Jackrabbit Filly — Restaurant in North Charleston

Tl;dr: This place is amazing. The cocktails are great, the octopus, beets, hot karaage, fried rice, and spaetzle are worth going to North Charleston for again and again. The service and atmosphere are difficult to beat. Take a step outside of your comfort zone, and you will not be disappointed with these one-of-a-kind dishes.

I'm really not sure where to begin with Jackrabbit Filly because between the atmosphere, the service, and (possibly most importantly) the food, there are several areas in which this restaurant lived up to it's reputation. It has the ambience of the swanky, hip new restaurant that also feels like you've stepped into someone's home kitchen for a home cooked meal. We started with drinks at the bar while we waited for our table. Both the Pedro for President (the smoothest tequila cocktail I've ever had) and the Night is Young (a thick, sweet whiskey cocktail) were incredibly unique and equally delicious.

Once seated, our server, Andi, guided us through a mostly unfamiliar menu with items I don't think I would have tried without her recommendations. She was earnestly excited to share her favorites with us, and between her, the hostess, and the bartender, I got the feeling that everyone here takes great pride in the whole experience-they all wanted us to love the food and restaurant as much as they do.

First of all, one of the best parts is the family style offerings so you don't have to choose just one or two plates. Between two of us we had three small plates and a large plate and ate more than enough. I typically hate beets, but the Marinated Beets is a dish I will have again and again. An incredible variety of texture with just the right amount of flavors that blend incredibly well together, the beets give a complex flavor profile that have given me a new perspective on beets.

The fried octopus was another dish I wouldn't have ordered but definitely don't regret getting. I didn't think that octopus could melt in your mouth while still having a perfect almost crispy texture. The star of the smaller plates, though was the hot karaage. It is a little spicy, but I could have eaten 10 orders of it despite it's generous portion. The chicken was perfectly fried with tender, juicy meat inside and intense flavor on the outside. This dish is an absolute must have.

We ordered the Dan Dan Pork Spaetzle for our large plate. It was simply amazing, with delicious pork and and soft, dreamy dumplings that make you wonder why this German Asian dish isn't served everywhere. We ordered fried rice to go because we couldn't put any more food into our bellies, and the next day we learned why this fried rice put them on the map. Pineapple in fried rice is, again, not something I'm usually excited about, but the pineapple blended in so well with the shrimp, ham, and notably the curry aioli.

I could go on and on, but you just need to trust me and experience it for yourself. Every dish we had was worth going back for. Go outside of your comfort zone, and let the staff and food transport you to a place where you feel like you have been welcomed into the lives and home of true culinary artisans.

(I couldn't help myself from diving in and only remembered to take a picture at the end...

If I am being 100% honest, this restaurant was a massive letdown from the hype it received.

I came in with pretty high expectations and left quite disappointed.

We ordered several meals, and almost every item was bad.

We first started with their spicy Korean pierogis. The pierogies themselves tasted frozen and a little tough, and covering it in gochujang just felt off. The dish does actually meld together well, and I think it would be a pretty big improvement if the pierogies themselves were filled with something else to giveit more of a Korean flare. Maybe some radish or bean sprouts or a mild kimchi.

We then got the chirashi bowl. The ball itself was kind of a mess and once again, did not seem to go together that well. Flavor wise was OK, but proportions were also off.

The veggie egg roll is decent but very small. Pretty crispy and comes with a sweet-and-sour sauce. The filling is pretty empty. I would suggest that it is actually filled normally and potentially 50% bigger for the price being charged.

The carrot coconut soup was just bad. Coconut flavor is almost indistinguishable. If they had added something a little acidic and spicy to the soup, that would’ve also elevated it. Suggestions would be a little bit of fish sauce and some chili flakes.

Last, we got the chicken kaarage don. This was probably the least enjoyable of the dishes. The breading on the chicken was very soft instead of crunchy, the meet itself was pretty tough and chewy, and the flavor left a lot to be desired. It was also disproportionally overshadowed by a lot of rice. The rice as well was a little stale and hard.

On a different note, parking is pretty difficult. All of the free street parking is full for several blocks around meal times. I had to find parking on a side street a few blocks away in an adjacent neighborhood.

As much as I was looking forward to enjoying this restaurant, I can’t give this a higher rating. Again, staff were friendly and the design of the restaurant is really nice. But unfortunately, food is most important and was the...

Today was a monumentous occasion and we celebrated at Jack Rabbit Filly’s. There is no better place to honor a milestone than this exciting eatery. The location is cute and quaint, the lighting is intimate, the menu is delicious, and the staff are like family! Today my husband and I came here to celebrate my first published article in The Post and Courier! We are so happy and overjoyed and we wanted to go somewhere special to us. The first thing we ordered were some refreshments. I had the “That’s a Big Twinkie,” and my husband had the “” one thing I love about this place is the creativity and playfulness that this restaurant brings. Next we had shots brought in called “Chinese Fireball, OOOOOOO,” a fun ode to Harry Potter. Each of these drinks were so refreshing and well made I would gladly try them again. For starters we order the fish tartare and the pork dumplings. Each had its own merits but that tartare really shined. The brown butter mixed in was the perfect touch. Our entrees were nothing short of spectacular. My husband tried the Lamb Pot Pie with a puff pastry on top. The texture was immaculate with the perfect crust so that when you broke the surface it was akin to opening a special gift that contained perfectly cooked lamb and potatoes. I ordered the fried rice which had a flawless cook with a texture to die for because of the cow tongue. I consider myself so lucky being able to try this. We ended our night with one final drink called “Aloha, Sorry About Your Brain,” and a dessert called “Not Fried Chicken.” The drink was a sweet and tart offering with a lovely hint of mint and the dessert was literally ice cream made to look exactly like a fried chicken drumstick. I loved both and I must say I was so impressed with how they pulled off the ice cream. Our server even brought us complimentary champagne to commemorate the moment. If you ever had any reservations about Jack Rabbit Filly, throw them out the window and come...