california dreaming

what amazing service! even with a busy dining room inside and a thunderstorm on the way, the manager and staff were impeccably gracious enough to serve my party with puppy in the garage to escape the rain. we had no where to go if it started pouring because we came on boat and couldn't leave, but we couldn't come inside because i had my darling pit with us, so it looked like we were going to have to get wet and endure it. however the manager came and talked to us and somehow someone hooked us up with a table in the garage and tiffany was so helpful and served us out there having to go through the rain to bring us our dinner. such classy staff will always have my business and i will be sure to tell everyone who visitscharlestonthat they can't leave without going to california dreaming to complete their experience!

california dreaming incharlestonis located over the bridge in west ashley, on the water . one may describe their food as upscale bar food. salads are huge and they always come with a "sticky" croissant roll. warning, they are delicious but full of sugar. a salad there is a hearty meal, california dreaming doesn't mess around with portion sizes. all in all, their food is delicious and the view is incredible. i wasn't feeling like a salad, so i went for some devilish chicken fingers. they are surprisingly the best i have ever had.

another great dining experience. thanks!


-----10 aug, 2010-----

always a great place to dine, when we visit thecharlestonarea. always good food and good service. they have their routine down and do a good job. they could use a little menu update, but such is restaurant chain fare. but it's also about the atmosphere and wonderful waterfront view when you dine here - just amazing! no other place like it!


-----11 apr, 2010-----

another fine meal! the only downer is they serve way too much food. next visit we will share meals to cut the waste. we noted the drinks are a lot less potent now the mimi bottles are gone. the beers are the same ;-)


-----06 aug, 2009-----

ate there aug 1st. great as always. our server was not as friendly as previous visits, but all was well. we had a great window table and watched the boats as we ate. such a nice place.

by far the best restaurant incharlestonsc, i go every week and service is always so fabulous! i would definitely reccomend this place for any occasion!! must go!!

i ordered she-crab soup (mycharlestonfavorite) and two sides as my meal. the soup came late - the waitress said she thought i wanted it as my meal and that she would bring it asap. it was okay and still warm, nothing bad to report. my sides - mashed potatoes and fettucine marinara - were huge. i'm very glad i did not order a full size meal. my dinner companions did and all ended up taking a lot of their meals home. we also ordered the croissant appetizer. my friends raved about them before we arrived, but they were just average croissants drizzled in honey. nothing special.

excellent location with a beautiful view of thecharlestonharbor. mediocre food and service.

s l o w .. in my opinion, california dreaming is the slowest restaurant in town. lived incharlestonfor 10 years and have been to dreaming one too many times. look at the menu while you're waiting for your table. order your food the first time you see the server because they're not coming back for awhile.

could go several times a week. california dreaming is the most comfortable place to take friends or family. i take the kids, do girls night out, and we've even had book club there! it is gorgeous, clean, spacious; the service is immediate, friendly, not officious. in fact, i think the service here is the best in charleston.

the food is wonderful every time, and they somehow maintain a variety of options without anything suffering. you can't go wrong.

the servings are huge, and we usually have them left for lunch the next day.

and there always seem to be drink specials. one more thing: where else incharlestoncan you all meet up without taking 15 minutes to park? i just love california dreaming.

service is very slow!. the appeal of california dreaming is largely its location. what i'm continually disappointed in is how very slow the service is. not only is a quick lunch an impossibility, easy things like drink refills are overlooked by servers who work in "silos." i must have had 5 servers pass by my table who ignored the fact that everyone in my party had empty beverages. i don't understand why servers can't work in tandem to ensure that this doesn't happen. i had to wait for my server to finally return before our drinks were refilled. i've eaten at other california dreaming concepts in charlotte, nc & myrtle beach, sc where the food quality is better and the service is better. i'm not sure why california dreaming incharlestonlags in comparison. i believe that they do all of the business that they can handle simply because of the excellent location, so they have no need to worry about attention to detail.

wonderful view and great food. you can't go wrong with california dreaming. this is definitely one of our favorites in thecharlestonarea. the flounder is the best we've found so far, as well as the salmon. the portions are huge. we love taking our time and relaxing by one of the large windows with a great view!

disapointing. we are repeat visitors to cal dreaming based upon our first experience in myrtle beach a few years ago, which was exemplary. while on vacation last week we found a location incharlestonand became very excited at the prospect of being able to eat there again. however in reality this locaiton is nothing special and in fact borders on over-priced chain food. the service was ok (we had a waiter and trainee who was clueless), but the food was cold, undercooked and rushed to the table. we are terribly disapointed and rate this location as a 2/10 as compared to the myrtle beach location which gets a 9/10