Jack’s recently opened a new Cosmic Dogs location in West Ashley. Hot
dogs, draft root beer and awesome fries? Yes, please!

We headed over for a pleasant mid-week dinner date. We tried the corn
dog and cosmic dog, and split a basket of fries and a draft root beer.

Both dogs were beefy and delicious. The corn dog was perfectly done,
and the cosmic dog was unique (and tasty)! It was topped with yummy
blue cheese slaw (I did add some salt and pepper, but I do that with
all cole slaws) and the sweet potato mustard was a nice
accompaniament. Admittedly, the blue cheese sort of overpowers the
mustard, but the mustard still supplies a nice bit of sweet-tartness.
It was served with a fresh sesame seed bun that was substantial enough
to prevent any dining mishaps (such as mustard leaking through a
flimsy bun onto a white shirt). The fries are excellent, thin cut,
real potatoes, and perfectly fried. Add a bit of salt and grab some
malt vinegar, or shake on some Cajun seasonings from the jar at the
pick-up window. And don’t forget the draft root beer, served in a
frozen (er, frosty) mug!

Saturday evening we went out for a belated date night dinner at
Magnolias, in downtown Charleston. The restaurant is very pretty
inside, with a black and white tiled floor, very, very high ceilings,
and two walls of mirrors (the other walls are the bar, and a long wall
of windows). We were seated against one of the mirrors, which suited
us fine.

Dinner started with warm, crusty bread and chive/sour cream whipped
butter. We each got soup to start – Tony tried the blue crab bisque
(fantastic), and Louisa tried the special squash bisque (also very
good). Entrees were the seafood over cheesy grits, and blackened
salmon with grits and succotash. The seafood and grit combination was
excellent – lots of shrimp, large pieces of lobster, and very tender
scallops served in lobster cream sauce over grits. The blackened
salmon was cooked well, as were the rich, creamy grits and succotash
(made with actual corn cut off the cob). For dessert we split a slice
of buttermilk pie, topped with a bit of homemade whipped cream. The
filling was fantastic, though Louisa believed the women in her family
make a better pie crust (this one was thick and lacked flavor).