Dining Around Charleston: Tattooed Moose, Charleston, SC

Moose Magic!

Thanks to a suggestion from a reader on Yelp! I found my newest gem, the Tattooed Moose. I’ve never been to the Moose but people I know swear by it. Away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Charleston the Tattooed Moose is a restaurant you don’t want to miss.

When you walk in, you can’t help but notice the huge stuffed moose head mounted on the wall. The bartender explained that the moose was actually killed and stuffed by a family and when finished, they realized that it wouldn’t fit in the house so they sold it on ebay. Thankfully it’s found a good home.

The restaurant is small, and with outdoor tables has seating for about 50+ people. We sat at the bar and smiled at the “moose memorabilia” that was not to be outdone by the “stuffed squirrels”. This lodge-like- feel-of-a-place offers a small, but interesting menu.

The five “snacks” include items such as Roasted Garlic & Blue Cheese Fries and a Basket O’ Corn Dogs. They offer two salads; The Santa Fe, which can be ordered with a scoop of Smoked Chicken Salad on it, or the small side salad. The Specialty Sandwiches are served with the House Made Garlicky Dill and Spicy Sweet Green Tomato Pickles that were incredible. You can get a side of Duck Fat Fries ($1.75) or BBQ Baked Beans or Cilantro-Lime Slaw for $1.00.

The sandwiches were unique in their own right. Mike’s Famous “Duck Club” led the list. Where have you ever seen a club sandwich with Duck Confit or a Smoked Chicken Salad BLT? Many, if not all of the items were inviting and it was difficult to decide.

After an abysmal attempt at a Reuben by the King Street Grille the other day I ordered the Reuben to see if my Reuben ‘jones’ could be satisfied. Prior to this, I thought that Graze’s (Mt. Pleasant) version of a Reuben was quite possibly one of the best I had ever eaten. But move over Graze, there is a new Moose in town. The Reuben had melt in your mouth corned beef and was topped with cheddar cheese (my request), sauerkraut and 1,000 island dressing. It was served on perfectly toasted rye bread and was piping hot.

The Reuben

My husband ordered the Lucky #1 sandwich. The sandwich had BBQ pork belly, a thinly sliced pickle, tomato, cheese, crispy fried onions, cilantro and wasabi aioli all served on a toasted hoagie roll. We also added a side of Cilantro-Lime Slaw at the last minute. My husband felt lucky ordering the Lucky #1 a concoction of flavors that he couldn’t stop eating. The cilantro-lime slaw lacked flavor but we barely had room for it anyway.