Stella's — Restaurant in Charleston

Overpriced for what it is. We have been to Greek festivals with big slabs of flaming saganaki. What Stella's served was a very thin layer with pita for triple the price. We had avgolemeno, which was alright, but we have had better at our local Greek diner. We finished our entrees, roasted chicken and a pasta with shrimp dish. Meh. Really nothing special. We don't mind paying for good food, but the food we received was just not worthy of the price. Two bigger disappointments beyond the dirty booth seat and sill were that only one appetizer was brought out, which left the other person sitting there watching the other person eat. When asked about the whereabouts of the other appetizer, the server said the other app takes longer to cook. My dining partner sat there letting their appetizer get cold in order to wait for me to get my soup. The saganaki should not have been served without the soup, which took an extra nearly 10 minutes to come out. It was not worth the wait. We were paying the bill when we heard the server rattling off the specials to an adjacent table. We were never told of any dinner specials, which sounded better than what we ended up ordering. The server had plenty of opportunities to tell us about specials. When she collected the bill, I asked her what the specials were. At that time she gave a one word description of each, "a steak, a fish..." The silverware was absolutely filty and should never have been rolled. The food was average, the prices high, the service lacking, and the booth dirty, and I can't recommend...

Stella’s has been my husband and my date night restaurant of choice since it’s opening, above even the most elite local steakhouses in Charleston. Unfortunately, our recent visit this weekend did not live up to our expectations. This was the first time I had not seen the owner present, which I hope was not the reason why. Just thirty minutes after opening, staff were eating plates of food right in front of us at the bar seating while socializing on social media with three other staff members. I felt a meal could have been eaten before guests arrived or eaten elsewhere in the kitchen away from diners. Our service was not bad, but not nearly as attentive as in the past. The wait staff appeared to have plenty of time on their hands while the young man expediter was doing the most work bringing us all of our food. I agree it is his job, but at a restaurant of this caliber I expected my server to serve if available and offer for any other assistance. The saganaki that is normally juicy, plump and to die for unfortunately appeared to be two slices of cheese heated in a pan I could easily do at home. This was very disappointing as this is one reason we love this place! Our experience will not prevent us from trying again as Stella’s has proven itself to us in the past, but hopefully some of these things will be addressed as I am confident this is not the ambience the owner worked so...

We had heard great things about this place and decided to give it a try for date night. The drinks were good, the calamari was very light and crisp. Feta appetizer was fantastic. Server didn't tell us the specials until we asked. Ok, that's fine. My husband ordered the ribeye cooked med rare. (Very red center). When his overpriced steak came out it was already cut into strips and was very overcooked. No red center whatsoever. The waitress offered to fire another steak and apologized. Meanwhile, I had the salmon and spinach/rice. After a long wait, his steak arrived and it was overcooked as well. It was a little more pink but definitely not med rare. The server even told us the lighting could make it look overdone (we were sitting beside a window). $55 for overdone steak strips and sweet potatoes is ridiculous. I don't ever leave reviews but this was a waste of money and very disappointing.

In response to the owners comment: My husband did eat the first overcooked ribeye because he was hungry, he waited 20+ minutes for the second ribeye and I was finished with my meal by the time the second one arrived at the table for him. Yes, he packed it up and took it home. I took half of my meal home as well. We paid for it. Perhaps the chef needs to review cooking times for meat temperatures as the first ribeye was brown. Have a great rest of...