Circe's Grotto

Circe’s sandwiches and wraps absolutely slap. Classic sandwich shop vibes. Quick service for order in or pick up. Not a ton of seating so plan to show up early if you’re eating there. The chip and beverage selection is great. The bread is awesome.

These sandwiches are amazing. Sandwiches have been my obsession after pregnancy and this is one of the best I’ve had in Charleston. The chocolate chip cookies are incredible too.

Sandwich was phenomenal! Definitely a nice spot to grab a quick lunch when you are walking around downtown!

First time coming here, and they have amazing panini. Pretty small and seems very popular, so be prepared for the inside to be crowded. They have a speaker so you can wait outside. Outdoor seating was nice and despite being small it didn’t feel cramped. Will definitely be coming back.

Honestly I’m already planning my next visit and I just finished my sprouted turkey sandwich. The mayo was absolutely delicious omg. My bf added chicken to the caprese and it was also a huge hit. Sooooo good! Indoor seating is minimal which was my only complaint for a cold day like today.

My favorite panini shop in Charleston!!! I love this place so much ! The paninis are always so tasty and delicious I crave them now that I don’t live in Charleston anymore. I would recommend the turkey melt it’s my favorite. It’s located right near CofC, if you’re in the area it’s 100% worth the try. I would definitely recommend 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best tuna melt I’ve had in a long time! Great combo of flavors, bread didn’t get soggy but also not too crusty, good portions. Also got an Arnold Palmer and chocolate chip cookie. 10/10

I usually get the turkey melt, which is super super yummy. The outdoor space is really cute and makes me feel very cozy. All the ingredients taste fresh.

Amazing! Huge roast beef w horseradish on toasted sour dough! Fast service. Great due to access to the college and businesses. Courtyard setting was perfect for a Fall day. Do Not Miss the yummy choc chip cookie! Wonderful salty finish

I was excited to try this place because I've heard great things. I got the Italian (my go to sandwich everywhere) and they forgot the prosciutto. I paid $17 for a sandwich that was basically just sauce, mozzarella and lettuce it tasted very underwhelming, not super tasty and not worth the price in my opinion. I may try something else if I come again. The bread was the best part.

Very good sandwiches and large menu. A bit buttery. In all honesty the sandwiches were really good but the person taking the order was not friendly and awkward. They also don't have a bathroom which is crazy to me. Very limited indoor seating.

Really good sandwich and hit the spot after walking around downtown Charleston. Solid but not something I would drive back down for. If I'm in the area, great, if not I'd go to Porchetta Shop

While I probably should have tried one of their more unique options I was craving a tuna sandwich hard and I'm delighted to say it did not disappoint! This was the perfect tuna sandwich, the ratios were all there with the perfect amount of mayo, tuna and the accompaniments. My only note would be that I didn't particularly care for the toasted bread it came on, I would have preferred a softer bread but overall incredible sandwich.

The place is small. I went in to order some takeout, and that part of their business was booming, whereas only one person was doing dine-in, which is understandable since they have very limited seating. I would not say that service is done with a smile, but the food was indeed good. I really enjoyed the Circe's Style Grilled Cheese -- Sharp White Cheddar, Gouda, Avocado, Tomato, and would come back here again if I was looking for something simple and kind of quick.

My favorite panini shop in Charleston!!! I love this place so much ! The paninis are always so tasty and delicious I crave them now that I don't live in Charleston anymore. I would recommend the turkey melt it's my favorite. It's located right near CofC, if you're in the area it's 100% worth the try. I would definitely recommend 5/5

The food is really good here. We had four sandwiches total and each got drinks. It's a little pricey but we got our food quick and it's a great place in Charleston to grab and go. We ate on the patio and the guy at the front taking orders was friendly.

The downtown corner this shop occupies exemplifies Charleston's old-timey vibe. This includes being a small shop with a lack of air conditioning, with some seating outdoors as well. The menu is mostly sandwiches and I hesitated a bit at ordering a salad, mainly because I thought I'd missed the toasted bread. However, I was delighted when my salad arrived with a couple of slices on the side; for someone who is strictly trying to cut carbs or gluten I guess this would be a miss, but for me it allowed ample satisfaction. The salad itself was excellent, with delicate spinach and just enough variety to excite the palate, including fresh green peas and some pine nuts. I also got a chai, which comes with oat milk by default. I was a bit baffled at this, because their food menu does not have any vegan options at all, so I guess if you're avoiding dairy all you can do here is get a beverage and some chips. This seems like something they could address. As it is, this is a pricey place for a sandwich and it is often packed on weekends, but there is some charm and some quality there.

Ok 9 years later I'm back! Well the seating is a lot better with very cute alley seating available outside. They've expanded their menu with much more varied and interesting stuff now. However, I'll have to keep the stars to 3 because their food remains boring. I'm not sure how their sandwiches can be so tasteless but miracles do happen i guess. They don't taste bad....they just lack any kind of exciting flavor.

If you need a quick but delicious bite in Charleston, look no further. Sandwiches made fresh. The menu looks so good that I want to come back every day of my trip. Best bacon egg and cheese sandwich I've ever had. 10/10

10/10!!!! Their tuna melt...turkey melt...bacon egg and cheese...I could go on and on it's all amazinggggg. The service is efficient and everyone who works there is friendly and welcoming. Their bread is so homeade and their sandwhiches are the best in all of Charleston. I also love their chip options. I recommend this place to everyone!!!!

Stopped by here with my mom and sister about a month or two ago when shopping downtown Charleston. Happy that there is a place to eat selling sandwiches and on that particular area of downtown, off from King. When there, we each ordered a sandwich, a drink, and a bag of chips. The total was rather expensive in my opinion, slightly over $50 or so, which is a little pricey in my opinion for a simple lunch. That being said, the sandwiches were massive so I think the price reflects that! If you are planning on eating here and then shopping around after work, you might think about splitting a sandwich with somebody and each getting your own bag of chips. There is seating outside, but not inside. Tables are covered with umbrellas and there are some fans blowing. This place was packed and you can tell it is enjoyed by many locals and tourists alike. Service and folks were friendly.

Really great sandwich spot just off King St. relatively quick service and delicious food. Perfect lunch spot

Circe's Grotto is the perfect spot to grab breakfast on a Saturday morning. Their fresh, local ingredients set them above the rest. Their shaded outdoor patio is an inviting, dog-friendly place to enjoy sunshine and sandwiches.

The best sandwiches we have ever had! Place is small with a few high top seats overlooking the street.

Holy fu** these sandwiches were so good- better than many other shops in the area with similar prices. the only thing was I would definitely order online cause we waited for almost 30 minutes! But so so worth it

Both were beyond our expectations! This stop is a perfect place for a quick bite while sitting outside and soaking in the Charleston sun. All things fresh! Watching big wave surfing while waiting for our food was a bonus. Definitely a must visit while visiting Charleston!

Overall: A great sandwich that overcomes some of the Grotto's downsides. The good: Their melts and sandwiches are delicious and filling. The oven roasted turkey sandwich is simple but effective, with loads of turkey, cheese, crispy bacon, tomato, and chipotle mayo. The breat was slightly toasted and buttered to perfection. The menu is well-sized and the outdoor eating area is neat if you're able to get a spot. The not-so-good: No restrooms and no water (everything is bottled). Prices are pretty high for a sandwich, but they are monster-sized and will certainly fill you up (doesn't include chips). Not a ton of seating outside, and even less inside. Food/drink: 8/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Service: 7.5/10

It's a small place on Wentworth with great sandwiches, a nice patio area and friendly staff who stopped cooking to find tea bags for me after he heard me request hot tea on a chilly day (they don't normally sell it). Inside is only a window bar with six seats, so be prepared to do the patio or take-out on a busy day. You can order your food ahead for pick-up online as well.

Very slow service which would be fine if good is good. BUT, the food was below expectations. Not worth the wait or hassle.

fantastico, highly recommend the chicken mozzarella pannini and Arnold Palmer. Muy bien

3 years ago if you had asked me where to get the best Italian sub in Charleston I would've said Circe's. I just ate here for the first time in 2 years and the downfall of this sandwich needs to be exposed. You can clearly tell this place has downgraded to cheaper ingredients even thought the sub is more expensive now, It literally tastes like a completely different sandwich. It used to have sliced soft mozzarella, fresh lettuce with a light vinegar,oil, and balsamic drizzle. It has now been swapped for a thin cheese alternative that tasted so bland, the lettuce didn't seem fresh and banana peppers were so drenched in an oil it was all you could taste when eating. It used to have more pastrami, capocollo and salami, now it's just a few slices of salami, a slice of pastrami and a piece of baloney with old cracked cheese on top. Even the bread isn't as good as it used to be. You can't just completely gut a sandwich of its original ingredients and charge 50% more and expect people to return. I'm absolutely dissapointed

A great place for lunch. Sandwiches are huge! Only about six stools for inside seating but the have outdoor seating. Don't miss this small sandwich shop. It's worth the stop.

This restaurant is a must go to if you want a really good sandwich. My partner and I stopped here during a trip to the city. The service was warm and welcoming and the restaurant itself was small, but homey. The Circe Club sandwich was one of the best I have ever had in my life and the lemonade was a great blend of tart and sweet. I will say though, the Lavender Matcha Latte is my new favorite drink and I will be looking forward to having the next time I come back, and I will be coming back.

Such a cute and quaint sandwich shop. We came here to grab lunch to go on our way out of Charleston. My husband and I both ordered the Jack Special. We should've just ordered one because they were huge but both were devoured so probably a good call on ordering two as I wouldn't have wanted to share mine! It was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I loved how well the turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, honey mustard, and sriracha went together. It was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. We grabbed iced coffees as well. Coffee was great but I wish they had stored their sugar in an actual container. The packets that were left out had hardened. We didn't mind though as we knew the hotel we were staying at had some in the lobby. Pro tip: Grab extra napkins on the way out. These sandwiches are stuffed and can be messy to eat (especially while driving ) but worth it all.

was walking around downtown and everywhere was slammed. i was extremely hangry when we came across this gem. delicious sandos and their pesto pasta salad was so tasty we ended up getting another to take home with us. the guys working were also very nice! wish we were local so we could continue to give them business.

We had absolutely delicious sandwiches from Circe's today! We had trouble finding parking and had somewhere to be, so we decided to order to-go and take sandwiches with us. My husband ordered the club sandwich and I had the Thanksgiving sandwich and added gouda to it. Both of them were amazing. We absolutely loved our lunch!

My dad, daughter and I stopped in yesterday to order lunch to go. This was the first time any of us had been and it will definitely not be our last. The vibe is very cool. They had lots of menus so we could all figure out what we wanted. Ordering was easy and our food was ready in a timely fashion. I got the Sprouted Turkey sandwich. It was super good and one half was very filling. We all saved our second halves to eat later. They all tasted great later in the day too. Parking was available on the street at a meter but there is also a parking garage right across the street so it's easy to get in and out.

Customer service is friendly, food is excellent for a quick bite to eat on the run & the atmosphere is pretty cool too. What is not cool, is not tipping your grocery delivery drivers..$0.00 tip...

This is typically a really good sandwich. However, the last time I ordered from here they really screwed things up... half the ingredients on the sandwich I ordered were missing and the avocados they put on it had already gone bad. The photo shows the "Circe's Club" if you wanna eat trash for lunch. I'm not sure I can go back or recommend this spot to others moving forward.

Great spot to enjoy a panini/sandwich while shopping downtown. The menu is extensive, including a small selection of various beverages. The paninis (pictured) were filling and delicious. The ambiance was charming - there's a nice outdoor setup with plenty of seating and shade. 10/10!

Blt sandwich was not very good. I only ended up eating half. The space was very hot as well

Came by with the family after finding this place on Yelp! It's a quaint little joint with great Panini sandwiches and more! The service was excellent and they should rename their sandwiches as MANwiches as they were very filling and tasty! We will be back when in the area again!

Great Avocado turkey sandwich, I was able to split it with my husband and we both really enjoyed it. Sandwich came hot and delicious! Kids split a Cuban sandwich that they loved. Service was fast and they had a large selection of chips to choose from. And bottled coke!

One of the best tasting sandwiches - Sprouted Turkey. Good sized portions. Took a bit long to get our order, but the food was worth it. Enjoyed the outside seating.

Why 4 stars? Because I love a good sandwich and you can find many of those here! --- --- --- While I never plan on opening my own restaurant, if I ever did do it, it would have to be a place with high-end sandwiches. Is there anything better in life than fancy ingredients between two slices of bread? (Toasted bread, obviously.) Because of this fact of life, I was really excited to check out Circe's Grotto once Scotty C recommended it. As soon as we arrived and I was able to check out the menu, I knew exactly what was going to happen: Roast Beef, Horseradish Mayo, Mixed Greens and Roasted Red Peppers. While mixed greens make 'em say "meh," those other three are some exciting items. And anytime I see something with horseradish mayo, I'm instantly sold. I thought the sandwich was solid, but just missed the 5-star mark for me and it's hard to say why. With that being said, I will definitely return to check out many of the other delicious 'wiches - specifically the Italian Stallion. Bonus points: everyone here was super friendly!

Despite the sinister name this airy and pleasant patio has some delicious food and ice-cold tea. I'm getting used to slow service in South Carolina but this was provided efficiently by a friendly staff. I got the thanksgiving sandwich, a carb-ladder but delicious lunch!

The thanksgiving sandwich was the best sandwich I've ever eaten. The inside is really cute. We ordered online and the sandwich was ready really quickly. We got it two days in row because it was so good.

Delicious sandwiches, stopped in when Queen Street Grocery was mysteriously closed yesterday. Sandwiches are enormous, but are expensive. Not much seating inside and seating outside is limited as well. Folks of course are friendly, so we were able to share a large picnic table with others. Love the panino sandwich, the turkey melt was so so good.

Boy do they make a great sandwich!!! The bread they use is awesome. Hubby ordered the Turkey salad sandwich. It came with tarragon, mayo, dried cranberries & spring mix ($9.25). I was surprised he raved about it bc I thought for sure he wouldn't like tarragon. He insisted I try a bite and Yes...he wins...his was better than mine. Ha! That is saying a lot too bc mine was sooo good. I had the tuna panini ($9.25). It was nicely grilled and the tuna salad with tarragon was excellent. So why not 5 deserving stars? Well we were turned off by a few things: First... good thing the food is so good bc we did not find the people working the counter to be friendly. (That was before the payment and tip came up). We were not greeted nor thanked and we actually felt as though we were imposing. Counter guy should have told my husband to grab his own beverage bc we assumed they would bring it to us with our order. They don't exactly bring you the order outside. They hand it to you through a window. Second negative... the payment and tip. Orders are placed at the counter...therefore you pay before you get your lunch. It asks how much of a tip you want to leave. Seriously? Before I get my lunch? What happens if the service is not good? Isn't tipping after? If we don't leave a tip will they wipe the floor with my bread first?? If we order at the counter and we get our own beverage, napkins and we seat ourselves, plus clean off the counter and throw our own trash away...what exactly are we tipping anyway? Isn't just preparing sandwiches their job? Should they tip me since I did all the extra stuff? Don't get me wrong...I am a very good and fair tipper...but I don't see this as tip worthy. Third negative ... we had a hard time finding a place to sit down bc it is a small place and seems lunch time is busy. We found two bar stools and a wooden counter. The wooden counter is over top of some bushes in the back patio. We sat there even though it was not quite comfy. Hubby forgot to get his beverage and we forgot napkins. It was annoying to worm his way back to the inside of the restaurant from where we were sitting. In summary: The sandwiches are a 5 star and stands on its own.

We love eating at Circes Grotto. They have some great sandwiches! We order the Cali BLT and Jacks Special a lot-- but everything else we have had is delicious, too (like the Cuban, the Roast Beef with Horseradish, and their Pesto Pasta Salad.) The guys are always friendly when we walk in, and the customer service is on point. We also love to order Sandwich Platters from Circes when we have a big event! Highly recommend :)

Super yummy sandwich spot! I can't say what the actual restaurant looks like since I ordered for delivery, but my sandwich was really good! I ordered Jack's Special Sandwich and it was delicious! The bread was crunchy, but soft and all the ingredients worked really well together. I'll definitely be ordering from them again, or maybe I'll actually swing by!

Good sandwhiches. Good lemonade. The side patio to eat outdoors is nice. Good proximity to king street and shopping. I wish they had a kids menu, which is why it get 4 instead of 5.

This is the best sandwich establishment in the entire United States of America. I got the Jacks Special and it simply changed my life. It knocked my socks off.

The workers try to keep up with the heavy demand but this place gets so busy. You'll wait about 15-25 min for your food at peak lunch hour. Good sandwiches. The tuna was great

This popular cafe is located downtown right near the College of Charleston. It has picnic tables outside for eating or you can get food to go. They have an online ordering system. Their roast beef sandwich (two different versions) and Thanksgiving sammie are my favorites. It is one of my go to spots since I downtown. They get super crowded so order ahead before the lunch crowd if you can!

Excellent grilled cheese with avocado! The staff is super friendly and helpful. Order online as it gets a lot of customers!

So, I want to love this place, I like the idea of this place, but my sandwich was just okay. For one, it might look fancy to have the bread flipped inside out, but it made it a pain to keep together to try to eat. I was hoping for a bit more flavor and while it was by no means bad, I don't know that I would pay that much for a sandwich I just thought was okay. Seating is super limited and service wasn't bad, I just felt like another number...