Coda del Pesce

Great place. My wife and i went here for valentines. Great service and the best seafood I’ve had since Seattle or San Francisco. Real fresh and pasta too.

Foodies only please. This is not your average pseudo Italian restaurant! If you visit IOP and are looking for an amazing Italian /​Mediterranean meal look no further than right here! The venue is small. Every plate coming out of the tiny kitchen is prepared with the utmost attention to detail. Fresh ingredients compose every dish. The wine list is a marvelous selection of Italian regional wines that you can enjoy for a very reasonable price. The cocktails are prepared with the same keen eye as the food. I travel and dine across the country and seek out treasures like this. Spend a little time and a bit more of your budget and enjoy this venue!

#1 choice when eating in IOP. Ocean front with good food! Go figure usually it’s fried and mediocre not here. Yes it’s all about fish and pasta. We had the fried Fritto Mist which was lightly batter and came out hot. Delicious plenty for three people. Two in our party had fish dishes which they both raved about and I had the pasta with cherry tomatoes and lump crab was light simple and delicious.
Server was knowledgeable and helpful as well as the front end manager.
It’s a cool place where you can watch the action in the kitchen and from all the movement they appear to know what they are doing and evidently not their first rodeo.
Put this place on the list well worth visiting for fish and pasta!

I rarely order Italian when out because we cook it so well at home. Coda has authentic Italian, not Italian American. I love this spot. Nice view of ocean and fantastic dishes. Too bad the bar downstairs is a dive because it hides this place.

My fiancée and I were very impressed with this place. The pasta was done perfectly, service was great. The atmosphere was also very nice — can’t complain about a view of the ocean!

my wife and I truly enjoy fine dining and are always looking for new great restaurants that don’t require a plane ticket. About a year ago we found Coda and have not had anything but exceptional dining ever since. I would rate the chef as «outstanding», he could go head to head with the best in any city including NYC. I recommend ordering the «Chefs choice» with wine paring. You’ll love it!

Tiny place but was able to reserve a large table for our party on short notice. Lovely atmosphere. Stone’s throw from our rental house. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. My octopus appetizer with burrata was especially delicious, and my pasta dish was meaty and plentiful. Service was on point.
Not quite the wow factor I was looking for, but nothing about CdP was disappointing. A solid choice.

The chef is excellent. Very interesting menu. Not standard fare. Accommodating to everyone’s preferences, like my gluten free. We were party of nine with seven special changes to the presented menu. They redo the menu every day. So everything on the menu is their special of the day. I would give a five star for the food, deducted one star for atmosphere, which was mundane. Waiter was fabulous accommodating all our special changes to the menu.

I still love this place and that corn pasta risotto fish dish is my favorite meal on the planet

Cute place! They make a lots of their own pastas. Everyone was very nice. Three stars because: 1) I really did not find them to be vegetarian friendly. I think a balanced restaurant generally is more accommodating. Not much on the menu I could eat in the way of appetizers, etc… Even the bread dipping sauce and dressings had meat in them. the one option then presented, risotto I really don’t like. They did create a salad for me which worked out okay. 2) wasn’t really thrilled with dessert options.
Probably not the right restaurant for me, but it is a great option if you are at the beach!

I only had a brief visit, but from what I saw and tasted I am a fan of this joint. Its a small space that appears to be great for dining, but not so much a bar destination. We were welcomed by the fantastic aroma that filled the room from their open kitchen. We sat at the bar for a couple drinks and a snack while out on IOP and we left there with a great desire to come back. They have a short but appealing list of specialty cocktails, but the star here is definitely the food. My wife and I split the Black Bass Crudo while we sipped cocktails and took in the view of the ocean. I must say, they nailed the crudo — acid, salt, and spice combined perfectly. I’m looking forward to coming back!

I had high hopes after many incredible experiences at the sister restaurant downtown. I took my parents here on a visit to Chas and the food just fell flat. Not to mention, the drunken idiot at the table next to us proceeded to order vodka martini after vodka martini and the staff never cut him off, despite his clearly belligerent behavior and slurred speech upon arrival! He, combined with the loud bad music from downstairs, ruined the already mediocre experience. Very disappointed since Lucca is such a gem.

I don’t give many 5 stars, but this one deserves it. I don’t understand the poor reviews. Had reservations for 8 at 8pm and the table was ready and waiting when we arrived. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Great selection of reasonable wines. I had the grilled octopus for a starter and it was delicious-​very tender with a nice char. For an entrée, I had the Spaghetti with Vongole … spectacular with nice texture from the breadcrumbs and perfectly cooked pasta. I’ll definitely go back next time I’m in Charleston.

The fritto misto was great seafood ruined by saturated grease. Advertised as a best seller, but rookie prepared. Good salesman at the front of the house but extremely poor execution on such a simple dish.
How can you not heat grease to the proper temperature? Absolutely no regard for the customer — didn’t even take the time to drain it. The change was $ 18. I was told «I’ll let the kitchen know» — Yeah right.
My main entrée was pretty dang good and the view was fantastic. The ladies working the floor were really nice too and the atmosphere is high end with a view of the ocean.
The greasy seafood was worse than a rookie chicken wing cook, and for that I have to question whether I’ll go back. Significant slip on the first impression dish.
Mixed feelings.

What a huge disappointment. Let me start with our reservation that we were sat 45 minutes late for. No offers for a glass of wine, no apologies, no checking on our group as we waited. Just a host with an air about him as if it were our fault for showing up. He wasn’t nice.
Food-​meh. I’ve always thought the food was great here. Just so so this visit. My friends’ flounder was actually great, my calamari Bolognese not so much.
Finally (my pet peeve when a restaurant screws up), they tried to compensate by bringing a selection of sorbets. None of us wanted a selection if sorbets! If they had offered us a free dessert, whatever, we might have chosen something different, but instead we left the table with a plate of melted sorbets.

Made reservation 3 days ago for 8:30 pm. Still sitting here at 9:10pm on the porch waiting. Arrogant large manager man says so sorry but tables are slow to leave. 4 tables open in restaurant still no seat.
Food was good but slow seating made our evening and guests a bit unhappy.

Wow, an excellent restaurant on IOP for tourists and locals! Glad we finally made it to Coda del Pesce, and likely will return. The menu changes daily, but is homemade Italian. There are lots of great choices, and we couldn’t decide. Our server mentioned there was a 4 course chef’s tasting menu which we chose. It was just what we wanted: smoked salmon crudo, lobster ravioli, grouper on summer bean salad & then butterscotch budino… all was delicious! Definitely would recommend to anyone who’s looking for more than just pasta & red sauce. Nice to find such a place east of the Cooper.

We showed up Sunday without reservations. There were no tables available so we sat at a table in the bar area with a view of the ocean. Sunday is a set menu only day. So we proceeded to have two Chefs prepare a 4 course meal for us.
The food is very good and the service is even better. We were served a beautiful meal with all kinds of variety covering the seafood and pasta categories.
I would rate this restaurant one of the best on Isle of Palm. Priced on the high side but worth the spend. Pricing similar to many of the better Charleston establishments.
We really wanted to make a second trip back but also wanted to make sure we tried many of the other restaurants nearby.

It’s been almost a week since I ate at Coda del Pesce, and I’ve been re-​living the meal and the experience ever since. The restaurant is quaint and handsomely designed. One wall is nearly entirely glass, offering a beachfront view — unmatched by a restaurant of this caliber in the Charleston area, to my knowledge. We arrived on a Saturday night without reservations, and the restaurant was slammed, but the friendly gentleman working the front of the house showed us to a porch facing the beach where we waited and enjoyed a glass of wine until seating opened up at the bar.
We ordered the flounder braciole for an appetizer — a mini cocotte filled with rolled fried flounder in a creamy tomato sauce. There were bright notes (capers, if memory serves?), melted cheese, and finished with a dusting of toasted breadcrumbs. The dish was rich and tasty, but I regretted not ordering the fritto misto instead once I saw it: a large plank overflowing with lightly fried shrimp, calamari, and fish. I had to exercise great restraint not to reach over and pluck a taste off my bar-neighbor’s plank. It’s a visually stunning dish as well as a huge amount of food, so don’t be deterred by the price.
Next, we shared a «hearts of romaine» salad, which was enormous and bathed in just the right amount of dressing. I can’t recall exactly how to describe the «croutons,» only to say that they were large, plentiful, freshly fried, and not the typical croûton consistency — much airier.
For our main courses we ordered bucotini and another pasta dish — a chubby spaghetti noodle, the name of which escapes me. It was colored black with squid ink and served with lump crab meat, a light lemon butter sauce, and dusted with toasted breadcrumbs as well. The two pasta dishes were similar in taste and both were cooked perfectly al dente, as pasta is supposed to be. (Not, as other reviewers report, «crunchy.») Though the $ 24 pricetags (a full $ 6 or so more than the pasta offerings at Wild Olive) were steep given the relatively small amount of protein on both dishes, they were immensely satisfying, and the portions were big enough to take home another meal in leftovers. I’ll just chalk it up to meals in Charleston being expensive.
We skipped dessert but lingered for a bit to chat with the bartender, who was very knowledgeable and engaging, as was the rest of the staff with whom we interacted.
Overall, A+. This was one of the best meals I’ve had in Charleston, and I can’t wait to go back. If only Isle of Palms weren’t such a hike.

In my humble opinion, there has been a lack of quality dining in Isle of Palms for quite some time which is why we were excited that Ken Vedrinski (of Trattoria Lucca fame) was bringing his talents to the beach.
Vacationers may find the name «Coda del Pesce» (Tail of the fish), a bit confusing, but the menu is primarily seafood and pasta.
Although our entire party hadn’t arrived we were quickly seated and offered beverages by our server. She was then, and would remain, a great resource throughout our dining experience.
Our friends quickly arrived and we ordered cocktails while we perused the menu. There was some confusion about what one of our friends ordered, as she was presented with the wrong drink initially and my «Cosmo», also a late delivery, was just a suggestion of a beverage, a short pour. All in it took 40 minutes for our beverages to arrive. Not a great start.
As we began to order appetizers our server coached us, which was helpful. She said, «The appetizers are ‘portioned’ and you might want to order a few more.» Did this mean small, I thought? Regardless we ordered a Grilled Calamari, Tomato, Eggplant, Fett’una, 2 Yellowfin «Arancini», Radish, Jalapeño, Fennel, Citrus Marmellata, and a Burrata, Smoked Salmon, Giardinier — all delightful.
We ordered dinner just as our appetizers were delivered and then waited, and waited, and waited. At the 60 minute mark I turned to one of our friends and said, «Does this seem long to you?» Even with great conversation the time was starting to drag. Never the less, we chatted on while the tables around us (seated after us) were served.
At the 90+ minute mark our entrees were served. Really? 90 minutes.
Five out of the six entrees were a win. The Handmade Shells, Flash Seared Scallops, Asparagus with lemon was well received. The Conchiglioni, Blue Crab, Herb Parmesan Brodo — Large shells with crab was good, but our friend said the pasta was under cooked.
Grandma’s Gnudi was a big win, as was the Grouper Saltimbocca and the Flounder Peperonata with Chicken Sugo.
I had what could arguably have been the easiest dish to get out of the kitchen — Pici (chubby spaghetti), and an Octopus Bolognese. What a disappointment.
My Pici was barely cooked, and inedible. I asked the server (who had tried her best throughout the evening) to take it back to the kitchen and see what could be done. Here’s where it gets interesting.
The Manager came to our table to discuss our mishap. It was at this point that he began to try to «educate» me on pasta cooking and that «Pici» was meant to be cooked that way. «Hard and crunchy?» my husband asked. It was at that point that I wanted to dust off my passport, fly to Italy and see for myself if this was indeed the case. But it gets better…
He then tells me that he’s going to substitute Tagiolini instead of Pici because it will save ten minutes. At this point our table was almost finished with dinner. When my dish finally arrived it was an overcooked, globby non-​octopus mess. Not happy and still hungry.

For those that think I am severe in my review because Coda del Pesce is new, I get that. However, I have been responsible for many restaurant openings and it has always been my belief that a customers’ money spends the same way on Day 1 or Day 1000. If you’re not ready to open, don’t.