Restaurants & Dining
Terry’s Top 10: New Restaurants in Myrtle Beach

Folks who enjoy comfort food with a modern twist should twist on down to Lulu’s Cafe on Ocean Boulevard, where the 50’s-style dinner opened earlier this year. The menu is huge and includes the basics (traditional breakfasts and lunches) along with such souped-up cousins as a Philly cheesesteak scrambler and fried bologna sandwiches. The eatery stays open 24 hours starting in the summer so you can get your feast on anytime of day.

Broadway at the Beach welcomes four new restaurants to its lineup, and Good Time Charley’s brings something truly new to the entertainment/shopping complex. As much of a bar as a restaurant, Good Time Charley’s offers god food in a relaxed atmosphere that aims to live up to its name. Located next to Senor Frogs, Good Time Charley’s gives Broadway visitors something different from the cookie-cutter theme restaurant.

Not to be confused with Good Time Charley’s is Carlos ‘n Charlies, also located at Broadway at the Beach. Replacing the old Pizza Uno, Carlos ‘n Charlies is a national chain that specializes in Mexican and Caribbean fare. To cool off the spicy dishes such as the Tacos Locos and Chipotle Chicken are a wide variety of frozen drinks that will give you brain freeze that’s worth the headache.

Longtime regulars of Myrtle Beach will remember the old Snak Shak that used to be located on Ocean Boulevard. The old lunch-counter dinner attracted locals and visitors because of its great food and friendly company. Well, good news, the Snak Shak is back in business on Kings Highway and still serves the same country breakfasts and blue-plate lunch specials that keep them coming back for seconds.

Some might say Myrtle Beach needs another Italian restaurant that’s right out of “The Sopranos” like it needs a hole in the head. Not only a bad pun, but also untrue in light of the addition of Capriz to the Broadway at the Beach lineup. It’s motto, “An Italian Feast,” is dead on on this one – lots of good Italian cuisine for the buck and an atmosphere that feels more like home than Broadway.

For all the great, diverse restaurants on the Grand Strand, the most poorly represented over the years has been Caribbean. It was almost impossible to find good Jamaican cooking in the area until the recent opening of Clarendon Cuisine on Kings Highway. Daily lunch specials include brown stew chicken, curry chicken and jerked chicken, and it’s a boat load of good food for $5.95.

Across Kings Highway in a building that has seen numerous restaurants open and fail over the years, comes the location’s best bet for success in Char Koon Oriental Food and Pasta. Yes, the sign says “Oriental pasta” and includes a wide range of noodles from around the Orient like Pad Thai and Lo Mein. Char Koon has a huge menu and is reasonably priced to draw crowds that the building’s previous tenants could not.

The best upgrade award for a restaurant goes to Mykonos, which opened in the old Bullwinkle’s building across 29th Avenue North from Broadway at the Beach. The upscale Greek and Mediterranean restaurant is a huge improvement over the kiddie arcade that used to operate here, and the new establishment has quickly become a locals’ favorite for its lamb and Yiayia Dolmades.

Move over Hooters; there’s a new place for bar food, drinks and skin-flashing waitresses in town. The Tilted Kilt, a national chain that features plaid-clad girls in short skirts serving up ice cold beers from around the world and traditional bar cuisine. This place has been a huge hit in other cities and tourist destinations around the country and should find similar success at Broadway at the Beach.

Those who used to drive to Surfside Beach to enjoy some of the best Americana cooking in town will be thrilled to know they can now go to Nibil’s without the long drive. After three decades on the Surfside Beach Pier, Nibil’s open in a remodeled Pizza Hut on Kings Highway earlier this year and served up the same old country cooking, featuring traditional breakfast dishes and meat-and-three lunch specials.