Disappointed

We were excited about finding a dog-friendly restaurant with great reviews (my one-star review here is based on our personal experience - we are sure the food is great.) We were in Charleston for our first time ever on a long-distance trip and chose to stay downtown and go out for a special meal to celebrate an anniversary. We probably will never have another opportunity to visit this historic city. We arrived during an extended cold snap and I really didn't think we'd be able to bring our dog (who we couldn't leave in a hotel room) but was assured when I called Poogan's the night before that there are porches that would be comfortable despite the weather. We observed the next day that various local restaurants have protected porches with heaters, so we figured that would be the case at Poogan's as well. Instead, when we arrived at our reserved time, we were directed to the front porch which was wide open and exposed to a stiff breeze. There was no evidence that our arrival was anticipated (we had confirmed twice by text in advance) and the cold metal tables and chairs on the porch did not look like they were prepared for guests. It was 45 degrees and falling rapidly and there was no way we were going to eat an expensive and unheated meal outdoors with winter clothing on (we wouldn't even expect our dog to be out in the cold that long while we ate.). I wondered if some mistake had been made, but the hostess just shrugged and said she didn't know anything about the situation. We ended up awkwardly leaving and buying some inexpensive take-out along the street to eat in our room for our anniversary. We were totally disappointed and I called the restaurant to speak with a manager to ask why this happened. There was no answer (I had trouble getting through the day before, too) and left a detailed but very polite message asking for a call-back. Two days later, I haven't received one - thus this review. Bottom line: Poogan's Porch is not pet-friendly during cold weather, which is sort of what I assumed before I was told otherwise by the restaurant and persuaded to make a reservation that resulted in much disappointment on what was intended to be a special day.

Feb. 04, 2021