Felix Cocktails et Cuisine — Restaurant in Charleston

I had a horrific experience at Felix, on date night with my girlfriend. I am a chef and had been talking the place up as an example of traditional French cooking; which if you looked at the menu you'd imagine was true. However most of the advertised items on the menu are in some way a fabrication. The "short rib-brisket" burger is either a frozen run of the mill store bought burger or they used the previously cooked brisket and or short rib ground it into a "patty" and reheated it. It was dry underseasoned and entirely unworthy of the $22 price tag. The cheese on the croquet monsieur was Swiss even though it was advertised at gruyere. Additionally it was $16 for what amounted to a minuture version of the sandwich cut into four bite sized pieces. For a french inspired restaurant you'd think they could make one of the French mother sauces, yet the bechemel was lumpy, as if someone had added roux to the liquid instead of the other way around. Also it came out cold and it was heavy handed with the nutmeg, which was clearly preground instead of the traditional fresh ground nutmeg. The mac and cheese was somehow entirely vacant of any cheese, despite it being listed as gruyere on the menu, it seemed to only have the lumpy and also cold "bechemel" not even some melted Swiss on top; the noodles were also overcooked to the consistency I've only ever experienced at olive garden. My girlfriend refused to take it home for our dog. My girlfriends' $6 coke was put into a flute glass with an obscene amount of ice and likely amounted to half a can of coke, that somehow came out entirely flat and served with a straw that had been cut with a knife and removed from it's wrapper and thrust into the drink. Now let's get into the frankly discriminatory service. From the moment we walked in it was clear we were unwelcome. The server who greeted us did so by saying "so a seat at the bar then?" With an attitude. When we corrected her and said we'd prefer a table she looked behind her at a few clearly empty and clean tables and said she didn't have any and one would need cleaned off. She then ducked into the back without a word while an embarrassed manager wandered up and actually bothered to ask us where we'd like to sit. The waitress when she finally came up to us dropped the excitable tone she'd held with the table right next to us and flatly said, "here's your water, Ill give you time to look over the menu." Nevermind that we'd already been sitting there for 15 minutes at that point. I had to interrupt her attempt to walk away with "we're actually ready to order if you wouldn't mind." She from that point didn't check on us at all and had the manager run the food to us. Which he sexistly assumed that the cheeseburger was for me when I had the soup and salad, instead of utilizing seat numbers like any respected establishment. I had to find her after waiting another 15 minutes after our meals were finished to ask for our check. Frankly an embarrassing excuse for a restaurant that seems to pride itself on discriminating against its guests, catering to those they think they can fool with a nice atmosphere and we'll designed menu while lying to them about the quality of the food and overcharging for what they actually provided. I'm never eating here again and will tell everyone I know in the industry to avoid either patronizing or working at this establishment....

5 Reasons why you should try Felix

My wife and I got a rare date night and summoned an Uber to take us downtown. We tried Felix on a friend’s suggestion. We knew our chances were not good on a Weekend and we were probably pushing our luck going around 7 but since it was only two of us, we figured we could at least sit at the bar. The place was packed. The bar was packed, and the dining room was packed. Before we could spin around and save ourselves the embarrassment of explaining to the hostess we didn’t have reservations, she went out of her way to come over to us and ask how she could help. We quickly explained our situation and sheepishly headed to the door when she asked if we could give her 5 – 7 minutes to take a look at their reservations. Reason 1. Amanda got us a table. I really don’t know how she seated us because when we walked in every table was occupied with people waiting. Reason 2. Our waitress, Haley, was more than accommodating. When I dug more into why she was so helpful and “bubbly” she said it was just her personality and she also “Loved working here”. I don’t need to know anything more about how the place is ran. When your employees love working there, you’re doing something right. Reason 3. The food was outstanding. Exceptional. Cared for. All of that. Reason 4. The drinks were the same as the food. I could not recommend an improvement for either. Reason 5. The owner stopped by our table in a very covert way. He was super casual in his questions and genuinely wanted to know how our evening went. Not “how’s the food”; “how are we doing”; or any of the typical questions that make it about him. It was all about us. It was an experience much like showing up at his home for dinner. If you’re reading this review, you’re considering trying Felix. You can’t go wrong. Oh, and if you want to talk to someone about risk and taking a chance and if you feel like something is holding you back, ask to speak with Felix. Tell him you want to know about how he built his restaurant. Impressive all the way around. Thanks to all of you at Felix. Our evening was...

Everyone from Charleston gets the notorious question: What’s your favorite place to go? Felix is always at the top of my list, as it’s truly one of my go-to’s in town, my favorite place on King St. I send people here daily.

I love that it’s a great bar/restaurant to unwind and chat with friends, because even though it’s lively at times, it’s never too loud to have a conversation. The atmosphere is perfect for a grown crowd that isn’t looking for a night club scene. Upbeat music at a comfortable volume, warm lighting, modern yet welcoming design, and a great bar to hang out at as well as plenty of options for table seating. You can even enjoy a sidewalk table if you want to people-watch on King St.

I LOVE the staff, and it’s very telling, in a good way, that they seem to have had the same staff for a long time. It always brightens my day when I walk in and see Eric and Cole behind the bar. Hailey and Tito are great as well, and these days you can often see them at the sister restaurant next door. My favorite bartender said Eric’s his favorite bartender 🥳

The food never misses. My description of their burger: it’s SO juicy, and tastes like a burger had a baby with French onion soup. The melty gooey gruyere cheese and caramelized onions are such a yummy combination. The accompanying fries are thin cut, crispy, and just the perfect pairing.

Their kitchen serves food until midnight every night, which is a bonus in this town, where a lot of other places on the same tier as Felix shut it down at 9:30-10pm.

They’re attached to a large parking garage, which is convenient if you’re driving. After 10pm, they do a petit menu, but if you stop by before 10, they have a full dinner menu. I’ve had their filet before, and it was fantastic. I also really enjoy the mussels, poutine, Caesar salad with a giant cheese crisp crouton, deviled eggs, and their cocktail list is awesome.

Great food, great atmosphere, and most of all, great people. I’ll be back again and...