jestine's kitchen

..definitely be the most authenticsouthernfood that has ever entered your mouth, and you will come out of the restaurant happy that you went.

like being at grandma's house. this is primarily a tourist restaurant, as reflected in the prices. however, the food remains high quality. many complain because they simply don't have a taste for realsouthernfood. i likesouthernfood and i have liked everything i've ever had here - so does my hedgehog, which the owner has made tiny meals for.

a charleston tradition

we had been here many years earlier. on our most recent visit to lovely charleston, we returned to jestine’s for dinner. the place is usually busy and we waited on some outdoor benches for about 15 minutes. this line should have moved more quickly but the staff ran around lots of empty but dirty tables. the maitre d’ is also kind of useless and not at all gracious.

anyway, it’s mostly about the food. we started with some nice fried green tomatoes. then aw moved on to a very tasty meatloaf plate, a very nice bowl of shrimp of grits and a really good plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and turnip greens.

this was solid, goodsouthernfood. nothing was particularly outstanding or creative. but the do a super job of what they aim to accomplish: provide goodsouthernfood at a reasonable price. they succeed.

amazing fried chicken! corn bread was a little dry, but the sweet tea was perfect. we had easter lunch at a great local classicsoutherndining spot.

this place is a charm forsouthernfood. fried green tomatoes were amazing. all of the desserts are great too, cannot go wrong. my service was not the best, but the food made up for it.

greatsouthernfood. our first dinner in sc and we were not disappointed. fried chicken and fried fish with great collards and grits and over the top desserts... what else can i say!

jestine is as rude as they come. so much forsouthernhospitality at this place. we were there just after they had opened at 11:30 am and there were only 2 tables occupied in the restaurant. jestine seated us basically on top of a family with small children and an infant. we couldn't even push our chairs back an inch. when i politely asked to move to another table(mind you the whole restaurant was empty but one other table), she sat us at another table and slammed the menus down in front of us and declared " there is a family with children over here, is that going to be ok", very sarcastically! the only other table that was occupied was what she was pointing out, but they were about 6 feet away! i was mortified at the customer service of the owner, as well as the 21 year old server who had witnessed the whole ordeal. the server came over and immediately apologized for her boss's actions!!!!!! it was jestine the owner! we got up and left! i will never recommend this place to anyone! i travel for a living and have never encountered such rude behavior from an owner of a restaurant for absolutely no reason. if you are looking forsoutherncharm and class, look past this restaurant!!!!!!!

we came here after it was recommended by a friend. we loved it!! very friendly hospitable staff, delicioussouthernfood which we had always wanted to try. really homely warm atmosphere. sadly we are only visiting but if we come back to charleston it will be the first restaurant we go to!

a hoax. this place does not have good food. do not believe the reviews, the experts, or anyone else who says it is good. cheap products, poor execution. go get bettersouthernstyle food at ryan's.

so-so. as you might guess, i'm a fried chicken fanatic and because of that jestine's has been on my wishlist for quite a while. you can't be a fan ofsoutherncuisine and not heard about this place - it's on almost every 10 best list i've ever seen and maybe that's why i thought it was just so-so. maybe my expectations were just too high. while the chicken was moist, the crust was almost burnt and that was the flavor that it imparted as well. the mashed potatoes were good, but consisted of half peel/half potato. wifey enjoyed her greens. the cornbread wasn't too sweet, but was dry and served cold. the pecan pie and the coca-cola cake aren't really worthy of mention. judge for yourself, but i think that a onetime giant is just resting on it's reputation.

goodsouthernfood. good reasonably priced fare. pork chops were amazing, perfectly cooked with great flavor. my wife had the meatloaf which had good texture but was a little on the bland side. sides were all excellent. highly recommend the coca-cola cake, very rich and delicious. good service, didn't wait too long at all on a friday night in august. highly recommended overall but would skip the meatloaf and go for the chicken or pork chop.

over rated tourist trap. don't waste your time waiting in the wrap around line for this "southern" cuisine. it's all fried and fat laden. if you want realsoutherncuisine go to poogan's porch instead for a delicious meal for the same price.

yummy. great friedsouthernfood!!!

good experience. the mrs. and i had a taste for low country food. this was the joint. good solid food, great service. i will admit, the fried green tomatoes were good, but still not even close to those at the whistle stop in ga. chicken and meast loaf were good, the sides were very good. traditionalsouthernmac&cheese. skipped the sweets. charming little place for a meal to get you through a day of walking through the holy city.

what are you people thinking?. i can't believe the good reviews this place gets. how do you mess up meatloaf?! the sides were small, expensive and tasted like institutional quality food (i have had better food in the hospital). the staff was overworked and either rude (ours wasn't but i wanted to smack a different waitress for being so rude to the people at the table next to us) or just too busy to be friendly. my wife ordered baked chicken which so dry it was inedible. my 8 year old made the mistake of ordering the worst mac-n-cheese in the south. seriously how do you mess up meatloaf? i ordered the meatloaf, if you can't tell, and it was awful. how does anybody mess up meatloaf?!?!?! especially, any self respectingsoutherncook!