15 replies to this topic

[johnb]

Janet and I just passed through the place. It's not easy to eat well, but there are a few decent spots. I posted a report on Chowhound. Here is the link:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/453469

[ktmoomau]

BUMP Any new ideas?

[leleboo]

This will skew to the south end of the island because my parents (and before them, my grandparents) live in Sea Pines.

Charlie's L'Etoile Verte -- great, traditional French food with some Southern twists (thanks to local ingredients). Fancy in the restaurant -- well, fancy for the island, which isn't ever fancy -- but full menu plus bar menu availble in the bar. Awesome bartender (Chris). Great wine list.

CQ's -- in Sea Pines Plantation (actually in Harbour Town); also upscale, very creative chef, lovely flavors, bit of an Asian influence. Huge single-malt selection.

Truffles (one on Pope Ave, one inside Sea Pines) -- the one on Pope is a bit more "fusion"-y; the one inside is more solid, down-to-earth. Sandwiches and entrees; love the tuna burger. Great for lunch.

New place just outside the Sea Pines Greenwood Gate, a wine bar. Can't remember the name, but I've heard good things.

Robert Irvine's e.a.t.! -- actually pretty good, but you have to put up with him wandering the dining room showing off his biceps. Half-price tapas on Tuesdays.

Santa Fe Cafe -- sit outside; nice, higher-end Southwestern.

Crazy Crab (two locations) -- tradition; can't go wrong with the hushpuppies.

Sunrise Cafe -- Palmetto bay, breakfast and lunch. Awesome, awesome breakfast.

Harbour Town Cafe -- also great breakfasts and lunches. Amazing baked goods.

[ktmoomau]

Thank you, thank you. Not sure where our beach house is, but am fine traveling, as sometimes I need a break from everybody. A whole week with family is wonderful, but sometimes a little overwhelming, so outside adventures in dining are a must

[leleboo]

Yeah -- and recall that the entire island is only 10 miles long. Some of the plantations charge day-pass fees if you aren't staying -- I think for Sea Pines it's $5 -- although if you have a reservation at a restaurant I think you can go in for free. Not really sure how that works; we never dine in any of the other plantations, which are much more "resort-y" and don't have restaurants you'd travel for, really. Most of the good ones are along Pope and 278 and/or somewhere you don't have to pay to get in.

[goldenticket]

Thanks to leleboo's suggestion, my parents, +1, and I had a very nice celebratory meal at the Truffles on Pope back in May. A shared coconut shrimp starter was very good as was the blondie we shared for dessert. I really enjoyed the grouper entree, Exceptionally good service from our (handsome and charming) college-age waiter. A contrast to the friendly, but unpolished service at Steamer Seafood in Coligny Plaza. I do give the owner (a '91 Western Kentucky Univ. grad) credit for hiring his fraternity brothers as summer employees

The Sea Shack is another favorite - and shares a parking lot with Truffles. Lines can be long, but they move along steadily. Order at the counter from a long list of seafood available that day, much of it local, prepared your way (fried, grilled, blackened) and served with sides of your choosing. Love the fried okra!

I haven't been, but my parents are big fans of Signes Bakery for breakfast and lunch.

Skull Creek Boathouse is a nice spot for outdoor dining and spectacular sunset views. The lunch menu is reasonably priced and has a wide variety of options. The shrimp salad sandwich hit the spot for me.
ETA: Even if there's a wait, watching the massive forklifts buzzing around to move boats in and out of the boathouse next to the restaurant is quite entertaining.

Lesson learned on a previous trip: If you're not staying at Sea Pines, they won't let you through the gate with kayaks on top of your vehicle
Pointer: You can ride your bike up into various "Plantations" - and make note of the gate code on your way out the main bike path gates....

[levjn]

My husband's parents live in Hilton Head so we get to dine out at some of the more "local flavor" spots when we visit - the ones that are busy "off season" tend to remain good bets.

Another restaurant that is quite good and we've been to multiple times is Kenny B's French Quarter Cafe - 70 Pope Ave. Suite A, Hilton Head, SC 29928. It's a good spot for "New Orleans" Cajun style cuisine. The owner is a huge U of Georgia fan - plenty of Uga flair abounds! Like most places in Hilton Head, it's tucked away in a non descript strip mall. Not a large restaurant - it's an order at the counter then take a seat type of spot. Very hearty and you won't walk away hungry - a ton of very good food for the money! I can't seem to find a website - but Googling yields a few pics on TripAdvisor and the recent traveler reviews are very highly rated... for what that's worth!

The Sea Shack is fun and good for straight up seafood... definitely nothing glamorous and not a place to hang out for long - there's a line waiting to get in so they expect you to eat and move it! If I recall, I don't think they serve alcohol - probably to discourage any lingering...

The Skull Creek Boathouse - used to be The Boathouse II which was a fun spot on the Northern end of the island - fantastic location on the water to have oysters. Definitely a good low country experience.

The Jazz Corner is a good spot for live jazz - we usually just go for dessert and drinks after dinner. A little dressier than some other spots.

I wish we got out to eat more when visiting - but since we're visiting family, we tend to stay in most nights and eat at home. We're visiting the end of this month and we plan to get out more to try some of the above thread recommendations!

[ktmoomau]

My husband's parents live in Hilton Head so we get to dine out at some of the more "local flavor" spots when we visit - the ones that are busy "off season" tend to remain good bets.

Another restaurant that is quite good and we've been to multiple times is Kenny B's French Quarter Cafe - 70 Pope Ave. Suite A, Hilton Head, SC 29928. It's a good spot for "New Orleans" Cajun style cuisine. The owner is a huge U of Georgia fan - plenty of Uga flair abounds! Like most places in Hilton Head, it's tucked away in a non descript strip mall. Not a large restaurant - it's an order at the counter then take a seat type of spot. Very hearty and you won't walk away hungry - a ton of very good food for the money! I can't seem to find a website - but Googling yields a few pics on TripAdvisor and the recent traveler reviews are very highly rated... for what that's worth!

The Sea Shack is fun and good for straight up seafood... definitely nothing glamorous and not a place to hang out for long - there's a line waiting to get in so they expect you to eat and move it! If I recall, I don't think they serve alcohol - probably to discourage any lingering...

The Skull Creek Boathouse - used to be The Boathouse II which was a fun spot on the Northern end of the island - fantastic location on the water to have oysters. Definitely a good low country experience.

The Jazz Corner is a good spot for live jazz - we usually just go for dessert and drinks after dinner. A little dressier than some other spots.

I wish we got out to eat more when visiting - but since we're visiting family, we tend to stay in most nights and eat at home. We're visiting the end of this month and we plan to get out more to try some of the above thread recommendations!

A big thank you to all, this is so helpful. I am looking forward to some low country cuisine, and definitely want to take my MIL who is a UGA Alum and quite proud of it to Kenny B's! And lots of fresh seafood. Will probably try to bike to a lot of places so I get a little exercise in, so thanks for that note.

[goldenticket]

A big thank you to all, this is so helpful. I am looking forward to some low country cuisine, and definitely want to take my MIL who is a UGA Alum and quite proud of it to Kenny B's! And lots of fresh seafood. Will probably try to bike to a lot of places so I get a little exercise in, so thanks for that note.

HHI is a great place to bike! I should have said you can ride up from the beach into the various plantations. The Sea Pines Forest Preserve is a fun spot to explore. No bikes allowed, but you can ride there, lock up, and wander. And then head to the Salty Dog Cafe for a drink/snack after you're done exploring. Have fun!

[hillvalley]

I need suggestions for the end of December. We'll have a one year old with us but as long as you give her a lemon slice to play with other diners won't know she's there.

We are open to just about anything, from dives to the low end of high brow, as long as it is good and not a rip off.

[jandres374]

Lowcountry Backyard - very good low country fare and reasonable prices.
Skullcreek Boathouse - family friendly and great water views. Large menu, something for everyone.
Roastfish and Cornbread - another great option for Lowcountry fare.
Michael Anthony's - upscale Italian, little pricey but very good.
Alexander's - another upscale spot but pricey.

Couple of laid back spots:
Dunes House - great spot right on the beach, usually with nightly entertainment and specials cooked on the grill (lobster night, steak night, etc)

[thistle]

Edited, I screwed up & was thinking of Kiawah Island & Charleston...

[ktmoomau]

Hubby's parents bought a house in HHI so will probably have more frequent posts:

 

Alexander's Seafood- had a nice house salad to start.  For dinner has the grouper with asian slaw, which was solid, I was a little worried it would be outside their comfort zone, but it was good.  MIL's crabcake looked pretty heavy on the filler would avoid that.  This restaurant doesn't have the finesse of say a Black's restaurant group, but it is pretty solid, is pretty nice inside.  On my list of places I would go back to, but maybe not on the top of the list.

 

Kenny B's French Quarter Cafe- I really like this place, got fried flounder platter, was a little too much fried for me, coleslaw was pretty good though, ate a lot of Hubby's redfish with crawfish etouffe.  I really liked that.  Beignets were good, might even be better than Bayou Bakery, but I dunno, would have to have a closer in time comparison.  This place is really casual, but wonderful.

 

Michael Anthony's- this is the nicest restaurant I have been to on the island, my ceasar salad was fine, but the pasta was really good, had a nice wine flight of sparkling wine.  I had the seafood pasta in red sauce, which wasn't too big of a portion, but lots of fresh seafood, cooked perfectly.  Hubby had pasta with crab that was great, decadent, but not over the top, he definitely won.  MIL had veal parmigana which was a huge portion, very good, but huge.  Not cheap, but it is good, definitely need to make a res.

 

If you are in Bluffton, they now have a Plums (another in Beaufort) which I think is really good, Casual-nice, but the food is definitely good made with care, had really fresh, good shrimp salad, the salads that came out around me looked really good too.

 

Had a quick lunch at the Market Deli in Coligny, not wonderful, but in a touristy area might be one of the better of the bad options, shrimp was at least local, fresh and cooked perfectly.  

 

Hubby went to Wiseguys and really liked it, told me to add it to my list.  Will be back down in June and hope to try some other places too.  

[ktmoomau]

Where is Dunes House?  Can't find it on google maps?

[jandres374]

It is in Palmetto Dunes.  Here is a map.

http://www.palmettod..._locatorMap.pdf

[goldenticket]

We hit our old stand-by the Sea Shack for a quick lunch of steamed shrimp and hush puppies.  They're consistent and not crazy busy at this time of year.  We got a side of the broccoli and cheese casserole - very good, with a lemony flavor to the broccoli.

 

A late (seated after 9pm) Mother's Day dinner at The Boathouse (Skull Creek) was a bad idea - they were packed, the wait was long, too many little kids out way too late.  The food was meh - boring fish tacos, ceviche, and seared tuna caesar. I prefer it for a mid-afternoon lunch outdoors, sticking with shrimp salad sandwich I mentioned in an earlier post.  Hudson's is next door and offers similar views, with potentially fresher/local seafood since they also run a fishing business/market.  They have a store a few miles back down Squire Pope Road.

 

Our find on this trip was Dye's Gullah Fixin's, tucked into the Atrium Building on 278 near the Red Roof Inn.  The lunch menu on a not-quite-the-season Monday was limited, but we still had some of the best pan fried chicken we've ever had, a delicious shrimp burger, collard greens, speckled butter beans,  mac n cheese, and corn bread.  All prepared from scratch by Dye and her sister, using no seasoning other than salt, pepper, and cane sugar (per Dye).  It was so good we got a carryout order the following evening of more chicken, greens, beans, and corn bread.  Dye's is a nice local option to all the chain places up and down the island, and it comes with a side of sassy attitude from Dye if you're lucky enough to get to chat with her.  She also offers a lunch buffet a couple days of the week (Tues, Wed, Fri) which includes the chicken and another meat, six sides, salad, and dessert.  At $16, it's about twice the price of the Asian buffet across the lobby, but I'd say it's well worth it for home cooking with local produce.