The Palmetto Cafe — Restaurant in Charleston

I was very disappointed in my experience at Palmetto Cafe for the 2023 holiday buffet. At $125 a person, I expected a nearly flawless experience, but that was not fulfilled. At arrival, we were seated and not asked if our seat was preferred (it was in a high-traffic area). I saw many others sat after us and they did not end up at the table that the host took them to, so it appeared to me a missed opportunity by the host to ensure a pleasant experience for many diners. Our table had just one knife and fork, whereas other set tables had 3 forks, a knife, and a spoon. I had to ask for cutlery and the waitress seemed bothered by my request. My mother was with me and she ordered a glass of cabernet, but the waitress brought something white and, when corrected, stated she thought my mom ordered white. I don't see any reason the waitress should have pointed that out since it was obvious she heard wrong and felt contentious. There were 4 food stations, but only plates at one of them-the meat station. So guests had to break in line at the meat station to get plates for the other 3 stations. There were no bowls for the soup, the first item on the sides station. When I asked the waitress for a bowl, she said there is not any soup. I informed her it was the first item on the sides station. She looked over to confirm what I had told her and then agreed to bring me a bowl. I gave her the opportunity (and hope) that she would notice we had no spoons. She did not. I had to ask for a spoon. Each time the waitress took our plates and cutlery, we had to ask for her to bring us more cutlery. All the food was room temperature since it was all sitting out-no sternos were used to keep the food warm/hot. The dessert bar and seafood station had no plates, so we had to get them from the meat station. To end the night, when we got the bill, it was red-stamped over the tip area with a note that said "GRATUITY INCLUDED," which I've never seen on a two-person table. So we had to pay 20% tip, which bothered me because I like the option to tip based on waitperson experience. After all, that is the whole point of the tip line-it's not required, but earned. The cauliflower soup was the best-tasting thing I could eat (vegan here) and my mom said the beef was good. So, I was not impressed and don't plan on referring locals or tourists who ask where to eat to Palmetto Cafe.

Many sides were labeled as gf, but none were labeled as vegan or vegetarian, so I felt limited in what I could choose. I already felt like an inconvenience to the waitress based on her responses when I asked for things noted in the previous response, so I did not ask. The green beans were good-cooked but still crunchy. All breads were room temp. Room temp biscuits are not yummy, btw. The dessert bar was pretty. The vegan trifle was good. I could tell it was coconut. It had the consistency of a cook egg white, which was not expected. The mushrooms and shallots were so cooked that I couldn't tell which was which. The mashed potatoes stuck onto the serving spoon and I saw children struggling to get the potatoes onto their plate. One child used their fingers to get the potatoes onto their plate-a sanitary violation.

Either lower the prices for the type of experience I had or do much better to ensure the cost of the event matches the experience. Have food warm/hot, assign someone to manage each station to look for those who need help, have questions, put plates and cutlery at all stations, label foods as gf and vegan (especially since that was advertised on the website), and it you are going to force a 20% tip, management should be ensuring wait staff is giving their top...

We live in Charleston and have had many great meals at both the Palmetto Cafe and Charleston Grill. Unfortunately today’s brunch was not one of them. We were shown promptly to our table as surprisingly not busy for noon on a Sunday. Then we sat, and sat and sat. From the time we started looking at our watch it was over 5 minutes until we were spoken to…not even any water poured. Our waiter finally came and was very pleasant. We decided on the brunch(unfortunately).For $65 per person I would expect more variety. No fruit except for hard, tasteless cantaloupe and honeydew. One salad of basically just romaine. Some potatoes and a squash medley. Had to ask for butter for the biscuit and the other pastry was very dry. The chef at the omelette station definitely needs more practice, as when he went to flip my omelette half of it ended up on the table where he was cooking. By that time I was over it. The food was a C at best.. When the waiter asked how things were I told him the best thing was the orange juice which was fresh and delicious. I have eaten wonderful brunches all over the world so imagine my surprise when the bill came and neither the orange juice nor coffee was included in the $ 65 price, Brunch for 2 without ANY alcohol was close to $200! For mediocre food at best we will not be returning as too many really wonderful restaurants...

The Charleston Place has been our "go to" at Christmas since it opened as the Omni years ago. We are residents here. The atmosphere, decorations, amenities, cleanliness, and staff are top notch!! Every year it seems even better.

We reserved a space for lunch with out of town guests Thursday. Our server Rudy was excellent.

The menu was very eclectic for some of the entrees. We took along time to decide because actually it was hard. We were all 4 disappointed in the offerings. The blue crab salad was good. The bread and crisps, butter delicious. However the fish of the day served with ?pasta? Looked like a plate of pork n beans with ?fish. Such a disappointment. The tiger shrimp on sourdough so, so. The she crab soup had nice presentation. In all honesty, my glass of white wine was the best. The bills were over $200. We four left disappointed in the food and left hungry. This will be our last visit for a meal at the Charleston Place. When the long time chef left last year, the quality of the dining experience left as well. C'est la Vie. Not a menu representative of the culture or region. Isn't this what people pay hundreds of dollars to visit Charleston to enjoy. If I wanted French food I would...