A gorgeous, towering sesame salad featuring a blend of mixed greens with cucumbers, radishes, toasted sesame seeds, fried cabbage, pickled carrots and juicy oranges with fresh herbs. A chef salad with savory honey-smoked ham and turkey spiked with bourbon bacon marmalade, a “jammy egg,†onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. A vibrant curried chicken salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes on focaccia that’s freshly baked in-house.
They got that right. Although you’ll see familiar-sounding dishes on the menu, they’re prepared in creative new ways.
Appetizers include wings and a hummus platter, but also a pimento cheese spread made with white cheddar. There are wraps, but they’re stuffed with combinations like blackened shrimp with sriracha coconut sauce or beer-braised short ribs with green chili buttermilk sauce and pickled onions.
Heartier entrees include a roasted carrot risotto with Parmesan cream, squash and caramelized pear butter. Those aforementioned short ribs can be found atop a mound of whipped smoked white cheddar mashed potatoes with asparagus and roasted sweet baby carrots.
You’ll also find salads, sandwiches and “build your own burger†options. You can wash them down with domestic and import beers, drinks from a full bar or plenty of unleaded options.
There was my beloved breakfast go-to — buttermilk biscuits smothered in country sausage gravy — but also an unusual fried green tomato benedict with country ham, eggs and hollandaise on a biscuit. This dish was the winner in our book, thanks to a perfectly coated thick wedge of green tomato and thinly sliced country ham that was easier to cut than the thicker, harder slices you usually see.
There was a giant plate of steak and eggs with breakfast potatoes, but also cornmeal-fried catfish and Appalachian grits with half-runner green beans. And let’s not forget the jumbo apple streusel-glazed donut topped with apple butter and walnuts.
This is a May 4, 2025 interior photo of Coco's Kitchen + Cafe in downtown Charleston.
STEVEN KEITH | For the Gazette-Mail
The Cinco de Mayo-themed brunch we had in late April there featured a chorizo burger with fried egg, bacon, jack cheese and guacamole; unfortunately messy shrimp tacos (the tortillas immediately fell apart) with grilled pineapple, red cabbage, pickled jalapeno, cotija cheese and chipotle crèma; and a savory carne asada burrito bowl with steak that could’ve used a pinch more seasoning.
The fluffy buttermilk tres leches pancakes topped with crème Chantilly and candied pecans we had that day, however, were perfection on a plate.
Those slight steak and tortilla missteps aside, Coco’s continues to be one of the best breakfast, lunch (and now brunch) spots in the region.
Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy.†Reach him at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.
