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What could be more luxurious than going to a leisurely breakfast during the week? Perhaps you took the day off, need to conduct a morning meeting, or simply want a great plate of eggs. Here are the essential weekday breakfast establishments to know in the Lowcountry.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

The Junction Kitchen & Provisions quickly is the go-to for Park Circle inhabitants to find a full breakfast near the neighborhood. The morning menu is served all day, including the doughnut sandwich layered with coffee-rubbed bacon, over easy egg, and served with a coffee dip.

Mercantile is one of the most spacious breakfast options to open on the peninsula, so bring the laptop and get some work done too — plenty of seats. The stylish spot opens early for those looking for coffee, yogurt bowls, breakfast sandwiches, or house-smoked salmon on a bagel. Bonus: free wifi and a large parking lot.

Bright spot the Daily carries creative coffee drinks, like the black sesame latte, and some of the quickest breakfast items around. Stop by this hip cafe for an avocado toast or breakfast pita before heading to the office.

Vicious Biscuit serves other items than biscuits, but the fluffy carbs are the big draw here. Prepare to feel the need for a nap after indulging in a fried chicken biscuit the size of your head. There’s dozens of biscuit combos to try.

James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence brought Big Bad Breakfast to Charleston a few years ago, and it has been serving solid examples of Southern and diner cuisine at a brisk pace. This restaurant might just have the best flapjacks in town.

Daps Breakfast & Imbibe offer breakfast/brunch every day of the week and all day long. The vibe is chill and the food is filling. The Fruity Pebble pancakes and breakfast burrito with chorizo gravy are solid choices.

Tuck into cozy cafe Little Line for a big Southern breakfast with cheddar grits at the counter or order a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel to go. The chic Westside spot has proven consistent in its delivery of breakfast staples since it first opened. And if you’re running short on time, you can order ahead online.

West Ashley eatery Early Bird Diner is the greasy spoon of contemporary Southern dreams. The waitstaff leans quirky and tattooed, the food is filling and comforting, and the hours allow you to visit for brunch or late night. Try the chicken and waffles with honey mustard drizzle at least once, and then move on to the traditional sides and other comforting menu items.

Marina Variety Store is Charleston's diner by the sea. With views of the Ashley River, there's no better place to tuck into a bottomless cup of coffee and a bowl of shrimp and grits when the weather is clear.

Thoughtful pastries are the big draw at Harken Cafe, like the Apple Tahini muffins or brown sugar cake with pumpkin butter. But, if you have a free morning, grab a seat in the Parisian-inspired cafe and order a slice of quiche full of local produce or a fluffy egg sandwich on a ricotta biscuit.

Queen Street Grocery is nestled in the French Quarter, so customers can watch the carriage tours go by as they cut into a crepe or omelette. For those on the go, choose a hot-pressed breakfast sandwich on a croissant or bagel.

As the name states, Millers All Day does indeed serve breakfast all day. Look for big fluffy biscuits, pancakes, grits, and plenty of bacon in a hip, yet comfortable, dining room.

Fast & French serves a no-frills breakfast of croissants, toasts, ham plates, and cream cheese on rye with raisins. There might not be any eggs, but it's hard to resist the European charm of the cafe and the full carafes of French press coffee.

Super cute spot Baguette Magic offers carbs on carbs on carbs. Patrons rave about the recovery baguette — a hangover-curing combination of scrambled eggs, bacon, prosciutto, white cheddar, tomato jam, and arugula. For those in search of something sweet, check out the homemade Pop-Tarts or the chocolate croissant.

Lost Dog Cafe on Folly Beach is a chill place with an extensive breakfast list. From bagels to Benedicts to breakfast burritos, Lost Dog can accommodate a wide range of tastes.

The Junction Kitchen & Provisions quickly is the go-to for Park Circle inhabitants to find a full breakfast near the neighborhood. The morning menu is served all day, including the doughnut sandwich layered with coffee-rubbed bacon, over easy egg, and served with a coffee dip.

Mercantile is one of the most spacious breakfast options to open on the peninsula, so bring the laptop and get some work done too — plenty of seats. The stylish spot opens early for those looking for coffee, yogurt bowls, breakfast sandwiches, or house-smoked salmon on a bagel. Bonus: free wifi and a large parking lot.

Bright spot the Daily carries creative coffee drinks, like the black sesame latte, and some of the quickest breakfast items around. Stop by this hip cafe for an avocado toast or breakfast pita before heading to the office.

Vicious Biscuit serves other items than biscuits, but the fluffy carbs are the big draw here. Prepare to feel the need for a nap after indulging in a fried chicken biscuit the size of your head. There’s dozens of biscuit combos to try.

James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence brought Big Bad Breakfast to Charleston a few years ago, and it has been serving solid examples of Southern and diner cuisine at a brisk pace. This restaurant might just have the best flapjacks in town.

Daps Breakfast & Imbibe offer breakfast/brunch every day of the week and all day long. The vibe is chill and the food is filling. The Fruity Pebble pancakes and breakfast burrito with chorizo gravy are solid choices.

Tuck into cozy cafe Little Line for a big Southern breakfast with cheddar grits at the counter or order a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel to go. The chic Westside spot has proven consistent in its delivery of breakfast staples since it first opened. And if you’re running short on time, you can order ahead online.

West Ashley eatery Early Bird Diner is the greasy spoon of contemporary Southern dreams. The waitstaff leans quirky and tattooed, the food is filling and comforting, and the hours allow you to visit for brunch or late night. Try the chicken and waffles with honey mustard drizzle at least once, and then move on to the traditional sides and other comforting menu items.

Marina Variety Store is Charleston's diner by the sea. With views of the Ashley River, there's no better place to tuck into a bottomless cup of coffee and a bowl of shrimp and grits when the weather is clear.

Thoughtful pastries are the big draw at Harken Cafe, like the Apple Tahini muffins or brown sugar cake with pumpkin butter. But, if you have a free morning, grab a seat in the Parisian-inspired cafe and order a slice of quiche full of local produce or a fluffy egg sandwich on a ricotta biscuit.

Queen Street Grocery is nestled in the French Quarter, so customers can watch the carriage tours go by as they cut into a crepe or omelette. For those on the go, choose a hot-pressed breakfast sandwich on a croissant or bagel.

As the name states, Millers All Day does indeed serve breakfast all day. Look for big fluffy biscuits, pancakes, grits, and plenty of bacon in a hip, yet comfortable, dining room.

Fast & French serves a no-frills breakfast of croissants, toasts, ham plates, and cream cheese on rye with raisins. There might not be any eggs, but it's hard to resist the European charm of the cafe and the full carafes of French press coffee.

Super cute spot Baguette Magic offers carbs on carbs on carbs. Patrons rave about the recovery baguette — a hangover-curing combination of scrambled eggs, bacon, prosciutto, white cheddar, tomato jam, and arugula. For those in search of something sweet, check out the homemade Pop-Tarts or the chocolate croissant.

Lost Dog Cafe on Folly Beach is a chill place with an extensive breakfast list. From bagels to Benedicts to breakfast burritos, Lost Dog can accommodate a wide range of tastes.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — West Ashley is home to South Carolina’s first-ever food forest.

Funded through a $50,000 grant from the South Carolina Forestry Commission, Charleston Parks Conservancy launched the project with the City of Charleston and other partners to provide free and nutritious options in areas struggling with food insecurity.

“In the end, this will end up producing about 30,000 pounds of fresh organic produce, in a community that doesn't have great access to healthy foods,” said Darlene Heater, executive director of Charleston Parks Conservancy.

Rows of more than 75 plants, ranging from nut trees to berry bushes, line Mulberry Park in West Ashley.

READ MORE: "Hendrick Automotive Group donates $100,000 to Lowcountry Food Bank."

The first in the state, Charleston’s new food forest will provide free, fresh produce to those who need it most.

“What's beautiful about a food forest is that anybody can access it at any time. So, you're not relying on someone's opening hours or the availability to be able to go to a source to get food,” Heater said. “It is in the community and available to the community for whoever needs it.”

The forest features seven tiers of agriculture and will begin producing roughly $25,000 worth of food annually in the first five years.

The conservancy has worked with several local groups, like Slow Food Charleston, to make the flagship project come to life.

“To help bring good, clean, and fair agricultural products to our community, to communities that may not have access to them. To have them engage in a manner that is enriching,” said Kellie Holmes, co-chair of Slow Food Charleston.

READ MORE: "Hansley's Free Fridge project is fighting food insecurity in South Carolina."

Accessibility is at the root of it all.

The food forest is in the Ardmore neighborhood, a lower-income area that could be categorized as a food desert. It isn't an uncommon issue. Around 40.5 million Americans live in USDA-designated food deserts nationwide.

“Mulberry Park is an ideal location. It is a community that, though it has some grocery stores in its vicinity, they are not necessarily grocery stores that everyone in the community can afford to go to,” Heater explained.

Located off the Bikeway, Charleston Parks Conservancy hopes the food forest will feed not only its closest neighbors but the greater West Ashley and Charleston area.

A new kind of forest is soon taking root in West Ashley, and it's one you could eat right up — literally.

Pluck an apple, cut some herbs or pick some berries at South Carolina's first food forest, a new free-of-charge grove being built in the Ardmore community.

With an expected seven stories of canopies and an estimated $25,000 annually in produce by its fifth year, Charleston Parks Conservancy director Darlene Heater acknowledged it's a remarkable undertaking for the local nonprofit.

"It's creating access in food deserts but creating it in a way that is low-maintenance and little barrier for people to be able to participate in it," Heater said.

The food forest on Mulberry Street near Grech Street, and off the West Ashley Bikeway, is being funded by a $50,000 grant from the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

While the conservancy is handling the horticulture, the City of Charleston's parks department is working to excavate the land, add pathways and install a new playground at the park. It is one of several conservancy projects this year, in addition to working with the city to manage 24 parks on the peninsula, on James Island and in West Ashley.

Parks Department director Jason Kronsberg compared the collaboration between the city, the conservancy and the community to a three-legged stool. The conservancy liaises with the neighborhoods, like Ardmore for the food forest, and then fundraises with them before going to the city to bring a project to life.

The food forest is intended to help the Ardmore neighborhood, recently identified in the Charleston parks master plan as a community of high need, along with the surrounding community.

Besides providing free access to produce, the forest can help people better understand where their food comes from, Kronsberg said. It's also an opportunity for folks to lend a hand with some maintenance.

"The parks are owned by everybody," Kronsberg said.

The project will not be without its challenges, though. As the weather in Charleston gets more severe, Heater said that the conservancy will need to tend to the forest carefully and make sure plants or produce don't wash away.

Teaching the community how to use — and not overuse — the one-of-a-kind forest will take time, too.

The conservancy plans to lean on its volunteer base to maintain the forest, such as harvesting, packing and sending excess produce to local nonprofits. There will be no constraints on harvesting to start, as to not adversely impact food accessibility, Heater said. Part of it will be trial and error, and much of the plan is flexible based on the demand the conservancy sees for certain produce.

"What we may learn is that this community really loves sweet potatoes but doesn't care as much about turnips," Heater said. "So let's look at how we can expand growing our sweet potato patch so that we can continue to serve the people adequately who most need it."

This spring will mark the first planting of the fruit trees, brambles and herbs. Heater said that best practices dictate not harvesting during the first year, so by the second year the conservancy expects to have herbs, mushrooms, brambles and possibly bananas to harvest.

By the fifth year, with an estimated 70 trees bearing fruit, Heater said she expects 10,000 pounds of produce.

The food forest comes two years after the adoption of a new Charleston parks master plan and months after the overwhelming approval of a bond referendum question last November.

"Citizens spoke loudly and clearly that they supported the referendum and improved park spaces," Kronsberg said. "Coming out of COVID, when parks became critical infrastructure, it was natural that there was that much support for a referendum."

As the Ardmore food forest begins to yield, relieving supply-chain issues might just become an additional perk. And in a world reshaped after the pandemic, the food forest is one project that shows how to branch out from the traditional park.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston County officials held a community meeting with the hope of addressing crimes associated with people who are homeless in West Ashley.

Prompted by community concerns, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office held the meeting at the Bees Ferry Library Wednesday evening.

Charleston County Sheriff Kristen Graziano opened the meeting by discussing a recent incident involving William Whitfield, a person who resided in the woods along Bees Ferry Road. Mental health officials provided an update on his condition.

READ MORE: Arrests, charges continue for man who lives in trees on Bees Ferry Rd.

“He is flagged in the jail, so if he is about to be released, he’s going to be seen by the mental health team at the jail and evaluated for whether or not he needs to go to the hospital either voluntarily or involuntarily,” William Malcolm, director of mental health, said.

Community members shared their experiences and raised questions about the city and county’s efforts to find solutions.

Some emphasized the need for more support and collaboration.

Aaron Comstock, the founder of Uplift Charleston, a homelessness advocacy group, highlighted some solutions.

“None of this can be solved unless we have more shelters and more affordable housing and housing solutions,” Comstock said.

A West Ashley resident, Olivia Grafton, shared her efforts to help the homeless by cleaning up the community and spending time with those in need.

Elected officials were asked tough questions about their plans to address the issues in the future.

Charleston City Council member Stephen Bowden shared potential solutions.

“We’ve got to do a better job of going to our county partners and going to our state partners and letting them know what the dollar figure is,” Bowden said.

Community members wanted to know the whereabouts of Charleston Mayor William Cogswell during the meeting.

When asked about the meeting, the mayor’s spokesperson Deja Knight McMillan provided the following statement:

The Sheriff did not notify anyone from the Mayor’s office that this meeting was happening. Poor communication will not help us collaborate on solving issues in our city.

Officials and organizers acknowledged that this is a long process and stated they will continue working towards solutions.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Residents who live near one West Ashley development learned more about the future of their community during a meeting hosted by developers.

Cameron Property Company, the company overseeing the development of 26 acres near the Essex Farms community, invited residents to share their concerns and provide input at a meeting Thursday night.

The 26-acre lot runs from Essex Farms Drive, down Skye Drive and extends to Dorothy Drive.

Developers were accompanied by Charleston city officials representing the council, planning department, and traffic department to discuss what potential businesses residents could expect to see.

During the meeting, community members said they were relieved to learn that the developer withdrew its request to change the zoning language to include drive-thru windows at restaurants.

The developer is in talks with a grocery store and gas station, but plans have not been finalized.

Some residents said they are less than pleased about the big changes coming to the Essex Farms community.

Residents also expressed concerns about traffic congestion and the potential for a gas station to be built on the property.

“Tonight’s the first time we’ve heard gas station. That was a shock for all of us. When we purchased our properties, we were told specifically that a gas station wasn’t allowed to be there,” resident Kellie Kinard said.

Development Manager Collins Moe said he wants community input but that the company has the right to build to the zoning order, which does allow a grocery store and gas station.

“We’re going through the appropriate city of Charleston permit steps which require traffic studies. Things that outline what we’re proposing to make sure they meet all the standards with the county, the state, and the city, more importantly, based on where this property lies. At the end of the day, we’re still very far out,” Moe said.

Kinard said she is disappointed and was left with even more concerns and questions.

“I think my husband and I are going to have a serious conversation about whether or not we’re going to list our home. Which is really unfortunate because we love our neighborhood. We have great neighbors, but we do not want this type of development that they’re talking about potentially literally within several feet of our driveway,” Kinard said.

City officials stated that this development was approved many years ago and the zoning goes back to 1997.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.