Best Organic Vegetarian Restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina: The Daily Dose Café

As you travel South on Folly Road down towards Folly Beach you may see a hippy looking love shack type structure off to your left. Hand painted signs in colorful, sweeping strokes beckon you to stop in for a dose of 'Good Mood Food.' Curiously, you hang a left and park on the small pad out front. You wonder if this is a real restaurant, it's so eclectic and mod. You almost feel like you are walking into someone's house, nobody would 'decorate' a commercial eating establishment this way.

Well, if you think the place looks funky from the outside, wait until you step through the door.

You're approaching my all-time favorite casual restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. The Daily Dose. As you enter what is best described as a Caribbean beach bar type joint your blood pressure lowers immediately. You take a deep, calming breath. The atmosphere is so relaxed and friendly it's impossible to fret about anything.

Duffy Ingle, the owner of The Daily Dose, uses the restaurant as an opportunity to share her beliefs on being true - on eating healthy food, living an organic lifestyle and following the inner voice that many stifle. Ingle (whom the locals call Mama D) refers to herself as a child of the world, and Charleston's The Daily Dose reflects that attitude.

Considered THE place for the freshest food on James Island, The Daily Dose has an extensive menu of wraps, salads, burritos, sandwiches and many organic wine and high gravity beer choices, all very reasonably priced.

Everything on the menu looks delectable, so deciding what to eat is the hard part. My first (and almost always) choice is the 'Oh My Goodness'. They kid me because I usually call it the 'Goodness Gracious' or some other variation on a theme. It has avocado, black bean hummus, an assorted mix of fresh greens and crisp vegetables, sprouts, and homegrown tomatoes. This magical combination is lightly doused in their signature 'goddess' sauce. I think this is best enjoyed as a wrap but friends like to debate this, and prefer the 'Oh My Goodness' pita style. Truthfully, I choose it in a wrap because I think they can stuff more veggies into it. Either way, it's $8.00.

Another favorite is the 'Garden of Eden,' a delicious blend of black beans and brown rice along with fresh cucumbers, sprouts, and mixed lettuces dressed with the tangy goodness of the 'goddess' sauce. This is a great choice but I really like the avocado in the 'Oh My Goodness'. Again, $8.00.

The Mexicali Grande Burrito is a giant spinach wrap stuffed with black beans, sometimes mixed with pinto beans, cheddar cheese, red leaf lettuce, brown rice, organic salsa and that delicious 'goddess' sauce. This selection draws many raves.

All the sandwiches and wraps come with a generous side of organic corn chips and orange slices or whatever local fruit is available. The portions are very respectable certainly enough food to satisfy big-boy appetites.

Many of the menu items are vegan and for the non-vegans and non-vegetarians they offer a variety of organic free-range turkey and local fish wraps. Reportedly all good.

Sure, the Daily Dose offers healthy food in a comfortable atmosphere. But what really sets the Dose apart is the people. The people that work there and the people that eat there. Something about the place promotes harmony. The Daily Dose in Charleston, SC defines the word laid back. A wide variety of 'types' come into the restaurant, it's where surfers mix it up with corporate executives. It's where Rastafarian ideals are mixed with eccentric cultural references. It's where giant murals of Jamaican Beaches and Bob Marley hang on the walls alongside surf boards that are often used when the waves call. If you are looking for a smile or some friendly chatter, come to James Island. Folks stop by the Dose just to hang out and maybe take a short break from their otherwise frantic pace.

Despite the pressures of the economic downturn, the Daily Dose refuses to go corporate. The restaurant remains decidedly counter-culture. Like the surfboards on the walls, the mismatched furniture, the reggae bingo nights, the bamboo-thatched bar, the esoteric beer selection, and the emphasis on organic, vegetarian and vegan cuisine, none of this is contrived. It all blends together in a uniquely authentic way. The message is simple, the Dose just wants to bring healthy food to the people - and they are doing it their way.

The giant bumper sticker that greets you as you walk through the door says it all: Healthy People are Happy Freaks.

Daily Dose Café
Vegetarian/Organic
Prices: Inexpensive
Serving lunch and dinner
1622 Highland Ave. James Island
Charleston, SC 29412
(843) 225-3367

Winter hours: lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Closed Sunday
Summer hours: lunch only, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Sunday

Credit Cards: Yes
Attire: Casual
Best for: Lunch
Take-out: Yes
Waiter Service: No
Groups: Yes
Kids: Yes
Reservations: No
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Bar: Yes
Alcohol: Beer and Wine

Sorry, I can't provide a Daily Dose website. When they aren't bringing healthy food to the people they are usually surfing. The waves. Not building websites.

Sources:
Lots of personal experience
Charleston City Paper