Nothing about The Ordinary is really ordinary. An old English reference to a tavern or eating house where meals were served at a fixed price, the name of this lauded oyster bar and seafood house hints at something unusual. The restaurant lives up to its name.
Try The Ordinary For The Freshest Seafood In Charleston
Chef Mike Lata and business partner Adam Nemirow established The Ordinary in Charleston in 2012 after enjoying success with their other enterprise, FIG, for which Lata was named James Beard Foundation Award-winning Best Chef: Southeast in 2009.
In 2013, the James Beard Foundation nominated The Ordinary for Best New Restaurant. Southern Living Magazine has listed it as one of "50 reasons we're thankful to be Southern" and Vogue once suggested making The Ordinary the first stop on a night out in Charleston. It was also cited as one of the best oyster houses in America by Travel + Leisure and as one of Charleston's best restaurants by Town & Country.
The ambience is second-to-none by historic Charleston standards. Housed in a renovated bank built in 1927 on Upper King Street, the restaurant has 22-foot ceilings and Palladium windows, some of which stretch almost floor to ceiling to give it an open, airy feeling.
Its most striking feature is the original bank vault door, which was left intact and now gives diners a peek into the kitchen.
A commitment to culinary excellence has remained consistent through the years. The menu varies according to the seafood available that day, with a raw bar featuring different oyster varieties, peel and eat shrimp, pickled fish and more. Shellfish towers brimming with oysters, raw and cooked seafood and house-made condiments are both a visual spectacle and gastronomic delight.
Lata works closely with fishermen and purveyors in the area, including Clammer Dave's, Tarvin Seafood and Abundant Seafood, and he bases the menu on what is fresh that day. The restaurant's raw bar is curated from local waters and also features harvests from up and down the East Coast.
The Ordinary is truly a celebration of the extraordinary merroir of Carolina Coast and East Coast flavors.
