Charleston Restaurant Report OCTOBER 2025
ON THE MENU
1. Local Restaurant Scene -- SC DEPT OF AG BEEFS UP RESTAURANT INSPECTIONS
2. National Restaurant Scene – RESTAURANT TECH 20 YEARS IN...WHAT'S NEXT?
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon!
4. Food For Thought -- LOCAL RESTAURANT USING AI TO WORK THE PHONES
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LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE
SC DEPT OF AG BEEFS UP RESTAURANT INSPECTIONS
It's been a year since the Department of Agriculture took over restaurant inspections. The agency has hired more badly-needed inspectors, bought more vehicles for inspector use, expanded inspection hours and gone after repeat code violators. Strict and more frequent code enforcement can sometimes feel like a pain in the neck for operators, but it is absolutely necessary to prevent complacency in the kitchen, maintain consumer confidence in foodservice operations, and keep the dining public safe. Read the details in The State.
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NATIONAL RESTAURANT SCENE
RESTAURANT TECH 20 YEARS IN...WHAT'S NEXT?
Can you remember the first time you placed a digital food order? Or when your restaurant stopped using paper tickets? Looking back over the last 20 years, a whole lot of digital innovation has transformed the restaurant industry. Noah Glass takes a retrospective look back at how the digital transformation has impacted the F&B industry and looks ahead to the next 20 years in this Nations Restaurant News article...
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RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings list reflects 3rd Quarter 2025 market activity (July-September):
OPENINGS --
Allora (Downtown)
Biscuit Bros (North Charleston)
Blu Smoke Pit BBQ (Johns Island — former Blu Oyster)
Buffalo Wild Wings (Mount Pleasant — former Outback)
Chipotle (Summerville)
Clutch Coffee Bar (North Charleston)
Dashi Wine Bar & Emporium (North Charleston)
Dutch Bros. Coffee (Summerville)
El Molino La Taqueria (Johns Island — former Colectivo)
Flat and Drum Wings (James Island — former Kanji)
Geechie Garlic Crabs & Seafood (North Charleston — relocated)
Girl NextDough (James Island — former LB Sweets & Treats)
Jeff’s Bagel Run x 2 (Mount Pleasant & West Ashley)
No Bull Burger Bar (West Ashley)
Puma’s Italian Ice & Hot Dog Shack (North Charleston)
Rivayat (Downtown — former Makan)
Ruby’s Bagels (Summerville)
Snow Monkey (Johns Island — former Bar Copa)
Sorghum & Salt (Downtown — relocated)
Starbucks (Mount Pleasant)
Taziki’s (Mount Pleasant — former Sommba)
The Bunker (Mount Pleasant)
Timber Pizza Co. (Downtown)
Vinea Courtyard Kitchen (Daniel Island — former Sermet’s)
Whit’s Frozen Custard (James Island)
Woodhaven Pizza (Summerville)
CLOSINGS --
60 Bull Cafe (Downtown)
Arby’s (North Charleston)
Charleston Grill (Downtown)
Cleats (Downtown)
Guilded Horn (Downtown)
La Bonne Franquette (West Ashley)
O’Charley’s (West Ashley)
Peking Gourmet (Johns Island)
Rusty Bull Taproom (Downtown)
Senor Tequila (Mount Pleasant)
Sermet’s Courtyard (Daniel Island)
Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill (North Charleston)
Stars Grill Room (Downtown)
Sticky Fingers (North Charleston)
Toast (Mount Pleasant)
Wakey Bakey Bagels (Summerville)
COMING SOON --
The number of publicly-announced restaurant projects on the Coming Soon list -- expected to open in the next 12 months -- is still above 50 at the end of the 3rd Quarter.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
LOCAL RESTAURANT USING AI TO WORK THE PHONES
North Charleston restaurant Katsubo is putting AI to work answering the phone. An AI receptionist named "Kat" will answer all sorts of caller questions and send call summaries to management. Sounds pretty efficient, but it can also seem a little cold to many callers not expecting to converse with a computer. The benefit to staff is that by staying off the phone they can pay more attention to their work at hand and to their in-house customers. Makes sense. They are now taking their AI receptionist model out to the broader restaurant market through a new company called Noodl. Read more about it in the Post & Courier's recent article...
