The Red Pepper

If you love good food you must go to Red Pepper. The servers are always amazing. The chef is a pro. Live bands are great. I normally don’t eat seafood, but the shrimp appetizer just looked to good to pass you. It did not disappoint. The owner even came out to speak with us. Truly, outstanding service all around. We will definitely be back as much as possible. Thank you to all the staff for being amazing workers. They made us feel at home. I would give more stars if I could.

Red Pepper isn’t in the most desirable or accessible part of Aiken, but it makes up for it with a nice atmosphere, great food, and friendly staff. This is a great place to bring a group, and I highly recommend the expansive outdoor patio seating. Some nights there’s live music and a dance floor, and others it’s a little quieter but still just as lively. I’ve never had a dish here that I didn’t like — and the food is perhaps a little more upscale than you’d expect given the louder atmosphere. I recommend!

I had the pleasure of finally getting to eat here and boy, was I happy! My friend and I sat on the beautiful patio for lunch and we received good service, as well as good food. I will definitely be back for dinner in the near future!

Excellent place for dinner, especially when you get a chance to enjoy dinner on the outdoor patio on a warm night. There is a small stage with string lights, definitely check out the red pepper website for a listing of live music.
We ordered the red pepper queso con carne to start off with. It was very tasty. The spicy sausage was definitely the primary flavor.
I ordered the mahi mahi risotto. It is a very well balanced meal with great flavor in each bite. My only complaint on the dish was that the mahi mahi was slightly over cooked.
He ordered the cajun chicken pasta. He really enjoyed it overall, but did have to remove the onions. His only complaint was the amount of rosemary in the dish, it was overwhelming at times.
Definitely looking forward to our next visit.

When in Aiken, my family and I decided to try this place. Despite multiple sources, the restaurant was not open at 300. Even the sign on the door stated Tues-​Sat 1100 – 1000. What a waste of time driving there.

We tried the Red Pepper while visiting Aiken on a college tour. We stumbled across The Red Pepper using Unilocal,and we’re so glad we did! Without a doubt, this was one of the best meals I’ve had out in a long time. We had the fried mac and cheese for appetizers, and they were so unlike anything I had ever had. The jalapeños on top were the perfect compliment to this appetizer. I had shrimp and grits for my entrée. (I wanted to try something new since they don’t serve that in our home state of Connecticut). The shrimp and grits had such great flavor, and the sauce was nice and creamy and not overwhelming. I was stuffed after only eating half, but it was so good, I pretty much gorged myself eating all of it. I really hope my daughter ends up going to college here so I can come back and eat here again!

Relative to all of the other restaurants I have tried in Aiken, this one deserves 5 stars.
Ambiance:
The patio was charming and lit up with stringed lights, and it seems that they have live music on certain nights as there is an outdoor stage set up for performances. We were there on a Tuesday night, however, so there was no live music. The inside décor was clean and classy, a good place for a date if you live in Aiken, I suppose.
Food:
My co-​worker and I were there on business doing field work, so a nice cold beer was in order. We each had a Blue Moon with orange as our drink to start. We perused the menu and found that the options all sounded great to two women who had been laboring in the hot 80 degree weather (P.S. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!). We consulted with our server and she was happy to point us to her favorite items. We both went with her personal favorite which was the Mahi Mahi asparagus risotto topped with an arugula and bacon salad and drizzled with pesto. My co-​worker is vegetarian, so they were more than happy to remove the Mahi Mahi and double up the risotto. We both LOVED this dish. My co-​worker said this was now her measuring stick for risotto. I agree. The fish was very light (not battered or fried) and seasoned perfectly. Risotto can sometimes be a little rich for me, but the pesto and asparagus balanced out the richness quite nicely.
Service:
Candy was sweet and took care of us very well. She made sure to check in with us and was so helpful in making our minds up. I have nothing but good things to say about her.
Overall, I had a great dining experience here. It’s so nice to find a local place in Aiken (aside from barbeque joints) that does food right. I just hope that with how talented the chef is, he doesn’t decide to move away to a big city. Every time I am in Aiken, I am definitely headed to Red Pepper for dinner.

Excellent meal and service. Lobster soup is great! Nice outdoor tables too. Good prices.

Not being familiar with the area and the fact that the shopping center where The Red Pepper is located is very poorly lit (and on a rainy night), luckily I persevered and found this place. (btw, it is in the Food Lion shopping center on the very far left end). They could use some better signage to guide you in (think neon).
Don’t let the outside fool you, the inside is very nice and the big patio out front would be great on a warm (and dry) night. Since I was by myself, I decided to sit at the bar where I met Pete who was great and had an excellent rapport with those who appeared to be regulars. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of draft beers but they do have a fairly good selection of bottle beers including Palmetto lager & ale which I normally only see on the SC coast. I ordered the bacon-​wrapped pork tenderloin which was cooked to perfection. It was served with sides of grits and fresh cooked spinach which I seldom ever eat but I downed every single leaf. I will definitely be back the next time in the area to try their shrimp & grits.

Went with my father in law. Had the bruschetta and the other guys had wings. I really liked the food. The place is casual and you feel at ease here. Would I go again, well I am week after next when they have some live music.

We went to the Red Pepper on a Saturday night. They had a band and a 25+ party so it was very loud. We ended just getting or drinks and appetizers since we could barely hear each other. The food was good but I wouldn’t recommend it for a date night.

Definitely not the place to go late on a Saturday night. We were told they were out of most things as they are closed Sunday & Monday. Service was forgetful & slow. Appetizers arrived and were followed by food in 2 minutes, meanwhile we had no drinks, silverware or napkins. One meal wasn’t what we ordered and the other two were undercooked & cold. When we sent them back they recooked & then slathered in unnecessary sauce & cheese. Just get fast food – likely to be hot, right the first time & far less expensive. Additionally, you’ll get the same level of service.

The first thing to note is the nice atmosphere. The space has a nice tan and black theme accented with red. It is quite noisy; sounds from across the room were in my ear as if the person were sitting right next to me. Unfortunately this isn’t the spot for vegans. The only menu selection would be salad… minus the cheese and meat. Our waitperson seemed quite annoyed when asked about preparation of the entrees and sides. I mention this only because I dine quite regularly with an ovo-​lacto-​tarian. She did enjoy the Charleston salad (minus the chicken), and my other colleague raved on both the presentation and taste of the mahi mahi entrée (though she said the risotto needed more salt or some other spice). I made a meal by combining the crab cakes appetizer with a side salad. I was impressed that the cakes were not bready at all and seasoned well. And now to the best part, dessert! I ordered the chocolate cheesecake that had bacon in the crust… I didn’t really have an impression of the bacon on my palate. My colleagues ordered the black and white cake with a chocolate ginnoch. Between the two, the black and white cake was the better – light but moist cake and rich ginnoch!

Wonderful atmosphere, very helpful and engaging staff. Food is wonderful and the knowledge of the servers is impressive.

Red Pepper has really great bruschetta… not just great… but awesome. They had a special last week that was flank steak and had it served in two different types of dishes and it was wonderfully marinated. Great place to meet up with friends since it has one of the best outdoor dining setups in Aiken.

i went there for valentines day 2 yrs ago… they were packed and we didn’t have a reservation so we sat at the bar… best decision ever
the food kinda sucked… the salmon had ranch on it… and it was crazy salty… the rice was way over cooked with too much water (it was like jello) and the veggies over cooked… not my kinda taste… sort of like what you’d get at an old folks home… im sure the chef really tried… it just didnt work
i honestly gave the 4 stars because of the bartender… he was off the wall fun! he kept us entertained and made our crummy food not even matter because we had a great time…. he was absolutely awesome… their wine selection is great…
perhaps if i had ordered a different dish… i cannot say all their food sucks because i only tried the salmon and the chicken… both were bad… but im sure they may have better options?

Though I’ve been to the Red Pepper a few times, this was my first meal there. We were there early, and I really wanted something light. However nothing really appealed to me. I ended up going with thee Osso Bucco with cheese grits and asparagus mostly because I wanted the veggies. It was much more than I wanted, but it was GOOD.
My husband had the pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon with the grits and some type of greens. He devoured it.
We had great service and were in and out fairly quickly.
I was here once for a private party, and it was a good venue– but none of the food that night was anything that stood out.
The other time I dined here was for a girls night out, and I will say the staff did a great job accommodating our group and orders. No problems getting the tickets separated. I will say there were many mixed reviews on the food.
I’d go back for another date night type meal, or I’d love to try it for lunch!

This was my first visit here, we came specifically for the jazz night, we ordered the cheese dip as an appetizer, which was average, the second appetizer the bruschetta with perp sauce was delicious. I could have ordered it as an entrée .
The main course I ordered the airline chicken, it was covered in a delicious sauce and served with garlic mash potatoes was truly amazing.
I ordered the special for dessert crisp crème bread pudding, I had never tasted a dessert as delicious as this one, I skipped the bacon bits which the waitress recommended .
The music started off old jazz not my favourite then as the. Night progressed the music got better, it was a busy night and I really enjoyed the evening
Our waitress 5 stars excellent service

I just sat at the bar for 30 minutes having cocktails with friends, but I got a great vibe from the place. I’ll be back to hang out with whatever band is playing again soon.

I can’t believe there’s only two reviews of this place. This is more of a 3.5, but I need to write a review to bump up the restaurant a little bit.
Came here while on business and our group of 5 had a nice dinner here. The Creole chicken pasta and the baked chicken were delicious, from what my friends ordrered… but I definitely enjoyed my shrimp and grits! Living in FL I am pretty familiar with grits, but this was elevated to a classy dish. It was treated like a risotto with some parmegianno areggiano and big chunks of shrimp! It was so creamy and delicious.
They have special events on certain nights, but this night there was a livejazz band. The atmosphere is more of the 30’s and up crowd, but is energetic and lively. You can sit outside in the patio, go by the bar, or be close to the stage. It is a nice place to take a date, do a business dinner, or have a «more than casual» dressed evening.