Sweeney’s

When they first opened, I’m gonna be honest I was sort of unimpressed. However they now have some of the best food on Johns Island! Their brunches are delightful and boast some great dishes. I love their Autumn Salad, Blueberry Pancakes, and BLT. Check ‘em out if you are in the area!

I went to Sweeneys this afternoon with a group of women to celebrate birthdays!!! Everyone loved the food they ordered. I had the 24 hour pot roast which was delicious!!! It came with baby carrots, wilted greens, toasted mushrooms, and was served on top of the most delicious Geechie Boy cheese grits!!! Loved it I will definitely be back!

I rarely complain.
I’m sure this was one bad employee in the kitchen for brunch.
It seemed unusually long until we got our food.
Hueveos Rancheros with Chicken:
Came out cold.
Eggs over cooked, avocado slices were not fresh/​weird color/​weird texture, salsa also weird color/purée’d.
Everything was bland.
Chicken must have been prepared 1 or 2 days ago.
Since I loathe to send anything back, I thought about asking for reheating, but with the salsa, decided to eat through, especially since I was seriously so hungry after a long wait.
Corned Beef & Hash:
I swear food came out with some steam.
While the beef had good flavor, there was a cheese sauce covering that had a months worth of salt consumption.
The poached eggs were cooked about solid and only tasted of vinegar.
We spent over $ 29 for BREAKFAST, including water, 1 sweet tea, 2 entrée’s, in a very pretentious atmosphere.

We have eaten here many times with complete success everytime. Brunch is delicious, service is on point and the shrimp and grits is the absolute BEST in Charleston!!! Downtown dining at Johns Island prices!!!

Best fish and chip I’ve had period (fresh local grouper). The owners obviously take pride in sourcing local products and the menu is very original. Definitely worth a trip out to JI.

We just moved to the island so this was the first time we tried Sweeney’s lunch for a girl’s day of wine and shopping. It was PERFECT! Basil mojito and a beet salad made my whole day! I tasted my friend’s pot roast dish with grits and it was insane! I absolutely recommend! Can’t wait to go back!

We had a lovely meal at Sweeney’s and the service was wonderful. The hostess, Morgan, was an absolute delight. We enjoyed the sea bass and shrimp and grits. The standout to me was their collard greens. The best I’ve ever had in a restaurant!

Went for brunch and was very disappointed I ordered the duck blueberry waffle; the waffle was very dry and tasteless and the blueberries were VERY tart, they were all green inside. I should have spoken up and said something but the one time our server came back he simply just took the plate away and retrieved our checks without even asking how the food was.
However. .. My friend got the southern fried chicken bisquit sandwich with pimento cheese that she split with me and it was amazinggg!

My fiancé and I came here with our two dogs and sat on the patio. I had the shrimp and grits which were the best I’ve had in Charleston! My fiancé had the duck waffles and basically licked the plate clean. The service is great here! They brought out a water bowl for the pups and one server even brought out bacon just for them! Our new favorite brunch spot!

So, we went here during a tour of johns island and it’s a little unfair that they had to follow seanachai (amazing). We only had a beer here and the selection was surprisingly good for what seems like some kind of Italian place? I’m actually kind of unsure on the direction it’s going. It was super dead, but it was like 5 in the afternoon. I would probably not go back to drink only because there are some better drinking options around… But I wouldn’t say no to trying out their food next time.

Service was wonderful and very attentive. Atmosphere was casual and nice. The food was very flavorful, seasoned perfectly and fresh.
Definitely somewhere to return to on our next visit.

Good place for lunch. The staff was attentive. I ordered the bibb salad with gorganzola and an egg with a side of mac and cheese. Overall I was pleased. The portion size was great. It was lunch time, so it wasn’t too big. I also had a martini which was made quite well. My friend ordered the shrimp with the gorganzola grits. It looked like a lot of shrimp to me. She seemed to enjoy her meal as well. It’s definitely a place a I would check out again.

This place is great! I’m impressed! I made a day of reservation for 6. My grandmas friend popped by and I knew we were weren’t going to make it by 6pm. I called them and they were happy to accommodate a later time when we were ready.
We arrived and were sat right away. We started with drinks and the mule was delicious! I ordered the special which was fish, scallops, shrimp and mashed potatoes with vegetables in a broth. It was so good! I tried the pimento Mac and cheese, shrimp and grits, and ravioli ALL of which were delicious!
Our server was so patient with my elderly grandparents who are hard of hearing. My grandparents had been here for brunch and recommended that too!

I have eaten here 3 times. Twice for lunch and once for dinner. The food is delicious! But the atmosphere is weird — it comes off as high end at first but then they want to be casual. I can honestly say I have never left after eating and was like «wow they are so nice» it’s been more like a relief to leave. And as some of the other reviews mention their target customer is much older we were probably the youngest group in there (mid to late 30’s) so I can see that a group in their 20’s would be uncomfortable and take their business elsewhere.
The hostess last night was wearing a super short white dress that came dangerously close to showing her lady bits!!! Another weird aspect since everyone else was covered appropriately and the clientele is obviously much older –just seemed out of place.
For the price and the weird atmosphere I won’t bother to return even though the food is excellent.

I’m voting this place as a 6. My friend and I came here for restaurant week and we were both kinda disappointed. Reasons being…
1. The atmosphere in the place is really off. We were the youngest people by far in there, which isn’t a problem it just felt like we should be playing bingo in there instead of eating. Everyone no lie was 65+ and I promise I don’t have a problem with it, it was just alittle weird.
2. Hot as hell!!! I was sweating in the place.
3. Service was not its best. Our waiter was all over the place. My friend was still eating her starter salad and he went ahead and brought the entrees out. So basically she had to shove what she could down her throat real quick.
4. We ordered drinks and we couldn’t taste any alcohol AT ALL. I got the margarita and I’m pretty sure I have a cavity.
5. For restaurant week you expect a good deal but, our bill was pretty pricey.
Food:
1. For my starter I got the bibb salad which was a good size but hardly any dressing.
2. I got the shrimp and grits. Huge portion and very tasty!
3. For dessert I got the crème brulee which was not good at all! It was like sweet soup!

Went for Sunday Brunch, nothing to tell mom about. Average food, service, so, so, sat outside, real nice, people friendly. There are better places, and worse places, so for a decent meal, go there. Nice bar area also.
Frank G

Living so close to Sweeney’s, I really wanted to like it, but everything about our visit was off.
We walked in at about 6:30 on a Tuesday and the place was nearly empty– which was fine with us because we appreciated the quiet and were glad we wouldn’t feel rushed.
Unfortunately, as another reviewer phrased it… service was… strange. Our server seemed to be a bit off and wasn’t very friendly. He seemed annoyed when my friend tried to order her salad with an option she had seen on the online menu (not realizing it wasn’t on the paper menu) — these things happen. She didn’t make a fuss about it or anything.
Under the shrimp and angel hair pasta it said there was a vegetarian option so I ordered that, being vegetarian. The server checked that I was not vegan, which I appreciated, though he added that it the pasta was cooked in chicken broth. He said he could see if they could cook with without the chicken broth, which was a nice gesture but he never returned to confirm or deny if that had been done/​was possible, instead just bringing the dish.
I decided not to press it, but the dish itself was fairly bland and unexciting. My friend got the beet and arugula salad with shrimp and the portion was pretty small.
They had us in and out in just under an hour which was a little frustrating as it was empty and we felt a bit pushed along. I get that it was empty and the food came out extremely fast and service moved along quickly, due to having no one else to wait on, but as I said, everything just felt, off.
I wouldn’t return since both service and the food was unremarkable.

Stopped in for lunch after visiting the Angel Oak Tree Park. The BLT was the standout of the meal, the bacon is smoked in house and was amazing. The portion was huge, but every last bit was eaten because it was so incredibly good. The fried shrimp were fresh and the fries were addictive, super thin cut and perfectly prepared. The 24 hour pot roast special was amazing. Great little find with very reasonable prices.

You have got to try the Mushroom Toast! Without a doubt, just order it.
The staff here is awesome, friendly, and on top of things. You can tell they enjoy working here. The menu has some really impressive options.
My wife ordered the Mahi Mahi special. At the end of the meal, she said «I should have ordered the scallops.»
I had the shrimp and grits, which is my favorite meal. When the bowl came out it was loaded with shrimp; the most I’ve ever received. They were deveined and the whole shell was removed. However, the grits were a bit anticlimactic.
All in all a very enjoyable experience.

Stopped in to Sweeney’s for a drink since it is close to my friend’s house. The décor inside is really nice. It looks much more «upscale» than you might expect when you pull into the strip mall. The staff was very friendly. I didn’t get a chance to peruse the menu because they took it right away when we said we were only drinking. The bar had a list of happy hour appetizers — none of which seemed that appealing. The first on the list was a brat.