The Obstinate Daughter — Restaurant in Sullivan's Island

My wife and I spent the day at Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms and decided to head over to Sullivan’s Island for lunch. After a bit of research, we landed on The Obstinate Daughter, and it turned out to be an amazing choice! I loved the look of their website—very modern, with lots of personality—and was impressed by how passionate their chefs seem to be about making everything homemade and sourcing quality ingredients.

Our reservation was originally at 12:45 p.m., but we were running late, so I called ahead. Zoe was super helpful and moved our time by 20 minutes, which really saved us from scrambling. When we arrived, the staff welcomed us warmly, and we were seated with no issues. Our waiter, Chris, had such a calm, personable demeanor—exactly what you want when you’re looking to have a relaxed, enjoyable meal. I asked if they could make a simple homemade pasta with their in-house marinara, and between Chris and the chef, Jaq Larson, they were more than willing to accommodate. It’s clear this restaurant values going the extra mile for its guests, and I truly appreciated that.

Parking was a bit of an adventure. The restaurant’s parking lot is pretty small, so we ended up parking on the street. It’s just a short walk, so it wasn’t a big deal. Once you get to the building, you’ll find the entrance is actually up an exterior wooden staircase. In my opinion, a little extra signage would be nice, especially around the parking area, so guests know they have to go around and climb the stairs. It’s not too complicated once you spot it, but it could be clearer.

Once inside, though, the atmosphere was great, and the food was incredible. My homemade pasta and red sauce had that perfect balance of seasoning you only get from fresh ingredients. My wife ordered the flatbread with smoked salmon, and it was outstanding—topped with capers, onions, cheese, and all sorts of other good stuff that elevated the flavor to a whole new level. The presentation was so well done I couldn’t imagine recreating it at home. For the quality of food, I’d say everything was definitely worth the price.

I was also curious about the restaurant’s unique name. Turns out, “The Obstinate Daughter” pays tribute to Sullivan’s Island’s Revolutionary War history. In 1776, Colonel William Moultrie and his soldiers defeated a British attempt to seize Charleston in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. The British press ran a cartoon calling the Charleston defenders “obstinate daughters of America,” and that defiant spirit is what the name here is all about. It’s a really cool backstory that adds even more character to an already memorable place.

My only suggestions for management would be around signage and parking. A larger or more obvious sign—either in the parking area or at the base of the staircase—would help first-time visitors find their way more smoothly. The parking lot is also quite small, so providing clearer instructions or a note on the website about street parking options would be a big help. Otherwise, everything was wonderful—thank you for a fantastic...

It wasn't bad but I wouldn't say it was good either. I came here not knowing anything other than it is hard to get a reservation here because I like to be surprised. They definitely accomplished that. They have a daily special menu along with the menu on the website. Be wary of the daily special menu since the prices are not told to you. To start off, I had the Limelight and my girlfriend had Sgt Jasper and All Hands on Deck. To me, the Limelight was good but the lime overpowered the coconut cream. It tasted like a cream soda mixed with a sprite with extra lime. My girlfriend liked both her drinks. All Hands on Deck was almost like a pina colada but she couldn't tell what flavor it really was. For the appetizers we had the Duck and the Local lettuce. The portion for the Local Lettuce was huge. My girlfriend was very satisfied with it. On the other hand, the duck portion was small. It tasted good especially with the sauerkraut. The amount of food I got was disappointing to me but I was looking forward to the main course. The actual meals she got the Fusilli with shrimp and I got the special which was Pappardelle with truffles. Again her portion was big. My portion of food I found was very small. I also could have sworn that the server said my dish came with prosciutto but it did not. Maybe I misheard her and figured I would try the dish how it was made. My girlfriend's dish was pretty good. It had a nice flavor to it even though I don't like seafood. The pappardelle wasn't bad but it wasn't anything worth raving about either. It was bitter with the slight notes of garlic and saltiness from the parmesan. I finished all of my food while my girlfriend was not even halfway done. She got a box for her salad and fusilli. They even packed the boxes for her which I thought was really nice. For dessert we got the bourbon pecan crème brulee. This was the first time I had creme brulee so I was excited. It was nice. The crust was bitter and the cream was sweet but not too sweet. It also came with a cookie to control the sweetness level even more. Overall, I left disappointed. The prices are way too high that to me, did not match the quality I was expecting. Taste was alright but the portions were small. I wanted to stop by somewhere on the way back to eat because I was that hungry. My girlfriend really liked it, which I'm glad. Maybe I just ordered the wrong things but this place has left such a bad taste in my mouth, its going to be a long time if I decide to give this place another go. To me, this place is extremely overhyped and...

Well, it was good, but not the most amazing thing. We made a reservation for 6 (plus a baby, which was on the reservation - in the notes section), when we walked in, they tried to seat us at the tiniest table that sat 5 on a good day; when I tried to explain there was no way that 6 plus a baby were sitting there, they said that they seat 6 there all the time and they had no idea that there was a baby in the reservation. There was another table that would have been much more comfortable for us, but they insisted it was booked for another party; so we proceeded to sit at our table. When they saw how it indeed did not fit us (and only 3 were there at the time), they proceeded to move us to the other table. (FYI, eventually, they did seat 5 people at our original table and it was FULL, I'm not sure when they seat 6 - maybe 6 110# bachelorettes? I'm not sure).

Nonetheless, I tried to recover my mood, so I'm not sure if I just couldn't get over my initial bad impression, but honestly, the food was good, but to haul all the way out to Sullivan's Island for pizza and pasta? Mmmm... not sure.

We shared plates and were a reasonable sized group so I failed to get photos of the cold plates, which were the Farro Piccolo (winner of this round), the Local Lettuce (good salad), the Flatbread (fine) and a seafood salad (much smaller than anticipated, IMO). Piccolo and the salad are worth coming back for.

Warm plates were 2 gnocchis because they were faves of some of the others who had already been (good, but I think they needed salt or something, they were underseasoned somehow), the Radiatori (yummy, but also underseasoned) and two pizzas, which were both better than the pastas (IMO) - the Rutledge which was really the showstopper for me and the Old Danger which was also really good. Both pizzas showed true originality in ingredient composition, the OD, came uncut, since it had an egg on top which I found a truly unique presentation.

So, I might try going back just because my intro wasn't that great and maybe that skewed my view, but that's far to go for pizza and pasta and I think we have some decent spots downtown for that quite honestly. Sorry to ruin...