Hominy Grill

Overall- Would definitely come back! Great food and service. Our first time eating grits and they were great... best grits we had on our trip!

Food-we got the Charleston Nasty and the Shrimp and Grits. The Charleston Nasty was a fried chicken breast on a biscuit with gravy. It was pretty good, but I was jealous of my husbands shrimp and grits. Definitely the best shrimp and grits we had on our trip to Charleston!

Service-our server was very attentive and friendly. She make sure our food was as good as we hoped and always came to the table with a smile.

Atmosphere- quaint restaurant. Get like I was eating over at someone's home with the decor. (Light and bright, wainscoting, fans with tin can lights.) It was a nice change from some of the other restaurants around town. Be prepared to wait, there's always a line and they don't take reservations.

We read on the news that Hominy Grill will soon be closing its doors; I also found articles with high praise from food critics and historians. THIS is a place that I must go to and sample every item on their menu before it is gone. With this mindset, our mission was underway.

We arrived for Brunch on a sunny Saturday afternoon to find a long line going out the door and spilling into the sidewalk, no doubt regular patrons and new ones had heard the bad news, no doubt the food would be worth the wait, no doubt we came to the right place. I put my name on the waiting list; standing in the courtyard and in front of the packed small restaurant were at least 60 people, the wait would be around 2hrs to be seated. Since I came for the food, not the wait, I ordered a few dishes to go, food was ready in 15min.

I wish I could say the hype was real, I wish the food had been glorious. It seemed the owner-Chef has already checked out, his former glorious dishes might already be a thing of the past as melancholic servers countdown the last days to the end.

Items sampled:
Black eye pea pork belly cakes ***3 stars
Loaded grits ****4 stars
Charleston nasty biscuit ***3 stars
Coconut cake ***3 stars
Buttermilk pie *****5 stars

Quality ****4 stars
Every dish included great ingredients, however it seemed that not everything was made to order, for example the toppings on the loaded grits looked and tasted re-heated, as if it had been cooked hours earlier...busy restaurant, short space, I get it.

Flavor ***3 stars
This was perhaps our biggest disappointment, none of our dishes had any special or outstanding flavor element, it tasted very standard and inferior to similar dishes at other Charleston eateries. The Buttermilk pie was the exception, this little slice of heaven was a superb ending to a less than stellar brunch. I wish they would find a way to keep producing and selling this pie for years to come.

Portion Size ***3 stars
Small! Another disappointment was how hungry we were after we'd finished our meals. Dishes were not fulfilling. In our experience, "Southern Kitchen" meals are known for generous servings, unfortunately, not here.

Value/Price ****4 stars
A bit pricey for what you get. I guess some of the inherent value comes from the atmosphere and experience of eating in a historic and likely very influential restaurant.

Staff/Service *****5 stars
Staff moved quick, was attentive, and there were plenty of servers to accommodate a packed house.

Beware: Both Male and Female single restrooms also had a line of people waiting.

TIP: Get it to go! We only waited 15min for our food, drove four blocks north on Rutledge Ave. to Mitchell park and had an impromptu picnic there.

A friend recommended this restaurant for breakfast & my friend & I came here on a Sunday morning.

They do not take reservations but when we came around 10, there was no wait.

Such a cute spot! With a charming patio to dine at in front.

Friendly customer service & good food. Cocktails are strong.

Southern Fried Chicken Thighs: Whoa! So tasty & flavorful. The meat was juicy & I loved how it was so breaded.
Macaroni & Cheese: Cheesy & creamy.
Country Breakfast- Eggs, grits, & biscuit: Grits were yummy. The biscuit was flaky, not dry like most, & was so good with their homemade jam.

So, I have been here a few years ago and had the shrimp and grits and it was , at the time the best shrimp and grits I have ever had. Was really looking forward to it again and I gotta say it was pretty disappointing. I felt like the grits lacked flavor, and I Honestly really like cheese in my grits and it doesn't come with it. The whole meal just lacked flavor.

The Bloody Mary was ok- nothing to write home about. The chicken and biscuit (Charleston nasty biscuit) I thought was much better , but beware that there are red peppers in the gravy and it has a pretty strong flavor to it. My friend who doesn't like red peppers ordered it , and didn't realize cuz it's not on the menu that it has red peppers.

The bacon is ok. The saving grace was this waffle that had caramel and pecan and it was amaaaazzing. So warm and perfectly sweet.


Probably won't be back unfortunately

Good southern breakfast food.

I ordered the sesame fried catfish and grits. The catfish was well executed, juicy and flaky. The batter was well seasoned and had a pleasant clean taste of toasted sesame.

The grits were excellent. They almost tasted like a soup is compared to the store packaged stuff I'm used to.

We also ordered smoked pork belly. This was excellent as well. The meat was tender and the fat was melty on the palate. The pork belly held a pleasant smoked aroma and flavor.

There are definitely reasons I've lived her for almost 20 years and never eaten here until a couple weeks ago. First off I'm not a fan of the so called "tourist traps". Especially in my own town. But Ashvin heard they have "the best shrimp and grits" so he picked it for our breakfast date.

I got there a couple minutes early and waited for him. There was at least 15 servers that I could see and only about 5 or 6 tables with customers. One of them asked if I wanted to be seater before he arrived and I said sure. She took me to the far corner table at the window that was the only seat in the house still sitting in the hot morning sun. Oh and the table was 6 inches away from a couple trying to finish up their meal. WHY?? I get that people work zones and you try to make sure everyone's getting tables, but come on man. As soon as my friend arrived he sat in the blazing sun for 2 minutes and he asked for us to be moved. It was so hot!!

As for the food. I found it bad. So bad. We ordered their famous nasty and the shrimp and grits. The shrimp was cold, over cooked and tasteless. The grits tasted like water and the dish had no salt. All I tasted and continued to burp up for hours after leaving was garlic. Sooooo much garlic. As for the Charleston Nasty. The biscuit was cold and not buttered. The gravy, flavorless. I had one decent bite of the chicken but that was it. Hopefully they were just having a bad day as many of my Yelp pals have had good experiences here, but I have no intentions of ever returning. CHS has way too many better spots to want to go back and spend my money here again.

Saturday 11:45am, There was a lot of people waiting. We waited for about 40min to get a table.
Atmosphere: Its cozy, nothing special. Very loud!
Food ordered: Cornmeal waffle with hit chicken thigh and strawberry glaze/ Sweet potato weaker with coconut topping / Huevos rancheros


Cornmeal waffle was my favorite. Good texture and good flavor. Chicken thighs were good, but there was a slight bitterness..maybe from the hot-powder? Not sure. Strawberry glaze worked well with the chicken.
Sweet potato waffle had a driver, chewier texture that I didn't care for. My friend who ordered it really liked it, though.
Huevos rancheros was surprisingly good. Not overly salty, good flavors, well cooked egg, good salsa. But it was $12..so...
Service: Friendly but spotty. It could use 1-2 more servers when busy..

Overall it was not a disappointing experience, but!
Was it worth the wait? Not sure.
Will I visit again? I don't think so..it's more of a "off the check list" kind of thing for me.

Best service we got in Charleston. Our waitress was wonderful and gave us really good recommendations. She was sweet, patient, and checked on our table often.

I had their famous shrimp and grits for breakfast. Yes, that's right for breakfast. My goodness!! Talk about a blast of flavor in your mouth. By far the best thing I ate in Charleston. I felt like all the ingredients paired well together. I love shrimp, mushrooms and bacon, but I would have never thought together they would taste so amazing. I also order a biscuit, which came with homemade mixed berry jam.

I highly recommend.

Awesome! Breakfast here this morning, arguably the best we've had all week. Service was prompt and helpful, menu is eclectic, and our food was promptly delivered which is always nice at breakfast.

The coffee was excellent, seemed to have some chicory in it.

I had the special: pork belly hash with a couple of poached eggs and a biscuit. The hash was just excellent, the spices were nicely balanced and the potatoes were perfectly diced and cooked as they should be. The eggs were nicely poached with just a little run in the yolk. The sauce was delicious.

I ended up eating one of my wife's sausages (see photo). The patties are enormous, the right amount of heat and a nice even texture with no gristle.

What a great place. If it was located anywhere near where I lived I'd be here every week.

Came here for brunch on a Monday morning. Was told there would be about a 15 minute wait, but we only waited about 5 minutes!

I heard that she-crab soup was a big thing in Charleston, so I was excited to try it. I ordered that, and the pork belly grits.

I was really disappointed by the she-crab soup. It was painfully bland and I couldn't even finish it. The pork belly grits were good, but nothing too impressive. My friend had the nasty biscuit, and she enjoyed it. I had a bite of it, and it was definitely more flavorful than anything on my plate!

Overall it was an OK meal. I can't understand all the hype about this place, but maybe I just didn't come on a good day/order the right thing!