Sean Brock has become the face of Charleston’s food scene by opening cool restaurants, reinventing dishes and winning James Beard awards.  Minero is Sean Brock’s latest venture, and pretty different from his other restaurants, McCrady’s and Husk, since it has a Mexican theme.  Needless to say, my friends love some margaritas and tacos, so we were excited to try out the new spot for happy hour after work one day.

Minero sits between Pearlz and South End Brewery, and was cozier than I expected, but we got a large bench-like table toward the front.  Michelle and I ordered some drinks – I got the Mr. Niebla with mezcal based on a rec – and waited on the other girls to show up.  I don’t think I have ever had mezcal before, but Michelle gave me a quick explanation and reassured me.  The drink was delicious – the mezcal made it a little smoky, but the grapefruit added some sweet.  I even got the last one of the night..

Once Catherine and Brittney arrived, we ordered the chips and salsa –> They got an A+ for presentation.  The fresh chips come out in a bag within an oven mitt to keep them warm, and the chips have some seasoning on them.  The chips came out with 3 different salsas: benne arbol and verde.  The arbor was described as hot.. so I didn’t try it since I’m a pansy, but the benne and verde were good.  My favorite was the verde.

Brittney and I also ordered the Queso Fundido to have as dinner, paired with tacos.  This is basically a plate of hot cheese, with some poblano peppers and chorizo mixed in and hot tortillas to hold the cheesiness.  6 tortillas, and supposedly 6 servings.. but there was still a little left we finished off with chips.

Michelle got the burrito which was a huge, 2lb food baby.  She cut hers in 2, so I’m sure CJ enjoyed the leftovers she brought home.  The rest of us tried the different tacos: fried catfish, al pastor, grilled steak and maybe the charcoaled chicken or pork carnitas? I can’t remember them all.

Since I  filled up on salsa and queso (always the case), I just had a taco al pastor which had pork, grilled pineapple and avocado. YUM.  Everyone ate all their tacos, but it sounds like the taco al pastor was the favorite.  It’s always fun to eat, drink and catch up with college friends!

Tip: Minero doesn’t do to-go orders since Brock wants the food eaten the way it’s served, but if you’re on the run (or picking up food for your boyfriend at home) you can order some food, and have it immediately boxed up. Done and done.

TLDR: Drinks, food, and service was great!  Will be back again soon…