Restaurants Overview

South Carolinians love to cook and share good food, from dishes marinated in tradition to the creatively contemporary. Specialties from the Lowcountry -- roughly the state's four southernmost counties, with the coastal area from Edisto Island to the Georgia border -- include she-crab soup, stuffed oysters, and infinite variations on pecan pie. Seafood -- often the fresh catch of the day -- is likely to be traditionally prepared on the Grand Strand and gussied up on Hilton Head. Elsewhere, try barbecue and look for a variety of cuisines, from cosmopolitan to country cookery. And don't write off grits until you've tasted them laced with cheese, topped with tasso (spiced ham) gravy, or folded into a veal or quail entrée.