Two burger pop-ups are working the streets of Charleston right now. One is brand new. The other is back from the dead.
Start with the newcomer. Vincent Santiago, a chef out of Odd Duck Market, launched Rogue & Reckless earlier this year and is already four pop-ups deep, most recently at Sissy Bar in North Charleston. His formula is tight on purpose: house-made sesame milk buns, a "Reckless sauce" of homemade ketchup, homemade mustard, and Duke's, and a signature Rogue burger done Oklahoma-style with griddled onions fused to a smashed patty under a hood of American cheese.
The former 167 Sushi Bar chef travels light. Two flattops and a tent, so the burgers stay the main event, plus a rotation of house-made pickles including one spiked with Thai chiles, honey, and garlic.
"The goal is to keep growing without losing what makes it special," Santiago told the Post & Courier. "I want the future space to feel like the pop-up the moment you walk in, the same chaos, the same energy, just on a bigger scale."
Now the resurrection. Pub Fare, the tented smashburger operation with more than 16,000 social-media followers, went quiet in 2021 and left a lot of Charlestonians mourning. It first launched in 2017 and built a genuine cult following for one thing: a double-patty smash burger with American cheese, pickles, shaved onions, and special sauce on a Martin's potato roll, served exactly how owner Jason Bell wanted it, no modifications.
Since April, it's back, popping up across the region several days a week. Chef Ryan Collins, formerly of Marina Variety Store Restaurant, is running the roving kitchen now. The schedule lives on Pub Fare's Instagram.
Two burgers, two very different energies. Your move.
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