Eating Out in South Carolina

Myrtle Beach: Akel's Family Restaurant, 6429 North Kings Hwy, (843) 449-4815 Denny and I stopped here for a late breakfast. Denny had the chicken fried steak with fried eggs and hash browns. The steak and gravy were excellent, the eggs overcooked for over easy and the hash browns were limp instead of crispy. My scrambled eggs, ham and French toast were quite good. Reasonable. 10/2012.

Fiesta del Burro Loco, 960 Frontage Road West, Phone (843) 626-1756  We go here at happy hour for the $3.50 margaritas, the free Buffalo Wings and the $3.00 personal size pizzas.  It's all good. (10/2010)

Firehouse Subs , 5407 Dick Pond Rd., (843) 215-3473 Great subs even if this is a chain. Recommended by a local, I liked the Italian sub here. There are three franchises in the Myrtle Beach area (11/2007)

Garden City Cafe, a new cafe on US 17 near Garden Lake Dr. Sorry, no address or phone number. Bright, cheeful, friendly employees, good although not exceptional breakfast. Reasonable. (11/2008) Edited 10/2012: Garden City Cafe is closed and another Eggs Up Grill is moving in. 

 

J. Edwards Restaurant , 2300 S. Kings Hwy. (843) 626-9986 Nicely decorated, dim, pleasant service, great ribs, steaks and pork chops. (1998, 1999, 2000) Edited 11/2008: BBQ pork chops were hunks of loin, but the shrimp was good. Local reviews seem to show service and food is uneven. J.Edwards is closed.

Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery , 1321 Celebrity Circle #R4 (Broadway at the Beach) (843) 646-4677 Loud and crowded because of 2 for 1 night, food was good, there is indeed a brewery in the restaurant with a variety of microbrews offered each night. Live bands on the patio which has propane heaters for cool nights. We had fun (11/2008)  Edited 10/2010.  We came back for the annual birthday celebration in 2009 and again in 2010, both times we were seated overlooking the manmade lake because of our large group which worked out well.  The food is good for as large as the restaurant is and as busy as it is for this once a year deal.

Mrs. Fish, 919 Broadway St. Phone (843) 946-6869  A favorite with locals hidden in a strip of buildings in the older section of south Myrtle Beach.  You come here for fish; grilled, blackened or fried, served with a choice of several different sauces ranging from savory to sweet to spicy. Good. (10/2010) Edited 10/2012; they have updated the seating and walls at Mrs. Fish. It's still simple but now is a bit more attractive. The waiter (who has been there several years) assured us the prices hadn't changed. Neither has the quality; the fried flounder sandwich and the fried shrimp with hot and spicy sauce (Buffalo sauce) are excellent. The coleslaw, unfortunately, is simply chopped cabbage with the barest sprinkle of sugar—no mayonnaise, no vinegar.

Scatori's Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant , 1399 South Commons Dr. (843) 650-3370 One half of the building is the pizzeria and the other half is the more upscale Italian restaurant (no pizza on the menu on this side). Meals were nicely presented, house salad and bleu cheese dressing was mediocre at best, and my ravioli was garnished with potato chips. But the antipasto, ziti, ravioli and lasagna (there were four of us) was all good. (11/2008) Edited 10/2010: the owners have worked on their food here; we came in a group of 8 and so were seated in the restaurant although we came for pizza and they normally don't serve pizza on the restaurant side.  However, four of our group ordered regular meals and raved about them, the rest of us had garlic knots and hot bread and pizza and were extremely pleased with our choices.  For once a place got better instead of worse.  Recommended.Edited on 10/2012:  This time around we arrived on a Saturday night with our son and daughter-in-law intending to have a nice dinner.  After talking with Chef Kevin, we agreed to try his specially made four entree and a dessert dinner, which he creates based on your food preferences, with or without wine.  He never duplicates his meals, keeping track of them in a journal.  What we had was a splendid meal paired with wonderful wines and a fun time interacting with Chef Kevin and our waitress Lauren.  It's pricey but so incredibly good and so much fun shared with another couple.  Recommend, recommend, recommend. 

 

Spencer'z Sports Bar , 5910 S. Kings Hwy. (843) 238-4800 Happy hour on Friday nights has a small free "buffet" with pizza, meatballs, appetizers, hot dogs or whatever they feel like putting out. Play the trivia game against regulars Lizard and Len. (11/2008) Edited 9/2009; the economy has changed, the drinks are weaker and there's less food at the appetizer bar. Edited 10/2010. Spencer'z has been bulldozed and is no more.

Woodhaven Pancake House, 2600 S. Kings Hwy (Hwy 17) (843) 448-2277 Run by the same folks as the Plantation Pancake House, but their omelet was better here. Also free wi-fi. (11/2007)

Murrell's Inlet: 

Bovine's, 3979 Hwy 17 Business, Murrells Inlet (843) 651-2888 Wood-fired grilled pizza, tasty appetizers, pleasant atmosphere. Pricey-very. (1999)

Dead Dog Saloon, 4079 Hwy 17 Business, Phone (843) 651-0664  This was a happy hour/appetizer place for us.  If you stay within the yellow line at the bar you get the happy hour prices and still get to listen to the live bands.  We had the chorizo con queso (all chorizo, no cheese) and the nachos, others highly recommend the crab cakes, the Cajun fish bites and Boo Boo's tender bites.  This restaurant sits on the marsh at Murrell's Inlet and you can walk the boardwalk to a couple of the other bars/restaurants or just enjoy the scenery and wildlife. Edited 10/2012: Happy hour is the best time for drinks; after 6 or outside the boundaries of the bar the drinks and special beers are pricey. The Boo-Boo Bites hoagie, the French onion soup and the Buffalo shrimp are all very good, albeit expensive. Don't sit near the band as the sound is turned up high. If it's warm enough to sit outside, you can hear the band well without destroying your hearing.

Flo's Restaurant , 3797 Hwy 17, Murrells Inlet (843) 651-7222 Good food, great view of the marshes of the Inlet, nice folks. A bit pricey. (1999)

Greg's Cabana Bar & Grill, 2800 Hwy 17, Phone (843) 651-1836  Come here on Friday's for the fish special.  It's great.  As are the burgers.  A mixture of locals and tourists. (11/2010)

Harrelson's Seafood Market, 4368 South Hwy 17, Murrells Inlet (843) 651-5707 Fresh seafood to purchase and sandwiches available at lunch time. Great fish tacos, crab cakes from TV's The Crab Cake Lady. (11/2008)

Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, 931 Garden City Connector, Phone (843) 651-7101  This is more of a carry-out place than a sit down restaurant; you have styrofoam plates and plastic utensils when you "dine in".  The food was a tiny bit bland but tasty, the hot and sour soup was very good.  I just hate to eat off styrofoam so we won't return. (10/2010)

 

River City Cafe, 4393 Hwy 17 Business, (843) 651-1004 Older than the River City Cafe in Surfside Beach, more rustic, same great sandwiches and a view of the marshes. (1998, 1999, 2000)

T.G.I.F., 3202 Hwy 17 South, Phone (843) 651-8888  This was our Friday night happy hour place.  Long Island Ice Teas for $3.50, free wings in a choice of five different sauces and half price appetizers.  We would make this our evening meal with the wings and the half-price pot stickers.  By the time we left Myrtle Beach the waitress knew our orders when we walked in. (10/2010)
 

Santee: Big Water Country Store, 5236 Dingle Pond Rd., Phone (803) 478-3800 I hate styrofoam and that's what our water and orange juice was served in. The bb holes in the windows were the second strike. The badly chipped china was the third strike. The food was good, the waitress adjusted the price of our breakfast when we eliminated the bread/potatoes/grits but we couldn't get past the styrofoam. 

 

Maurice's BBQ , 263 Britain Street, Phone (803) 854-3889 Yum. Just yum! Maurice's BBQ is an unusual sweet mustard sauce that is terrific! The cashier has you taste a bit of pulled pork before she lets you order anything because it IS different from your normal barbecue. However, the pulled pork sandwich is melt-in-your-mouth tender, the fries and crisp and hot and the price reasonable. We picked up several bottles of the barbecue sauce for our own use and for Christmas gifts.

Tastee Food Shop Restaurant, 656 Bass Dr. Phone (803) 854-1334. Pass on this one, it's grubby inside and the food is mediocre at best and the onion rings were so overbreaded to be unrecognizable. We were there for dinner and wouldn't come back. Cash only.

Sumter: Stellato's Restaurant , 2320 Peach Orchard Rd, Phone (803) 499-2400. If you happen to be visiting the Sumter area, do give this restaurant a try. They serve Italian cuisine and the three different specials Denny, Melissa and I tried were all excellent. We shared an appetizer of their formaggiio bread and a bottle of Lambrusco and we all took home leftovers. The staff was friendly and helpful, the prices were reasonable and the company wonderful. Kudos to this one.

Surfside Beach (Myrtle Beach):  Eggs Up Grill, 2300 Glenn's Bay Rd. Phone (843) 650-5515  Big sign "voted Best of the Beach 2005,2006, 2007, etc."   I have to admit, we were disappointed in our breakfasts which were mediocre and slow to arrive at our table.  And expensive. (10/2010)

Golden Egg Pancake House, 415 Hwy 17 North, (843) 238-4923 Great breakfast no matter what you choose. Inexpensive, the staff is friendly, the atmosphere is pleasant. The locals eat here; they have their own coffee mugs waiting at the door. Recommended. 10/2012.

Nibil's Restaurant, 11 S. Ocean Blvd., Surfside Beach (843) 238-5080 Years ago we at lunch here and enjoyed it, this time it was breakfast which was good but not exceptional. However, this small restaurant sits on the beach and we watched dolphins swimming by in the ocean as we ate. A nice trade-off (11/2008) Edited 10/2012; Nibil's has moved.  This is now the Surf Diner.

Plantation Pancake House , 1150 Hwy 17 N., Surfside Beach (843) 238-1690 Decent breakfast, free wi-fi and it's a geocache site! (11/2007)

River City Cafe,11 N. Seaside Dr., Surfside Beach (843) 232-9797.

Thick burgers, buckets of salted peanuts on the tables and peanut shells on the floor. A great view of the ocean and great sandwiches. (11/2007)Edited 10/2012: The burgers are still huge, the staff friendly and the view of the ocean from the outside seating is great. 10/2012.

  
Surf Diner, Surfside Pier, 11 North Ocean Blvd, (843) 238-0121 Denny and I had breakfast here; he had the Chicken Fried Steak and eggs, I had the Denver Omelet. The chicken fried steak was good and tender, the eggs okay, the potatoes were frozen diced fried potatoes, not hash browns. My Denver omelet had a lot of good cheddar cheese and veggies inside, but the omelet itself was cooked brown, which I hate. The waitress admitted the biscuits were frozen, but they had just come out of the oven and weren't bad at all. A couple of dollars more on the meal due to being beach-front, compared to any of the pancake houses on Business 17. (10/2012)

Surfside Jenny's, 1013 Glenn's Bay Rd., Phone (843) 238-5366  Open for breakfast and lunch only.  This is where we usually eat breakfast when we're at Myrtle Beach. (10/2010)Edited 10/2011:  We came back again this year to find the service wasn't as fast nor was the food as good.  Still a decent meal, the furnishings are getting quite worn, but the prices are reasonable.