Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Charleston

10+ ⭐ for food 🍽️ 5+ ⭐ for cocktails 🥂 5+ ⭐ for service 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 5 ⭐ for pricing💲 4.5 ⭐ for atmosphere (I just wish it was a little bigger)🚪

I've had a lot of seafood in my lifetime, but the twists and dishes here are to die for!!!! We came for my birthday dinner but it's moved to the top of our list for places to visit when friends come in town.

We started with oysters: trying 4 of the 6 they offer (I didn't even realize there were that many different types, ha). I think I liked the ladies best. NC tested too salty for my liking.

Next up: Corndog Shrimp. Sounds weird, right? SO GOOD! I'm not sure why I've never seen this done before, The batter's sweetness enhanced the shrimp flavor and the spicy mustard was the perfect flavor to bring it all together and balance it out. If you prefer to keep it sweet, their homemade ketchup brought out even more sweetness.

Strawberry Salad: goat cheese is my favorite salad topping and arugula is my favorite salad leaf, put them together with strawberries and pancetta along with an apple cider vinegar dressing and this salad was a winner! Unfortunately I didn't get to finish it because I had to save room for my main course.

Bourbon glazed salmon over greens and mashed potatoes: I wish my husband could have captured the moment I took my first bite of this meal. There were so many different flavors that all came together and made it absolutely perfect. It was sweet, it was juicy, it was crunchy, it was seared, and it all just melted in my mouth. I'm pretty sure there were audible sounds with each bite. Sorry not sorry! The creaminess of the potatoes and the bittersweet greens were perfect accompaniments. I want to try everything on the menu here, but I might not make it past this dish!!!!

Lump Crab Cakes: nice creamy taste and texture with lumps of crab. My hubby had this dish so I stole a few bites but had to save room for my salmon because it was just too good!

House made Key Lime Pie: Yep! Even this was to die for! I know it sounds crazy, but the best key lime pie I've had is from Publix. I've tried many at restaurants and none come close to the balance of sweet and tart. However, this pie at Amen Street might have it beat! It was a perfect marriage of sweet and tart, surely made with condensed milk but not overly rich or heavy.

Cocktails: I felt that the prices of all cooks were fair and even cheap compared to other places. If I'm going to spend money on a good cocktail, I feel like these are a steal. 🍹Passion of the Fruit: Yes x100. Light, fresh and all the flavor without being overly sweet. 🍹 The Spicy Pepino: definitely spicy but GOOD! I ordered a second, but asked for it to be a little milder and with a little passion fruit liqueur in it and loved it even more! 🍹Pecan Old Fashioned: Hubby is a big old fashioned fan and was thoroughly impressed with this. I can't do old fashioneds, but I had a few sips of his and it wasn't crazy overpowering. Definitely more of a flavor balance going on.

All in all, we plan to return, if for no other reason than the salmon, Corndog Shrimp and to try the oyster shooters, Bloody Mary, She-crab soup, Tuna Tartare and more! (Clearly we will...

Airy American bistro / seafood with personality, good atmosphere, great food, great service during busy lunch hour, will be back with family friends hopefully soon.

My mom, cousin and I were celebrating her bday but did not reveal that to the staff. We had been at another restaurant Landings which was a 30- 45 minutes wait! I’m so glad Amen St is only 3 min walk away from the coast with only 15 min wait and can even take the bar, score! The hostess was friendly and professional. When we found three empty seats 10 mins later she allowed us to sit. Five minutes later David the bartender who’s fantastic btw (works the bar like his own) asked for our drink orders. Five minutes later comes back to take our food order we’re still deciding, three minutes later asks if we’re ok we decide to order. Food came out promptly in about 15-18 minutes.

Food: 4 out of 5 She- crab soup: hot flavorful crab taste, not too creamy with perfect viscosity and not salty!

Mussels: warm, great broth, prefer different style of mussels but still cooked just right. Tomato reduced broth with mussel perfectly balanced, baguette toasted, not burnt.

Tuna Fish Tacos: recommended raw, a little too much cilantro but taste- out of all of Charleston great, flavorful and filling lime wedge for each taco. Plenty of fish meat with other ingredients. Savored and enjoyed the first taco.

Mahi Mahi burger: big slice of mahi mahi perfectly seasoned, mehh sesame bun, meaty steak fries, awesome in house dill pickle. ** the tartar sauce requested on the side phenomenal, must have been a Dijon mustard blend. Oh man bottle that stuff up and sell it to me!!

Dip everything in that sauce, fries, the burger, the taco, the baguette, my lover, j/k. If you ever need to dress up a burger or fries this is the sauce. My mom usually hates tartar sauce and she’s had fresh tartar sauce but this creamy mustard like tartar rocked her world.

My second taco had let’s just say something that almost took away my appetite and David, being the boss that he is, immediately apologized and comped my meal. However I simply wanted another really good taco without the “off menu item.” 😅 The kitchen provided, delicious! I would’ve paid for my meal but they insisted it was ok. 5 out of 5 customer service!

Amen St. is not just a pretty face and good seafood but really this is what dining out is all about. Providing food and great service, going above and beyond. From one restauranteur (and previous magazine news reviewer) to another,...

Really good food, service was a little off for us. It's a cool atmosphere with exposed brick and a good looking raw bar at the front. The hanging lights are awesome, they are oversized and covered with shells and it looks really cool. We were sat quickly and our server took our drink orders right away. It took a very long time for my husband's beer to come to him. Which was weird because it was literally a can of beer and a cold glass. It wasn't the type of beer he ordered and our server basically didn't come back to check on us until after he had mostly finished it. He asked about it, she checked on it and stated that was the beer they were using in place of the one he ordered. That was weird that nothing was said about a substitution before the order was delivered. They were busy at lunch and it took a while for us to get our food, but we weren't in a hurry. I ordered the shrimp and grits - which was phenomenal! If my review was solely based on my entree, it would easily get all 5 stars. The grits were nice and thick in the middle of the bowl, the shrimp were large enough I could cut them in half for the bite and the gravy....oooohhh the gravy. Sometimes there is way too much gravy with shrimp and grits but this dish left me wanting more. There was so much flavor, it was absolutely perfect! Honestly, I would have licked the bowl if no one had been around. It's that good! My husband ordered the Mahi Mahi sandwich. It was blackened and had purple cabbage slaw on top with a remoulade and fries on the side. Now, those fries were amazing! They looked to be battered or something, I don't know but they were so good. The fish sandwich was nicely seasoned with a little bit of a kick to it, not too spicy but a good flavor. He enjoyed his sandwich and was all too happy to help me finish my...