloths. The wine list is short and curated with varietals from different regions. We settled on a cab franc from France. We ordered several appetizers and a few entrees, which they paced out. The sourdough bread is a must. The she crab soup was good, but maybe needed more seasoning? We really liked the crab cakes and the picked shrimp and watermelon. I wish the oyster mushroom dish had more oyster mushrooms. The shrimp and grits and pirlou were very tasty, but the star of the show was the Italian lemon cake dessert. We got two pieces. This dessert is fantastic. The spinach and rice sides were very bland. And while the service was good, they definitely didn't perfect that dance of removing the silverware properly between courses that some restaurants do with ease. I think this place is pretty solid. read more

We were so looking forward to this meal as the restaurant was rated so highly. We arrived and there were only 2 parties seated and they started to give us a 2 top table right up against the wall. Not great, we asked for a booth and they did accommodate, however it was not with a smile I ordered the #1 recommended meal, and it was supposed to be butter lobster, shrimp and crab dish and there was no crab, they replaced it with halibut . I have never had a more tasteless meal My husband ordered the special of the night and he said he had to cut his fish with a knife. We were in and out of there in 45 minutes. Also a big turn off. We were hoping to make a night of it, but that didn't happen. Would absolutely NOT recommend this restaurant read more

If there is a theme to the food scene of Charleston, it is certainly the revival of ingredients that have been lost, finding the seeds and the recipes that built the origins to the food culture of the South. Relative to some of the established places like Fig and Husk, Revival is a more recent effort that aims to continue this theme. Walking into Revival, there is a sense of comfort with a very reasonable level of noise and a light colored design that is contrasting to almost every other restaurant in town. There is a wine list, but a very light one with some pleasant selections, but essentially a bottle per style/major region combination. Pahlmeyer Sauvignon Blanc was one of the more interesting and reasonably priced bottles on the menu. The wine list contains quite a few land mines, with bottles being up charged at 3x retail, which is quite high for Charleston. One of the initial observations as a guest, whether true or not, is that there isn't a connection to ingredients here. Nobody knows where scallops are from, but somehow they are the fresh catch of the day. "Fresh Catch" is a very specific term and it does not just mean that the item is fresh, but that it has not been frozen and it was brought from the boat this morning. Unless that's the case, it should more appropriately be called Special of the Day. Crab cakes were well executed, simple and meaty. The signature dish of lowcountry pirlou was not a bad one, but she seafood was rather tasteless and did not present the impression of freshness at all, particularly the shrimp, whose closest parallel was a shrimp round from a grocery store. The sauce in the pirlou was insanely buttery, so not necessarily bad, but for a certain taste. The grouper dish was also prepared well, but the grouper was far from freshly caught and likely pre-frozen. Again, a good dish and a great compliment to the wine, but not something to get again and largely tasteless, especially considering how a grouper should be this close to the ocean. Even the flowers on the table are not real, which is a bit sad. In summary, Revival is not a place that one should not avoid by any means, yet it is also not a place to make an effort to visit. It seemed that every dish did not taste the way it should and the quality of ingredients needs additional effort, despite the fact that the kitchen did a great job preparing. read more

We had such a fun Restaurant week experience!! We've been to the rooftop at Vendue many times prior to this dinner and had always walked by and wondered and I'm so happy we finally made the excuse to break the ice! Everything was so tasty and of great/perfect portion size! Our service was just enough and well paced. It's so much fun to have a fancy night out downtown every once in a while! read more

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Our server Kara was fantastic. Super sweet and attentive! It's a solid 3.5 star place. The highlight of the night: Martinique. Such a great cocktail. We had she crab soup, crab cakes, creamed corn, Carolina rice, and sourdough bread. Crab cakes were amazing! Sourdough bread was solid. Can skip the she crab soup. Lemon cake sealed the deal at the end of the meal. read more

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Pass. 3 glasses of wine, 2 apps, 2 entrees for $200? I would like more than sauces that make everything one single flavor, overcooked duck, and service that can explain a cocktail menu or be attentive. Oh, and bread for the table is an extra charge. With so many better options downtown, look elsewhere. This place is basic fare dressed up and overpriced. read more

Great service, awesome decor and well cooled food. Nothing here delighted me but everything was still done well. You're going to get a good meal here. It's going to be pricy. For me, the 7 dishes reminds me of a good Chinese dish, cooked with skills (the plumness of mussels were great. Yet at the same time for $85 per person I wanted more "wow" which dinner get. read more

Revival - Pirlou of 7 dishes and grouper. - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Although the kitchen had hiccups with getting the food out, what we received was delicious. We started with the peach buratta salad, it was yummy the sweet sourness of the peaches was a great complement to the creaminess of the buratta. I had the halibut, perfectly cooked, the puréed beets and carrots along with the pistachio crust was perfection. My husband had the shrimp and forbidden grits(rice) was well cooked with a Taso gravy. We LOVED the creamed corn! I also want to give a special shout out to our server Lucy, who showed grace under stress with a slow kitchen and misfired meal. She was sweet and made sure that we were advised of issue. read more

This restaurant was recommended by our hotel staff. They should get a medal. What a great place. To start: interesting art as you walk in. Unforgettable cocktail: the Highlander, a single malt Scotch connoisseur's delight. Then appetizers: crab cakes with a delicious complementary surprising sauce, and salad grounded in speck with baby greens, shaved red onions, feta. My companion chose shrimp perfectly grilled served over forbidden black rice grits. I had the special: crispy -skin, melting perfect sea bass over a risotto with corn kernels, heirloom cherry tomatoes, mushrooms. We loved Revival. The service was professional, smooth, quick, friendly. read more

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Sarah our server was awesome! Friendly down home service and delicious wine and food choices!

I didn't know what to expect, but my meal was INCREDIBLE!! I had the filet mignon (medium well) and it could melt in your mouth. It wasn't overwhelmed by sauce or butter, it was perfectly coated. We also had the lemon cake, which was perfect to have after the meal because it was light, flavorful, and refreshing. The service was good, attentive, and friendly. The ambiance was good as well, great and contemporary artwork to look at on every wall. The price was definitely worth the experience, I highly recommend! read more

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Excellent food and service! Will definitely go back. The venison and halibut was cooked to perfection. Loved our waitress. She didn't miss a beat! read more

Revival - Venison and Halibut - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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We had an absolute terrible experience here with the exception of our server Sara. We got there a tad early for our 5:15 reservation and really looked forward to eating here. We got drinks fairly quickly snd the old fashioned wasn't great but I drank it. Ordered appetizers and the bread came out first. It took another 1/2 hour or more for our appetizers to come out. We put in our dinner order at 6:00. At 7pm we still didn't have our main courses. We had a carriage tour scheduled for 7:30 thinking 2 hours would have been plenty of time. It wasn't. For what we actually ate, it was mediocre at best. They took care of our bill to be fair but we left hungry without a back up place to go. Their kitchen can't get a meal out in time which shows how disheveled the back of the house really is. I do not recommend even in the slightest. The 2 stars are for Sara who was at the mercy of a badly run kitchen. read more

From the artwork on the wall to the food on the table, this place absolutely slaps. Worth the price. Hit the rooftop after your dinner for a cocktail (or 5) and a view of our Holy City. Our server (Victor, I believe) was the man. read more

Revival - Lowcountry Pirlou - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Oh my god, what a upscale fine dining place. Grouper is superb, lobster is to die for. Service is top notch. Atmosphere is refined. Very comfortable eating establishment. Very experienced staff with smiles all around. Need I say more? The best of the best. Go there, as fast as you can. Frank G read more

Great dinner and great atmosphere. My wife and I split the chopped salad and the grouper. We could have each gotten our own but we wanted to save room for dessert and to walk around town. The dinner was delicious. The grouper melted in our mouth and was delicious. Highly recommend it. read more

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The food was cold and both meats were prepared at the wrong temp. The service was lack luster. Only checked on once. No personality. Awful...Awful...Awful! We could not be more disappointed! read more

Good service. Ok food. She crab soup good but served Luke warm. Crab cake tasty but dainty Sea Bass overcooked. Grouper ok. Braised ribs overcooked. I see a trend. Deserts very good. Crème Brûlée and key lime Provided feedback and that was that. read more

The group was so excited to visit Charleston! We stayed at the Vendue hotel and went for Revival for drinks and have an amazing time! The bartender Hannah and Server Sara were TOP NOTCH! They both were very charismatic, and accommodating. Our group was very needy and they both had no complaints. if I was to ever visit charleston, I would absolutely come to the vendor hotel and sit at revival bar with Hannah and sara. They were great. ! We will absolutely be returning on our next shift to charleston:) read more

We had gone one a Charleston food tour earlier in the day and our tour guide had talked to us about Charleston Gold Rice. We had asked him what restaurant had the best rice dish in the city and he said hands down Revival. Y'all. The Pirlou was one of the most delicious things I have eaten in a long time. Everyone absolutely devoured their meal and we had the best server but I can't remember her name right now. I think it started with a T and she was blonde. Anyways if you get the chance to go here then jump on it. I'll definitely be back and just really enjoyed the vibe! read more

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100% recommended! We order the Halibut and Venison, AMAZING! I had the venison and it honestly could be one of the best meat dishes I have ever had. My wife ordered the Halibut and it was also very good, she loved it too! The vibe of the restaurant was also great and the service was very good! Highly recommend for dinner and a great location that is very walkable! read more

My friend and I dined here on visit to Charleston. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. It is conveniently connected to the Vendue. The restaurant is spacious and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. I recommend! read more

Terrific venue! Darling staff! Beautiful playing! Food was good, but honestly...$135 for a piece of fish, small bowl of soup, and a dessert? Yes...it was a Thanksgiving prix fixe menu, but the price seemed excessive. read more

As their web sites states - Revival is a modern southern eatery. And we agree! We had a really fantastic dinner here with friends on a Saturday night. Inside the dining area is open and bright with big windows all around on three sides. We had early reservations and at first it was rather empty, but soon all the tables were filled up. Our server was also great, with a friendly smile and attentive service the entire time. We shared a few small plates: prosciutto & pickled peaches, dry aged beef tartare, and the surprise hit pickled shrimp & watermelon. At first I laughed at the combination, but after trying the first bite it was an amazing combination. The entrees were finely prepared and presented, but I was the winner with the delicious pan seared grouper over a succotash cake and country ham tomato butter. It was outstanding, a nice portion of grouper that was cooked perfectly and had the delicious butter sauce. We also shared side items of okra & corn, and mushrooms which just confirmed Revival's commitment to SC vegetables that were easily elevated. The modern interior, relaxed atmosphere and elegant food makes Revival a memorable dining experience, and one I would recommend to others. read more

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I took a solo trip to Charleston and didn't have any reservations for dinner on a Friday night, so I popped in to Revival since there were a lot of empty tables. The host said he didn't have any tables open, and I just looked at all the empty tables and said "okay." However, he told me to wait a moment, they cleaned up a table and sat me. On the wine menu, I saw a varietal called Albarino, and I had never heard of it so I asked the waitress what it was like, and she said, "it's a white wine, like very very white." Of course it's white, I can read that it's under the "white wine" section. But is it more sweet, dry, like a Pinot Grigio or a Sav Blanc? I asked to taste with it, and ended up ordering a bottle. For my main dish, I ordered the Lowcountry Pirlou. While the dish was fresh, it was quite bland (I am from Louisiana, where we take pride in seasoning our food). It could have used anything. For dessert I had a lemon-type cake, recommended by the waitress. It was good. The space and vibe of this place is great, but the dish I had needs work. read more

We ate here last Saturday for my wife's birthday. The experience was unfortunately disappointing given everything we had heard and read about his restaurant. Our waitress was good but didn't seem to be too knowledgeable of the menu like other fine dining restaurants we've been to. My wife loved the Dragonfly Spritz cocktail that she ordered and I'd have to say that was the highlight of the experience. For our entrees, I ordered the grouper and she ordered the Pirlou. It took about 20 minutes for us to get our food and I would have been fine with that had the food not been cold. My grouper was not only cold but lacked flavor too. My wife said her Pirlou had decent flavor but the food was also cold and the rice was too crispy. We also got a side of okra and while the charred flavor of the okra was nice, it also lacked seasoning. We finished the meal off with the key lime pie which was one of the weirder dessert experiences I have had. The dessert had good flavor but instead of tasting like key lime, we were convinced we were eating banana creme pie. Maybe it was just a bad night for the kitchen but we left very disappointed and won't be back. read more

This was the most overpriced, bland and tasteless meal I have had in my entire 50 plus years on the planet. Even their infused cocktails were tasteless (how can that even be?!?). Usually, when a restaurant doesn't have salt and pepper on the table it means they pay particular attention to seasoning but this place clearly does not. The bread came with a miso ham hock spread that had actual ham hock gristle in it. I mean like a serious hunk of charred, fatty rubber that was rubbery (and tasteless). The crab soup was somehow both slightly iodine/fishy and tasteless in a creme sauce without a hint of any sherry, Amontillado or otherwise. The seafood pirlou was supposed to be butter poached yet had no seasoning whatsoever to the point where we had to ask for lemon and salt and pepper just to make it edible. The absence of saffron was so noticeable that we wondered why it was even mentioned. The halibut was pistachio crusted and that wasn't even seasoned. Having recently returned from Barcelona I can tell you that in no way had this pirlou ever met let alone been next to a Romesco sauce. And the ossobuco while tender was bland and lacking any flavor though it was supposedly in a bordelaise sauce (a French cook would have screamed). Truly amazing feat to make that dish tasteless. The one positive was the filet which had some flavor, though it too was done no favors with a flavorless Demi glaze of it's own and not even a hint horseradish creme fraiche let alone truffle butter. We are not food snobs nor are we unforgiving of a busy restaurant turning out an occasional mediocre dish. However, this experience was so well-coordinated in its total lack of taste that it seems almost intentional as if the entire kitchen staff had Covid or the theme was how to make anything taste like nothing. It became an ongoing joke for the entire vacation. Smell that? What? I can't smell anything. That's Revival. So at the risk of being just a little snarky for my $350 meal for 4, this is one Revival that should have stayed dead. Our next night at Magnolia showed us what low country cooking should be and it's just across the street. I'd suggest you go there. read more

Absolutely beautiful place to dine & enjoy amazing food and service!!! Top notch service from Vic, & the supporting staff, mgmt, etc. We loved everything from appetizers (the crab cakes!!) to dessert & the espresso martini!! Loved it!! Tom, Jeremy & Jessica HI VIC!!!! read more

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Revival has unquestionably become one of our favorite restaurants to visit in downtown Charleston! The kitchen seems to soar to new heights of quality each time we visit, and service has been consistently exceptional! Recent favorite dishes we've tried here have included the watermelon appetizier, and the pickled shrimp. The dish I currently think is the best of those I've tried to date is the seafood Pirlou. I'm told this is a low-country specialty that is deceptively simple - it's made from shrimp, crap, and lobster based in butter. On our last visit our server Karis was very personable and generally over-the-top fantastic! We sat in a lovely window seat that was perfect for people watching and had an excellent dining experience from beginning to end :-) Revival is much better than what I typically expect from a hotel restaurant - highly recommended! read more

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Beautiful establishment, great atmosphere and our server Vic was great. My husband had the Cashew encrusted Halibut with papas bravas and I had the shrimp and grits, both were delicious and for dessert we share the key lime pie and of the best read more

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AMAZING!! We went for our anniversary meal and they went above and beyond making it survival for us including complimentary champagne and a card signed by the staff! The food was phenomenal and the service and attention to detail second to none couldn't recommend this place enough. read more

Revival - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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My wife & I came to this restaurant due to the excellent reviews we kept seeing. We looked at the menu and wanted to give it a try. PARKING- There is a large parking garage near the area which we used. In your GPS, type in 1 Cumberland St, and it's about two blocks away. There may be one that is a bit closer but we consistently used the Cumberland St garage as it was a central location for what we wanted to do before/after. AMBIANCE- The restaurant was located inside the historic Vendue Inn. The restaurant had a bit of a relaxed, "up-scaleish" feel to it. It wasn't fine dining per see but it wasn't far from it. A nice polo and Bermuda shorts would be sufficient. SERVICE - The service we had was fantastic. Our waitress, Summer B, was very friendly, professional, and gave great recommendations for food. MENU - The menu was a perfect size for us. Not a huge menu but not small either. FOOD/DRINKS - We ordered a Corpse Bride and Blushing Beauty. Both drinks were strong and very tasty. For appetizers, we ordered a half-dozen local oysters. The oysters were one of the best oysters we have had in Charleston. They were extremely fresh and tasty. For dinner, we both took Summer's recommendation and order the Lowcountry Pirlou. Simply put, the Pirlou was amazing. Hands down, best dinner entree we had in Charleston and it wasn't close. The seafood was perfectly cooked and the flavors went together perfectly. I ate the entire dish and was left amazed. PRICES - The prices were reasonably priced for the setting. OVERALL -  I would definitely come back for dinner at Revival. I highly recommend the Pirlou for an entree. read more

Thank you, Revival staff and management. Our party of 14, to celebrate our sons marriage proposal, was delightfully satisfied with the food, service, and ambiance for the Friday dinner. The attention to detail by Terell (management) and Kara (wait staff) was incredible as both made the experience simple and enjoyable the entire evening. Our guests from Tulsa OK (the family of our sons girlfriend) were visiting Charleston for the first time making this experience critical to their initial impressions of the Holy City. Thank you for the hard work, professionalism, and the warm and welcoming attitudes from all that we interacted with leaving a 5-star recommendation without hesitation. Well done! read more

Revival - Congratulations to Donald & Maddy on their engagement! - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Never have posted a review before but I feel compelled to....My mom spent half the night getting fish bones out of her throat from the special. read more

Revival - The circled is one of the few bones my mother choked on - Southern Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

Come hungry and hope you get Melissa as your server! The entrees were well plated and melt-in-your-mouth amazing. My suggestion? Get the pan-seared grouper or (and!) the low country pirlou. Both had been prepped and cooked to their best. And the cocktails? The mixologist is a master - blended very well and very creative in flavors and presentation. Don't forget desert: key-lime pie is done just right - not heavy, not 'store bought', and the chocolate dessert is like eating a cloud with a crunchy bottom. Get to Revival before it's 'discovered' and you can't get a seat! read more

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