Sweetwater Cafe

Great little diner experience with quality breakfast food. The employees are all friendly and the service was great. We ordered some fried green tomatoes to share. I had biscuits with sausage gravy with eggs over easy. The girls enjoyed French toast and chocolate chip pancakes! It was a Monday morning and there was no wait.

This restaurant is definitely a 5/5 for my husband and I. The service was phenomenal. The food was even better. I ordered a sprite and it came in an old green bottle, it definitely made me feel like I was back in the day haha! We will be eating here every time we are in the area! My husband got a frisco something burger and I got the French toast with bacon & grits. The first set of bacon wasn’t up to their par, so they brought me another round of bacon without me even asking! Highly recommend this place!

Best lunch in Charleston. Classic southern dishes with a twist. 10 STARS!

Great little local diner. Food is intense (deep fried bacon), but so yummy. Service was good and friendly, but the restaurant doesn’t have much aesthetic appeal. You’re here for the food and the company.

Came in for an authentic Southern meal and was not disappointed with the shrimp and grits! The chef let us know it was a family recipe. Great restaurant for Southern comfort food.

It's a nice place to sit down and get some lunch. The waitress was nice and the food was good.

Close to all the action, yet relaxing with fair prices. Friendly staff. Good selections and the cook even said thank you on our way out.

Great southern diner. The catfish and grits, shrimp po boy, and crab omelet were superb.

We make a point of coming here for lunch when visiting Charleston. It is right across from the market and very convenient to stop in for a break. There is something for everyone here. From just grilled cheese to great club sandwiches. She crab soup and chowder are also really good. They have a pretty big selection. We usually arrive a little before or after the lunch rush and always find a table. And we never wait very long for our food.

One of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Absolutely gorgeous food and if I ever return to Charleston, this place will be my first stop! 5 Stars!

Staff was friendly and the service was outstanding. Ordered breakfast- ham and egg sandwich which was excellent. My husband had the California croissant which was also fantastic. Food came quickly, endless coffee, waters to-go. I would definitely recommend and eat there again.

Great service and reasonably priced traditional menu!!!
We just happen to come across this Hidden Gem for lunch while leaving our Hotel, The Kings Courtyard Inn. And boy we are glad we did. We were looking for a traditional style lunch menu. Dee was a Great server! She is super friendly and very knowledgeable. Lunch was great. Even one of the kitchen staff we ran into outside the building was very nice and conversational. We liked it so much we came back the next morning for breakfast before leaving town.

Hidden gem tucked away on market st. Downtown Charleston. Super close to King Street shopping. The breakfast is phenomenal made from fresh ingredients. Definitely in my top 2 places to grab a hardy breakfast. If you are unsure what to get; I would suggest the Ham Egg & Cheese. Just a Simple sandwich packed with flavor. I love the vibe here; It has this old time Diner feel with the glittery red seats and stainless steel decor over the kitchen. The staff is friendly and professional, Greeting you promptly when you arrive. Don’t look past this place…it’s really good food and may just be my new place to eat breakfast when I am downtown on business.

Super tasty meal! There was a short wait of 10 minutes and we were seated right after! Our waiter was super nice and fun to talk to! We all enjoyed our food especially the hash browns and pecan crusted french toast! It wasn’t cheap but also not crazy expensive (abt $12-15 per person). The coffee was fresh and good as well!

Today my wife and I decided we would try out Sweetwater Cafe on Meeting Street near the Market.
I was not impressed by the exterior but was pleasantly surprised by the number of people (my experience is a lot of people means good restaurant) waiting to eat.

We had a quick 15-minute wait and were seated at a comfy table. Our server promptly took our order.

My wife ordered, and I ordered she-crab soup as part of our mid-afternoon meal.
I must say I love a delicious dish of she-crab soup. Unfortunately, when our soup came, I noticed that it was thicker than the ordinary she-crab soup I so often enjoy while in Charleston. This stuff was terrible due to the overuse of flour.

We set our dishes to the side of the table, and our server quickly noticed and came to check on us. When we told him our concern, he immediately took them away and apologized and said he would take them off our bill, which in no way was I expecting him to do.

He brought the rest of the meal and asked if there was anything else he could do for us.

My wife and I enjoyed the rest of the meal ( three-cheese grilled cheese sandwich and fries)

Our excellent server came back and said something to the effect of ”you were right; the she-crab soup was terrible. He went on to explain that someone in the kitchen decided to fix it up a little bit and not follow their recipe and added way to much flour.

I was impressed with the service by owning up to their mistake.

I will be back, and I encourage you to give the Sweetwater Cafe a try when you are in the downtown Charleston area.

Nice Cafe on a side street. Very busy so we knew it had to be good. Food was excellent. As the place was packed, the servers had to hustle, but did well. Would definitely recommend.

This was a welcome respite from all the overpriced, bougie restaurants around downtown. Great kids menu, generous portions, comfortable booth seating, and they provide crayons and an activity sheet for kids which was a big help. Tasty cola in a glass bottle. Steak and eggs were both a bit overcooked and steak was salty and not what I expected (but that was my fault for not understanding it was more like a burger patty). Staff were wonderful and patient, and environment was conducive to a couple of us getting some remote work done on laptops. Variety of side choices was nice. I enjoyed the fried okra.

For breakfast this morning we chose Sweetwater Cafe just a five minute walk from our hotel. As we turned onto Market St from King St we could smell the cafe. We were seated promptly and then greeted by out waitress Dee.
Dee was very nice and went over some of the more favorite selections on the menu. We sat right close to the kitchen and could hear the cooks making the meals, you could tell they liked their work and it showed when out breakfast was served.
I went with the bacon an fried green tomato omelet with a homemade biscuit and potato pancake, my wife chose the meat lovers omelet with homemade applesauce and a english muffin, while my son went with the double deal breakfast two pancakes, two eggs two pieces of bacon and a sausage. The omelettes came packed full of goodness we really enjoyed them, the potato pancake and biscuit are what I suggest as a side they were very flavorful. My son liked his breakfast he cleaned his plate then polished off the rest of my wife's omelet.
Dee kept our water glasses and coffee cup full and was very great conversationalist. The jalapenos I asked to be added to my omlete didn't make it, when Dee found out she promised she'd have a word with the guys later pointing out it was on the order she put in lol. Despite no jalapenos our breakfast was very good and full of goodness you won't go away hungry.

We found this lovely place and is so sweet and cozy. Is a small place but is amazing the minute we came in they greet us,the waitress was super nice. Food is excellent they place is very clean prices are good. The vibe is so beautiful what else can I say , I recommend this place.

Wonderful food and service! The fried green tomatoes are delicious. And get yourself a Boylan drink. I had a cane sugar cola. Better than Coke!