California Dreamin'

Location:

1 Ashley Point Drive

Charleston, SC 29407

Type:

American Fare

Experience:

As with Tropical Toast, I wound up eating at this place twice. Once for dinner on a Saturday night and once on Monday afternoon for lunch. The reason was more due to the location than anything else (it was literally across the parking lot from where I was staying). Although, anyone that knows me knows that if I wasn't at least satisfied with my first meal, I would have gotten a cab to go somewhere else instead of going back.

My first experience was on a Saturday night during my soon-to-be brother-in-law's bachelor party. This bachelor party was not organized very well in advance, and we had to take into account that half of the members of the party were over 50, and the other half were in their mid-20's. Added to this was the complication that half of our party of ten do not imbibe alcohol ever. Not to be completely defeated, my uncle suggested that we all go to dinner and when we agreed he admitted that he had already taken the liberty of making us a reservation at California Dreamin'.

When we got there, it was crowded. VERY crowded. If you are going to go on a Friday or Saturday night, I would strongly suggest reservations. The restaurant is in a circular building with the kitchen toward the middle which allows for the giant windows surrounding the outside and giving patrons a view out over the water from pretty much wherever in the restaurant they are seated. The other thing worth noting is that while there isn't a strict dress code per-say, they do have standards and will not seat people unless they are at least looking decent, so no shorts or ripped up pants.

As I said, we were a group of ten and we had reservations and I barely had time to finish one drink at the bar before our table was ready. Our waiter was very friendly and made good suggestions. There were a couple of appetizers ordered but I think that the crab claws were the hit on that front and were quickly devoured by our group. Also, if I remember correctly, the waiter said that all of their salad dressings were made in house and the salad was pretty good, although it does come with almonds and eggs, but are perfectly happy to leave these items out upon request.

As far as dinner went, I was craving red meat and order the sirloin. Also for anyone who has never gone out for steak with me, I am kind of insane about my meat. To say I like it rare, would be putting it mildly. When I cook my own steaks I get my heat source as hot as possible, sear either side of the meat for 30 seconds to a minute and that's it. So I asked the waiter if they could do the steak "as rare as legally possible." He told me he would give the cook my exact words. My steak came out PERFECT. My baked potato was left forgotten as I reveled in my steak. It was incredible and had that cold, red, bloody, raw center that most restaurants simply refuse to bring me. Although the baked potato wasn't bad either. 

All in all the dinner was really good. Their selection of draught beers left a little to be desired but they do have some local brew and that was decent enough, and their liquor wasn't overly expensive if you would rather have a go at that. These are the things that led me to come back on Monday afternoon while waiting to get ready for the wedding itself.

I have to say, as good as my meal was on Saturday, I was very disappointed with their lunch offerings. The restaurant isn't exactly cheap and when I ordered a burger while sitting at the bar, I have to say I was expecting a little more than just a standard fare burger that I was served. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't outstanding either. Something that any chain restaurant with a burger on their menu could have brought me. So I was a little disappointed with that.

But I do have to point out that the bartender went out of his way to discuss beer and brewing with me.  And when I ordered a beer that was only on tap on the patio bar (which was closed) he went out and got it for me anyway. The service was still really good, and the bartender was telling me of local breweries and suggesting different beers that I might try, and this gave him bonus points that the food didn't get.

Overall:

Like I said, prices are a little high here, but not unreasonable. I would recommend coming for dinner, but again, make reservations. The restaurant itself is a little out of the way if you are staying in downtown but only by a few minutes (a 6 dollar cab ride from the heart of downtown) and the view more than makes up for this. From my experience, the service staff is all very friendly and helpful, so I have no complaints on the service end. I can't say that I could recommend this place for lunch though and that gives me a little bit of hesitation. All in all though, it is worth a try.

3.5 Carats