The Refuge

The Refuge reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. G

   Gary

   Milwaukee3 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 22 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   First time dining there. Medium sized space beautifully decorated. Service was impeccable!! Had some of the freshest scallops I've had since arriving on IOP! Am thoroughly addicted to the deviled eggs appetizer! An all around awesome, wonderful experience! We will be back!
   

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2. T

   Timothy VIP

   Chicago65 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 16 February 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Our brunch experience was not what we would normally expect for a popular restaurant. We arrived slightly early for a 10:45am reservation. For about 10 minutes, no host/hostess to greet guests arriving . The entrance filled very quickly with customers. A host showed up and said he would check for our table. It appeared that the servers were also having to bus the tables so this delayed the turnover. We were seated and our server took our drink order. She returned with the drinks and took our food order. She came back to tell is the bananas foster French toast was not being made that day. I changed the order to eggs Benedict. After 10-15 minutes the server came to tell us it would be a few more minutes until our food would be ready. She came back 10 minutes later to apologize for the delay. Roughly an hour after our actual reservation time, our breakfast finally arrived. Oddly enough, tables that were all seated after our arrival had all finished eating and were paying their checks. Hopefully, this is an isolated occurrence. The food was good. We were just asking ourselves why our simple order was held up for such a long time.
   

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3. J

   Jessica

   Charleston2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Such a good find. Everything we ordered was fresh and delicious - not over-seasoned or over-salted like so many restaurants. We will be back!
   

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4. e

   eleanor VIP

   Charleston29 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   nice decor good service very good food easy parking we will be back
   

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5. S

   Steve

   San Francisco4 reviews

   2.0

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   The crab cakes were terrible. They lacked seasoning and had a very strong fish smell which is usually the sign the seafood has gone bad. The potatoes with it were cold. I had scallops but the veggies were not as advertised and I got Brussel Sprouts which I do not like, no matter how any different ways they are cooked I just can't stomach the flavor. The waiter was too over the top with his phrases, especially repeating his name. We did not complain about the food because we felt the waiter would have then done an over top attempt to fix it or explain to us why it is ok. At the end, they gave my wife a rose and each of us a chocolate covered strawberry. It was Valentine's day. the waiter delivered these and said 'Hey, is this NICEEEE" or similar. Basically, a "wow, what a great thing we have done". Not our style at all. We also acknowledge that Valentines day is very busy and we were one of the last seatings of the night. Our guess is that the crab had sat out or we got extra crab meat but not enough seasoning to balance it off. We were visiting the area for the first time and if we ever go back to Isle of Palms, we probably will skip this restaurant.
   

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6. D

   Devin

   Charleston7 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 14 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Was a perfect little place for Valentine Night Dinner
   

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7. M

   Melissa

   New York City1 review

   5.0

   Dined on 14 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Great experience. Our server Jermey was attentive and was great!
   

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8. C

   Camilla

   Washington DC1 review

   5.0

   Dined on 8 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Excellent experience - the drinks were well-made, the food was excellent, and the service was amazing.
   

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9. D

   David VIP

   Charleston39 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 2 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The food and service were outstanding, thank you! Best brunch on the island
   

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10. L

    Lynn VIP

    Greater Boston44 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on 12 January 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Great brunch as usual-they were able to make my go-to surfer bod pancakes even though they aren’t on the menu! Bennett was a fantastic server during a busy time. Overall stellar experience as usual.
    

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