Merci
French restaurant · Charleston ·
French-inspired bistro with Southern hints; reservations recommended
French-inspired bistro with Southern hints; reservations recommended
"If you stumbled upon Merci in the Charleston neighborhood of Harleston Village, you might think you accidentally interrupted a chic, intimate dinner party. The dining room only seats 26, and it’s tucked inside a residential part of town, so it’s not a stretch to think the space might be someone’s home. Co-owners Mike and Courtney Zentner created a space as meticulously elegant as the celebrity-studded parties they put on with their catering and event company, the Drifter . The kitchen puts out plates based on the Zentners’ travels through Italy and France, with influences from local products. During the fall, expect to find farfalle stuffed with sweet potato and tossed in a brown butter sauce or beeliner snapper with lion’s mane mushrooms. The star of the menu is the very non-French, non-Italian beef Wellington, which is paraded out to your table before the kitchen slices it up. It’s a cozy dish that feels right at home in the warm, candlelit room." - Erin Perkins
"I can make a reservation at Merci in Charleston, a charming newcomer that radiates class and has quickly become a hot ticket in the city's dining scene." - Arati Menon, Megan Spurrell
"Slip into this candlelit bistro on one of Charleston’s most romantic blocks and you’ll feel like you’ve entered a Parisian hideaway: the 1820s building, warm woods, and glowing lights give the intimate 26-seat dining room a jewel-box feel, and Chef Michael Zentner’s menu borrows from French tradition while nodding to Southern and Italian flavors. I considered the stracciatella-stuffed focaccia with Benton’s ham and hot honey an absolute must, and the perfect beef Wellington wrapped in golden puff pastry sealed the sense that Merci is as much about atmosphere—vintage-chic interiors, antique details, and a cozy six-seat bar—as it is about the food." - Lauren Mowery
"Merci is bound to become a Charleston classic. The sceney spot on Montague Street feels like a European neighborhood cafe with the energy of the newest hotspot in somewhere like New York, and reservations fill up as soon as they’re available. When you come for dinner, the focaccia here is a must-order. It’s layered with stracciatella, hot honey, and smoked Benton’s ham for a sweet, savory, and fluffy combo. They always have interesting and good crudos—we tried one with watermelon and tuna on our most recent visit that tasted like summer on a plate—and the beef wellington is as main-event of an entree as you’ll ever have. It comes prepared tableside, drizzled with a decadent sauce perigourdine, and served with whipped duchess potatoes." - Jai Jones
"With a Helen Rice–designed interior in a 19th-century building, the room feels intimate and luxurious, like dining in the dressing room of a storied house, and landing a reservation here feels like a small triumph. Service is familiar and steady, and the seasonally driven, European-inspired food is hard to improve on: toothsome, perfectly executed pasta; a slow-cooked chicken that tastes like nonna started it days ago; and ethereal uses of Lowcountry, in-season vegetables." - Stephanie Burt