Jackrabbit Filly owners Shuai and Corrie Wang and chef de cuisine Brandon Olson opened King BBQ to bring Chinese barbecue with a Southern twist to the Lowcountry. Now open for lunch and dinner, the restaurant serves chopped pork noodle bowls, ginger scallion kielbasa, five-spice duck, soy-braised collards, shrimp sliders, “trashy fancy cocktails,” and more.

Chef Bintou Ndaw couldn’t find the food of her homeland, Senegal, in the Lowcountry, so she created African restaurant Bintü Atelier. The petite spot on Line Street offers appetizers like beef suya; crispy prawns with millet and fonio grains; and supa kanja, an okra stew with red shrimp. Ndaw will keep a few staples on the menu, but she wants to rotate dishes to be able to highlight the different countries across Africa.

The team behind Sichuan restaurant Kwei Fei has a new downtown spot serving Cantonese and Chinese-American takeout classics. Beautiful South is a fun new space to explore menu items like crab rangoon, pork dumplings, and XO clams for lunch and dinner.

Chef Nikko Cagalanan and Baguette Magic co-owner Paula Kramer teamed up to make Filipino flavors a more permanent fixture on Spring Street with the opening of Kultura. For brunch, the space offers coffee and pastries from Baguette Magic but with Filipino flavors, like ube lattes, guava “Pop-Tarts,” and egg sandwiches with pork belly adobo. In the evenings, the menu includes arroz caldo with smoked trout roe, pancit with lump crab, and a whole snapper curry.

The Quinte Oyster Bar has reopened as a less-precious version of its former self. With chef Jason Stanhope (formerly of FIG) in charge, customers can now build their own raw platters, tuck into a lobster bao bun, or order a bowl of seafood chowder with Benton’s bacon.

Fans of Pakistani restaurant Ma’am Saab have waited for co-owners Maryam Ghaznavi and Raheel Gauba to open their downtown spot for a few years now, and the time is finally here. The Meeting Street establishment offers butter chicken, lamb samosas, biryani, and nalli nihari in a hip and vibrant dining room. The music is loud and the cocktails are unique (each drink can be made without alcohol or with the addition of delta-9 THC). It’s an experience like none other in Charleston right now.

Chef/restaurateur George Kovach likes to say that Bearcat is “fine dining without the tablecloth.” The food is modern American, pulling from influences from Japan to North Africa to Mexico. The bar serves snacks like colorful tartare lettuce wraps and roasted oysters topped with wagyu beef fat. The dining room even more refined fare like duck liver mousse and crab rice with uni hollandaise.

Reservations filled up for stunning Italian restaurant Sorelle as soon as they opened, but the bar is walk-ins only, so try stopping by to grab a seat or a table. The bar opens at 4 p.m. and serves the full dinner menu at 5 p.m. The menu focuses on southern Italian cooking, which means arancini stuffed with bolognese, pasta-baked branzino, ricotta tortelloni with prosciutto, and much more. During the day, the Mercato is open and serves Lamill coffee drinks and breakfast items like mascarpone and Nutella toast. For lunch, the shop offers sandwiches ranging from meatballs and ricotta to chicken and broccoli rabe, as well as salads and Sicilian-style pizza by the slice. Gelato, wines, craft beers, and dry goods are also available. Most items are made to grab and go, but there is a communal table and window seating in the bustling space.

American grill comfort foods are key at the James. The menu offers all the hits, like tuna tartare, chicken tenders, spinach artichoke dip, prime rib, Caesar salad, burgers, and Cosmopolitans. It’s basically an upscale Applebee’s and is a hit for its predictability and something-for-everyone menu.

Chef Alex Yellan (formerly Minero and the Tippling House) puts out the flavors of Mexico at Johns Island restaurant Colectivo. Start with the mariscos section and then move on to large platters of carnitas ribs, adobo lamb, and cochinita pibil, which are meant to be shared and heaped onto corn or flour tortillas with accouterments like pickled onions, salsa, and cilantro. 

Be prepared to smell like wintery smoke when leaving Lost Isle, because the dining room is all outdoors and the food is prepared via live fire. The restaurant comes from the team at Folly Beach bar Lowlife, and has the same touch of playfulness, but in a more grown-up fashion. Food ranges from big platters of grilled meats to collards in a curry broth — it’s all meant to be shared with friends or family.