Restaurants in Mount Pleasant

For chefs at Calder’s Buffalo Pub, the tender meat of a hot wing serves as a blank canvas for zesty, diverse flavors. Their menu boasts 20 wing sauces including hot honey, lemon pepper, and jamaican jerk. Pools of ranch or blue cheese temper the spicy flavors, and heaps of napkins stand at the ready for messy fingers and toes. Classic pub fare, such as sandwiches, hand-cut chips, and juicy burgers, sate larger appetites.

Though the fare alone draws crowds to the pub's four locations, folks also gather for the convivial sports-bar atmosphere. Barkeeps pour draught beers and swizzle well drinks. Wall-mounted TVs, vibrant neon signs, and sports pennants decorate the walls, making it an ideal spot for amassing to watch the big game or amassing materials to bribe a team mascot.

The margarita- and Jimmy Buffet–loving owners of Jerk's Island Grill & Daiquiri Bar started dreaming up their perfect restaurant while on a free-spirited pilgrimage to the Caribbean. They soaked up island culture, memorizing their favorite food, drinks, and vibes, which they enthusiastically transported to the U.S. and installed in Jerk's Island Grill & Daiquiri Bar's dining room, down to the shady palm trees stretching overhead. There, diners sit down to plates of Caribbean-inspired cuisine spiced up with a staggering selection of colorful cocktails. In the kitchens, quality beef, chicken, and seafood are rubbed down with the restaurant's signature jerk seasoning and plated up as sandwiches, tacos, and entrees. A row of churning dispensers mixes up 13 different frozen daiquiri varieties, and bartenders handcraft specialty margaritas and punches on request beneath a thatched cabana. Diners can sip their drinks out on the sunny outdoor patio, where families dine while enjoying the weather and searching the sky for clouds shaped like the heads of U.S. presidents.

This Roosevelt Island eatery has two parts: a deli side and a bar and grill side. The former opens its doors at 6 a.m., allowing early risers to fill up on bagels, egg sandwiches, and pancakes before the lunch crowd pours in to eat potato salad at the counter or grab cold-cut sandwiches to go. The pub section stays quiet until lunch—save for during weekend brunch—at which point its 15 TVs welcome in sports fans and executive chef Alyssa Gangeri begins searing burgers. Salads with unusually hearty toppings such as steak and potato round out the menu, as do plates of pasta, racks of ribs, and fillets of salmon. Twenty different brews tumble out of taps and bottles to complement the likes of wings and nachos.

When guests bite into a Triangle Char & Bar burger, they’re met with a leaner patty than is normally served at pubs. That’s because the meat is composed entirely of dry-aged, grass-fed beef from the local Hill Creek Farms, resulting in a heartier, fresher-ground beef patty. That beef is then topped with the likes of caramelized onions, hummus, or pork belly, which guests can wash down with a rotating array of craft beers. In addition to burgers, the menu boasts 10 taco varieties, fresh and seasonal salads, and housemade hummus. It also includes "The Skinny"—a collection of healthy items such as bbq salmon and spaghetti squash.

Now spanning two locations, Triangle Char & Bar has its roots in a repurposed Avondale filling station where the garage doors open in warmer months for alfresco dining. The newer location in Mount Pleasant boasts edgy design, with corrugated steel walls, graffiti paintings, and flash mobs performing on the hour.

Although few would think to pile peanut butter and bacon onto a burger, the PB3—which has both—is a favorite of Luke 'n Ollie's Pizzeria owner Jonathan Swartz and a legion of loyal customers. According to The Island Eye News, after tasting a similar creation in New Orleans, Swartz worked on his own to add to the Luke ‘n Ollie’s menu. Swartz is an expert at adding creative twists to entrees: his BLT delights tongues with fried green tomatoes, and a chicken sandwich brightens with teriyaki sauce and pineapple. But his pizzeria doesn’t shy away from sticking to the classics. Its pizza crusts—made New York-style by a local baker who follows Swartz’s own secret recipe—pile with mozzarella, gorgonzola, and pecorino, and diners can bite into traditional meatball or eggplant-parmesan subs while lounging amid the dining room’s exposed brick and black-and-white tiled floor.

Guests can also dine alfresco near palm trees on the patio, where the breeze mercifully dries foreheads as their owners take on the Steak Bomb Challenge. A fan of the Food Network and its creative competitions, Swartz decided to create his own challenge: 10 ounces of philly cheesesteak, 8 ounces of hamburger, 4 ounces of italian sausage, and a quarter pound of melted mozzarella sandwiched onto an 18-inch italian sub bun, all flanked by mountains of french fries. If diners can chow it all down in under an hour, they get it for free. Although many have tried, few brave American heroes have gotten their photos tacked up on the Wall of Winners.

Before leaving, diners should remember to get their photo taken or their portrait painted with Ollie, the 5-foot dog statue on the front patio who dons anything from bathing suits to Hazmat suits to Santa hats according to the seasons.

The refrigerated deli counter between Citrus To Go’s white and orange walls is filled with a bevy of carryout salads, sandwiches, and dinner entrees. Owner and chef Jon Anderson prepares each item from scratch and in small batches to ensure that every dish tastes as fresh as a teenager’s vocabulary. In addition to flaky pot pies and hearty meatloaf sandwiches, he populates the menu with daily specials and multiple vegetarian options including pizza margarita, tabbouleh, and white-bean-and-caramelized-carrot salad. Fresh bakery such as chocolate-chip or peanut-butter cookies, 3-inch raspberry tarts, and gooey brownies sweeten palates at meals’ end.