The Lick Brings Steakhouse Swagger and a Serious Raw Bar to West Ashley

By Mark A. Leon

For years, Charleston’s best-known restaurants have largely been concentrated on the peninsula, leaving West Ashley diners to cross the bridge when they wanted a more polished night out. The Lick At 10 Windermere is making a strong case that the best move might be to stay put.

Located in the Windermere Shopping Center at 10 Windermere Boulevard, The Lick is an elevated American restaurant built around two big draws: premium steaks and a surprisingly serious raw bar. The restaurant opened in early 2026 with a goal of bringing a more upscale dining experience to the West Ashley neighborhood without losing the comfortable feel of a local restaurant.

The Lick At 10 Windermere

The Steak Is the Star

If you’re coming to The Lick for one reason, make it the beef.

The restaurant works with CHS Wagyu and Purely Meat Co., offering everything from Margaret River Wagyu to wet-aged USDA Prime and 45-day dry-aged Prime cuts. The menu includes a 6- or 10-ounce Wagyu filet, a 14-ounce Wagyu New York strip, a 16-ounce Chicago ribeye, a 28-ounce porterhouse and larger dry-aged bone-in cuts.

For a first visit, the 18-ounce 45-day dry-aged bone-in ribeye is the move for serious steak lovers. The aging process gives the beef a deeper, more concentrated flavor than a conventional steak. If you’re looking for something a little more refined, the 10-ounce Margaret River Wagyu filet offers the richness Wagyu is known for without committing to one of the restaurant’s larger cuts.

The Steak and Frites is another smart choice if you want the steakhouse experience in a slightly more approachable format. It pairs ribeye with au poivre, beef-tallow fries and garlic aioli.

Don’t Skip the Raw Bar

The Lick’s raw bar isn’t simply an appetizer section added to a steakhouse menu. It is one of the restaurant’s defining features.

East Coast oysters are served with lemon, mignonette, cocktail sauce and hot sauce, while the menu also features shrimp cocktail, tuna tartare and baked blue crab cake. The tuna comes with avocado, radish, ginger dressing, chili oil and wonton chips, making it an especially good choice for something fresh before a rich steak.

For the table, I’d start with a dozen oysters and the tuna tartare, then move into the steak. If you’re feeling particularly indulgent, the Wagyu Bites with potato rosti, A5 Wagyu and truffle aioli are another excellent opening act.

The Dishes Worth Ordering

Beyond steak and seafood, there are several dishes that deserve attention.

Start: GiGi’s Bread with sea salt and honey butter is one of the restaurant’s most frequently praised bites, while the steak tartare is a natural choice for adventurous diners.

Go big: The 45-day dry-aged bone-in ribeye or Margaret River Wagyu filet.

Share a side: The “Potato Thing”—a crisp potato pavé with herbs and sea salt—is a standout-sounding accompaniment. The black-truffle mac and cheese and beef-tallow fries are also strong steakhouse companions.

Try something besides beef: The pork chop, lamb chops, scallops and branzino give non-steak diners plenty of reasons to visit.

A Neighborhood Vibe With a Little Downtown Energy

The room is intentionally polished without feeling overly formal. The restaurant describes the atmosphere as warm and designed for lingering, with a full bar, cocktails and a curated wine list. The result is more “special night out” than neighborhood sports bar, but still relaxed enough that you don’t feel like you’ve wandered into a restaurant designed exclusively for tourists.

Customer feedback has largely reinforced that impression. Diners have praised the food, service and atmosphere, with several describing The Lick as a welcome addition to West Ashley and a restaurant that can compete with downtown establishments. Apple Maps currently shows a 4.8 Yelp rating from 28 reviews, with reviewers particularly praising the steak, GiGi’s Bread, service and intimate atmosphere.

There are some caveats. The restaurant’s relatively small footprint can make the room feel noisy when busy, and at least one recent reviewer reported a lengthy wait for food and a disappointing response from management. Those complaints stand out because most other reviews have been notably positive about hospitality and service.

The Charleston Daily Take

The Lick feels like the kind of restaurant West Ashley has been waiting for: upscale enough for a date night or celebration, comfortable enough for a neighborhood dinner and focused enough on steak and seafood to give diners a reason to return.

Our recommendation? Order oysters or tuna tartare, share GiGi’s Bread, go for the 45-day dry-aged ribeye or Wagyu filet, add the Potato Thing and finish with something from the bar.

And perhaps the biggest selling point is the simplest one: you don’t have to cross the bridge to have a serious Charleston dinner anymore.

For reservations and the current menu, visit The Lick At 10 Windermere.

Follow the journey on Instagram.

Stay connected and subscribe to Charleston Daily.