Best Anniversary Restaurants in Charleston 2026
Published · Updated
The anniversary pick in Charleston for 2026 is Circa 1886. Editorial runners-up: FIG, Halls Chophouse, Peninsula Grill, Grill 225.
Candlelight catches the crystal in a carriage house off Wentworth Street, and the room does half the work before the first course lands. Twenty-six Charleston restaurants sit in our directory. Six earn an anniversary, from a Forbes Four-Star carriage house to a 100% Prime steakhouse.
Six Charleston Tables for an Anniversary
Executive Chef Marc Collins cooks inside the 1886 carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion at 149 Wentworth Street, a Forbes Four-Star and AAA Four Diamond room for years running. Heart-pine floors, candlelight, Lowcountry tasting plates. The Charleston anniversary table for a milestone.
Mike Lata's FIG, Food Is Good, has anchored Charleston fine dining at 232 Meeting Street for two decades and carries a James Beard Award and a place in the 2025 Michelin Guide American South. The menu follows the farmers and the boats. Quiet enough to hear each other.
The Hall family built Halls Chophouse at 434 King Street into one of the South's most celebrated rooms, ranked #3 in Tripadvisor's top 25 US fine dining. Dry-aged prime steaks, a weekend pianist, anniversary couples who keep coming back. Warm, dark, and buzzing.
Peninsula Grill inside the Planters Inn at 112 North Market Street is the city's most reliably elegant room, a Forbes Four-Star with a velvet dining room and a garden courtyard. Order the famous twelve-layer Ultimate Coconut Cake. The classic Charleston anniversary.
Grill 225 inside the Market Pavilion Hotel at 225 East Bay Street has served only 100% USDA Prime beef since 2002, wet-aged 42 to 50 days, and sits in the Great Steakhouses of North America. The cut, not the receipt, is the point. For the steak-lover's anniversary.
Husk, the restaurant Sean Brock opened in 2010 inside an 1893 Queen Anne Victorian at 76 Queen Street, only cooks what the South grows, and it is in the 2025 Michelin Guide American South. Warm, wooden, candlelit dining rooms. An anniversary with a sense of place.
How to Book
Book Circa 1886 and Peninsula Grill two to four weeks out, as the prime weekend seatings fill first. Halls Chophouse and Grill 225 want one to two weeks for a Friday or Saturday. FIG and Husk open their books roughly a month ahead, and a weeknight is far easier than a weekend.
7.30pm. Ask Peninsula Grill for a garden-courtyard table and Circa 1886 for a corner under the candlelight. At Halls Chophouse, request the dining room over the bar so the pianist carries rather than covers the conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The editorial pick for 2026 is Circa 1886, Marc Collins's Forbes Four-Star room in the carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion on Wentworth Street, candlelit and built for a milestone. For a grand classic, Peninsula Grill at the Planters Inn is the city's most reliably elegant table; for seasonal Lowcountry cooking, Mike Lata's FIG on Meeting Street.
Circa 1886 is the most romantic room in Charleston: a candlelit 1886 carriage house with heart-pine floors and tasting menus, set on the grounds of the Wentworth Mansion. Peninsula Grill runs a close second, where the garden courtyard and the twelve-layer Ultimate Coconut Cake have turned anniversaries into a tradition for years.
An anniversary dinner for two in Charleston runs highest at Circa 1886, Peninsula Grill, Halls Chophouse and Grill 225, the steakhouse and fine-dining rooms where the bill climbs with the wine and the dry-aged beef. FIG and Husk sit a touch lower for a seasonal Lowcountry dinner, though a tasting and pairing at either still adds up quickly.
Book Circa 1886 and Peninsula Grill two to four weeks out, since their prime weekend tables go first, and Halls Chophouse and Grill 225 one to two weeks ahead for a Friday or Saturday. FIG and Husk open their books about a month out. Any weeknight is much easier to land than a Saturday.
Yes. The Michelin Guide reached the American South for the first time in November 2025, and Charleston took three of the four one-star awards, including Malagon. Several anniversary picks on this list, including FIG and Husk, are Michelin-recommended in that guide, while Circa 1886 and Peninsula Grill hold Forbes Four-Star ratings instead.