Before Luma Had a Counter on Columbus Street, Its Bread Was Already Downtown

Over the past few months, the turkey club with dill aioli on fresh sourdough turned up at Daps Breakfast and Imbibe. It also appeared at The Archer, at Estuary Brewing Co. and at the Two Blokes Brewing taproom. Each time it was served from someone else's room. The baking team behind it had no address of its own yet. According to the Charleston City Paper, the sandwich and a brioche breakfast sandwich were the most popular items at those pop-ups. Among the sweets, the salted toffee cookie and the sourdough cinnamon roll sold best.

That team is Luma, and it is scheduled to open at 128 Columbus St. in early November. Its route to a storefront matches how most of the peninsula's new bakeries got there. They spent months or years supplying bread to restaurants, running pop-ups or sharing counter space. Only then did they sign leases of their own. If you have eaten downtown in the past couple of years, you have probably had their bread already, under a different name.

The Bread Showed Up Before the Bakeries Did

Annie Mae's Bakeshop is the plainest example. The Post and Courier reported that owners Annie and Jason Vieira had spent more than two years making breads and desserts in a commissary kitchen and selling them to Charleston restaurants. After that, they opened at 185 St. Philip St., at the corner of Cannon Street. In that same report, Annie Vieira said, "We started our business with one restaurant account a few years ago, and we always had this goal in mind." The shop opened in December 2025.

Grit Bakery came from a similar wholesale start. Allison Anspach opened it in May 2025 at 601 Meeting St., Suite 160, under the Meeting Street Lofts apartments. She first ran a cottage baking business in California. The Post and Courier reported that she sells bread and pastries to The Archer, Sightsee Shop and City Lights Eastside. The Archer shows up in both stories. Grit supplies its bread, and Luma's team popped up there before it had a kitchen of its own.

The newest counter on the list grew inside an existing business too. Café Lucca opened Sept. 1 as a pop-up inside Doar Bros. at 225 Meeting St. Jonathan and Adam Doar are behind it, and Trinity Strauss manages the café, the Post and Courier reported.

Luma's baker took the longest route. Lead baker Travis Shy is a Charleston native. He ran the pastry and bread program at Village Bakery in Mount Pleasant under Sal Parco for more than ten years. He also baked at Butcher and Bee, Mercantile and Mash, and Kudzu Bakery. At Luma he will have nearly 20 years of bread and pastry work behind him, with pastry chefs Jackson Rock and Skylar George on his team.

Most of It Sits North of Calhoun, and Most of It Closes by 2

Map the newest counters and they cluster north of Calhoun Street. Five of the six are on Columbus, upper Meeting, St. Philip, Rutledge and Mary. The exception is Café Lucca, which is in Doar Bros. on Meeting Street south of Calhoun.

The hours tell the bigger story.

Annie Mae's closes at 2 p.m. and is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. PopUp Bagels runs every day until 4 p.m. Luma plans to keep its daytime counter open seven days a week until 5 p.m., later than any other daytime counter on this list. Nook reopens in the evenings, but for wine. In the afternoon, it's the only one on this list still selling pastry. In the City Paper story, owner Owen Bernstein said Charleston already had good coffee shops, bakeries and lunch spots, and asked, "what about a place that you can get all three?"

The late close fits a weekday lunch. Bernstein described weekdays as slower, built around "the leisurely breakfast, coffee and lunch with a friend or workmate." He described weekends as busier and brunch-focused, with mimosa flights. The space has about 45 seats inside and 20 outside. In the evenings it will be available for private events.

Each Counter Bakes What Its Background Taught It

Because each of these businesses grew out of a specific job, each one does something the others don't.

• Luma plans sourdough batards to take home, sourdough English muffins for its breakfast sandwiches, seasonal focaccia by the slice, and sourdough pita for a mezze bowl and shakshuka. Pizza focaccia is planned for Fridays. Weekends add sourdough donuts, sourdough bagels and the sourdough cinnamon roll. Seasonal items may include maple praline danishes and chai croissant cinnamon rolls.
• Annie Mae's puts pies in the case, including vanilla buttermilk pie, key lime pie with a pecan cookie crust, and carrot caramel cake. Its biscuits are made with plenty of butter and crème fraîche. Its espresso machine is a mint green La Marzocco, used for pistachio butter, vanilla date and banana toffee lattes.
• Grit specializes in sourdough, plus baguettes, croissants, scones and seasonal pastries. That is the same bread its restaurant accounts serve.
• Café Lucca has an Italian menu: a mortadella-and-egg breakfast sandwich, brioche French toast, a prosciutto panino on focaccia and Italian cream soda, along with rotating pastries.
• PopUp Bagels keeps its menu short: bagels hot from the oven, spreads, smoked salmon, drip coffee and canned iced lattes. There are no breakfast sandwiches or craft espresso drinks. The Post and Courier reported that owners Braxton and Frances DeCamp plan five South Carolina locations, and Mary Street is the first.

Nook Tiny Café and Market at 267 Rutledge Ave. links these businesses together. WhatNow reported that Bernstein's partners in Nook are Andy Forstall and Richard Saad, and the City Paper's year-end roundup counted it among the openings of 2025. During the day it serves Methodical coffee, espresso drinks, tea, matcha and homemade pastries. In the evening it switches to wine, cheese, tartines and small plates. Nook's website calls Luma its "baby brother." Luma will also pour Methodical Coffee, which Bernstein chose for the company's sourcing and frequent new roasts.

Thanksgiving Week Is the First Holiday Order Window for Several of These Counters

For Luma, Thanksgiving week is its first holiday season. Café Lucca and PopUp Bagels have also never had a Thanksgiving at their peninsula addresses. Grit has already posted its plan. Its online ordering catalog lists Thanksgiving preorder items for pickup Nov. 24 and 25. The bakery will be open Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 8 a.m. to noon. It will be closed Thursday and Friday and back to regular hours that Saturday and Sunday.

From the first week of November, that leaves about three weeks to place a preorder. If Annie Mae's pies or a Luma sourdough loaf are part of your holiday table, check anniemaesbakeshop.com and lumacharleston.com for their holiday plans. Annie Mae's is closed Mondays and Tuesdays in a normal week. As of late October, Luma's own site still said "coming soon." Hoodline and the City Paper both reported only an early-November target, with no exact date. Look at Luma's site before you walk over to Columbus Street on a weekday morning.

Our office at 72 King Street is a short walk from most of these counters. At Oyster Point Real Estate Group, we follow the peninsula's new openings because that's part of knowing the city. If you'd like to talk about life downtown or a home within walking distance of your favorite bakery, Contact Us.