We're off to Charleston in mid-February for a week-long holiday/house hunting. We're staying in the French Quarter Inn and have been investigating restaurants. Would greatly appreciate your input on our tentative choices:
Peninsula Grill - a special evening
39 Rue de Jean - steak frites/mussels
Fulton Five - Italian
Hyman's Seafood or AW Shucks -seafood
Poogan's Porch - ate at this charming
place years ago
French & Fast - inexpensive and good..do
they have table service?
Blossom Cafe - casual
Any pros or cons? Any other suggestions?
Thanks for your input.

Blossom Cafe is great for lunch..if the weather is good, I think you can still eat outside..which in Feb, means no humidity...

My sister-in-law ( who lives in NY ) LOVED Hyman's Seafood...

forgot to tell you-
Post this question on chowhounds.com and go to the SOUTHERN message board:


http://www.chowhound.com/south/boards/south/south.html

People will really answer you honestly and they are real foodies on that board!

Peninsula Grill - a special evening
39 Rue de Jean - steak frites/mussels
Both great choices. Also try SNOB, Ansons, High Cotton, Jestine's and Boat House and Hominy Grill.
Eating in Charleston is one of life's great treats.

My personal opinion of Chowhound, is that the bulk are "foodies of the moment". They will put down good places in favor of the "in" place.
Everyone told me Hyman's was strictly a tourist place, but my whole crispy fried flounder was simply fantastic.
I don't know any of the other places you mention.l

I second Chowhounds as an excellent resource.
Have heard wonderful things about Peninsula and SNOBS from locals but haven't been there.
As for Hymans, I liked my food, but not enough to brave the fray for it.
Lunch at The Charleston Grill (at the OMNI) is outstanding.
Raves for Fast and French--it's small but friendly. Not sure I know what you mean by table service. You sit at long counters, usually shared with others.
Jestines is a popular choice--soul food and local color diner.

Overall Chowhound is a great source of info, but it's a tough crowd and you'll rarely find ANY restaurant with numerous reviews without a few bashes against it.

I must say that Hyman's pretty much disgusted me. The place was downright dirty when we were there a few months ago, from very sticky and visibly dirty old wood floors, filthy restroom, cheesy atmosphere, extremely mediocre fish (don't recall specifically what we had). We walked out shaking our heads and saying, "Well, we can't say we weren't warned in advance". Frankly, I don't get it. Some people rave about the place. I was honestly wondering if we had the wrong address or something.

Poogan's Porch is long on old South atmosphere, but the food is not worth a special trip. Put another way, I wouldn't cross other places off my list to eat there.

Peninsula Grill is excellent in every way.
I really like SNOB, also.
There are numerous great options.
Exploring them is half the fun, so despite whatever criticisms you read, in the end be your own food critic.

Also, Omni sold Charleston Place about 6 years ago (where the Peninsula Grill is located). It's operated by Orient-Express.

Ted Turner, maybe you missed my point. I dont' think Hyman's was a great restaurant, but after doing my homework, I stuck to the recommended whole flash fried flounder. It was remarkable. I can't speak to the other items on the menu. Sometimes you have to do what is highly recommended. That wasn't something I'd normally order, but even the negative posts on Chowhound had mentioned that was the best Hyman's offered. And it was.

If it is still there, Magnolia's was incredible. Had a wonderful dinner 6-8 years ago.

Patrick: I am completely convinced that some people who eat out a lot love Hyman's and keep returning. And I can think of instances in which I have personally been to the same restaurant twice and come away with very discrepant opinions.
So I am trying to steer clear of telling others they should not go and try it for themselves. But I read enough STRONG negatives at Chowhound to put the Hyman's meal into a low priority time slot.
Every large city has its 'beneath the surface gems' which are short on atmosphere or have poor service or whatever--but the excellence of certain dishes makes it worth putting up with the rest. I am positive that the atmosphere and cleanliness factors played heavily into my gestalt impression.

I fEEL I deFINitely and unforTUNAtely erred by disreGARding the mONOtonous arRAY of recommendations for the FLOUNDER. I'll get off my PERCH and stop CARPing now.

Anybody remember a restaurant in Charleston called Roberts? There would be someone playing the piano throughout dinner and Robert would come out serving and singing opera. It was a set price with great food, great wine, and great entertainment. This was late 70's, early 80's.

Still alive and well, Budman.
We walked past the window one night and could see the singer (Robert, I assume).

I was in Charleston in 1995 and someone told me Roberts had hung it up, but wasn't sure.

If it's still alive and cooking, we had a great time there in l979. I can only assume it is great now.

I can only comment on Hymans. We found the food there excellent...that is the reason to go. Service was fine. This is not a place to go to for atmosphere or a quiet, romantic dinner. It's crowded and noisy, and there is no real decor to speak of.

Count me in as a regular who loves Hyman's crispy fish. It is pan fried whole baby flounder and you can't beat it anywhere.

Other locals will put Hymans down but my family has been eating there for years.

As for dirty wood floors, they are 200 year old tongue and groove floors so I imagine they've gathered some crud over the years. Thank god they haven't buffed and polished them to a high gloss.

For the Charleston Post and Currier's top 20 Charleston Restaurants:

http://www.charleston.net/top20/

Very clever, Ted Turner. Maybe one day you should just give in and go try Hyman's just for the HALIBUT.

Live on the wild side and try the MAHI.

I have had some good meals and some meals that FLOUNDERed at Hymans. I, too, was surprised by the vitriol directed at Hymans by the locals on Chowhound. I finally asked why, and was told that Hymans price gouged for food right after Hugo in '89. No idea if this is true, but if so, it might explain some of the local hatred for the place.

IMHO, Blossom was one of the worst meals I ever had in Chas. Like if Applebees was southern and pretentious.

I say add McCrady's, Fish, and Il Cortile de Re to your list. Also Garibaldi's, but you have to get the crispy flounder. It's not deep fried. It appears to be scored, then pan fried, then glazed with a chili,lime,cilantro, apricot glaze. (I'm guessing on those ingredients) I LOVE it.

We didn't like our food at Jestine's, did like Garabaldi's, and did like Poogan's Porch for breakfast. If you drive out to Folly Beach, have dinner at Suzanne's. It looked like a dump outside, but the food was very good.