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Is Leon's Oyster Shop Too Hip For This Critic?

Critic Jeff Allen takes a look at latest sensation Leon's Oyster Shop

Leon's Oyster Shop
Leon's Oyster Shop
Rémy Thurston
Erin Perkins is the editor of Eater Carolinas.

After Charleston Scene and City Paper gave newcomer Leon's Oyster Shop glowing reviews, Charleston Magazine critic Jeff Allen takes a turn studying the fried chicken and oyster establishment. Unlike local writers Robert Moss and Hanna Raskin, Allen doesn't put forth an enthusiastic epistle for the eatery, but takes a more neutral "different strokes for different folks" tone.

He spends a portion of the review comparing the restaurant to others around town. For example, Leon's is a hipster/more casual oyster tribute than The Ordinary: "better matched to young men sporting handlebar mustaches." The chicken at Leon's is unlike the comfort food at perennial favorite Martha Lou's: "far removed from the crackling, crumbling fowl proffered at familiar Charleston landmarks."

How you read Allen's review depends on your perception of the word "hipster." If that's a good thing, the critic thinks you'll love Leon's, but if that's not your scene, Allen informs you that the atmosphere hints at "backstreets of Brooklyn" (presumably the birthplace of hipsterdom).

Leon's Oyster Shop

698 King St, Charleston, SC 29403