Balao Opens With a Big Catch of Local Seafood Tonight

The team behind Market Street steakhouse Burwell’s will open its rooftop seafood restaurant named Balao today at 4 p.m. The menu will be somewhere between a fancy fish house and a raw bar.

Opening at 16 N. Market St., the eatery will offer classics like ceviche, oysters rockefeller, or jumbo lump crab cakes with remoulade. There will also be less traditional fish house items like South Atlantic sushi on the half shell, cold-smoked South Carolina wahoo, blackened seafood tacos, and blue crab beignets. Also look for raw bar items.

Owner Kenneth Emery says he wanted to take advantage of the bountiful seafood surrounding Charleston, and chefs Nathan Davenport and Matthew LeBoeuf were on board to offer as many Lowcountry products as possible.

To visit Balao, enter through Burwell’s and head to the back of the restaurant and up the stairs to the second floor. There’s a separate bar (focusing on rum and tequila) and a separate menu (no steaks here) upstairs. Think of Balao as a hidden speakeasy serving seafood.

• Burwell’s [Official]
• Balao [Facebook]
• Balao [Official]