I am not sure why so many of the reviews are so good with 5 stars. Maybe it is because 82 Queen has lots of potential to be a great restaurant. It has a charming location in the heart of downtown. Several small dining rooms make the place quiet and intimate. But we cannot taste ambience! We ordered the namesake Queen Salad and found a large salad (large enough for three kind of large) made with what looks like triple-washed greens from the supermarket (you know the kind that comes in a bag) dressed in Krafts ranch dressing with shredded Cheddar and bacon bits-reminds me of salad bars from my college dining hall. The salad foreshadowed the rest of our meal which was very underwhelming. The crab cake was bland. So was the seafood gumbo, it was thin and tasted like a vegetable soup with a few shrimp thrown in. What happen to the roux? The bright spots of the whole evening was the She crab soup and the mini biscuits and salted butter. Even then, The She crab soup is only average. The staff could have been trained a little better-our server left an unused wine glass on our table throughout the evening-he should have cleared it since only one of us was having wine. He also did not clear our used plates until our next course was served. Our dinner costs about the same as the one we had the previous night at The Ordinary but the differences between the two meals was like night and day.
Alabamafoodie
Visited on a Sunday evening and restaurant was not overly crowded. Server was off point. We were offered menus when we sat down. The next time she came by she asked for our dinner order. Did not offer to take drink orders. Forgot to bring promised bread. Brought soup almost immediately. Main courses soon followed. Brought wrong entree salad. Replaced and it was drenched in dressing rather than on the side as requested. Replaced it again. In the meantime, husband's dinner is getting cold. Meal was rushed rather than the leisurely evening we had anticipated. Manager comped salad and brought a piece of pie to take home, but did not make up for disappointing evening.
Josh was a fantastic server. He went above and beyond to make our experience at 82 Queen special. The She Crab Soup was AMAZING! I've lived in Charleston for 25+ years and this is my favorite restaurant by far! Thank you Josh for making our meal so memorable!
Ironarmanna
The soup was very salty. Heirloom tomato and cucumber salad was ordinary cherry tomato instead of the delicious juicy slices. Coconut curry whole snapper was rubberized and tasteless. We can't even cut through the skin. However, staff were kind to comp dinner and we just paid for our drinks. Have to tip waiter well as he lost his deal on our table:(
Had a great supper at 82 Queen. My boyfriend had the jambalaya and I had the fish and grits, both were very tasty. We also started with the infamous she crab soup. Very creamy. Unfortunately we didn't have room for dessert but I certainly recommend this restaurant!
TomS
This was a disappointing experience despite the hype. Our food came out lukewarm. We sent it all back, and fifteen minutes our original plates were returned, everything having been microwaved. Gimme a break. We will never go there again, or recommend it to anyone.
ErinW
This restaurant is in a beautiful setting but I was disappointed to be seated in the far back brightly lit patio facing the kitchen. The service, food and a nightcap at the indoor bar made up for it!
Lovetodine
The food was good. But the hostess was quite rude (I presume because we were tourists) and our waiter was neglectful. Evenings were much more pleasant dining at other Charleston restaurants where the food was comparable, if not better.
Surprised
This was a painful dinner. They called the day before to confirm and texted us twice before dinner as a reminder. This set up the fastest table turn I can remember. They had us in and out in 45 minutes for a mediocre dinner in a sterile room with three other tables. Overall, 82 Queen was a lousy experience and not remotely worth the $$.
This was every bit as good as the reviews suggested it would be. We were there on a fairly cool evening so nobody was eating outside. Our table indoors was quite nice and reasonably quiet (once we asked to be moved away from a table that had a speaker directly over it. The She Crab soup was among the best soups I have ever eaten. Not to be missed. It is a favorite here for good reason. I had the Jambalaya which was fantastic. Perfectly spiced. My wife had the barbecued shrimp and grits which was also outstanding. The service was excellent. I highly recommend to anyone who wants outstanding food in Charleston.
We were treated like royalty Everyone from the hostess bar tender server and manager we outstanding and the food was amazing! We really appreciate everyone making our evening so special ❤
Long walk with stairs to table in an added on part of restaurant. Felt old without ambiance. It was drafty. Server was very nice and did a great job! I ordered a filet to be cooked medium rare. It was a bit more done than medium. Very tough, didn't have the texture of a filet. Server was eager to fix this problem and the next steak was prepared at the correct temperature. My wife had the barbecue shrimp and grits and said they were so sweet, she could barely eat them. Personal preference I'm sure, but having lived here all of my life, I've had many variations of this dish and never not liked them. We chose this restaurant for its historic reputation and were very disappointed that it wasn't more authentic and that they would make such mistakes after many years of being opened and on a night like Valentine's Day.
MichaelM
Our server Nico was great. Food was very good. Only disappointment was that on a quiet evening, not very busy, we were seated next to the server station in a small dining room with several open tables. As part of our reservation I had indicated we were celebrating a special occasion.
My husband had a Sunday Brunch for Valentines Day. It was wonderful. We had a window seat and it was very nice looking into the courtyard. Food was terrific and our server Talisha was the best.
Excellent.
I am not sure why so many of the reviews are so good with 5 stars. Maybe it is because 82 Queen has lots of potential to be a great restaurant. It has a charming location in the heart of downtown. Several small dining rooms make the place quiet and intimate. But we cannot taste ambience! We ordered the namesake Queen Salad and found a large salad (large enough for three kind of large) made with what looks like triple-washed greens from the supermarket (you know the kind that comes in a bag) dressed in Krafts ranch dressing with shredded Cheddar and bacon bits-reminds me of salad bars from my college dining hall. The salad foreshadowed the rest of our meal which was very underwhelming. The crab cake was bland. So was the seafood gumbo, it was thin and tasted like a vegetable soup with a few shrimp thrown in. What happen to the roux? The bright spots of the whole evening was the She crab soup and the mini biscuits and salted butter. Even then, The She crab soup is only average. The staff could have been trained a little better-our server left an unused wine glass on our table throughout the evening-he should have cleared it since only one of us was having wine. He also did not clear our used plates until our next course was served. Our dinner costs about the same as the one we had the previous night at The Ordinary but the differences between the two meals was like night and day.
Visited on a Sunday evening and restaurant was not overly crowded. Server was off point. We were offered menus when we sat down. The next time she came by she asked for our dinner order. Did not offer to take drink orders. Forgot to bring promised bread. Brought soup almost immediately. Main courses soon followed. Brought wrong entree salad. Replaced and it was drenched in dressing rather than on the side as requested. Replaced it again. In the meantime, husband's dinner is getting cold. Meal was rushed rather than the leisurely evening we had anticipated. Manager comped salad and brought a piece of pie to take home, but did not make up for disappointing evening.
Josh was a fantastic server. He went above and beyond to make our experience at 82 Queen special. The She Crab Soup was AMAZING! I've lived in Charleston for 25+ years and this is my favorite restaurant by far! Thank you Josh for making our meal so memorable!
The soup was very salty. Heirloom tomato and cucumber salad was ordinary cherry tomato instead of the delicious juicy slices. Coconut curry whole snapper was rubberized and tasteless. We can't even cut through the skin. However, staff were kind to comp dinner and we just paid for our drinks. Have to tip waiter well as he lost his deal on our table:(
Had a great supper at 82 Queen. My boyfriend had the jambalaya and I had the fish and grits, both were very tasty. We also started with the infamous she crab soup. Very creamy. Unfortunately we didn't have room for dessert but I certainly recommend this restaurant!
This was a disappointing experience despite the hype. Our food came out lukewarm. We sent it all back, and fifteen minutes our original plates were returned, everything having been microwaved. Gimme a break. We will never go there again, or recommend it to anyone.
This restaurant is in a beautiful setting but I was disappointed to be seated in the far back brightly lit patio facing the kitchen. The service, food and a nightcap at the indoor bar made up for it!
The food was good. But the hostess was quite rude (I presume because we were tourists) and our waiter was neglectful. Evenings were much more pleasant dining at other Charleston restaurants where the food was comparable, if not better.
This was a painful dinner. They called the day before to confirm and texted us twice before dinner as a reminder. This set up the fastest table turn I can remember. They had us in and out in 45 minutes for a mediocre dinner in a sterile room with three other tables. Overall, 82 Queen was a lousy experience and not remotely worth the $$.
Restaurantji Recommends
This was every bit as good as the reviews suggested it would be. We were there on a fairly cool evening so nobody was eating outside. Our table indoors was quite nice and reasonably quiet (once we asked to be moved away from a table that had a speaker directly over it. The She Crab soup was among the best soups I have ever eaten. Not to be missed. It is a favorite here for good reason. I had the Jambalaya which was fantastic. Perfectly spiced. My wife had the barbecued shrimp and grits which was also outstanding. The service was excellent. I highly recommend to anyone who wants outstanding food in Charleston.
We were treated like royalty Everyone from the hostess bar tender server and manager we outstanding and the food was amazing! We really appreciate everyone making our evening so special ❤
Long walk with stairs to table in an added on part of restaurant. Felt old without ambiance. It was drafty. Server was very nice and did a great job! I ordered a filet to be cooked medium rare. It was a bit more done than medium. Very tough, didn't have the texture of a filet. Server was eager to fix this problem and the next steak was prepared at the correct temperature. My wife had the barbecue shrimp and grits and said they were so sweet, she could barely eat them. Personal preference I'm sure, but having lived here all of my life, I've had many variations of this dish and never not liked them. We chose this restaurant for its historic reputation and were very disappointed that it wasn't more authentic and that they would make such mistakes after many years of being opened and on a night like Valentine's Day.
Our server Nico was great. Food was very good. Only disappointment was that on a quiet evening, not very busy, we were seated next to the server station in a small dining room with several open tables. As part of our reservation I had indicated we were celebrating a special occasion.
My husband had a Sunday Brunch for Valentines Day. It was wonderful. We had a window seat and it was very nice looking into the courtyard. Food was terrific and our server Talisha was the best.