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We Do Actually Eat In West Ashley

toddbarwick

By toddbarwick
in Charleston

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toddbarwick Unincorporated Area

toddbarwick

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As a lifelong resident of West Ashley I am constantly baffled as to why we have NO restaurants in West Ashley! There is absolutely NO place to eat out, yet we have residential development galore. With residential growth comes a population boom - and yes, we do have to eat.

Restauranteurs of America - where are you???!!! We need you in our humble community. Chili's, On The Border, Olive Garden, Carrabba's, TGI Fridays, Longhorn - someone - anyone. PLEASE HELP US!!!

Thank goodness for Zaxby's & Sonic - anyone ever notice that they are ALWAYS packed? Could it be because we have NO place else to eat in the upper West Ashley area?

P.S. If you're thinking of opening a Mexican or Asian eatery in West Ashley - please look elsewhere. I believe that we already have the lock on those fares.

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groovetube66 Unincorporated Area

groovetube66

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As a lifelong resident of West Ashley I am constantly baffled as to why we have NO restaurants in West Ashley! There is absolutely NO place to eat out, yet we have residential development galore. With residential growth comes a population boom - and yes, we do have to eat.

Restauranteurs of America - where are you???!!! We need you in our humble community. Chili's, On The Border, Olive Garden, Carrabba's, TGI Fridays, Longhorn - someone - anyone. PLEASE HELP US!!!

Are you serious? You want MORE chain restaurant junk... the same mass-produced food you get at an exit off I-95??? It is the independent restaurants that make this area a great culinary town. In W. Ashley alone you have:

*Red Orchids - probably the best Chinese food restaurant in the area, a real restaurant, with a nice jazzy Hong Kong bistro vibe.

*Amuse - a really nice tapas restaurant.

*Al Di La - great Northern Italian food.

*Marie Laveaux - New Orleans-style breakfast and brunch

*Nathan's Deli - cheap and solid breakfast and lunch

*Penachios - good Italian in a quaint little home on 61

*Baronis Pizza - strip mall secret to many, its really good pizza pie!

And places like the Map Room and Voodoo Lounge have surprisingly tasty appetizers.

Plus nothing is far away in this area. It's a short drive to many many good choices on the peninsula and elsewhere. Try a locally owned place and keep your money in the neighborhood instead of fattening some huge corporation even more.

Sheesh! :blink:

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Charleston native Burg

Charleston native

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Hi todd, and welcome to the UP! It's good to see a fellow West Ashley native on here! This side of Chas will always be the best...who needs Mt. P, anyway? ;)

And actually, I agree with you completely. Groove, you have a point about WA having some of the coolest local restaurants in town, but todd has an excellent point. Many WA-er's can have the option of eating at those local places you mentioned, but sometimes people want a change and eat what other people around the country are eating. Mt. P and the north city seem to have dominated the chain restaurant market, even though WA would be the most logical step for expansion. For crying out loud, the only Olive Garden, Carrabba's, and Longhorns in the entire metro area are next to Northwoods Mall. You have to wait two hours just to eat in those places. Imagine if they had another location next to Citadel Mall...it would still be busy, but not with insane waiting times. The only Chili's in the area is in Mt. P, as well as On the Border, an excellent Mexican chain.

WA is quietly growing as the largest section of the city of Chas, and it only shows signs of continuing to grow. The market on this side of the river has barely been tapped, and many residents have complained that they have to drive 30-45 minutes to the north area or East Cooper to eat at these great chains. BTW, the notion of eating at these chains fattening these huge corporations is a complete fallacy. Most of these chains are owned and operated by locals as well. They just have to pay a franchise fee, and most of the money stays in the city.

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Charleston native Burg

Charleston native

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^ Sam Rittenburg has a variety of chains, as well as US 17, no doubt, but the higher end chains are what WA is lacking. Todd's complaint (and I'm with him on this as well) revolves around the fact that the chains appear to avoid WA while other parts of the metro area get them all. Yet, WA is gaining people at a dramatic rate, with more to come. There is plenty of land around Citadel Mall and West Ashley Town Center (where Costco is located) to build more of these chains.

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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It makes sense though, if you think about it. Mount Pleasant is the rich suburban section. North Charleston is the regional shopping destination- a natural attraction for that type of business. West Ashely, at least so far as I can tell, is not a monetarily significant part of town.

That said, I understand where you're coming from. I live on a side of town in Spartanburg where our shopping is not what it is on the otherside of town, even though it should be.

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Jerseyman4 Burg

Jerseyman4

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Are you serious? You want MORE chain restaurant junk... the same mass-produced food you get at an exit off I-95??? It is the independent restaurants that make this area a great culinary town.

Very very very well said :D

It's good to see a fellow West Ashley native on here! This side of Chas will always be the best...who needs Mt. P, anyway? ;)

Ive always felt West Ashley and James Island had more character (older look/feel) to the Charleston metro area. Mt P is just too new looking and pretty much all filled with transplants.

Back on topic,

Sometimes allllllllll the way from Mt P, im talking about way out by SC 517 and SC 41, there will be times where we will eat out in West Ashley and even North Charleston because there some restaurants Mt P does not have either. I can only name three since im not there ALL THE TIME; one being Carrabas by Northwoods Mall (i ridicule my parents in this regard, thats not real italian food), again over in N Charleston-theres a cheeseteak restaurant on southbound Rivers Ave THAT MAKES prettttyyyyyyy good cheesesteaks. You would thuink they were from Philadelphia but really they are from New York :shok: ! Finally, theres a Mexican restaurant (name?) on Savannah Hwy thats a all you can eat buffet and ITS SOOOO GOOD. I always see the Charleston County Sheriffs and city police eating there all the time. Its cheap, fills you up and the food is GOOD, REALLY GOOD. When a buffet offers unlimited avacado and cheese dip, you know you cant go wrong!

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Jerseyman4 Burg

Jerseyman4

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The bottom line is guys, West Ashley has an extensive market for a few high-end chain restaurants and there's nothing wrong with having some of those. OK, I pulled an all-nighter for my take-home exam, so mentally I'm done....I must go.... -_-

Theres nothing wrong with that since WA can accomodate these restaurants for people who live there. Id like to see a push for more independant restaurants to compete rather than ANOTHER chain AFTER another CHAIN.

Been there, done that on the all-nighter's for exams :thumbsup:

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waccamatt Town

waccamatt

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Are you serious? You want MORE chain restaurant junk... the same mass-produced food you get at an exit off I-95??? It is the independent restaurants that make this area a great culinary town. In W. Ashley alone you have:

*Red Orchids - probably the best Chinese food restaurant in the area, a real restaurant, with a nice jazzy Hong Kong bistro vibe.

*Amuse - a really nice tapas restaurant.

*Al Di La - great Northern Italian food.

*Marie Laveaux - New Orleans-style breakfast and brunch

*Nathan's Deli - cheap and solid breakfast and lunch

*Penachios - good Italian in a quaint little home on 61

*Baronis Pizza - strip mall secret to many, its really good pizza pie!

And places like the Map Room and Voodoo Lounge have surprisingly tasty appetizers.

Plus nothing is far away in this area. It's a short drive to many many good choices on the peninsula and elsewhere. Try a locally owned place and keep your money in the neighborhood instead of fattening some huge corporation even more.

Sheesh! :blink:

I so totally agree with you. I try and support locally-owned businesses as much as possible. South Carolina is such a poor state; keep as much of our money here as possible!

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toddbarwick Unincorporated Area

toddbarwick

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It makes sense though, if you think about it. Mount Pleasant is the rich suburban section. North Charleston is the regional shopping destination- a natural attraction for that type of business. West Ashely, at least so far as I can tell, is not a monetarily significant part of town.

That said, I understand where you're coming from. I live on a side of town in Spartanburg where our shopping is not what it is on the otherside of town, even though it should be.

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toddbarwick Unincorporated Area

toddbarwick

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Are you serious? You want MORE chain restaurant junk... the same mass-produced food you get at an exit off I-95??? It is the independent restaurants that make this area a great culinary town. In W. Ashley alone you have:

*Red Orchids - probably the best Chinese food restaurant in the area, a real restaurant, with a nice jazzy Hong Kong bistro vibe.

*Amuse - a really nice tapas restaurant.

*Al Di La - great Northern Italian food.

*Marie Laveaux - New Orleans-style breakfast and brunch

*Nathan's Deli - cheap and solid breakfast and lunch

*Penachios - good Italian in a quaint little home on 61

*Baronis Pizza - strip mall secret to many, its really good pizza pie!

And places like the Map Room and Voodoo Lounge have surprisingly tasty appetizers.

Plus nothing is far away in this area. It's a short drive to many many good choices on the peninsula and elsewhere. Try a locally owned place and keep your money in the neighborhood instead of fattening some huge corporation even more.

I'm glad that you enjoy those places. I'm sure that some of them are quite good. I admittedly have not eaten at them all. A few that you mention (and I won't single them out here) I would NEVER darken their doorsteps again. They have serious issues with consistency in terms of food quality and their cleanliness (or lack thereof) leaves much to be desired. My point is merely that I think that West Ashley could support a few upscale chain restaurants to supplement the local eateries already in place. My second point is that we are overloaded with Mexican and Asian restaurants......we need more diversity and variety. In speaking with a local resident who is a franchisee of a national restaurant chain, he stated that the reason he stayed out of West Ashley for so long was because of high land costs. Available raw land in West Ashley is extremely limited so therefore that which is available is going for a premium.

West Ashley looked to have a lot of the regular chains. Most cities the size of Charleston only have one or two Olive Gardens, etc. Rittenburg has lots of suburban things on it, if I recall correctly.

As far as national casual dining chains, Sam Rittenberg has an Applebee's, an Outback Steakhouse and a Red Lobster. All other restaurants are either of the fast-food variety or are locally/regionally owned establishments.

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Charleston native Burg

Charleston native

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...My point is merely that I think that West Ashley could support a few upscale chain restaurants to supplement the local eateries already in place. My second point is that we are overloaded with Mexican and Asian restaurants......we need more diversity and variety. In speaking with a local resident who is a franchisee of a national restaurant chain, he stated that the reason he stayed out of West Ashley for so long was because of high land costs. Available raw land in West Ashley is extremely limited so therefore that which is available is going for a premium...
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digital_sandlapper Hamlet

digital_sandlapper

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That is your opinion, my friend. I happen to know actual Italian people who have praised Carrabbas for its food. If Carrabbas isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. But many people like it.

I've got to study for my health care financing exam today, so I'll make this brief. Todd and I have already repeated this statement: WA has excellent local choices and some nice chain stores, but it is missing the higher end chains. No one is saying that there is nowhere to eat in WA...the area just needs more variety. Imagine if WA had the higher end chains AND the already existing places. It would be the area to go in Chas for eating!

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digital_sandlapper Hamlet

digital_sandlapper

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Hey man, I was just trying to be helpful, don't bite my head off! (You need a break from your studies?) :P

I like Carabba's just fine--delicious. :thumbsup: My point was: is it worth the traffic we all hate when so many good choices abound? Now if I were already in that neck of the woods, then it would be convenient and I would consider Carabba's. With all the other things that are clustered there, and found no where else in town, that might happen. We have that similar problem in Columbia. If it's only out at Harbison, most people plan ahead and wait until they have enough reason to make a trip to that conjested area.

Remember, your original post and the title of this topic was "Why there is NO place to eat in WA" and implying that you are forced to drive up to NC or MP to find decent choices. So, I was just attempting to counter that. I believe that you and the other residents of WA are not forced to do that. If you want Carabba's specifically, then yes, you must make the commute. So it is worth it for you, but would not be for me. Carabba's is a very good restaurant, but I believe many WA residents will survive without a convenient location for now. Your original question made it sound so desolate!

This topic should be considered closed, since we are all in agreement that 1) there ARE places to eat in WA (and good ones), and 2) that adding a WA Carabba's would be nice. :)

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