Burwell's Stone Fire Grill, Charleston, SC

The Next Great Steakhouse?

              Photo: Praneendra Kuver

Recently dubbed “The Next Great Steakhouse” by CNN we decided to venture into Burwell’s, one of the newest additions to the Charleston restaurant scene.

Located on Market Street in the former ‘Gilligan’s” the renovations were more than extensive.  The restaurant is beautiful.  It’s somewhat contemporary, but warm with low, subtle lighting in an open-aired space.  The only remnants of the old space are the lovely, exposed wood beams that grace the first floor of this two-floor establishment.

Our server was helpful as we worked our way through the menu.  It’s not extensive featuring about 20+ items listed under “starters”, “Farm and Field” and “Sea & Shore”.  What’s really interesting is their unique claim to fame “Create your plate” where steaks are cooked on a 1400 degree wood fire or at the table on a 700 degree searing stone. 

Curious about the “stone”, we started with a Flight of Flavor – stone seared petite filet tips with a trio of tasting sauces.  Two steak lovers raved about the flavors of both the filet and the sauces.  It was also fun to have the stone at the table and be able to cook your own filets.  As the menu says, “It’s all about the sauces”, each of the three sauces were a terrific compliment to the meat.  A big win with this dish!

Flight Of Flavor 

We also started with Fire and Ice – baby bibb lettuce, warm wild boar vinaigrette, cool avocado-blue cheese dressing and a duo of vegetables.  What a spectacular ensemble of flavors. With such a great start and terrific service to boot, we thought we were in for a larger-than-life-sized win. 

Fire And Ice

Shrimp Cocktail

Keeping to the more the meat the merrier theme the guys both ordered steaks.  The House Rib Eye Filet, also listed as the “Heart of the Rib eye”, at $31.90 was accompanied by roasted cauliflower and parsnip puree, grilled and melted brussel sprouts and house whiskey peppercorn sauce.  The side dishes were delightful but the steak was woefully under cooked and had to be sent back.  The Bone-in Rib eye also dubbed “The Cowgirl” was incredibly over cooked, but our friend ate it any way.  For a “steak place” you’d figure they’d get that part of the meal correct.

House Rib Eye

The Cowgirl

Not being a meat eater I ordered the special which was Shrimp with Spatzel.  Four small shrimp graced the plate atop of a not-so-great mound of spatzel. This was truly not what I expected.  Our friend ordered the Wild Caught Grilled Salmon which was served with apple and faro salad, melted leek sauté and bourbon maple glaze.  Our friend mentioned that it was okay, but not great. 

Shrimp And Spatzel

Wild Caught Grilled Salmon

Once my husband’s steak returned to the table after being cooked to temperature the activity began.  The owner came by an apologized saying that “this is what we do” (steaks), and could not have been nicer.  We were then served a beautiful complimentary dessert platter, which was a very nice touch.  The owner again came by to apologize and see if we were enjoying the desserts.

Dessert Platter

We know of a few folks that have come to Burwell’s and have had a spectacular time.  Sometimes things at any restaurant don’t go as planned, as was the case at our table, but we certainly will give Burwell’s a second try. 

We gave Burwell's 3 out of a possible 5 plates.