Chez Nous — Restaurant in Charleston

Where shall we go today, France or Italy? Perhaps a bordertown experience ala Courmayeur? Having been to Charleston once before, I was interested in stepping outside the local low-country cuisine to experience a restaurant with different, even European aspirations. Chez Nous filled that bill quite nicely. The restaurant is in a converted house down an alley far from bustling King Street. Although they have a lovely patio, be sure to request an inside table if the weather concerns you. While not strictly a farm-to-table purist kitchen, the approach is absolutely one based in local, fresh, and high quality ingredients. The menu ( handwritten by the chef in both French and English) is more than concise: two starters, two entrees, and two desserts are presented each day—perhaps with the goal of relieving you of the decision-fatigue so prevalent in modern life. Regardless of intent, the approach is liberating. You make reservations here with the understanding that you are relying on the chef’s selection of ingredients determining what she will cook that day. There is no burning desire to preview the menu online and succumb in advance to our predilections. Instead, proceed with faith. The starter I chose, an antipasto dish of prosciutto, burrata, and strawberries was simple and delicious. We tried both Main’s: the spaghetti con vongole (clams from Oregon) and the fried chicken. The pasta was al dente and the sauce delicate. The chicken thighs (my personal favorite piece of yardbird) was also perfectly cooked. The scarpetta ( cleaning the plate Italian style with bread) was more than warranted. The wine list is well-curated, with most wines from France, Italy, and Spain. (I was told the owners have a wine bar in Paris as well). I selected a French Bourgogne (Chardonnay) that worked brilliantly with both of the mains. The dessert finished it off, a chocolate and olive oil cake with a delicate white sauce. For that, I selected a glass of the French Chinon (Cabernet Franc). The service by Nicki was attentive, and her wine knowledge evident. The final act was a hand pulled single espresso with beans from a local roaster —with a nice crema on top. $245 for two with a $79 wine and a glass of the Cabernet Franc—in line with fine dining in town. I will be back one day for another series of...

I live in Charleston and recently tried Chez Nous for the first time with my wife and her parents last Saturday for an 8 pm reservation. I had heard good things, but was extremely disappointed with our experience.

First off, we reserved a table for 4 in the courtyard for the ambiance, but were seated at a community table, with the party next to us listening in on our conversation. There goes the ambiance.

The menu is very small (2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 deserts). My father-in-law and I each ordered the same appetizer (octopus salad) and he same entree (swordfish). About 10 minutes after ordering, we were told they were out of the octopus salad. We could either order the other option or a new option (a canned tuna salad). Of course the canned tuna salad doesn't sound appetizing at all, so I opted for the ricotta salad with snap peas, the only other choice. It lacked flavor and was really just a plate of snapped peas on top of a heap of ricotta.

Time for the entrees. The wait staff brought out the entrees and we began to dig in. A few minutes into eating my fish, we overhear the waitress tell the couple next to us, at the community table, that they are now out of the swordfish. The replacement is grouper. We hear that and it dons on me that I'm not eating the swordfish I ordered, it's the grouper. They ran out of the fish we ordered and served us the replacement without alerting us or asking if we'd like to choose something different. My father-in-law doesn't like grouper so I decided to say something to the waitress. She was apologetic, but confused. She didn't know they had swapped out the fish.

The manager then came over and barely apologized. Instead, he looked at our plates and saw we had starting eating the fish and sarcastically said, "well, it looks like you didn't have a problem with the grouper." The exchange was awkward to say the least as the entire courtyard looked and listed in.

Needless to say, in a city rich with great restaurants, we won't be returning to Chez Nous. There are plenty of better options with more menu choices and less arrogant management.

I'd give the restaurant a 1-star review, but the wine...

This is going to be an extremely hot take but…Chez Nous isn’t that great. I’ve always heard nothing but great things about this place. Never got to come here while I was going to MUSC, so we were excited to finally get a reservation while we were in town. The place is hidden off a side street and absolutely tiny. They have a nice outdoor patio and two small seating areas inside. We chose bar seats and I’ve gotta say - probably the most cramped and uncomfortable I’ve ever sat. Everyone was kinda sitting there awkwardly with their hands in their laps (granted, I am 6’3”). Their menu changes daily, written in entirely illegible font that’s cute and rustic and unique and photographs well, but you’ve got to wait on your server to even tell you what they have (are all of these words banana?). They break their menu up into two apps, two entrees, and two desserts, all expensive. Their wine list is sizable and complete. We ended up getting both apps, just one of the entrees, and both desserts. They sounded interesting enough (didn’t realize people were still putting piquillo peppers on menus…), but as the food came out…not great. Very run of the mill with nothing super unique or local or memorable. (Delicious) Toast points and foie Gras butter garnished with a leaf of parsley and a $40+ entree of pork steak that would be $18 at any tapas place. Absolutely delicious desserts actually priced well. All of the plates are small but shareable. Sure, the food is good, but it’s overpriced by $10-15 for no reason, and by no means outstanding. I used to follow their Instagram for beautiful plates, and maybe we hit them on a low night, but…If you want to go to Chez Nous, go for wine, excellent coffee, and desserts in their tiny little ambience and skip the whole meal. But if you want a delicious and memorable meal in what is a heavy hitting food city, you’ve got 3 or 4 or more other places (Vern’s, FIG, even Hall’s) that will do you better. This was in my top 5 most expensive meals as a couple and probably not even breaking the top 100 best. All the staff were absolutely excellent and incredibly welcoming and friendly, but sorry Chez Nous,...