MORNING HEADLINES | Bertha’s Kitchen, an enduring Gullah restaurant in North Charleston, is one of 50 restaurants across the country to win a $50,000 grant to help culinary landmarks.
Each grant in the program, which is fueled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, helps restaurants upgrade and grow their businesses, enabling improvements to historic buildings. Up to $10,000 can be used for general operating expenses. The “Backing Historic Small Restaurants” program, which began in 2020 as a pandemic response, has since helped 180 historic small restaurants and has granted more than $8 million in every U.S. state, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“These restaurants demonstrate the power that places hold. For generations, neighbors have gathered here, shared stories, made new connections and enjoyed regional cuisine that often reflects our nation’s global roots,” said National Trust President and CEO Carol Quillen.
Bertha’s Kitchen, a family-run business founded in 1980 by Albertha Grant, is known for soul food dishes like fried chicken, okra soup and red rice. The restaurant was the recipient of a James Beard Foundation Award for America’s Classics in 2017.
Bertha’s is one of just 11 Charleston-area’s restaurants that is on the City Paper’s “Charleston Classics” list which highlights its tasty, generous and inexpensive Southern soul food platters: “Businessmen, laborers and far-flung tourists alike shuffle through the quick cafeteria-style service counter loaded with a smorgasbord of meat and threes, such as fried pork chops, fish specials, yams, stewed greens, home-style mac-and-cheese, limas nestled with smoked turkey necks, dark roux okra soup, moist cornbread and fried chicken better than anyone’s Grandma ever made.” – Becky Lacey
In other headlines
CP OPINION, Brack: Might take awhile for Statehouse to change, but it’s coming. “According to a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report using census data, the number of South Carolina’s foreign-born residents, documented and undocumented, has zoomed 10 times from 46,620 people in 1980 to 450,446 residents in 2025. That’s a whopping 909% increase, one of the largest of states in the nation…. What an indicator of how the Palmetto State is changing. “
CP OPINION, McCorkle: McMaster is playing dangerous political game with Guard. “On Aug. 16, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster joined in Trump’s efforts by deploying 200 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, this is not only an unnecessary decision but one driven by political aims. Furthermore, it undermines the values of a free, democratic society that the National Guard is supposed to protect. “
CP NEWS: Housing crisis: S.C. has too many people, too few homes. Two issues increasingly dominate. Two issues increasingly dominate the South Carolina headlines: massive population growth and a lack of affordable housing. Experts say the two problems are deeply intertwined.
WATER: Charleston rainfall exceeds 10 inches in some areas. So much rain came down over the weekend that the city of Charleston closed more than 40 streets. Some areas reportedly got more than 10 in a single day – as much rain as usually falls in a month.
S.C. WEEK IN REVIEW: Dems attack McMaster’s Guard deployment. In a state where tropical storms and military honor are serious business, S.C. Democrats were quick last week to criticize Gov. Henry McMaster’s Aug. 16 decision to deploy about 200 National Guardsmen to Washington, D.C., during the hurricane season.
Charleston expected to move forward with Johns Island road safe improvements. New stoplights and a roundabout are planned for a pair of dangerous Johns Island intersections.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
