Balao Opens With a Big Catch of Local Seafood Tonight | Eater Carolinas

"Opening at 4 p.m. at 16 N. Market St., the rooftop seafood restaurant Balao will offer a menu that sits between a fancy fish house and a raw bar. I note offerings include classics—ceviche, Oysters Rockefeller, and jumbo lump crab cakes with remoulade—as well as less traditional items like South Atlantic sushi on the half shell, cold-smoked South Carolina wahoo, blackened seafood tacos, and blue crab beignets, plus other raw-bar items. Owner Kenneth Emery says he wanted to take advantage of the bountiful seafood surrounding Charleston, and chefs Nathan Davenport and Matthew LeBoeuf plan to use as many Lowcountry products as possible. To visit Balao, enter through Burwell’s, head to the back of the restaurant, and go up the stairs to the second floor; there’s a separate bar upstairs focusing on rum and tequila and a separate menu (no steaks here), and the space is described as a hidden speakeasy serving seafood." - Erin Perkins