There's a small lane just off King Street that most people walk past without noticing. Burns Lane. South of Calhoun, easy to miss.
That's where you'll find The Hidden House — and now, if you show up after 4 p.m. on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, you'll find something a little different than your morning cortado.
Wine. A real wine list. And a sommelier to walk you through it.
The backstory
Owner Brittany Olson opened The Hidden House on December 18th — coffee and tea only, at first. Getting the liquor license took longer than expected, so she launched what she could and waited. The wine nights followed in February.
"The whole concept was always going to be a coffee and wine bar," she told the Post & Courier. "We decided to open for coffee over the holidays and then wine in late winter, early spring."
Worth the wait.
Who's pouring
Olson isn't just a shop owner who likes wine. She's a trained sommelier — voted Best Sommelier by City Paper readers in 2025 — who spent years in Charleston's food and beverage world before opening this place. She also runs a mobile wine bar called Love and Bunches. The woman knows her bottles.
What to expect
The evening menu features a 17-bottle list of curated boutique wines, all directly imported, all available by the glass. Flight options too. And this isn't the kind of pour-and-walk-away situation you'd find at a wine-at-the-movie-theater counter.
"It's a sommelier-led tasting," she said, "where they tell you about what's in the bottle, the people behind the brand and really teaching you about the wine you're enjoying in a fun way."
That's the pitch. That's the whole thing. And it works.
The bigger idea
The concept behind all of it — morning coffee shop, evening wine bar — was always about creating a third space. A place that earns a reason to visit twice in the same day.
"In the morning, you come here, you're working, and it's comfortable and fun," Olson said. "Then at night you go home, get ready and come out with your friends or significant other."
Simple. Human. The kind of thing Charleston needs more of and rarely gets right.
The details
Evening hours run Thursday–Saturday, 4–9 p.m. Sunday brunch goes 10 a.m.–2 p.m., with wine and mimosas in the mix. Walk in or book through Resy. Light bites throughout.
Every second Sunday also features two local vendors.
21 Burns Lane. Go find it.
This is a summary of an article published in the Post & Courier. Click here if you'd like to read that article.
