Cannon Street Was Built for Walking to Dinner, and a Rooftop Is Its Next Test

"Most residents use ride shares or walk to restaurants in our neighborhood." That line comes from the June 2, 2025 minutes of the Cannonborough-Elliottborough Neighborhood Association. The 13 people at that meeting gave it as the reason for supporting a parking variance for a new restaurant in the old YMCA building at 61 Cannon Street, and everyone present voted in favor.

Fifteen months later, that restaurant is Kyn, and the building is one stop on the busiest new dining stretch on the peninsula. In September the Post and Courier called Cannon a residential street drawing "a wave of new and forthcoming dining establishments." Almost every place in that wave was designed for people who arrive on foot. The next decision about how the street grows, a rooftop bar proposed for that same YMCA building, goes before the city on Oct. 14.

The Vote That Came Before the Hand Rolls

The parking variance is the detail that explains the street. On a block full of 19th-century houses, a restaurant that had to supply off-street parking would struggle to fit. The neighbors made the case that the parking was not needed, and that is how a brick building from 1866 could become a sushi bar.

Kyn opened Aug. 25, according to Holy City Sinner's 2026 openings tracker. Partners Tae Woo Lee and Peter Marcus serve hand rolls, sashimi and crudos in the building that housed a YMCA established in 1866. Inside is a curved sushi bar where diners watch the hand rolls being made, all of them gluten-free. There is also a marble standing bar, a second sushi bar and a few tables along cushioned banquettes.

A standing bar and counter seats suit a room where people drop in. They also suit a neighborhood whose association said in writing that its residents walk to dinner.

A Street That Grew One Corner at a Time

Kyn is the latest arrival on a street that has been changing for a few years, one corner at a time. The owners who chose Cannon have said plainly that foot traffic was the draw.

When Tres Jackson moved Sorghum & Salt from Coming Street to the corner of Cannon and St. Philip in June 2025, he told the Post and Courier that Cannonborough-Elliottborough was better for walk-in business and closer to the Upper King nightlife district. Rhett Anderson of Two Blokes Brewing made a similar point to Charleston City Paper in September: "People want a neighborhood spot where they can go and are familiar with."

Here is the lineup as it stands in early October 2026, listed roughly in walking order from the St. Philip corner west.

Most of these places took over existing buildings. Kyn is in the old YMCA. Two Blokes put its 50-seat taproom, wine bar and covered patio on the ground floor of a 19th-century house. The brewery's flagship opened at 547 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant in 2016. The Cannon Street taproom pours flagships like Wicked Throat Charmer, Umlaut and First Blood, plus small-barrel batches brewed on site and sold only there.

The Co-Op keeps the longest hours on the block. It opens at 7 a.m. every day and closes at 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to its locations page. Southbound, now in its fourth year at 72 Cannon, still takes reservations for its live-fire cooking.

The October Arrival With the Biggest Profile

Alteño is the opening most likely to bring diners from beyond the neighborhood. Johnny and Kasie Curiel, founders of Fonda Fina Hospitality, opened the first Alteño in Denver in 2025. That restaurant is Michelin-recommended, and Esquire named it one of its Best New Restaurants of 2025. Two of the Curiels' other Denver restaurants, Alma Fonda Fina and Mezcaleria Alma, each hold one Michelin star. The Charleston restaurant will cook from the traditions of Mexico's Jaliscan Highlands, with raw dishes inspired by cevicherías and proteins and vegetables cooked over a large hearth.

The timing has already moved. The April announcement said "this summer," and Holy City Sinner's tracker, last updated Sept. 30, now says October 2026 with no exact day. As of Oct. 2, the Charleston page on Alteño's site reads "coming soon" and has no reservation link, hours or menu.

The building is a different kind of project from its neighbors. The Charlee on Cannon is a set of luxury short-term-rental residences with a restaurant space on the ground floor facing the street. It began taking bookings in May 2025. A restaurant at Alteño's level is often a reservation people plan ahead for, so it will draw a different crowd than a taproom or a bakery does.

The Rooftop on the Agenda

The 2025 parking vote was about getting diners in the door. The 2026 question is about how late and how loud things get once they are there.

At the association's July 6, 2026 meeting, which 22 people attended, Neil Stevenson presented a conceptual plan for 61 Cannon. It would extend the rooftop and add a small bar under a covered pergola, a bathroom and stair access. According to the minutes, attendees raised concerns about the bar, its hours, late-night amplified music or DJs, and what future tenants might do with the larger rooftop. The minutes record one suggestion that the applicant emphasize no amplified music, especially after 10 p.m., when presenting to the Board of Architectural Review. Another suggestion was to partly enclose the rooftop to keep noise down.

The application has now been filed. The city's agenda for the Board of Architectural Review – Large lists 61 Cannon LLC's request for conceptual approval of exterior alterations, with Neil Stevenson as applicant. The board meets Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room on the first floor of 2 George Street. The meeting will be live-streamed and recorded, and application materials are posted in advance at charleston-sc.gov/bar. The city advises checking the site on the day of the meeting for withdrawn or deferred items. No board decision on the rooftop has been made.

Both votes come from the same group of neighbors. The 2025 support for the variance assumed diners would arrive on foot. The 2026 discussion is about what happens as those diners walk home through a residential block after 10 p.m.

A Fall Evening on Foot

The street works best the way its owners describe it, as places within walking distance of each other. Here is one route through what is open now, in the order the addresses fall.

1. Start at the St. Philip corner. Annie Mae's Bakeshop at 185 St. Philip and Sorghum & Salt at 186 St. Philip face each other at Cannon. One is a bakery stop and the other is a dinner reservation.
2. Walk west to 61 Cannon. Kyn's standing bar and counter seats work for a few hand rolls before or after another meal.
3. Continue to 72 and 81 Cannon. Book Southbound for a live-fire dinner. The Co-Op stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
4. Pass 89 Cannon. This is where Alteño is set to open in The Charlee on Cannon. Check the Charleston page for a reservation link as the month goes on.
5. Finish at 114 Cannon. Two Blokes' covered patio and its taproom-only small-barrel beers are the last stop on the block.

The date worth remembering is Oct. 14. Whatever the board decides on the 61 Cannon rooftop will be the next piece of the street's history. The plans are public, and the hearing is streamed for anyone who wants to watch.

At Island House Real Estate, we follow streets like Cannon closely because a new restaurant or a pending rooftop hearing changes how a block feels to live on. If you are thinking about a move within Cannonborough-Elliottborough, whether closer to the new restaurants or a few quieter blocks away, we would be glad to walk it with you. Find Your Island and schedule a private consultation.