Kid Cashew, 1440 Ben Sawyer Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
My friends and I found this restaurant by saying “restaurants near me” in Siri. Luckily, it also had dairy free and gluten free options as my traveling companions have these particular food allergies.
We arrived in Mount Pleasant the Friday before the Cooper River Bridge Run and we were concerned about the wait times on this very busy weekend. Approximately 38,500 runners participate in this race. We called and were told there was no wait, which is a bonus for staying on the Mount Pleasant side of the race.
The restaurant is beautiful inside with white subway tile and wooden accents and also has a patio area. The menu was full of options, it was very hard to choose. We began with the Baked Spinach and Feta Dip which is served with pita bread and bonus-it can be served with gluten free bread as well, a definite win for the table.
For dinner I chose the 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken with a side of polenta.
Other items that my friends ordered included the seared ribeye which included an Italian sausage, one got the cilantro lime marinated chicken skewers, one got the greens, grains, and avocado salad and we all shared the quinoa stuffed avocado. Our food was fresh and tasted amazing and I would highly recommend this location to any visitor to Mount Pleasant.
Annie’s Hot Donuts, 1247 Ben Sawyer Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
We found this delightful donut stand by happenstance. The shuttle bus for the bridge run dropped us right across the street. The building is a lovely shade of purple and looked friendly and inviting. We asked if they had gluten free options and they did! The inside is cute and there is even an upstairs for events, what a great idea to have a place for birthdays. I am not a fan of sweets so I was along for the ride but they have an extensive menu with many options. It is a family run business and they did a great job accommodating our order and keeping up with the runners, locals, and tourists. I grabbed a black coffee for our walk back to our airbnb.
West Ashley Crab Shack, 1901 Ashely River Road, Charleston, SC 29407
This restaurant is a repeat favorite from our 2023 Bridge Run. We originally found it on the way to Annie O’ Love’s Cafe of Sweet Abundance and we were so excited by the find. We headed back here for this year’s edition. We even got sat at the same table as the prior year. We all had crab legs on the mind and ordered accordingly. Among the orders were the crab leg and shrimp bucket and the broken crab bucket as well as the crab stuffed flounder and special of the day. Last year we started with hushpuppies but this year we decided to forgo the appetizer as we knew we would be having dessert next door.
I ordered the crab stuffed flounder and it is so tender it melts in your mouth and is actually stuffed with a lot of crab meat. I got a side of sweet potato fries and vegetables and my meal was amazing.
The buckets come with corn and potatoes. It was the first time eating crab legs for a member of our group and I helped crack some legs open for her. We enjoyed our meal for the second year in a row and headed next door for dessert.
Annie O’ Love’s Cafe of Sweet Abundance, 1901 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29407
An absolute gem of a find in Mount Pleasant. My friends have allergies to wheat and dairy so finding a bakery that tastes good with these exclusions is a pure delight. This location is a vegetarian and vegan bakery. They offer cookies, cheesecakes, “jars of abundance” as well as sandwiches and coffee, tea, lemonade drinks, they have very extensive menu. The popular pick for our group was the Annie O’tmeal Cream Pie and the Dream Big Cookie of Abundance which is coated with gold dust. We even planned ahead with a cooler in the trunk to place our extra cookies while we toured Charleston.
Christophe Artisan Chocolatier (Christophe’s Macaron et Chocolat), 1901 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29407
Again finding this place was by happenstance as it was right next door to the West Ashley Crab Shack and I remembered reading about it in our Airbnb’s bucket list book. This location has macaroons of all types and truffles as well as French Press coffee. They could not guarantee being gluten free as they have products with flour as well and could not guarantee the lack of cross contamination. Our group got several truffles and macaroons to go to share with family members once we got back home on Sunday. Once we had our sweet tooth satisfied we headed to Charleston to shop and site see.
Graze, 863 Houston Northcutt Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
After a full day of running and site seeing we were ready to eat some serious dinner. After consulting Find Me Gluten Free we decided to go to Graze for dinner. It is located in a shopping center and has tinted windows on the outside to set the atmosphere. Once again their menu had so many good options it was hard to choose. I ordered the Rigatoni.
My friends order the pierogi’s to start, which was my first time eating a pierogi and it was amazing. They also ordered the green apple, pistachio, and cauliflower soup and it was a delightful mix of flavors. It was so good we needed up splitting a second bowl.
Two members of our party ordered the filet mignon, one ordered the short rib tacos and another ordered the Wild Mushroom Pappardelle. Our sever was excellent and accommodating. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.
Vintage Coffee Cafe, 219 Simmons St, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
We ended up eating our last meal in Mount Pleasant at the Vintage Coffee Cafe. We were on our way to another location and after we passed this cute place we decided to eat here. This location is housed in a cute little cottage with a beautiful outdoor patio. As it was Sunday morning this place was packed! I choose the Caprese. Caprese is one of my favorite foods and it is even better at breakfast time. The Vintage Coffee Cafe also has several sauces to choose from and I added a chipotle sauce to my sandwich. Their menu can be found here and you can also order online.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside before heading home for the weekend.
Key takeaways: Mount Pleasant has a wide array of delicious options, so many of them being fresh and healthy. I can’t wait to return and try some more. It is also an area that affords many options to those who are gluten free which is important to my race-cation buddies.