Hominy Grill (Dinner): Racking Up Hits, And Not Just With Grits [CLOSED]

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Restaurant Mural Charleston

This patio mural is a colorful new addition from artist David Boatwright.

According to Rosie, “Grits are good for you.” Chef Robert Stehling and wife Nunally Kersh took her advice to heart when they opened their Southern restaurant in 1996, naming Hominy Grill for grit’s core ingredient. Since then, the couple has racked up countless accolades for their local, market-driven cuisine.

The building that houses Hominy dates to 1897. For a long time, it was a barbershop. Barber poles now flank the entrance.

That’s enough decor. Let’s get to chef Robert Stehling’s Southern dishes.

Hominy Grill served savory okra and shrimp beignets and salsa over cilantro lime sour cream.


Southern Food Charleston

Here’s a starter of crispy fried green tomatoes, battered in cornmeal.

Crab Charleston

I never expected to find stone crab claws outside South Florida. These pre-cracked specimens were smaller than I’ve seen, but tasty with the Creole remoulade. And an absolute bargain.

Southern Food Charleston

A basket of jalapeño hushpuppies partnered with watery green tomato ketchup. Cornmeal provided nice sweetness to balance the jalapeño kick.

Cornbread Charleston

A terrific cornbread wedge was crisp outside, with a semi-sweet and moist interior.

Southern Food Charleston

The Hominy Grill vegetable plate contained cornbread, lima beans, baked cheese grits, sautéed greens, and okra beignets. The baked cheese grits came in a savory cake. Greens were field fresh. Limas featured cuts of mushroom and diced carrots and had an almost minty flavor.

Southern Food Charleston

Pecan crusted roast pork loin was plated with spicy peach BBQ sauce, sweet potato spoonbread and collard greens. The pork loin featured white meat and dark meat, separated by a thin-layer of hog cartilage. The pecans were too finely ground, but it was still flavorful. Spoonbread blended cornbread with sweet potato soufflé, which added sweetness and just enough moisture. Collard greens were amazing, any bitterness masked by the sweet and spicy peach sauce.

Southern Food Charleston

Crispy sesame-crusted catfish arrived with sautéed okra, a baked cheese grit cake and geechee peanut sauce that was subtly spicy and not gooey.

Fried Chicken Charleston

Crispy Southern fried chicken accompanied country ham cream gravy, mashed potatoes and sautéed greens.

Southern Food Charleston

Golden pan-roasted grouper with creamed corn, sautéed greens and tomato herb butter was a fabulous melding of flavors and textures.

Southern Food Charleston

No, tripletail isn’t the result of nuclear fallout. It’s a variety of fish indigenous to the Atlantic Ocean. Chef Stehling fried his tripletail until crispy and served it with a salad of artichokes, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, Parmesan cheese and arugula, sweet onion rings, and fennel vinaigrette.

Southern Food Charleston

Despite the waitress’ protestations, I selected grilled mahi mahi with grilled asparagus, baked cheese grits, and curried butternut squash jalapeño. The fish was certainly high quality, but the dish was bland. Thankfully, I got to clean other plates.

Southern Food Charleston

Frogmore stew, which originated in Frogmore, South Carolina, was one of the best Southern dishes I’ve ever eaten. It contained shrimp, andouille sausage, corn, potatoes, onions, tomatoes in a rich tomato broth with a wedge of deep fried cornbread.

Dessert Charleston

Hominy is strong on desserts, and this is the signature dessert: chocolate pudding, silky smooth and not too rich.

Dessert Charleston

Terrific strawberry blueberry cobbler was built around a flaky house-made biscuit.

Cake Charleston

Brown sugar pound cake featured vanilla bean custard sauce and a nice sugar crust.

Cake Charleston

Chocolate peanut butter cake was a rich slice of chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.

Pie Charleston

Buttermilk pie was amazing, featuring buttermilk custard and a lemony tinge, plus house-made whipped cream.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

This food looks amazing! I love these photos! Yum….

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