South Carolina Restaurants

El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant brings the colors, smells, and flavors of a Mexican street festival into its dining room via a kitchen that churns out classic south-of-the-border dishes each day. Beneath orange walls flanked by mural scenes of rolling farmland, diners feast on menu selections that range from traditional carne asada with rice and beans to distinctive cheese steak burritos stuffed with sliced beef, grilled onions, and nacho cheese. To balance each zesty flavor, a full bar slings salt-rimmed margaritas, imported beers, and creative cocktails all day long. Meanwhile, karaoke engages ears every other Friday, while free Wi-Fi encourages mid-meal searches for the best way to throw a burrito in a perfect spiral.

LEDO Pizza has been made the same way since Tex Clevenger played for the Yankees and the Washington Senators still existed. That was the 1950s when players from both teams stopped by the first location in Adelphi, Maryland. Although the pizzeria has grown to more than 50 locations across the country, each eatery stays in touch with the original through a menu that upholds certain standards: LEDO's chefs roll dough to order, hand-cut thick pepperoni slices, and bake their pies in rectangular pans, all while humming the theme to Howdy Doody. Having grown with the times, however, LEDO now makes more than pizza. Newer options include spaghetti and meatballs, subs, burgers, and calzones.:m]]

Metal paddles with long wooden handles shimmy into Amici Italian Lovin’ Oven’s namesake brick oven, where thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas bubble and crisp beside a flickering central flame. Across the orange-walled dining room, amiable waiters deliver plates of veal parmesan, chicken carbonara, and Amici’s signature lasagna, which is rolled instead of baked flat to serve as both supper and an edible kaleidoscope. The kitchen also whips up gluten-free and whole-wheat pastas, as well as American classics such as burgers and surf ‘n’ turf. Amici Italian Lovin’ Oven also aids digestion with weekly entertainment, hosting special events such as trivia on Thursday nights and performances by local musicians on Fridays.

The kitchen at Nirvana II cooks up south Indian specialties, from tandoor chicken tikka to cottage cheese simmered in spicy sauce.

At Cloud 9 Martini & Tapas Bar, conversation passes between friends alongside tastes of 45 cold, sweet, or bitter martinis and 18 shareable tapas plates. A blue-lit, martini-shaped bar acts as a stage for mixologists’ concoctions to enthrall eyes and tongues with fruity, chocolaty, and gentlemanly flavors. The Baxterini’s classic recipe of Beefeater gin, vermouth, and olive juice gains approving nods from traditionalists, whereas the Smores replicates a summer treat—complete with flaming marshmallow—without the hassles of camping or starting a bonfire on your kitchen table. To expand a martini-centric evening, Cloud 9 also serves up handmade Chimay beer as well as SweetWater and Turbodog craft brews.

Around the rest of the lounge, sofas and chairs stacked with pillows serve as a convivial perch where guests share tapas. Cherry peppers pop with goat cheese and prosciutto, and quesadillas mix sweet and savory with a dollop of mango chutney atop a filling of apple and brie. On Saturday, DJs accompany bites with energy from their decks, infusing the space with up-tempo beats for dancing or karate montages.

Dream Dinners’s registered dietitian and family-physician duo provides cuisine crafters with the ingredients and directions necessary to assemble healthy, palate-pleasing meals during fun on-location sessions.

All chopping, sorting, and recipe-dreaming is done in advance by Dream Dinners’s crew, with family cooks choosing from an ever-rotating menu of gourmet concoctions such as herb-dijon chicken breasts with garlic bread and cheese-lover's manicotti.

After assembling the ingredients at a Dream Dinners location in a music-filled, party-like atmosphere, customers cart their bounty home, armed with easy-to-follow cooking instructions for piecing together the edible jigsaw puzzle without worrying about sharpening knives, cleaning stovetops, or converting grams into degrees Celsius. For those with smaller watches and consequently less time, the Fast Lane menu offers dinners that need only to be cooked or baked.