Tourism News
The Snak Shak is Back
The Snak Shak is back, and it’s almost like it never left.
After serving hot food to hungry beachgoers for more than a decade on Ocean Boulevard, the Snak Shak and owner Andy Graham took about a three-year hiatus before re-opening earlier this month in a new location at 5211 North Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.
Despite the long layoff, Graham’s loyal customer base of locals and tourists quickly tracked him down like bloodhounds following the scent of his home-cooking.
“We opened (Jan. 4) and folks came in the door like, ‘Hey Andy, what’s the special?’ ” Graham laughed. “Some of them say it’s like we never closed.”
That’s because of the familiar faces and food that fill the new diner, which bears little resemblance to the old. The first Snak Shak was truly a shack, a small lunch counter that catered to neighborhood regulars and visitors at the on-site Aloha Hotel at 74th Avenue North.
When the hotel was sold and torn down for a new venue, the Snak Shak briefly moved across the street to the Carolina Winds Resort. Sharing space with an established restaurant, the location lacked the same shack-appeal.
Graham closed and went to work for Mr. Fish before giving the Snak Shak another go. He found the location at Pines Lakes Plaza, which was previously occupied by Maya Mexican Cantina, and quickly went to work giving it a Shak makeover.
“I took out this wall and put in a counter because that was such a big part of the old Snak Shak,” Graham said. “Some people don’t like going to lunch by themselves, but they know they can come here and sit at the counter with people they know.”
And everyone seems to be friends at the Snak Shak, where folks at different tables share in a single conversation. They also tend to order the same dish – Graham’s lip-smacking daily lunch specials – which consist of down-home staples like meat loaf, chicken bog or fish and shrimp with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with biscuits.
The Snak Shak also offers traditional comfort food – burgers and fries, sandwiches, chili, soup of the day and other staples. It also serves up breakfast until 11 a.m. six days a week, featuring two eggs any style, sausage, bacon or ham, hashbrowns or grits and toast or biscuit for only $5.99. Lunch specials are the same price except for Fridays, when the famous grilled or fried fish and shrimp goes for $10 until 2:30 p.m., or while it lasts
“You have to get here early on Friday if you want fish and shrimp,” Graham warned. “That special is the most popular.”
And so is the Snak Shak, back by popular demand from the friends Graham has fed and chewed the fat with over the years, and the future friends he is serving in his new establishment. The only time Graham plans to close his doors these days are Sundays.
