The restaurant concepts at 1804 Crowne Commons Way have changed several times since 2022. The Post and Courier reported that the space went from Blu Oyster to a hibachi concept and then Blu Smoke Pit BBQ; Locals Sushi and Sports Pub is now preparing to open there. If you live near Live Oak Square on Maybank Highway, you already know this corner. The sequence offers a snapshot of the restaurant concepts that have occupied this address since 2022.
Meanwhile, a few miles away and every Saturday morning without exception, folding tables go up on the campus of Charleston Collegiate School and the same crowd shows up whether it rained the night before or not. That contrast—several restaurant concepts at one address and a market with a long-running Saturday schedule—is one snapshot of Johns Island this September.
Three Restaurant Concepts Since 2022, a Fourth on the Way
The space at 1804 Crowne Commons Way opened in 2022 as Blu Oyster Sushi and Seafood, a sushi and raw bar concept built around fresh oysters and creative rolls. It ran for about three years before closing in early 2025. Next, the space briefly reopened as a hibachi restaurant. That version lasted six months. Owner Rick Agius, who had spent 13 years running Smoky Oak Taproom on James Island before that restaurant closed, told the Post and Courier that hibachi "wasn't working the way we thought it would." By September 12, 2025, the space had transformed a third time into Blu Smoke Pit BBQ, with two commercial smokers overseen by pitmaster Lucas Harrell, an arcade for kids, and décor swapped from seafood-themed fish skulls to vintage gas station signs.
Blu Smoke Pit closed quietly this summer. Now a fourth concept is moving in: Locals Sushi and Sports Pub, a chain with existing locations in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley, and James Island, is opening its fourth outpost in the same building. Owner Shawn Sherman told the outlet What Now the team is targeting the first or second week of September, though he was quick to add that restaurant opening dates are never exact.
| Concept | Cuisine | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Blu Oyster Sushi & Seafood | Sushi, raw bar | 2022 to early 2025 |
| Unnamed hibachi concept | Hibachi | Early to mid-2025, about six months |
| Blu Smoke Pit BBQ | Barbecue, oysters | Opened Sept. 12, 2025, closed summer 2026 |
| Locals Sushi & Sports Pub | Sushi, tacos, hibachi, wings | Targeting first or second week of September 2026 |
Live Oak Square itself isn't struggling. Crowne Partners built the ten-acre, six-building center in front of its 282-unit Crowne at Live Oak Square apartments, and most of the roughly 35,000 square feet of retail space has stayed leased for years to tenants like Cypress Family Dental, Tolli's Apizza, and The Woodruff Wine and Cheese Bar. The turnover has been isolated to this one restaurant pad. Locals Sushi is putting Johns Island resident Brittany Gifford in charge of the new location, and the company is rolling out a free-sushi-for-a-year giveaway to mark the opening, a sign it's treating this as more than another short-term tenant.
Three restaurant concepts have occupied this address since 2022, and a fourth is preparing to open.
A Few Miles North, a Different Kind of New
Contrast that with what's happening at 3575 Maybank Highway, inside the Johns Island Shopping Center. A new restaurant called Asian Hibachi Grill is preparing to open there in mid to late September, run by owner Ji Sheng Fang. This one is a straightforward Japanese takeout concept: hibachi, teriyaki, and sushi, with a handful of Chinese dishes like General Tso's chicken and orange chicken rounding out the menu. The space will hold about ten tables for guests who want to eat in rather than take their order home.
A hibachi concept previously operated at 1804 Crowne Commons Way for about six months. A different operator is preparing to offer hibachi a few miles up the same highway, in a building with no history of turnover reported so far. Whether that bet pays off will depend on execution, not the format itself. But it does mean Johns Island residents are about to have two hibachi-adjacent options open within weeks of each other, at very different price points and formats.
Two Ways to Get Hibachi on a Tuesday Night
If you're deciding where to go, the two openings aren't really competing with each other so much as serving different nights out.
- Locals Sushi & Sports Pub is the sports bar version: full menu with tacos, burgers, wings, and a sushi bar, plus a happy hour the chain says was nominated for one of Charleston's best. Its signature half-price sushi night, a Monday tradition at the Mount Pleasant original, will run on Tuesdays at the Johns Island location instead.
- Asian Hibachi Grill is the smaller, faster version: a family-run takeout counter with about ten tables, built for picking up dinner on the way home rather than settling in for a few hours.
Neither replaces the other. One is a destination, the other is a quick stop. Both are expected to offer different dining options on Maybank Highway within weeks of each other.
The Saturday Market That Didn't Get the Memo
While Maybank Highway sorts out its restaurant lineup, Johns Island's Saturday farmers markets follow their own schedules.
The Sea Island Farmers Market at Charleston Collegiate School on Academy Road hasn't paused at all. It runs every Saturday, year-round, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., rain or shine, and has for years. The Islanders Farmers Market on Maybank Highway keeps its own Saturday schedule through December as well. Neither Saturday market depends on tourist season or a summer calendar. They're built into the island's actual weekly rhythm, offering a regular weekly option alongside Maybank Highway's changing restaurant lineup.
That's the real takeaway for anyone who lives here. Restaurant concepts along Maybank Highway continue to change, including two hibachi-adjacent openings expected within weeks of each other. The Sea Island Farmers Market at Charleston Collegiate offers a year-round Saturday option.
Johns Island keeps adding new addresses faster than most people can keep track of, which is part of what makes it worth paying attention to whether you already live here or are still weighing whether to. King & Society works this corridor closely, from the Maybank Highway commercial strip to the neighborhoods branching off River Road, and can walk you through the area's mix of established businesses and new openings. If Johns Island is on your radar, reach out to King & Society and start the conversation with a team that knows this corridor.
