When my wife Jun told our friend in Charleston that we were thinking of visiting her family, her immediate reaction was “We have to go to Vern’s together! That’s my favorite restaurant in Charleston!” Knowing Charleston’s reputation as one of the premier food cities in the South, I thought that was a rather bold declaration. Last time we visited the city in 2021, we had an absolutely fabulous meal at FIG, so I was initially inclined to re-visit that restaurant (we only had one night for restaurant during our short trip) but decided at the end to trust our friend’s recommendation and go with Vern’s. The restaurant, owed and husband-and-wife duo of Daniel and Bethany Heinze (who met at the former Charleston fine-dining trailblazer McCrady’s), did appear in a number of “best restaurants in Charleston” lists I had casually browsed through on the Internet so I figured we would have at least a solid meal. I’m happy to report that Vern’s did deliver a very satisfying New American meal with its seemingly unassuming yet well-executed dishes.

We relied on our friend and her husband to order the vast majority of dishes for our dinner, starting with the bitter lettuces salad with fennel, breadcrumbs and confit garlic and the raw yellowfin tuna tartare with Calabrian chili. After trying both of the dishes (the restaurant also graciously provided a free charred sourdough bread), I knew that Vern’s had something special going on. Of course it’s hard to mess up a salad, but the one from the restaurant felt extra special with its freshness and crunchy texture of the vegetables, and the spicy kick that the chili gave to the tuna was also quite wonderful. There were a few pasta dishes on the menu, and Jun and I were very glad we chose the rigatoni with pea tendrils and burrata in the center, with the pasta’s texture spot-on and the sauce offering slightly citrusy flavor that was rather addictive.

The key to having a killer dinner at Vern’s is to pay attention to the specials that are written on the blackboard. One of the savory dishes on the specials was my favorite dish of the night, a lamb Barnsley chop (with red wine jus and truffle Hollandaise sauce) that was one of the best lamb chop cuts I’ve had in recent years, with flawless texture that would serve as a worthy model for how lamb meat should be cooked. The other dish, duck a l’Orange (with a side of radicchio and fennel), was also a standout dish, at least judging from the way my duck aficionado wife enjoyed the meat. The two desserts we ordered – a cup of strawberry, vanilla and crème fraiche and a chocolate tart with peanut butter mousse – were also solid but perhaps slightly below the level of all the impressive savory dishes we had shared.

Getting a reservation at Vern’s could be challenging (thankfully our friend was a regular at the restaurant and was able to book our table fairly easily), so advanced planning on Resy is essential. I really loved the cozy neighborhood vibe of the restaurant on a quiet corner, with a darkly lit room providing a ton of Southern charm. The wine list at Vern’s is also one of the restaurant’s strengths with a diverse, thoughtful selection of wines from all around the world designed to pair well with all the delicious food. Vern’s is one of those restaurants where you want to visit as often as possible and become a regular. Oftentimes, it doesn’t matter how fancy your dishes look or how much luxury ingredients you use to build and maintain a successful restaurant. You might have encountered a lot of similar dishes at other restaurants when surveying the menu at Vern’s, but you will deeply appreciate from a dinner at the restaurant that it matters greatly how these dishes are prepared with precision and dedication.

Address: 41 Bogard Street, Charleston, SC 29403

KenScale: 8.25/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.25/10)

Website: https://www.vernschs.com/

Reservation via Resy