These South Carolina restaurants rank among the most romantic places to eat in the US
If you’re seeking a dining experience that will wow your date, two South Carolina restaurants may have you covered.
That’s because both of the restaurants rank among the nation’s most romantic places to enjoy a meal. Here are the results from review websites OpenTable and Yelp:
- Charlie’s Coastal Bistro (L’etoile Verte) on Hilton Head Island ranks among OpenTable’s 100 most romantic restaurants.
- Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) in Charleston ranks No. 78 on Yelp’s list of 100 best restaurants for date nights.
The lists were published ahead of Valentine’s Day, when nearly half of Americans plan to eat out, according to an OpenTable survey. Though the rankings are tied to the holiday, fans have shared their love for the South Carolina restaurants month after month.
For its list, OpenTable studied more than 10 million reviews customers left from Dec. 1, 2023, to Nov. 30. Analysts considered several factors, including “diner ratings, the percentage of five star reviews” and whether the restaurants were listed as “romantic,” according to a news release.
Meanwhile, Yelp focused on restaurants with “a large concentration of reviews mentioning words and phrases such as ‘date night,’ ‘romantic,’ ‘valentine,’ and ‘anniversary.’”
“We then ranked those spots using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning those keywords” from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 1, according to results published in late January.
What makes the SC restaurants romantic?
On Hilton Head Island, Charlie’s Coastal Bistro was the only South Carolina destination to earn a spot in the OpenTable rankings. The restaurant is also known as Charlie’s L’etoile Verte, meaning “the green star” in French.
The dining spot, which says it focuses on “fresh local seafood with a French, Lowcountry flare,” isn’t a stranger to receiving acclaim. It also was named among OpenTable’s most romantic U.S. restaurants in 2022 and 2023, McClatchy News reported.
More recently, OpenTable users said they couldn’t get enough of dishes ranging from duck breast to bread pudding. Some also praised the customer service and ambiance at the restaurant, located on New Orleans Road.
In Charleston, SNOB earned a spot on Yelp’s list of top date night destinations. The restaurant, which calls itself an “eclectic Lowcountry bistro,” had some Yelp users raving about its romantic setting and dishes that were big enough to share. Fans loved the shrimp and grits, crab soup and other favorites.
SNOB has the same owners as Halls Chophouse, which has four locations across South Carolina. But no other restaurants in the Palmetto State earned spots in the Yelp rankings.
OpenTable published its romantic restaurant list in alphabetical order. Meanwhile, Yelp shared its list in ranking order, and the No. 1 spot went to Cesarina in San Diego.
For its survey, OpenTable said it partnered with research company PureSpectrum. More than 1,500 people in the country participated online from late December to early January.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 7:02 AM with the headline "These South Carolina restaurants rank among the most romantic places to eat in the US."
