This comparison is ridiculous... like you said yourself, they are totally different. It seems obvious you have interest in both places so pick one to go to now and save the other for your next trip.

Litespeed~~

I fell for all of the hype and made Magnolia's the first place I went to dinner when I was in Charleston. What a disappointment. We waited forever for our food and my friend had to send her dinner back because it was cold. The dining room was too crowded and noisy and except for our waiter, the rest of the staff acted as if we were lucky to be there. There are so many good choices in Charleston, it's a shame that the two restaurants you mentioned seem to overshadow the others.

My rule of thumb is that the minute any particular restaurant is the "IN" thing, then it's my "OUT" thing. We've always had excellent meals in Charleston by steering clear of hot spots. There's great food there; so what if the name of the restaurant isn't on everybody's lips?

The chef at the Charleston Grill hasn't been Louis Osteen in some time. It's Bob Waggoner. Lose your chef and you more often than not, lose what made you what you were. He now has Louis's at Pawleys.

As to the first question, picking between LV and Charleston--I've been to both, LV once and Charleston too many times to count. I'll probably go back to LV, but ONLY because it is the closest airport to Zion and Bryce, but I'll go back to Charleston any time I have a chance. What a city!