halls chophouse

best eats in charleston. there's a reason this restaurant is at the very top of trip advisor. it's good. pricy, but you get what you pay for. 3 servers teaming up on you, the owner shows up at your table and talks to you personally. the food is perfect. cooked perfect, garnished perfectly, presentation: flawless. i highly recommend this restaurant for a special occasion. unless you're rich, then every day. lol


-----20 jan, 2015-----

lump crab cake. to die for

from the moment we walked in this place was buzzing around with people enjoying cocktails and servers smiling and saying hello to everyone. even bill hall stopped by to introduce himself to us (about 8 times actually). hall's chophouse had a warm classy jazz feeling to it with people of all ages hanging out at the bar and by the live band by the front door. we came in on a tuesday night with a reservation for six. hall's chophouse was filled to the brim with people eating and drinking and enjoying the music. standing room only from the moment we walked in. we only had to wait a few minutes before being seated upstairs in a small room which was packed full of people. the table was a half circle booth which made it very hard for all six people to cram into it and even harder to hear everyone. although it wasn't ideal i will admit that there weren't any other options at the time. the only tables that could handle six or more people were already taken up by other guests. this room was very old world with beautiful pictures and low lighting. we could still hear a slight echo of tunes coming from the band downstairs. oysters rockefeller at hall's chophouse in charleston, sc once we were seated we were immediately given water and the wine list. the six of us decided to order a few appetizers to share and reviewed the rest of the menu. the waitress knew the menu extremely well and her suggestion on the appetizers was perfect. she told us about their amazing crab cakes and oysters rockefeller so we order a couple for the table. the crab cakes were filled with crab and flavor and could easily have been the best i've ever tasted. it was my first time trying oysters rockefeller and i didn't know what to expect. the hollandaise sauce and spinach made the oysters rockefeller very creamy and the bread crumbs added the perfect amount of crunch. great choices to begin our meal. porter house

amazing place!. this restaurant has impeccable service and the steaks are to die for! we were greeted by a very handsome host who sat us immediately even though we were way early for our reservation. our server, zack, was phenomenal! as a matter of fact, all the servers and assistants were so friendly and helpful. we were even greeted by mr. hall himself who congratulated us with two lovely glasses of champagne for celebrating our new engagement. now that's southern charm and hospitality! when dinner arrived, the steaks were amazing! i can't believe a place like this exists! we can't wait to come back and share this place with family!

best food i have ever had. me and a friend were visiting charleston and decided to try hall's upon recommendation. as we walked in, the owner greeted and shook our hands, introducing himself. the hostess quickly found us a seat, as we had no reservation. the chicken and duck plates were nothing less than amazing... this has to be the best food i have ever eaten. i would recommend this splendid, upscale, delicious restaurant to anyone!

amazing!!! except the blue pedicab service they called for us was a nightmare however! the best meal in town for sure tho!

meat lovers beware of the size of the meat. too meat lovers, take notice. nice restaurant, however when you buy there top steak a 32oz porterhouse cooked warm rare for $72us you would expect exactly that. steak that arrived was a mere t-bone not porterhouse and maybe 24oz at best. i know some of you will say that there is shrinkage due to cooking and the weight of the bone, but having had this steak there before, there was a noticeable change in size this time. i feel is you are paying the prices for there steaks at least make it close to the weight advertised. enjoy at your own risk.

fabulous filet mignon. my wife and i had the pleasure to visit charleston recently and decided we wanted a steak dinner. we chose halls chophouse for the online reputation and comments posted on the foodie sites. let me say we were not disappointed. i would venture to say this was, without a doubt, the absolute best filet i have experienced since i last dined at the ritz carlton in buckhead, ga. my filet was cooked to perfection, along with my choice of a side of nicely prepared and tasty butter (lima) beans, a daily side special, instead of the routine baked potato. the hall's chop salad was also delicious and nicely done with a touch of bacon and buttermilk dressing. our handler, jordan, was well versed in southern hospitality while at the same time very well traveled and, as it turns out, somewhat of a homie. my wife, a midwesterner, opted for the lighter bar menu's filet steak martini, very nicely presented with delicious mashed potatoes in a tasty peppercorn brandy sauce. no question if you are on king street in the historic downtown area of charleston and desire a steak, you'll do no better than halls, guaranteed by none other than the door greeter himself, billy hall. great place that will see a repeat when we're in town. definitely put this one on your list.

delish. had absolutely amazing french toast for brunch and had a very good slab of ribs with a delicious bbq sauce and truffle fries.

halls chophouse went above and beyond!. great customer service and going beyond the traditional service norms is a rare find and when we do find this kind of service we want to point it out!
i encountered just such an experience last month in charleston south carolina. charleston has been popping up on lists such as conde' nast and travel + leisure as best city to visit in the nation. perhaps this story will explain just a little bit about why they rank #1.
my husband and i spent a warm humid day moving furniture in to our son's dorm room on the same day as our 30th anniversary. we wanted to celebrate that evening but we missed the harbor ferry tour and then decided to go out to dinner. now the restaurants in charleston are amazing and you usually need reservations for the finer restaurants. my husband thought he had taken care of it from his smart phone so we showered and changed and walked down the street to eat at one of the great spots our son in tow as well for a free dinner. unfortunately when we arrived we were told the reservation did not come through and our wait would be about 90 minutes. this is on a monday night! so we decided to take our chances and walk a little further. we saw the hall chop house. we came in and the place was jam packed, it has a 4 diamond rating and our hopes were waning. but then mrs. jeanne hall appeared and we told our little story and she said yes we will find a place for you. we were seated immediately at a high top table. special chairs were brought for more comfortable seating. jeanne introduced her son and we spoke for 15 minutes sharing and learning about each other. we suddenly felt like part of a group of friends. she order complimentary champagne for us and we settled in to look at the menu. which had great choice of offerings, chops, steaks, seafood, pasta even a prime cut burger. jackson had the shrimp and grits of which he has become a connoisseur since moving here to south carolina. i ordered scallops and risotto and john had the prime rib with a beet salad. their wine list is extensive and our waitress heather was so attentive and helpful. we all enjoyed our selections and tried a bite of each other's plates. excellent! there was live music and i am told that is a nightly occurrence. people kept coming in by droves and when we stood up to leave another group at the bar eagerly took our spot. there were hugs and the use of our first names at the front door as we said our goodbyes. they made our 30th anniversary and visit to charleston memorable. yet we still received another surprise in the mail a few days later when a hand written thank you not came from our waitress heather. i was so overwhelmed by the service, genuine relationship and amazing food. i just had to write about it and share how opening your heart creates customers and loyal friends. thank you so much hall staff and family.

top shelf experience!. i cannot say enough great things about hall's chophouse. this is my 10th or 11th time eating there and i am treated like a celebrity each time i go. the hall family checks on you throughout your meal to make sure everything is up to your satisfaction. for brunch today, we had john as our server and he was incredible! we were spoiled with all the attention. thank you so much, john! we also had about 5 other people checking on and serving us. (i apologize that i didn't get their names, but they were fabulous, too!) devon gave us the names of other "hidden gem" restaurants/pubs in the area to check out, with amazing descriptions of each. we even had the chance to talk with a school of the arts student who was volunteering at hall's for community service hours. being a teacher myself, the fact that the hall family reaches out to schools in the area, impressed me to no end! i recommend hall's hands down for any occasion-especially if you want to wow your guests. their hospitality, service, and menu is unmatched in charleston.

aside from the professionalism and friendly demeanor of the halls, the dry aged beef and selection of very drinkable pinot noirs make any trip to
halls a memorable experience.

first class place. wonderful food and amazing service. halls welcomes you like a genuine old friend and is filled with locals. the steaks were incredible, lobster mac and cheese and the corn skillet were amazing as well. the service is second to none. billy hall ran into the street while it was raining to thank us for coming in. i can't say enough nice things and you should go there to see it for yourself

we celebrated our anniversary tonight at halls and had a great experience. this was our first time at halls and we were blown away. the owner, billy hall, greeted us right when we walked in the door and checked on us throughout the night. he even treated us to complimentary champagne and dessert for our anniversary. the good was great and the service was impeccable. we will be back!

at this level of fine dining i expect service to be flawless. i dined with a party of 8 early in the evening, far before dinner rush, and was blown away by the ineptitude i witnessed. servers auctioned off food, didn't know seat numbers, crowded the table with dishes without clearing dirty ones first... i ordered a bone-in filet special and received a standard filet - that's an $80 dish. there is no excuse for that sort of oversight. this place is more concerned with schmoozing their clientele and being known than actually providing a world-class dining experience. i will be celebrating special occasions elsewhere from now on.

family owner narcissism, money oriented, service poor, chain steakhouse like outback at morton's prices. when we first entered we were aggressively greeted by the owners which are brothers. tone down the greeting! we were seated at a booth which was nice and the table was moved out so we could sit down. our server was jon and he really disappointed. the service we received was nothing like the high quality, team oriented approach of the peninsula grill. when i asked for a1 sauce jon said we don't carry that here but i can run across the street to get it. i could tell he really didn't want to get it. hall family, just buy a bottle of a1 or heinz 57 for those customers that want it. after all, we are the ones paying $100 a head for supper. she crab soup was very good but light on crab meat, we split that. we also split a full hall's chopped salad which was nothing special. the seasonal salads at longhorn are much better. the salads we had at peninsula grill were outstanding so we expected the same here. we ordered the porterhouse to split cooked medium with a loaded baked potato and asparagus with bearnaise sauce. the steak was not trimmed properly (fat on the side and tendons) and was not cooked right. the outside was burned which gave the steak a carbon taste. potato was nothing special again chain steakhouse quality at an $8 side price. i have to admit the asparagus with sauce was very good but this is a steakhouse so you come for the steak. i had the 434 pineapple martini which was very good but the second one was not good something with grey goose and champagne. flaming caramel cake was again nothing special and we had to pay $15 for a pot of french press coffee. go for the coconut cake at the peninsula grill. we asked for a less expensive regularly brewed coffee but the server seemed put out about making a regular pot. french press coffee was good but $15 for a pot of coffee? finally, our server jon was constantly trying to take our steak, etc before we were done without asking us. is he trying to turn over the table quickly? this place seems just money oriented and quite honestly family owner narcissism.

here is the dishonest and incompetent cap off of the night. jon our server first gave us our check and it was very low so i noticed our $68 porterhouse steak and $8 sides were left off. i got the busy server's attention and said to him i'd be glad to have a free steak but he might want to consider adding the steak to our check. when the check came he added a $85 dry aged porterhouse to the bill which we never ordered! the $85 porterhouse is not even on the menu! what is this bait and switch! totally dishonest. we spoke to the manager devin and he offered to take the entire steak off the check which i did not disagree with. when the server and management saw we had a poor experience there was a lot of insincere and phony posterior kissing.

overall, this a chain type steakhouse like longhorn that is trying to be a morton's or ruth's chris with a lot of window dressing. it does not deliver. i truly do not understand how they got to be number 1 on trip advisor in charleston, sc. i would not recommend for a romantic dinner as you are always speaking to a hall family member and it is loud inside.

my suggestions to management: 1. buy a $5 box of equal and keep it on hand for customers that want it, 2. buy a bottle of a1 and heinz 57 for $4 each and have them on hand for customers that want them, 3. enroll server in humility training, 4. change beef supplier, that was not good quality beef!, 4. brothers, it is not necessary to accost every patron at the front door, let your food and service speak for itself, 5. revamp your chopped salad recipe, 6. retrain back of house how to cook a steak.