Known for its natural beauty and Southern charm, Charleston is the oldest established city in South Carolina. It has a long, storied history—deeply steeped in the pre-Civil War era and American slave trade—told through its cobblestoned streets, sprawling mansions, and the famous Charleston Harbor, which saw more than 40 percent of the people forcibly brought to U.S. shores, according to the International African American Museum Center for Family History.
As Charleston works to acknowledge its past, Black makers, historians, restaurateurs, and more are making a meaningful imprint on its current landscape. Today, the Holy City is now a place where Black-owned businesses shine. Below, we’re highlighting some of our favorites from restaurants and bookshops to tours and highly anticipated museums.
Where to eat
Robert and Lydia Huger opened the family-owned and operated Hannibal’s Soul Kitchen in 1985 and a third generation of Hugers still doles out traditional lowcountry dishes today. Specialties include crab and shrimp rice, okra stew, and Hoppin’ John, a cowpeas and rice dish made with onions and bacon. Save room for the bread pudding, which has been praised by publications ranging from Southern Living to the New York Times.
Shawn Mendes, chef and owner of Travelers’ Choice Award–winning Gillies Seafood, was 16 when he started working in his grandfather’s meat market—and it’s the memory of his grandparents that fueled his restaurant’s conception. His experience working in the market and the fond memories of his grandmother’s from-scratch cooking waiting for the family after church are the meat and potatoes of the experience he wanted to recreate. While the restaurant specializes in seafood, you will find dishes that reflect his grandmother’s Southern cooking including meatloaf, lima beans, and collard greens. According to reviews many dishes come highly recommended, but the she-crab soup is a fan-favorite. (If you are a fan of television cooking shows you may have seen Mendes featured on Food Network’s The Delicious Miss Brown, or on the Travel Channel’s Food Paradise—plus, his restaurant was the winner of The Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners: Smoke Ring in 2021.)
Award-winning executive chef and owner Nigel Drayton has been a part of Charleston’s food scene since getting his first restaurant job as a busser at age 15, and while the atmosphere at Nigel’s Good Food is laid back, the food is anything but. Specializing in southern comfort food, smothered pork chops are a popular item along with the seafood gumbo. His oysters were a first-place winner at Charleston’s Annual Lowcountry Oyster Recipe Contest. Nigel’s has two locations—and you can find more from Dryaton and his wife Louise at The Slaughterhouse by Nigels, a BBQ restaurant in nearby Ladson, SC.
What to do
If you are looking for a tour experience that takes you beyond the run-of-the-mill sites and tour guide sound bites, this is for you. Gullah Geechee Africa Tours (GGAT) are led by historian and certified tour guide Godfrey Khill as he teaches of the Gullah experience. The tours include Gullah After Dark with Godfrey and the Gullah Geechee Tour with Godfrey, but we’d suggest the after-dark tour, a sunset experience that teaches the history of the Gullah Geechee people as Khill traces their steps through landmarks in town.
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Alt-Text: Godfrey Khill leads one of the highest rated Gullah tours in South Carolina
Franklin D. William of Frankly Charleston Tours invites you to come along to see what he calls “The Other Charleston.” This sightseeing walking/ride tour takes a look at the difficult truths of Charleston’s history as you walk through the Antebellum streets of downtown and learn pre- and post-Civil War stories. See historical sites like the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1817. It is the oldest AME Church in the South. Franklin is known as a passionate, gifted, storyteller who takes you on a pilgrimage to the past and demonstrates its lingering effects on the present.
The waters off the coast of Charleston are teeming with fresh seafood of all kinds. From the famous Carolina shrimp with its distinct sweet flavor to the blue crab, Charleston is a seafood lover’s delight. A great way to get up close and personal with these native crustaceans while enjoying the fresh sea air is with Charleston native Tia Clark, of Casual Crabbing with Tia. In this experience, you’ll learn how to cast the cage just right to catch a bounty of your own. From casting to baiting and pulling in your haul, you’ll get hands-on as you try to catch shrimp, crab, or fish, with Clark there to guide you every step of the way.
When Valinda Miller opened her bookstore in Summerville, SC, in 2014, she had no idea that she was the only Black-owned brick-and-mortar bookstore in the entire state. After moving the store to Goose Creek (about 45 minutes north of Charleston’s central historic district) in 2019, Turning Page Bookshop still holds that title.
Her shop features books by African-American authors covering all genres, but she is quick to note that she sells books written by authors of diverse backgrounds in just about any genre you could imagine. Be sure to check the bookstore’s Instagram for info on book signings, community workshops, and more.
The International African American Museum (IAAM) is slated to open in early 2023, and is built on the site of Gadsden’s Wharf where countless Africans began their lives of enslavement in America. In fact, close to 80 percent of African Americans can potentially trace at least one descendant back to the port in Charleston, according to the IAAM Center for Family History, the museum’s research center that focuses on African American genealogy. Now, twenty years in the making, the museum—led by Dr. Tonya M. Matthews—will be dedicated to honoring the untold stories of the African American journey.
Outside, the grounds of the African Ancestors Memorial Garden is designed as a place to reflect and experience site-specific installations like the infinity fountain that sits on the edge of the original wharf and a soundscape that explores diverse African languages. Inside, nine immersive, interactive installations will lead visitors through exhibits covering the disembarkation process, the slave trade, the Reconstruction era, and the Civil Rights movement. Safe to say, you’ll walk out with a greater sense of our nation’s history.
