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With an open-air kitchen and live-fire cooking, Lost Isle in Johns Island, South Carolina, redefines eating out.

Dining at Lost Isle is an adventure from the moment you arrive. Look for a sign directing you down a gravel driveway, or you might miss the restaurant altogether. You’ll see a tiny white house nearly swallowed by the lush Lowcountry vegetation, but you can bypass the front door—instead, head to the backyard. Pass under a trellis tangled with vines to reach a tucked-away escape where people are strewn about a patio passing plates, toasting cocktails, congregating around crackling firepits, and marveling at the giant, moss-draped pecan tree above.

If you didn’t know better, you might think you’d stumbled upon an intimate house party. And in many ways, you’d be right—but you don’t need an invitation to join the festivities.

Under the light of the moon and some strategically placed chandeliers and sailcloth, chef Josh Taylor and his team create culinary magic in a 23-foot-long outdoor kitchen on Johns Island (about 10 miles from downtown Charleston). They use local oak wood, a live fire, and seasonal ingredients from area farmers and purveyors to turn out dishes like caveman-worthy Smoked Tomahawk Pork Chops glistening with an ancho-cherry glaze and Charred Eggplant Dip begging to be slathered onto grilled sourdough. It’s a five-senses experience—you can smell the food cooking before it arrives at your table and watch chefs masterfully prepare it on the wood-fired grill.

Although you’ll seat yourself, grab drinks at the bar, and place orders at a register next to the kitchen, you’ll never once feel neglected by the attentive staff. The hospitality team takes care of everything, from delivering dishes and refilling drinks to stoking nearby fires and passing out cozy blankets on cooler nights.

The atmosphere at Lost Isle is laid-back, but the style of cooking and effort put into providing a five-star experience are anything but. “We want it to feel like you’re at a backyard party—just your friends happen to be chefs and bartenders,” Taylor says of the operation, which he opened in 2023 alongside his wife, Maggie MacMillan, and partners, T.J. Lynch and Thomas Wilson.

Dishes familiar to Southern palates are reimagined with notes from Taylor and MacMillan’s travels around the world. The oft-praised Curry Braised Collards borrow spices and a creamy broth from khao soi, a northern Thai noodle soup. Fire-roasted clams from Georgia’s Sapelo Island get an unexpected flavor boost from chili-chorizo butter, a berbere spice blend, and harissa. It’s a one-of-a-kind menu that’s made even more special once you’re privy to the chain of events that allowed the restaurant to be.

In 2014, former college sweethearts Taylor and MacMillan reconnected in Charleston, where they’d each moved following time spent away from the South. After five years running a food truck, they set out to find a restaurant space and ended up touring the site that would become Lost Isle just minutes after Lynch, a local restaurateur, did. Lynch won the bid, but after seeing Taylor (a longtime acquaintance) at the property, he reached out with a partnership proposition.

PHOTO:

Peter Frank Edwards

The Down the Wabbit Hole cocktail features a smoked pepita-Tajín rim. PHOTO:

Peter Frank Edwards

“Timing is crazy sometimes,” Taylor says. “If we had not run into each other at that point, it wouldn’t have happened. It all kind of serendipitously worked out, and here we are now.” As you’re sitting under the stars (at a table Taylor and Lynch built themselves) after finishing a meal that’s top-to-bottom wonderful, it’s hard to imagine a place like this existing without a bit of help from fate.

More often than not, tipsters, readers, friends, and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? What are the new restaurants? What's everyone talking about? While the Eater 18 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the "it" places of the moment. Enter the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to highlight the spots crowds are flocking to at the moment or generating a big buzz. Folks are asking, "Have you been yet?" Try one of these newbies today.

This month, chef Sean Brock’s Joyland location joins the list.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Chinese American restaurant Jackrabbit Filly moved up the street to a bigger dining room and more prominent location. With the move comes a more extensive menu with exciting new options. Karrage, dumplings, and fried rice are still on the menu, but now there’s also a crab rangoon cheese ball, mapo tofu vol au vent, spicy Korean gnocchi, and Sichuan seafood wonton soup.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Chubby Fish (most recently visited by Martha Stewart) has smartly expanded into the space next door with another cozy nautical space, but this time, the team is focused on world-class cocktails from Christian Favier (formerly of the Ordinary). Rum figures heavily on the list, but there’s also a delicious smoked dirty martini and plenty of fizzy drinks thanks to a fancy Japanese Suntory highball machine. Customers can order snacks from the ever-changing menu, including oysters, crudos, agnolotti, Iberico ham, and more.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

Superstar chef Sean Brock has brought his fast-casual burger/biscuit joint to the Lowcountry. Joyland is Brock’s fun nod to the fast-food joints of yesteryear. Breakfast includes all types of biscuit sandwiches and a breakfast burrito. The lunch and dinner menu includes the Joyburger Deluxe, fried chicken sandwiches, Chicago dogs, Crustburgers, and Joysticks. Most of the menu items can be made gluten-free.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Ice-cold martinis with a side of caviar set the vibe at By the Way, a new upscale lounge and restaurant in Cannonborough/Elliotborough hoping to draw a slightly more mature clientele away from King Street. It’s from Uptown Hospitality Group, the folks behind hotspots like Uptown Social and Bodega, in partnership with Craig Conover and Austen Kroll, two stars of Bravo TV’s Southern Charm. Fairly intimate with the feel of an old-world tavern, By the Way serves a menu of trendy pub fare like ’nduja deviled eggs, poutine, fried oysters with caviar, and steak frites.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.

Chinese American restaurant Jackrabbit Filly moved up the street to a bigger dining room and more prominent location. With the move comes a more extensive menu with exciting new options. Karrage, dumplings, and fried rice are still on the menu, but now there’s also a crab rangoon cheese ball, mapo tofu vol au vent, spicy Korean gnocchi, and Sichuan seafood wonton soup.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Chubby Fish (most recently visited by Martha Stewart) has smartly expanded into the space next door with another cozy nautical space, but this time, the team is focused on world-class cocktails from Christian Favier (formerly of the Ordinary). Rum figures heavily on the list, but there’s also a delicious smoked dirty martini and plenty of fizzy drinks thanks to a fancy Japanese Suntory highball machine. Customers can order snacks from the ever-changing menu, including oysters, crudos, agnolotti, Iberico ham, and more.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

Superstar chef Sean Brock has brought his fast-casual burger/biscuit joint to the Lowcountry. Joyland is Brock’s fun nod to the fast-food joints of yesteryear. Breakfast includes all types of biscuit sandwiches and a breakfast burrito. The lunch and dinner menu includes the Joyburger Deluxe, fried chicken sandwiches, Chicago dogs, Crustburgers, and Joysticks. Most of the menu items can be made gluten-free.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Ice-cold martinis with a side of caviar set the vibe at By the Way, a new upscale lounge and restaurant in Cannonborough/Elliotborough hoping to draw a slightly more mature clientele away from King Street. It’s from Uptown Hospitality Group, the folks behind hotspots like Uptown Social and Bodega, in partnership with Craig Conover and Austen Kroll, two stars of Bravo TV’s Southern Charm. Fairly intimate with the feel of an old-world tavern, By the Way serves a menu of trendy pub fare like ’nduja deviled eggs, poutine, fried oysters with caviar, and steak frites.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.