Amazing food. Did not know anything on the menu so I had the server choose my entire meal. It did not disappoint. I can't wait to to go back. Had the -escargot -yellowfin tuna -Grouper with kale -flourless Chocolate and hazelnut cake read more

Vern's - Menu - New American Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

This is easily one of my new go-to restaurants in Charleston now. They've only been open for around 5 months but they're making waves in the restaurant scene for there incredibly delicious dishes with thoughtful and complex (but approachable) flavors! The cuisines is shareable-American. This space is small and quaint, so be prepared to wait (even for bar seating) if you don't have a reservation. I absolutely loved everything I ordered to share with my mom: Apero: Pineau Des Charentes, Oloroso Sherry, spiced pear Pink Lady Apple Salad Gnocchette Sardi with walnut pesto Grouper with lemon and butter sauce (insane!!!) Owner Dano was Chef de Cuisine at the Charleston institution McCradys and his wife Bethany tan the bar. Now they own this place and are producing truly delicious food! read more

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This place was AMAZING! So cute and quaint! We got a table for 2 with a Friday reservation that I made a couple weeks back... this place is POPULAR! I totally understand why.. Staff was great.. Becca was our server. She was sweet, helpful and very knowledgeable about the menu and wine list. I will add that it's only beer and wine. Not an issue... we are wine lovers! I definitely recommend anything on the menu The escargot, grilled sourdough, main courses and dessert all the die for... I'd go back and do it a bit differently just to try new things. I don't think there's anything bad on the menu! Bon Appetite read more

Vern's - Rib eye special and their amazing gnocchittini - New American Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Amazing dinner at Vern's. Scored an early reservation. Parking not easy - parked at the Hyatt Place public garage on King Street and walked 1/2 mile to restaurant. Small tables and packed in but not too loud. Service was excellent and meals were terrific. We started with charred sourdough. Only got one but you could easily do 1 per person - it's that good. Then did the citrus/beet appetizer and the crispy sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) - both were terrific. Had the red snapper for main course and then also did the rigatoni with pine nuts and a pea tendril pesto. These were the best two dishes of all! Finished with the chocolate/cardamaro/hazelnut dessert- a perfect cap to a beautifully crafted meal. read more

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Heard this place was named the best new restaurant in South Carolina by Eater, so we had to check it out and see if it lived up to the hype. It's a cute tiny spot with an extensive wine list to go along with wine-centric cocktails. The portions are shareable, kinda halfway between small and entree size. They're known for their Chicken, which is typically not something I would order when I'm going out. However when we got it we were very happy with the results - a perfectly cooked spring chicken where we barely even needed our knives. The brown butter sauce it came with really helped add a second flavor to the dish as well. The real star of the show for us was the escargot with the sourdough bread to dip into the citrus sauce that came with the snails. read more

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Oh Vern where do I begin. Shall I start with the melt in your mouth escargot and the incredibly brilliant jus it was served in. The sourdough bread and all the many surprise spices and garnish to dip with also had me never wanting the moment to end. If I had stopped there you would have already lived up to the reputation of not being able to get a reservation for months on out! We didn't stop there. The flounder and the chicken protein dishes were also exploding with flavor. I will be back and for all of you playing the Resy notify game I won a seat for two at 5pm and felt like I'd won a prize! Keep playing the notify game and the bar seats are always first come first serve. Well done Vern's well done! read more

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I swear to god this is the best restaurant in Charleston. We had the best server who explained every dish and every possible pairing and recommended this amazing wine. The food was hands to god the best food I've experienced in Charleston without this snob fest you get in some places in the lower peninsula. I normally don't order chicken at restaurants- our waiter said "this is chicken you eat out for".... She was right. I was eating that chickens bones and I did not care. 10/10 telling every human I know bout this place. read more

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My wife and I went here on vacation for a special date night. We heard amazing things about the restaurant. We were very excited about it. The waitress that took care of us was very short and rude to us. My wife wanted to hear about the specials and she laughed and began to be condescending to her. It seemed like the waitress was just having a bad night, but frankly it ruined our dinner. The food was fantastic, but we won't be returning. The restaurant has a very "you should feel privileged eating here" type of vibe and does not live up to the "humble neighborhood" spot at all. We ended up getting an apology and a dessert, but nothing truly makes up for the lost experience. There are plenty of other restaurants in Charleston with great food and even better service. read more

were excited to try vern's based on some recommendations while visiting. set the alarm, made the booking. can be tough to get in without reservation but there's a small bar that was open for walk-in seating. The restaurant is small and dark - very cozy space. The wine list is decent, with 1-2 of each "section" offered by the glass. We were happy with the glasses we ended up with. Our server was great, super friendly and fun. Food came quick - as in we still had multiple dishes when they came around with the second set of plates which was a little annoying. Food overall is good. I had high expectations and they were somewhat met - there was some solid dishes, but few that really stood out. They use a lot of cheese to flavor their dishes - only 2 of our 9 dishes didn't have cheese - not a bad thing necessarily but heavy emphasis on those flavors and we were stuffed by the end. The easy favorites were - the bitter salad (refreshing and great for this menu), the gnocchetti sardi (did not know this was a different pasta shape - similar to cavatelli) was amazing, loved the pesto. the campanelle with white ragu was delicious. They had an herbal sausage stuffed quail that was delicious. The rest was ok, the tomatoes and leeks the only dish I wouldn't order again. The escargots had an amazing sauce, but didn't love the escargots themselves and they didn't need to be covered in melted gruyere. The charred sourdough is similar to a naan. The cucumber burrata salad was ok, but oversalted. On the tomatoes - the leeks and lardo were so thin they really only added a textural component, so it was basically roasted tomatoes in a coriander chutney. The heirloom potatoes were heavy, sitting in a taleggio sauce and topped with fresh basil - their take on scalloped potatoes. the bucatini had good flavor but would've loved some meat in the dish to up the salt and flavor. Also wanted a bit more texture on the bucatini and campanelle - both could benefit from a slightly shorter boil, and the bucatini was super thin. We skipped the large entrees to make more room for everything else. dessert was a highlight - i loved the blackberry vanilla and crème fraîche - blackberry compote, blackberry granita, vanilla ice cream and crème fraîche. It was a nice balance of savory and sweet, not overly so, with some nice texture from the granita and a good serving too. Very refreshing and a wonderful end to the meal. read more

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Simple food, good execution. Verns is tucked in a cozy corner in a growing part of Charleston, so it's nice to walk around and wait for the place to open since it is hard to grab a seat due to its popularity The bar isn't fully stocked so you wont find hard liquors in their drinks but their wine menu is extensive and you wont have a problem there and our server was great. As for the food, it's really great. The sourdough and tuna starters are a great combo. The rabbit pasta and trumpet mushroom pastas were nice, although the sauces didn't really stick to the pasta too much. I thought the rabbit pasta would be similar to a type of caccio e peppe style but it had some nice acidity to it. Similarly to the rabbit pasta, the trumpet mushroom pasta I thought would have some creaminess to it but was also more on the lighter side, both had great flavors in the end. For mains we had the chicken and the bavette wagyu special. The chicken is as good as you will ever get at a restaurant. I usually stay far away from any roast chicken as it is usually pretty boring, but this dish was fantastic, and to my surprise even better than a wagyu steak! The wagyu was nice and tender, perfectly cooked, but just didnt impress me too much for the hefty price. The desserts were both amazing, 10/10 no notes needed. Get both the strawberry and hazelnut desserts if you can, you will love both. read more

Fantastic meal.. highly recommend. Escargot, sourdough, mushrooms, lamb skewers, chicken, duck bucatini.. wait staff incredible. If you want to be a local, dine here read more

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First time visiting Vern's that opened to a lot of hype and it was worth it. There aren't too many, if any, restaurants that Vern's would compete with in Charleston. The food and the ambiance are definitely unique and a welcome addition to the Charleston Food Scene. The vibe is small European bistro and the ambiance does not disappoint. Menu is meant to be shared and served as courses. We ordered the tuna tartare appetizer, the heirloom tomato salad, the rabbit pasta and the pork "cutlet" (this was subbed as they did not have pork cheek that evening.) We also went with dessert - the blackberry and creme and it was one of the most delicious things ever, light and tasty at the same time! Everything was so delicious, there are nightly specials as well. Service was incredible, our server, Bekah, was helpful in deciding how much and which dishes to order as well as what wine to order. They do NOT have a full bar, only beer and wine, not sure if that license is in process or they just don't plan to have it, but we didn't miss it with such great wine selections. We will definitely be going back sooner rather than later and can't wait! read more

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We had the most delicious experience at Vern's. Our waitress walked us through our dining experience and we let her make some surprise decisions for us. This was some of the best food I've had in Charleston. And such a great vibe read more

Vern's - Cocktail - New American Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

I've been back here three times now. The third time I came with my hunni and we tried a whole bunch of items: the sourdough bread, trumpet mushrooms, lamb skewers, bitter salad AND the honeycrisp apple salad, escargot, and then ended with the roasted chicken entree in au jus. All of it STILL DIVINE! read more

Came here for dinner last week. Was somehow able to scoop a reservation on resy last minute. The restaurant is very small, there are only 12 or so tables. It has a wonderful cozy ambiance. I found the menu to be very interesting and refreshing. Service was great as well. I listed the food we ordered below. My only con was that this establishment does not serve liquor such as vodka, gin, tequila,etc. They do have a wine list and other drinks with a lower ABV but I would prefer to have a vodka cocktail with dinner. Dishes Ordered: -Sourdough w/ Dill-10/10-You must get this bread! To die for! The dill tastes delicious and it is nice and warm. -Grilled Shrimp-9/10 Extremely tasty dish; the shrimp comes in a mildly red spicy sauce that I thoroughly enjoyed -Pesto Gnocchetti-9/10 I am a huge pesto fan and this dish did not disappoint. Gnocci was cooked perfectly. -Wagyu Steak & Potato Side-10/10 My personal favorite dish of the night. Ordered the steak medium rare and it came out cooked perfectly with tons of flavor. It was also served with this tasty green sauce. I would definitely return if I am back in town and would recommend. read more

I have never been to Verns but the experience I just had with their team to setup a reservation made me write this up. April was a huge help in getting a reservation scheduled for my grandparents who are ecstatic to be checking out the spot! If the food is half as good as their customer service has been then they'll have a Michelin star in no time read more

We found Vern's by chance after exploring eateries near our Airbnb. Without a reservation, we were happily seated at the bar. The bartender served as both our purveyor of martinis and our waiter. Service was fun, friendly and knowledgeable. The bar has a limited cocktail menu but a sizable list for beer and wines. We ordered the bitter greens salad with garlic confit dressing, rigatoni with pea tendrils and red snapper. The salad was divine. The flavors in each other dish were yummy but the rigatoni was a bit under al dente while the fish was a bit overcooked. But these little imperfections didn't both us. We returned several days later to have the same salad again. Yes, it was that amazing! The place is small, loud at times but comfortable. The service and knowledge of the wait staff make for a seamless experience. Vern's is located in a residential neighborhood which makes it seem like home, even to us outsiders. read more

Food was great, definitely some of the best Ive had, atmosphere was cozy the whole restaurant had dim glow with staff moving elegantly through the dining and patrons enjoying their meals. Then there was our server, Brett. I'm sorry if you get him as your server. We had no idea what to expect I had only heard good things. Brett fumbled the ball as much as any server could. He greeted us at the table and gave us a few minutes to look over drinks. I ordered the non alcoholic rose, as I do not drink alcohol. Living sober. And my date order the Bordeaux. What was delivered was a regular glass of rose to myself. A different server in the section next to us delivered our drinks,,I took one sip and instantly knew this wasn't non alcoholic rose. I eventually got the server, to stop by and ask if this was the non alcoholic rose and her face looked horrified as she realized what had happened. She took it away and apologized. Brett came around and casually said oh that's not what I heard. As in I didn't hear you say non alcoholic rose. Mind you this a Michelin star restaurant. So after drinking alcohol that I didn't order we waited for food to come out. We sat and watch food coming to the tables that surrounded us and over an hour had passed before any food even touched our table. I asked the other server who was more attentive than Brett if I could see a manager and Don came over and said there had been an issue but the food should start to come out shortly. All the while Brett was not present and was very haphazard with his customer service. Our reservation was at 7:00 first course made it out at 8:05. I'll give it the food was amazing once it came out but getting the wrong drink order as a sober person and consequently drinking alcohol was not a pleasant experience followed by a long wait just to get appetizers. The saving grace was Don the manager! He profusely apologized and subsequently took over the table from Brett and really steered the night around. He had delivered every plate to our table and sent out every desert to finish it. It was nice to finally get some service that seemed to care about our dining experience. Mean while the next time Brett visited the table and asked I would like another glass of non alcoholic rose and I emphatically said no in fear that he might ring in an alcoholic beverages again. It fell on deaf ears cause he brought another glass out with all the pride that he finally did something right this evening. I wanted to like this place I heard reviews and people talking about how amazing it is and the food was. But for all the hype Brett you really dropped the ball in every way. I hope you're able to be trained to a higher standard. Making this reservation a month out I had been looking forward to this night for a month. I wish I had nicer things to say but that kind of negligence for this pricey of a restaurant that had just received a Michelin star was huge let down. read more

Unbelievable. We ordered every starter. Then he had a bavette which is now my new favorite cut of steak and I had a pasta. The food made me cry. I was so sad to leave. Worth a flight to Charleston to come back here. A true gem. read more

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Food and service were excellent but the table next to us had a dog under the table for the duration of the meal. It was not a service animal and it was pretty clearly just a pet that multiple family members (6+) were playing with and petting throughout the meal. Vern's (and all indoor dining restaurants) need to take a stand to not allow animals in a restaurant. This isn't a trend that fine dining restaurants need to begin allowing. read more

Loved my experience at Vern's! The tuna is a must as is the sourdough! Our pasta, mafaldine, was good just very over salted which was disappointing. The pork was delicious with classic flavors. The candy roasted squash was good but just an interesting flavor. Not what you'd expect with squash. The service was amazing! read more

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Everything about Vern's is fantastic. The cozy feel inside, the service, the food. We didn't have a single complaint about anything that we ordered (see note below), which was: two beers, one glass of wine, one bottle of wine, The charred sourdough, raw yellowfin tuna (amazing), bitter lettuce salad (much larger than we anticipated), campanelli with rabbit (just superb), grilled pork loin (tender and flavorful), turnips (who knew turnips could be so good?) and the braised char with polenta (again, amazing). We will definitely return! Note: The only gripe I have is that they do charge a 3.5% credit card processing fee, which in my opinion should be disclosed online when you're booking a table. We did bring cash and paid with cash- just because we didn't want to pay a credit card fee. Unfortunately, I really believe that fees like this cause people to not tip their server as much, and they should be built into the price on the menu. Just my two cents. I do not fault the server for this, and have been a server myself, so really hope that these fees that are now appearing everywhere are capped at a certain percentage or just built into the price of the food. Again, LOVED the food, service, ambience and will return with cash. read more

What a special place! We were sad to see Trattoria Luca close during the pandemic, but Vern's was nothing short of amazing. My wife and I ordered a variety of items from the menu and nothing disappointed. Our favorites were the cucumber dish and the yellowfin tuna. The wine was excellent as well. read more

an incredible dining experience! everything was perfect from the atmosphere, to the food, to the service! if you order ANYTHING off the menu, get the sourdough with the most delicious butter and dill topping. read more

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We have been here a couple times and love the unique flavor blast you can get from the menu. I had the salmon for brunch and wanted more I came back for the tuna and loved it. My husband had the omelet and sandwich both of which he really enjoyed. read more

Came in on a Sunday for an amazing brunch at Vern's! The food was really inventive (do not miss the egg sandwich or the pancakes) the restaurant is nice and the staff is AMAZING. Our waitress was a unicorn. We ordered 75% of their menu and she coursed it out perfectly. We normally have food dumped on our table when we try a few things which leads to cold food and a crowded table. It's a small detail but it makes all the difference and exemplifies the pride they take in making the dining experience special. Can't wait to go back! read more

This might be the easiest review I've ever done. Vern's is simply superb on all levels. First the physical restaurant space is so welcoming plus great music help create the perfect setting for a great dining experience. Next our server,Alex, was perhaps the most cordial and knowledgeable server we've ever encountered . Then the food. What can I say except every bite was so flavorful I had to pause each time to savor every morsel. The shareable plates allow you to experience so many different items and enjoy the different tastes. My advice is to make a reservation now and get over there to experience perhaps the best dining you will find in all of Charleston. read more

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I dined here Sunday evening with my fiancé, it was our first night out living in Charleston. Of course we wanted to try somewhere nice for a date and also food driven. What a delight it was at Vern's! The server may have been one of the best well versed in a menu servers I have ever had, having moved from Las Vegas that says a lot, she was amazing and smooth with transiting courses. Every item on the menu we had (everything besides 4 items on the menu) was outstanding! I will definitely be back. read more

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Is there a 6th star Wow oh wow Every single aspect well managed and thought over If you can get a table - book it and just enjoy Spectacular read more

Whew! My partner and I have been really looking forward to trying this place out. Early dinner date on a Saturday. We came a bit early before our reservation to just feel out parking in this area. It's a bit of a challenge but we secured a good spot. Service was great! The restaurant is minimally and tastefully decorated. It's a smaller intimate space with large windows which was perfect on a beautiful Saturday. We ordered beers (munkle and the verns collab lager with westbrook), lamb skewers, sourdough bread, ground rabbit pasta, bavette entree, and the chocolate and hazelnut desert w/ a layer of house made vanilla ice cream. So so so damn good! Very well seasoned and thoughtful ingredients! Everything tasted incredibly fresh and well balanced. Just really really pleasant. Looking forward to returning to try the other entrees we were eyeing. read more

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Overall, felt that it was a little overhyped. Maybe we didn't order the best dishes and that may have skewed things, but just felt things weren't quite executed right tonight. Lamb shoulder skewers were good, but nothing to write home about. We got two of the pastas. We were told they were out of duck and the bucatini was now being served with ground pork. The rabbit pasta was ground rabbit and the meat/sauce combos for both pastas were too similar to really tell a difference besides the chard in the bucatini. Both pastas were way over cooked, to the point that the bucatini was splitting in half lengthwise. The flounder was great and would recommend. Maybe an off night, but left just a little disappointed. Would again say that maybe we just didn't order correctly because other dishes seemed to have more rave reviews. read more

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This place was a total miss for us. Service was good. I think that's the only good thing I would say about it. We ordered several dishes (bread, escargot, tuna tartare, tomato salad, carrots and trout). I'm not exaggerating when I say that every single dish (except maybe the tartare) was doused in vinegar or lemon juice. It was so overpoweringly sour or vinegary (in what world is escargot supposed to be like that??). The tartare was mixed almost 50/50 with red bell peppers which was a very strange choice and basically made everything taste of bell pepper. At first, we thought we were imagining the vinegar part or not that hungry. That said, I also had a glass of California Chardonnay with dinner, which is usually a more buttery wine (and was relatively buttery at first before the food came). By the end of each dish, the wine tasted so sour it was like a totally different drink. That's when I officially concluded that something was very off about our entire meal. I'm not a usually a stingy restaurant-goer but $200 (pre tip) for this meal was really ludicrous. I can drink a bottle of vinegar at home. read more

It's good. I'm nonplussed at anyone who has said they "licked their plate clean." The tuna tartare was good, but I've had better. The lamb special was good, but tasted like what you make at home on a cold Sunday. The bitter lettuce salad was a salad you could create on your own from reading Food and Wine magazine. The gnocchetti was fine. I am not sure the people raving about this dish have ever eaten a meal In Italy. The roasted chicken was simply that, a roasted chicken. I'm not saying anything was bad. Nothing was bad, at all. But, absolutely nothing was amazing. A far cry from the 'most amazing meal' as many of these reviews suggest. read more

Still trying to understand why this restaurant has 4.5 stars. My advice is ensure you know what you're getting into. Menu is tiny and lacks variety which is fine if the dishes are executed well which they were not. No excuse for improperly cooked steak. Overpriced for the portions. $40 for a boring and under seasoned flank steak which varied from rare to well done depending on your bite. They don't have a full bar which is fine because the wine list was a highlight along with the charred bread appetizer. Very dark and loud in a living room of an old house. There was some charm for sure, but after $200 for 3, I left unsatisfied. Least enjoyable experience while dining in Charleston. Just know what you're getting into... read more

One of my top meals in Charleston. The service is excellent. The food is properly coursed, high quality, and no one is being ushered out for a table turn. It is designed for the table so don't plan on going and ordering individually. The poor reviews don't seem to understand the facts above. We started with the sourdough and a pork and mushroom kabob special. Then we had the chicken and rabbit campernelli. It was all excellent! Highly recommend. read more

We had a perfect experience in every way - cozy atmosphere, amazing service and perfect food.

If you have a special occasion- and especially if you can share with another couple - AND money is not a concern, Vern's offers a wonderful experience. It is a small venue and we had to wait several weeks to get a reservation, but it was well worthwhile. Mixed drinks and alcohol always add to the bill, so if on a budget you can save a chunk of change there. Nearly all the plates are shareable if you go for that sort of thing, and makes some of them a real value. Ones we shared amongst the four of us including the gnocchetti, cucumber, bread, and tuna dishes. We might have stopped there, but for timing issues you have to order everything except dessert initially. No regrets here though! The trout and the rack of lamb each couple shared. Speaking for the lamb it was just simply delicious- cooked perfectly a little on the rare side of medium rare, moist and well seasoned, and was plenty to eat after the appetizers. One of the best lamb preparations I can recall. The Remelluri Rioja stood up very well. We all took a bites (or two!) of chocolate dessert! Service was informed and pleasant enough, if a bit abrupt - which I attributed to the crazy busy-ness of the place. If you are looking for a quiet conversational spot though, this can get loud when at full buzz. But if you can get a later reservation, it clears out around 7:45 and the noise gets less obtrusive. Definitely gets a high-five recommendation for you to check it out. read more

Vern's did not disappoint. We went on a Sunday night and had a terrific meal. The small plates allowed us to try several different items, which we always prefer. The highlights were the hen of the woods mushrooms and gnocchetti. Flavors were out of this world and the tenderness of the mushroom was unreal. We also really enjoyed the farro dish, surprising crunch that really drove home the flavor. Mains were the pork and red snapper. I'd say the pork was an A and the snapper was a B/B-. The mustard with the pork made the dish, while the snapper was in a cold tomato/caper based sauce/broth. The acidity of the broth did tend to take over the flavor of the fish. Finally, the peach tart dessert was spot on. A little more lime than I would have liked, but that was a theme throughout the meal so I'm guessing it wasn't accidental as a finish. Top notch service. Quick food to the table. And an overall great ambience. read more

Such a treat! Service 100%. Food extraordinary! Will be back! Blackberry Creme Fraiche this is a must have! read more

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Maybe I am spoiled by living in NYC, but Vern's was beyond disappointing. The food was horrible. The Crispy Shrimp was a sad attempt at shrimp toast. The shrimp was over cooked and the accompliants were - well not accompanying. The chicken was also overcooked and dry. The sauce that it came with can best be described as motor oil with a touch of vinegar. Stay away. The hype ain't worth the meal. read more