Restaurants & Dining
Bistro 90 Brings Culinary Variety to Country Crossroads
As the population in the western half of Horry County swells, dining choices are becoming more than fast food or meat-and-three cafes. Out by Longs in an area locals call U.C.L.A. (Upper Conway Lower Aynor), a handful of restaurants near the S.C. 22/S.C. 90 intersection are putting out destination-worthy food.
One of the best is Bistro 90, which was a lifelong vision for experienced restaurateur Roland Sciotto. He moved to the Grand Strand in 1996 from Rockland County, New York. In New York Roland worked his way up from bus boy to kitchen worker to waiter to manager, and when he moved to this area he was the food and beverage director at Bay Tree Golf Plantation through 2002. Since then he has been a managing partner in two Grand Strand Italian restaurants.
But Bistro 90, which opened in November 2008, is his alone. The décor is sleek and sophisticated, but Roland says the nice furnishings should not give the impression the restaurant is formal.
“It’s very much a locals’ spot,” he says. “It’s definitely casual, and the menu reflects it with ribs, pork chops, spaghetti, pizza, as well as Veal Oscar. It can be as formal or casual as you like.”
The dining room appearance might surprise first-time visitors, considering that this restaurant is in a rural location. More than one person’s jaw has dropped in wonder upon seeing the rich burgundy and gold décor with dark woods and spotlighted paintings depicting Italian landscapes.
But as Sciotto says, the menu can match your mood.
On the luxurious end, Executive Chef Bradley Boundl crafts an incredible Bistro 90 Chicken. In that dish white breast meat is pounded thin, lightly breaded and served topped with mushrooms, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in a pesto basil Alfredo sauce. It is also available with veal.
At dinner you could also have Stuffed Veal Chop with prosciutto, basil, fresh mozzarella and a port wine mushroom reduction; Rigatoni a la Vodka with prosciutto and roasted red peppers; a steak aged in-house and grilled to your liking; Australian Rack of Lamb; Chicken Marsala; and Sweet & Spicy Salmon Fillet with a delightfully tangy glaze.
If you prefer southern fare, the chef makes Shrimp and Grits with a grit cake and asparagus that is a fresh twist on traditional recipes. Chef Boudl’s beer barbecue sauce is legendary, and you can experience it extravagantly slathered on a full rack of babyback ribs at dinner or on a half rack for lunch. Dinner and lunch entrees are served with freshly baked bread and salads.
All lunch items, which are available until 3:30 p.m., are priced at less than $10. There are sandwiches, subs and specially portioned lunch entrees. Standouts include the house-made Italian Lasagna, House-made Stuffed Shells, Penne a la Vodka with grilled chicken, and baked Chicken Parmigiana that’s meaty and vibrant with fresh marinara, and silken on the tongue with its topping of fresh melted mozzarella.
Sometimes a sandwich is what diners crave, and those choices range from a Philly Cheese Steak Sub and Tuscan Chicken Wrap to the Bistro Burger and Brad’s BLT. All sandwiches come with fries or pasta salad.
The appetizer menu is available any time, and that’s a good thing since you never know when you’ll need a dose of Fried Green Tomatoes with horseradish sauce, Fried Cheese Ravioli, Antipasto, Fried Artichoke Hearts, or the pleasantly but not overly spicy Orange Jalapeno Scallops. Salads are also offered for lunch or dinner, and those choices include the house salad with a blend of Romaine and iceberg lettuces, Mozzarella Caprese, Fried Chicken Salad, Greek Salad, and Caesar Salad that can be topped with grilled chicken, jumbo shrimp or blackened salmon.
Some diners come just to experience Pizza Chef Shane Ratliff’s special pies. He has an eclectic list of toppings for specialty pizzas such as The Blanco with ricotta, garlic, broccoli and mozzarella; The Long Island with grilled chicken, pesto, roasted peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella; or The Bistro with sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and peppers.
But many people have their own favorite pizza creations that involve fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, clams, pineapple, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, feta cheese and eggplant. Chef Ratliff can also whip up a calzone or stromboli filled to bursting with any of those same ingredients.
Another pleasant aspect of visiting Bistro 90 is the bar tucked back in the restaurant’s rear. Here locals and visitors enjoy each other’s company inside or out on a roomy covered side patio with wrought iron tables topped with white linens.
Bistro 90 is at 7209 S.C. 90 in the Longs area of Horry County, and the number is 390-5151. It is open daily starting at 11 a.m., and the entire menu may be viewed at Bistro90.com.
