City Lights Eastside

Delicious small bites and a great addition to that side of town! The owner is South African which shows thru in their menu selections on sandwiches and “hand pies” - such as Guinness and Beef and well as pepper steak. Milk tart as well. My wife is South African and said these are the most authentic Samosas she has had in the US - not large and dense like Indian samosas, these are made with a thin puff pastry. Everything was delicious! Vibe outside is comfortable, complete with a friendly “shop cat” who may come say hello.

This is one of the most eclectic and beautiful coffee shops that I have ever been in. The entire shop plus the patio exudes love and talent from the gorgeous woodwork to the fiesta ware used to serve coffees and food, to the Barbee bathroom and the beautiful tropical patio. Service for us has always been wonderful with friendly servers and efficient service. The food is.delicious; the various coffee drinks tea and the mimosas have always been perfect to us. The themed pop-up nights with ethnic foods are wonderful. Need I say more!

Love this place. Their espresso is always wonderful and consistent, the staff is friendly and caring, and their homemade syrups are out of this world!! I’m going to miss the toasted coconut syrup, but I’m excited for their fall flavors. I’m truly lucky to live a 30 second walk away, especially because their breakfast burrito is my go-to hangover cure haha

This is my new favorite coffee shop in Charleston. The owners are the most sincere, personable, And kind people; their passion and love for their Local community is self evident upon walking through their doors. They serve a wide variety of coffees and tea and always have Unique rotating seasonal beverages. As someone with food sensitivities, they have always been extremely accommodating to any special request. I hope to soon become a local here and look forward to visiting again!

Unique coffee shop + in Eastside neighborhood. I'm not gonna lie, this used to be a sketchy area in Charleston. To be fair there were lots of sketchy areas in Charleston in the not to distant past. As with many cities, some of the most creative spaces come from these areas and City Lights is one of them. They have the usual coffee offerings as well as beer and wine and even samosas! I highly recommend this place due to the charming atmosphere, very friendly staff, great coffee and delicious Samosas!

I highly recommend City Lights! The owners are very sweet and they’ve done an impeccable job with both the interior decor as well as the spacious patio space. Definitely come by and visit, you won’t be disappointed.

This is a quaint coffee shop in a historical building that is very cute. The service was excellent and the coffee was fantastic. Also ordered the avocado toast which was excellent. I think the most intoxicating aspect of this coffee joint, however, is the atmosphere which is rustic and welcoming. I very much enjoyed this spot

City Lights is the best, most inclusive, accommodating, friendly & well run coffee shop I’ve been to in Charleston. Their entire team goes above & beyond to make sure our community is well caffeinated & happy- Their owners are some of the most admirable and hardworking people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I love spending time in the mornings here & will continue to recommend this lovely shop to everyone in town <3

Small, artsy cafe that had a one of the most surprisingly fresh bagels I've ever had. Very lightly toasted, yet it had the softest chew to it along with the lox. Also had a pretty good latte with a subtle salted honey flavor. The kind staff also brought these out to our table, which I appreciated! The seating inside is limited, but they do have some outdoor tables. There's local art for sale as well, including pictures and handbags.

I love this place! I live right around the corner from this place and go there probably once a week to get a breakfast sandwich. It's a relatively new place and the staff is always friendly. I usually get takeout orders which they use SkyTab for and the order is usually ready to get picked up within 15 minutes. During the week they sometimes stay open in the evenings for live music and also have some alcoholic beverages to choose from.

This weekend I had the yummiest breakfast sandwich ever from City Lights Eastside. Just a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on a delicious everything bagel. Their coffee shop is super communal, and it's very cozy in there. It's the type of place you want to hang out for awhile. They have games too. Kind of pricey.

City Lights was a perfect Sunday morning stop! It was quiet around 10 am, we got in right before a little rush! There's indoor and a cute patio seating that's private with a fence from the street/neighborhood. The bathroom and decor of this shop is so unique! Tons of GF options! I got a GF burrito it was amazing and my husbands Taylor Ham Sammy was fantastic. He had a smoothie and I had a Chai Latte. Both of us enjoyed our drinks. Lots of options to take and go as well from their fridge area! We found street parking pretty easy with a short walk. Highly recommend a stop here.

Verily I vouch for the vivacious and vintage vibes permeating every portion and producing a palpable pulse of prodigious import. The owners put a lot of love and soul into City Lights Eastside, breathing life into their humble shop and creating something greater than the sum of its parts. More than just a fancy face, they have every trace of the space designed to form the missing third place. A spot outside of work and home, a spot for community. On top of all that, they've got some banging food too! A little South African flavor and flair sprinkled here and there, plus amazing coffee milkshakes (my newfound favorite way to have my coffee).

Stopped for a light lunch on our way out of the city. They had gluten free bread for all their sandwiches and a gluten free breakfast burrito, which is what brought us in! We tried the classic turkey and the BLT both on gluten free bread and loved both! They were toasted and soft and didn't fall apart like gluten free sometimes does. A little pricey for just sandwiches, I think it was around $25 for just the two sandwiches, but I expect gluten free to be a little more anywhere. Would for sure go again!

If you haven't eaten at or had coffee/latte at City Lights Coffee, you are m.i.s.s.i.n.g o.u.t.!! The service is beyond friendly (and talented at their craft). Their sausage breakfast sandwich is crazy good. The coconut latte is my favorite. Great owners who care immensely about the neighborhood and their customers. They know (and remember) every customer! Wonderful location. Amazing art in the cafe. Everything about it is my new favorite coffee shop.

I watched the cook in the back make/ touch everything with her bare hands. She touched my cheese, tomato, bread, and bacon, while simultaneously making other customers orders without washing her hands. I watched her take out a zip lock bag of chicken, grab it with her hands, and put it onto someone else's sandwich....and then wiped her hand on her shirt (multiple times). No hair net. No gloves. Definitely a health violation. Also there was nats flying everywhere around this coffee shop.

City Lights was a great little gem that my husband, daughter, and I stumbled upon while in Charleston/Isle of Palms for our nephew's wedding. We were out exploring in between activities and our daughter wanted a coffee. She did a little research on Yelp and found City Lights with good reviews, and it was nearby, which was a plus on our tight schedule, so we popped in. It is soooo cute, the staff was friendly, and the food looked great. My husband's ears perked up when he heard "breakfast sammy on gluten-free" called out and then got a look at a delicious-looking sandwich. So we started scheming about when to come back during our short visit so that he could get a sandwich. Prior to our flight home, we got to return with my mother-in-law, who also had a flight out. My husband is gluten-intolerant and doesn't get many gluten-free sandwich options. He got the breakfast sammy with sausage and American cheese on really good gluten-free bread and devoured it! My daughter and I are vegetarians and I got the avocado toast that I wolfed down without getting a photo! I consider myself an avocado toast aficionado, and this one was nice and fresh on good bread. Our daughter got the vegetarian breakfast burrito, and my mother-in-law got what I think was the children's grilled cheese:) We all loved our food! Even after eating the entire burrito, our daughter had to have a piece of the carrot cake, which she scarfed down in record time! I managed to get one bite, and it was really good! I don't want to forget the coffee either. We all enjoyed our coffee drinks immensely. My husband and I got drips, and our daughter got a latte (my mother-in-law inexplicably does not drink coffee!) They all came in festive-colored (perhaps fiesta ware (?) cups. And as much as we loved the food, coffee, and friendly staff, the restroom may have been the highlight of the visit for me! I really don't like public restrooms and try not to use them if at all possible, but my husband got back from the restroom and said to me, "You have to go see this restroom. You will love it!" So, I was intrigued and went. Wow! I'm glad I did! It was a fabulously themed vintage Barbie bathroom with Barbies in cases all over the walls, a vintage turquoise sink, and vintage pink toilet. I commented to one of the staff about how much I had enjoyed looking at everything, and she said that someone had come in and used it for a photo shoot! To tie this up, we still talk about how much fun we had at City Lights Eastside and when we are back in that area, we will definitely stop in here!

The owners have put so much work into the space and it shows! They have fantastic hours and often have live music on the patio. Pricing is fair and service is top notch!

The most unique, cozy, authentic coffee shop/cafe in Charleston! The attention to detail in the decor, architecture, and menu is top notch ! It's hip without being pretentious, it's welcoming, it's delicious! If the weather is nice, check out the charming outside seating! And make sure to pop into the bathrooms, they are works of art... oh ,and peak into the medicine cabinet over the sink ;)

My favorite cafe in Charleston, maybe ever. Kindest and friendliest staff, most creative and delicious coffees ever! I literally want to live in City Lights. My latest favorite per staff recommendation is an iced honey ginger matcha, the ginger simple syrup is made in house! (shoutout to April for that amazing rec)

I absolutely love City Lights! The owners and staff are so welcoming and friendly and it's the perfect place for community. They are constantly doing pop up events and featuring local art. Whether you're looking for a great cup of coffee and breakfast burrito in the morning or a happy hour spot (they also have non-alcoholic options!!) - this is the place for you.

Guy who is presumably the line cook seemed like he was more worried about chatting rather than making food so I ended up being late to work. Dope place but if you're trying to stop by for a quick bite would not recommend coming here. Definitely a place to go to when you have 20 minutes to wait on a simple sandwich, hate to leave a negative review on a cool place but even though regular costumers are important make sure to make a good impression on new ones too. Also since they realized how long I had been waiting the sandwich was made poorly. Don't really expect this place to keep the 5 star rating they have if this is the service they're starting to provide.

Such a great cozy spot to post up and read for a little bit. The food offerings took me by surprise with how much they had to offer and everything I tried was delicious! Cant wait to come back here. Also, it was too cold to enjoy at the time but the outdoor space was spacious and had lots of seating!