Sports Bar in Downtown Charleston, SC

CHARLESTON — A Wagener Terrace restaurant will serve its last customers this month, ending a seven-year run on the peninsula.

Herd Provisions, known for its bistro fare and grass-fed meat program, will close after dinner service on Nov. 29.

The 106 Grove St. establishment will honor existing private events through the end of the year, and Thanksgiving pre-orders will still be available for pickup on Nov. 26.

Owner Alec Bradford first launched Herd Provisions in 2017 as a food truck. He moved the concept, defined by sustainably raised meat sourced from his Leaping Waters Farm in Virginia, into its current brick-and-mortar home a year later.

It became known for items like beef tallow French fries, Buffalo Brussels sprouts, soy-marinated duck and whipped ricotta cheese, sparked by a medley of leeks, carrots and onions, each pickled in-house. The restaurant's burger, among the best in Charleston, features a combination of shoulder, bottom round, chuck and brisket meat from grass-fed Ancient White Park Cattle.

Herd Provisions has its fair share of regulars, but in the end, those loyal patrons weren't enough to sustain the restaurant moving forward, Bradford said in a statement. Costs continue to rise, he said, and he wasn't willing to compromise on quality and integrity of ingredients and sourcing methods in order to stay open.

"It has been a joy and a true privilege to serve Wagener Terrace and the Charleston community. From day one, we built Herd Provisions on local ingredients and close relationships with nearby farmers and fishermen, and we’re proud to have championed our local food system through every season," Bradford said. "We are deeply grateful to our guests and to our incredible, dedicated staff for their support and patronage over the years."

Want to celebrate the day of thanks, but not planning on cooking a full dinner this year? Don’t quit Thanksgiving cold turkey — we’ve got you covered with where to carry out + spots open on Thanksgiving.

We are totally falling for these local options for mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and pie. What could be butter? (Sorry, are our puns too corny?)

Poogan’s Porch + Poogan’s Southern Kitchen | Order the full feast or just pick your favorites — choose a turkey or beef tenderloin, savory sides, and if you’ll have a signature pie or bread pudding. Folks will pick up meals on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Palmira Barbecue | This West Ashley barbecue spot is adding a Puerto Rican twist to Thanksgiving. Choose from Puerto Rican beans, mac and cheese, collard greens, and arroz con gandules, plus packs of empanadas and caramel apple bread pudding. Local pick-up is on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Petit Merci | Choose from sweet potato with honey butter, Brussels sprouts with caramelized apples, and festive desserts like pumpkin pie and gingerbread cake. Pickup is on Wednesday, Nov. 26th.

Lewis Barbecue | This popular barbecue spot is offering pre-orders for local pickup with smoked turkey breast, prime rib, brisket, mac and cheese, and green chile corn pudding. You’ll be able to grab your goods from Monday, Nov. 24, until Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Hamby Catering | Packages offer traditional roast or bourbon-smoked turkey options, red skin garlic mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese, southern green beans, dressing, and turkey gravy. There are additional sides, an appetizer package, and dessert options. Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 26. Fun fact: For each Thanksgiving meal sold, the company sponsors a meal for families in need.

Halls Signature Events | Choose from roasted turkey, fried turkey, and ham meal kits, and schedule curbside pick-up for either Wednesday, Nov. 26, or Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27.

The Select | The eatery will offer takeaway meals and other baked goods for pick-up. The meal features turkey and several sides with an option to add bread, pie, and pastries. You’ll be able to pick up your food on Thanksgiving Day from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. The resturant will also offer a dine-in three-course meal for $89.

Home Team BBQ | Place your order and pick it up hot or cold (with take-and-bake instructions). Don’t miss the take and mix cocktail options.

| Take something off your plate and put something on the breakfast and lunch on the table with nostalgic Italian-American favorites like pasta bakes and chicken parm.

Sugar Bakeshop | Stress less, and let this local bakery take care of your holiday dessert. Choose from pies, cakes, cookies, and Charleston classics like pecan chewies.

Lenoir | Enjoy a five-course southern holiday menu from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 27, at chef Vivian Howard’s downtown Charleston restaurant. The meal will cost $95 per person.

| The restaurant will be open on Thanksgiving Day, from 2 to 7 p.m., serving Pelato’s signature menu alongside a special à la carte holiday menu featuring Stuffed Saucy Bird and Anthony’s family stuffing. Don’t miss the red sangria.

Uptown Social | Take it easy on Thanksgiving Day and enjoy football games and classic dinner plates.

Sorelle | Celebrate with a pre-fixe, family-style menu that blends Italian and traditional holiday dishes. The menu features dishes like chestnut agnolotti, heritage-roasted turkey, and brown sugar gelato sundae. The multi-course experience is priced at $125 per person.

82 Queen | Indulge in a three-course tasting menu for $85 a person. The menu features she crab soup, braised beef short ribs, and seasonal dishes like herb-roasted turkey breast and pumpkin pie. Reservations are encouraged.

Hotel Bennett | From 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., you can enjoy a Thanksgiving Brunch Buffet in the Crown Ballroom. There will be a seafood display and a carving station with turkey, prime rib, and salmon. Adults are $135, and children 12 and under are $65. Pro tip: Adult guests can enjoy a complimentary glass of prosecco with brunch.

Gabrielle | Enjoy a special prix fixe holiday menu from 5 until 9:45 p.m. From the first course to dessert, this is an opportunity to savor the flavors of Thanksgiving. It will cost $105 per person.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A new community park officially opened in downtown Charleston on Saturday, featuring green space that spans nearly an acre between King and Meeting Streets.

The park, named American Gardens, centers around a walkway of 68 crepe myrtles and more than 100 magnolia trees that connects the two streets with a green space. The park is surrounded by eight live oak trees with two four-tiered fountains.

A café on the King Street side of the park is also expected to open in the future.

The project is a collaboration between a private developer, the City of Charleston, and the Gibbes Museum of Art.

The Beemok Hospitality Collection says the park’s name pays homage to the American Dream, symbolizing hope, opportunity and unity. The organization says the park will host a variety of events throughout the year, ranging from story time to live performances.

The grand opening of the park was at noon on Saturday. The event began with a special flag-raising ceremony followed by a performance by American singer-songwriter Edwin McCain. The celebration also featured live music, complimentary King of Pops treats and tours of the park.

“Creating American Gardens has been a wonderful adventure for my wife and me, and I’m proud to say that we’ve been deeply involved in working with our team on everything from providing the original design inspiration to making all of the details come to life,” Beemok Hospitality Collection founder Ben Navarro said. “Our hope is that this new park will bring together the citizens of Charleston and become a place to celebrate all that we have in common as members of one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

After opening, the park will be adorned with twinkling lights, a 30-foot Fraser fir and a whimsical carousel for guests of all ages. There will also be a host of family-friendly experiences, including a holiday market, nightly live music, visits with Santa and children’s workshops with the Gibbes Museum of Art.

The park is located just north of the Gibbes Museum of Art between 141 Meeting Street and 174 King Street.

For more information about the park, click here to visit the American Gardens website.

CHARLESTON — What was once a parking lot tucked between vacant buildings on Meeting and King streets has been transformed into a lush, landscaped community park.

Tall iron gates open into a wide pathway framed by 68 crepe myrtles and 107 magnolia trees, leading to a grand lawn and two 18.5-foot-tall fountains — identical to the one set to be in place at the upcoming Cooper hotel.

It may be in the heart of Charleston’s tourism district and tucked between two major traffic arteries of downtown, but the manicured park itself is quiet aside from the ambient noise of water cascading from the fountains.

Charleston’s newest urban park is the latest investment by Beemok Hospitality Collection, which owns The Charleston Place and the upcoming Cooper hotel, among other visitor-centric businesses.

While privately funded, the landscaped garden was designed to be a public gathering space amid the hustle and bustle downtown. The park officially opens today, marked with a flag-raising ceremony, dedication and live music.

BHC Founder Ben Navarro said the idea was sparked in 2022 by a Post and Courier editorial published after Dominion asked the S.C. Public Service Commission for permission to sell the property. The editorial posed the question of whether a sale would mean Charleston was losing its chance to create a community park. Navarro said it led him to think, “What if Beemok were to step up and purchase the one-acre property next to the Gibbes Museum and turn it into a truly unique green space in the middle of downtown?”

And that’s what he did.

Navarro said he wanted to dedicate this space to his late father — a man he said had grown up in a poor suburb of New York City but was a firm believer in the American Dream.

“Creating American Gardens has been a wonderful adventure for my wife and me, and I’m proud to say that we’ve been deeply involved in working with our team on everything from providing the original design inspiration to making all of the details come to life,” Navarro said.

The idea for a public-private civic-minded reuse plan for the narrow 1.06-acre plot was revived by Navarro when BHC bought the property from Dominion Energy in April 2023 for $11.5 million.

The reuse of the former South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. building at 141 Meeting St. had been in question since at least 2015, when the onetime customer-service office closed. In its next life, the shuttered structure will become a connected extension of the neighboring Gibbes Museum of Art, which bought the building to renovate.

Beemok is fixing up the neighboring 174 King St. building to create a grab-and-go café concept similar to the vendors in New York City’s Central Park. It is slated to open late next year or in early 2027.

Space for a ‘gathering place’

Casey Lavin, president of the family-owned BHC, said the park was constructed in a way to “capture the charm of Charleston and connect the community.”

“It is something that will really breathe life into that corridor between Meeting and King streets,” Lavin said.

Much of the park was inspired by Bryant Park — a 9.6-acre, privately managed public park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Lavin said BHC took a lot of notes on what worked well, what didn’t and how they might replicate the concept here.

BHC didn’t just build the park — it’s going to continue to maintain the grounds and plan a year-round calendar of free programming to engage visitors.

BHC plans to partner with its neighbors, The Library Society and The Gibbes Museum of Art, to curate programs for all ages. Planned events range from movie nights and concerts to unique art installations, story time and even fitness classes. And most of these offerings will be free for everyone.

“As the park matures over time, we see it becoming something that locals and visitors alike spend time in,” Lavin said. “A place to listen to a concert, have a cup of coffee and even take in the beauty of Christmas.”

Until the café opens, there will be a coffee cart on-site to purchase a cup of joe.

“If you look at cities around the world that stand out as a place made for both residents and visitors, they all have amazing parks,” Lavin said. “New York is a great example of that. We wanted to build a space that reflects the city’s beauty and heritage that is accessible to everyone.”

The park will host occasional private events to help subsidize its upkeep, but BHC emphasized that it’s not a regular event venue.

“We are going to be very thoughtful on how and when we use portions of the park for private use, and that will be communicated well in advance,” Lavin said.

Home for the holidays

The opening of the park is just the start. Much like BHC’s Charleston Place hotel, it’s about to turn into a winter wonderland for the holiday season.

American Gardens will be illuminated with twinkling lights, a 30-foot Fraser fir and a vintage carousel. There will be a holiday market, nightly live music, visits with Santa and children’s workshops in collaboration with the Gibbes.

“Just imagine walking down a path of lit crepe myrtle trees that lead to a giant, real Christmas tree in the center of the park and a yuletide-type market,” Lavin said. “This will be a new holiday tradition in addition to what we already do at the hotel.”

Beyond the Christmas season, BHC has big plans for the Fourth of July and the 250th anniversary year of America's revolution.

A 225-year-old estate in the heart of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, has quietly sold for a staggering $21.028 million — the highest price ever paid for a home in the city’s history.

The record-breaking sale comes as experts warn Charleston could soon face a watery future.

Rising sea levels and worsening floods are projected to leave parts of the historic city sitting in more than two feet of water within a decade, according to the Climate Central Coastal Risk Finder.

Known locally as the Caspar Christian Schutt House, the property was the longtime home of the late businessman and philanthropist Wayland H Cato Jr. He bought it in the 1990s for just $950,000 and spent years painstakingly restoring it to its 18th-century glory.

The final tally came to $21.575 million after furniture and artwork were included, local realtor Charles Sullivan of Carriage Properties, who represented the owner, told Daily Mail.

Among the treasures the anonymous buyer will get are a set of matching chandeliers from the set of 'Gone with the Wind.'

The Cato family had planned to list the home publicly this fall, but an anonymous buyer swooped in with an off-market offer too good to refuse.

'We prepared the property this summer for marketing this fall, when we were approached by an interested parties off market,' Sullivan said.

The home, nestled neat the Battery and sea wall at the southern end of the city, totals nearly 16,000 square feet.

It includes a four-bedroom main house with triple-tiered piazzas, a two-bedroom guesthouse, a former carriage house converted into a pool house with an indoor pool, and artfully landscaped gardens.

When Cato purchased the property decades ago, it was in disrepair, with pigeons and squirrels living inside.

He single-handedly saved the then unrenovated property from becoming multiple condominiums and spearheaded the trend to maintain and protect large estate sized properties in Charleston's historic district.

Cato used preservation architects to keep the home's distinctive Charleston look, while updating the inside.

The record-shattering sale comes just months after another Charleston mansion sold for $18.25 million, a city record at the time.

Sullivan says the Charleston luxury market is surging, with wealthy, often younger buyers moving in.

'People moved in during Covid like most markets, but we've seen younger, wealthier buyers come to town with families,' he said.

So why the rush to buy millions in real estate in a city scientists warn will face flooding that can't be stopped?

Scientists say many of Charleston's most prized areas, including the peninsula where this mansion sits, will inevitably face major flooding they cannot control as sea levels rise.

NOAA Coastal Hazards Specialist Doug Marcy outlined the future of Charleston's downtown.

'It shows the absolute worst possible case,' he said in a report on the area's rising sea levels.

'Without significant adaptation measures, these regions are projected to experience daily high tide flooding by the end of the century.'

Marcy warned that if people are planning long-term real estate investments, they should seriously consider the risks.

'If you're planning for things like critical infrastructure or building something to last a long time you may want to look at an extreme scenario,' he said.

He laid out how rising seas could impact Charleston, and concluded that, at worst, the city is around 12 feet underwater by 2100.

And Charleston isn't just dealing with rising water. Severe storms and hurricanes are also battering the area and the flooding has only gotten worse.

The city is already planning to raise the existing sea wall along the Battery to help protect historic downtown. The Battery Extension Project in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers will extend the existing historic wall around the full perimeter of the peninsula which will doubles as storm surge and tidal flood protection.

Marcy said the areas most at risk include downtown and that anyone purchasing real estate they plan on keeping for generations should be worried about how long the home will actually last.

'I would be worried yes if I had serious real estate investment I want to keep in the family,' he told local News 5.

'It's the homes that are built right on the street level. The higher the first floor the more room you have.

'The problem is the access to those homes because the streets will be flooded.'

It appears buyers don't care.

According to Sullivan, who sold the record breaking home, the metro Charleston luxury market for 2025 continues to out perform the year before.

'The five to ten million price range exceeds last year's total with 65 properties closed, and 11 under contract.

'The ten million plus price range is following the same trend with nine closings to date for 2025, and 3 under contract.

'Last year a total of eight homes closed above ten million with a high of $12 million.

'This latest transaction is one of three on the peninsula to close this year for $15 million or more and is the first to exceed $20 million in metro Charleston.'