Restaurant Review: The Tattooed Moose, Charleston SC

I was down in Charleston again this past weekend.  And no trip to Charleston is complete, for me, without a visit to one of my favorite bar/restaurants, the Tattooed Moose.

Source

We usually go right from the airport directly to the Moose.  It's the first and last place that I want to eat when I arrive.  It's a roadhouse-style bar grub kinda joint.  But Oh-What-Grand-Grub it is!  And the service and staff are top-notch.  A bunch of pierced, friendly tattooed freakies.  My kinda folk.  The music is great too!  While we were sitting down for brunch on Sunday, we enjoyed a selection of great 60's Motown, funk and soul. But it ain't always like that.  Psycho-billy, punk, folk, country and whatever gets played here.  Plus, they often have live music at night on the weekends.

One of the things they are most known for is their Duck Club sandwich.  Duck confit, apple-smoked bacon, smoked cheddar, garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion on three pieces of sweet Hawaiian bread.  The menu states that it has been said to be the greatest sandwich of all time, and I'm not one to disagree.  We first heard about this joint on talk radio on XM, and we just knew we had to try it.  If you ever get down to Charleston, you have to try this sandwich.  It might change your life.

Oh, and duck is something that they take seriously at the Moose.  The make a hash with it for breakfast/brunch.  It's crazy good.  They even fry their french fries in duck fat.  Seriously! Sooo good.

This past Sunday, I had the Low-Country Cuban sandwich with a side of cilantro/lime cole slaw.  Just to try something different. Their Cuban had roast pork, ham, swiss, brown mustard and these awesome pickled green tomatoes on a pressed buttered roll.  A little twist from a traditional Cuban*, but a delicious twist.  The cilantro/lime slaw was just...sublime.  Just the right amount of red onion and vinaigrette.  Gia went with the smoked chicken salad BLT.  I had a bite, and I hate to admit this, but it's better than my own chicken salad.  Which is great! She also tried the gazpacho, which was really, really good.  Especially on a hot afternoon.

Choked it all down with some PBR pounders (for me), some spicy Bloody Marys (for her) and some Jim Beam on the rocks (me again!).  All in all, a perfect Sunday afternoon.  We weren't quite done yet.  We still had to hit downtown Charleston to visit the Bar at Husk, but that's a post for another day.

If you are ever in Charleston or surrounding areas, make the trip to the Tattooed Moose.  Especially if you like great sandwiches, great fries, great beer, cheap beer, good people, bourbon and fun.  It comes with the highest Earl Seal of Approval.


*By the way, the best Cuban sandwich in the world is at a takeout joint in a laundromat on White Street in Key West.  Seriously.  I don't know the name of the joint, but if you are ever down there have someone point your way toward it.  You won't be sorry.