Wild Common — Restaurant in Charleston

We’re from Switzerland, but always try to eat at one of charleston’s best when we’re visiting family. So glad we finally got a reservation while we were in town, as it was impossible last time we were here during Christmas.

We came here for our 8 year Charleston wedding anniversary and we’re greeted with a congratulations and a complimentary glass of champagne. Considering this is the sister restaurant of Zero George, and we were offered nothing, I already had a great first impression.

First of all, the space is amazing - very modern and open, and tables are not too close so your conversation is still private.

The tasting course consisted of 3 bites (similar to amuse bouche, but you’re paying for it 😂), a starter, a main, and a dessert. We didn’t do any optionals as we were super disappointed at Zero George and didn’t want to risk spending so much money to be disappointed, but after our time here I’m sure it would be worth it.

The Sous Chef brought out the bites and explained a bit about each - it seemed like he was reciting lines from a script as there was no passion, but I guess since the executive chef wasn’t there, he needed to ensure everything would be conveyed as the boss would say it. A bit disappointed the chopsticks on the table were the same one time use kind you get at any Chinese takeout, and not reusable kind.

The suckling pig dish had a lot going on and am not entirely sure if I loved it, but it was still delicious. Unfortunately my camera was already drunk by then so the picture turned out blurry. The rest of the dishes were great.

I did the wine pairing as my husband was driving, and the Somalier is SO MUCH BETTER than at Zero George.

The wait staff - these are the people that make dining here such a memorable and pleasant experience. Thank you to Kenneth for making it such an enjoyable dinner! He even pushed the chair in for people when they sat down, and folded their napkins while they were away - I’ve never seen this kind of service at a non-Michelin restaurant.

The Somalier is also very knowledgeable here, but the selection for digestifs are very limited to bottom shelf (but I guess ok for American standards?). I’ll bring some European digestifs (Etter Williams Birne for example) for comparison :)

Hope to come back next time with more friends so we can do the chefs table! Thank you again for a...

This is a solid choice for a tasting menu experience (with some caveats). First, the space is incredible. Its tucked back in an events venue. Right when you walk in, you feel like you have found a secret gem.

The food is exploding with unique flavors. Everything they served is prepared to an incredibly high degree of flavor and quality. If you consider yourself a foodie in Charleston, this is definitely a must to cross off the list.

For some negatives - Small staff and felt rushed - they even direct quote “rapid fire the first few tastings”. That sounds fun but we had our raw oysters and crudo / sashimi sitting on the table for a while and we didn’t even have our drinks yet! The server had to come ask us what was wrong with our food to which we replied “nothing, but we would like some drinks first before we proceed with the meal please!” Wild Common SLOW DOWN and help your guests get settled.

Another reason we could not get settled was my much older mother and wife are not comfortable using chop sticks which is all they provided on the table for the crudo in round one. We had to stop and ask the waiter for forks to begin. A bit of a rough start, went smoother afterwords.

My second grip is that the entire menu was seafood, including what i would call sushi (the crudo was more like sashimi). I love seafood and sushi. My wife does not. She struggled with this meal. For a “Tasting” menu it’s a bit One Dimensional. There should be a wider variety of nibbles across food types, meats, and pastas. Everything that arrived was basically some form of fish/shellfish/lobster. Again, incredible flavor. but for those who don’t love seafood to the maximum, this was a difficult dinner. We don’t expect that when coming to a Tasting Menu!

Other than those things - the quality of the cooking and flavors of the food are 10/10. For that reason i give 4 stars. We just hit tasting menu at Sorelle, that is 5 stars and they drop the mic. Wild...

The name says it all…there is something magical and wild about the restaurant though the food felt nothing short of common. The setting and the décor of the restaurant is absolutely beautiful, it feels as if you have entered a Michelin star restaurant. My heart was fluttering with joy of what I had embarked on and the food I was about to taste. The restaurant offers a set menu with few supplements at additional cost (caviar and wagyu beef) and wine paring, and might I add that our waitress gave a very generous pours. We stared off with a crab rice with kale chips followed by few other forgettable starters, thankfully the sparkling wine was a hit. Our first main course was the scallops which unfortunately were only seared on one side, shame because they looked great and if properly seared would have tasted great, however the Santa Barbara Grüner was a total disaster, why would you pair an Santa Barbara Grüner when you have an Austrian one that was 100% better! Our second course was listed as wreck fish which is similar to the grouper, however it is a local fish but instead when served we were told it was a grouper, which unfortunately was under cooked, the center was cold and had to be sent back. The fish was also paired with a red Burgundian wine that was at room temperature, which if you have dined long enough, you should know that if you are paring a red wine with fish, it should be chilled. Surprising since they have a sommelier in house! The dessert was forgettable, a dry match cake with tapioca…again thankfully it was paired with an excusable dessert wine. Finally, I have to mention the soft serve ice cream that was served at the end, I would never serve that again as it was just chocolate ice. The biggest disappoint of it all was that if the food was on par with the décor and the setting and the service (and if the wine glasses were polished), Wild Common would be worthy of...