Restaurants & Dining
Food Dude: 7 Myrtle Beach Restaurants for Seafood As Fresh As You Can Catch
Large schools of various fish species start running down the coast for warmer waters, often within casting range of the beach, and this season's shrimp and crabs are at their largest and juiciest.
Not only can you catch fish, shrimp and crabs for free, you also can enjoy being in the great outdoors without melting. Freshness is the key to good seafood, and nothing tastes better than what you catch yourself.
And at the end of the day, with a little luck, you can fire up the grill or steam kettle and feast on your fresh catches. Without any luck, you can hit any of these local hot spots on the way home, one for each of the seven seas:
Bandito's
This new Myrtle Beach oceanfront cantina has a lot more than Mexican food and frozen margaritas. It’s also the new home of one of the freshest seafood menus on the Strand. A daily chalkboard carries the fresh catches of the day, along with the name of the ship that reeled it in.
Captain George's
This coastal chain features unique items not normally found on a buffet table, like the Blackened Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa and Crabmeat Stuffed Mushrooms, as well as the all the standards. When you serve over 250,000 pounds of fish, shrimp, and scallops and 1 million pounds of crab legs annually, they have to be fresh.
Flying Fish
4744 Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
This Barefoot Landing restaurant flies in fresh seafood from all over the world and it literally lands in the large glass ice chest that separates the open-air kitchen from the dining area. Guests can pick out the fish of their wish for dinner and throw it over the counter to the chefs.
Lee's Inlet Kitchen
This Murrells Inlet institution has been in the same family since 1948, so they’ve been around long enough to have their own fishing holes. The She Crab Soup and seafood platters are legendary among locals and tourists, especially after a mention in this month’s Southern Living.
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Mr. Fish
6401 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572
Co-owner Teddy Hammerman, aka Mr. Fish, has been involved in ever facet of the fishing industry, from distributor and restauranteur to actually reeling in the big ones himself. His place is known for every special he draws up on the chalk board, like the Fish Tacos and fresh local oyster clusters. Also check out the seafood market.
Rockefellers Raw Bar
This North Myrtle Beach raw bar is famous for its Appalachacola Bay oysters, but the best items on the menu are the steam kettles. Get a pound of fresh shrimp, scallops or mussels swimming in Old Bay and Beer, Wine and Garlic or Spicy Diablo sauces (served over angel hair pasta for an extra buck).
Sea Captain's House
This former seaside guest cottage was temporarily converted to a restaurant in 1962. A half-century later, this Myrtle Beach oceanfront establishment is still serving some of the best seafood this side of the Atlantic, like the award-winning She Crab Soup and Shrimp and Grits
