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Hilton Head, SC


johnb

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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.

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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 :mellow:

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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. :mellow:

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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 :unsure:

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 :mellow:

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....

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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! :unsure:

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... :mellow:

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! :blink:

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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! :unsure:

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... :mellow:

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! :blink:

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.

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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!

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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Trip Report:

Frankie Bones- good meatballs, caesar salad, imagine their spaghetti and meatballs would be great. We stopped in for a quick bite after we got to the house and unpacked. We weren't crazy hungry, but salads and apps were good. I meant to go to Wiseguys, but it was pouring down the rain, we jumped into Frankie Bones, then didn't want to get soaked so we stayed.

Bullies BBQ- on 278 by Stacks Diner. Actually pretty good pulled pork that isn't sauced, they have a variety of sauces they make that you can take to go or eat in. Typical BBQ place, red check tablecloth kind of place. I think it was good, my Hubby would be a more authoritative authority on BBQ, but I liked it, will try ribs next time.

Grubbies NY Deli- in the Fresh Market shopping center. This place was a real find. We had a turkey and kosher salami sandwich on really good rye bread, good pickles and fresh not frozen fries that were awesome. We just had one "regular size" sandwich piled pretty high with meat and order of fries we split and that was plenty of food. I love this place, will definitely be back.

Truffles Cafe- good as usual. I had steak and shrimp, both cooked the way I liked with sauteed veggies and mashed potatoes. I forget what Mom had, but it was good too. Split a salad to start. Had a really fantastically nice waiter and a very nice bottle of wine.

Plums (Beaufort, SC location) also good as usual. I switched it up and had a salad with a crabcake, very not MD style crabcakes, but it was good, just very different. Mom had a fried oyster po-boy that I stole some of. Should have ordered a side of sweet potato fries.

Michael Anthony's- had a very nice meal here, wine flight of Italian Wines was good, had a beet salad, I think the beets were steamed and sliced really thin and chilled then dressed with vinaigrette, arugula, reminded me of beet carpaccio. Had the crab pasta as my main which was very buttery but very good.

Kenny B's- Mom had red beans and rice, I had crawfish etoufee. Both were good. Want to try a po-boy or mufaletta next time.

Roastfish and Cornbread- slow service, but very good flounder with sauteed veggies, salad and hushpuppies. And the bread tastes like spice cake it was interesting and the fish was excellent.

I think that was the extent of our eating out in HHI. Saw the Gullah cooking place, will try it out next time.

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Back from HHI:

Old Oyster Factory- it was ok, not a whole lot of local fish options and no local oysters.  It was fine, just not special.

Wizeguys- owned by the same group as Frankie Bones.  Very modern inside.  Food was good.  I had a not quite Caesar salad with avocado that was good, tuna sliders and crab wontons which were really good.  We split the chocolate fondue for dessert which was also good.  This group seems to have pretty solid restaurants.  The menu is really varied, which makes you a bit worried, but everything we ordered was tasty.

Main Street Grille- I had local fish here that I thought was better than Old Oyster Factory for a fraction of the cost.  But don't get their margaritas unless you really really love sour mix.

Buffalos at Palmetto Bluff was really good, I had fish tacos and everything that came out looked awesome.  Service was really slow though which on a hot day eating outside was killer, luckily drink refills came quick.

Farmer's Market at Bluffton also had some good eats, although I can't remember any of the names.

Brunch at Hugo's was good, the southern biscuits were awesome.  I had a veggie omelette with egg whites and it was very good.

Also had some Bojangles, and I will freely admit I love a chicken biscuit every now and then.

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Stopping in Beaufort for 1 night before our annual week stay in Hilton Head - any suggestions for dinner.

(bo`fort) NC?  or (b-ju-fort), SC?

Okay, so I haven't been to either place in a long time and all I recall are Marines.  Just curious.

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A week trip to HHI with the in-laws and a good amount of eating out:

Chow Daddy's- this is in Bluffton, casual, they have live music.  Nice beer selection.  We had fish tacos and those were fine.  Not a place to drive out of your way for, but if you are at the outlets, you could do worse.  They have grain bowls, salads, bbq.  The jalapeno corn bread is really good beer food, very cheesy.

Red Fish (HHI)- I kind of think their menu is weird, but I had a really good crabcake there on top of a hash of potato, zucchini, corn and asparagus, I really liked the hash.  They have a nice wine list.  Hubby loves their sea bass dish.  I had a caesar salad that has good homemade dressing.

Lucky Rooster- this was a secret hit on HHI.  It was my favorite or second favorite meal of the week.  I had the octopus as a starter and I know that doesn't sound like something that would be amazing at a place called Lucky Rooster on HHI, but it was GREAT.  Maybe the most tender octopus I have ever had, chickpea ragout with roasted red pepper, olives, lemon and olive oil.  This was really well balanced with acid and umami.  It wasn't too spicy, just very flavorful.  For dinner I had a grouper special that was also delicious with sauteed veggies.  For dessert we had the brownie which sounds juvenile but was an amazing chocolate overload that someone like me who loves chocolate can only describe as heaven.  We also had something else that obviously wasn't as memorable.  Everyone's food that I tasted (fried chicken, pork chop) was delicious.  Big portions on entrees, though.

OMBRA- this was my other favorite restaurant.  This is where Micheal Cirafesi is now cooking as his wife took over the restaurant in his name after their divorce.  I don't remember what wine we ordered, but it was delicious.  Started with simple greens and really good house bread.  Then I had the seafood linguine special, it was a light tomato and oil sauce, not a heavy red sauce.  The pasta had half a lobster, clams, mussels and scallops.  This was amazing, so rich as all the seafood was perfect and there was so much and I wanted to eat it all.  MIL had a HUGE veal parmigana (bigger than your head) that I also tried and it was good.  FIL had the veal marsala and raved about the veal.  They brought out lemoncella on the house for my birthday.  I had coffee that came with a really good biscotti.  We also had a small chocolate bombato for my birthday, and got the lemoncella cream over fruit.  Both were excellent.  We were so stuffed when we left, but it was really good.

Golf Club at Port Royal- I had a nice grilled shrimp Caesar salad here.  It's open to the public, and is kind of a basic menu, but good.  It isn't interesting or go out of the way for, but it is nice because it isn't quite so loud and I liked my salad a lot, the shrimp was very fresh and the dressing house made and very good.

Poseidon- Shelter Cove Shopping Center- this was great for lunch.  We had the spicy pimento cheese, hush puppies and we had butter lobster rolls.  Everything was delicious, but how can lobster covered in butter not be delicious.   This is kind of well executed lunch and bar-ish/vacation food.  Lobster rolls, shrimp baskets, etc.  In laws have said their execution of dinner isn't quite as successful.

Southern Graces at the Beaufort Inn- Beaufort, SC- This was a former "Iron Chef" winner.  Service was really strange.  They had a very limited lunch menu and were out of one of the salads.  So I got a chopped salad with blackened black eyed peas, country ham, shrimp and a sweet and tangy mustard vinaigrette.  They serve these large popovers to start which are good, but they oddly serve it with strawberry butter which just wasn't great, although the popover really was.  It would have been great with some honey butter and pepper or something.  The salad dressing was interesting and I might recreate it, as well as the blackened black eyed peas, it just seemed the lunch menu tried to be somewhat innovative, but was lazy.  You could tell the chef has talent, it just isn't being honed the way it could be to be great.

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Long weekend in Hilton Head.  My in laws moved into a new house in Port Royal.  We went to the Concourse, which was fun.  We had lunch at Posiedon and I had the imperial seafood salad on lettuce wraps with brussel and kale slaw, the slaw was a little sweet, the lettuce wraps with seafood salad were really good. That night we ate at Franky Bones and I had clam pasta in red sauce, which was fine, but I should have gotten meatballs.

The next day we ate lunch at home, but had dinner out at Smokehouse, which has very good wings (get wingfest sauce) and ribs.  I had some of Mk's brisket which wasn't bad either.  I got the pulled pork salad with no cheese and I liked it.  The final day again lunch at home then dinner out at the Brittish Open Pub, nothing fancy, but good fried shrimp and chips and MK's beef pie was good too.

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We're staying at one of the Marriott timeshares for Spring Break and have one night out while the in-laws watch our son. Our plan was to have dinner at one of the highly regarded places in Savannah (either The Florence or Local 11 Ten). Are any of the Hilton Head places upthread on par? We don't mind the 2-hour round trip but are of course happy to avoid it too.

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We're staying at one of the Marriott timeshares for Spring Break and have one night out while the in-laws watch our son. Our plan was to have dinner at one of the highly regarded places in Savannah (either The Florence or Local 11 Ten). Are any of the Hilton Head places upthread on par? We don't mind the 2-hour round trip but are of course happy to avoid it too.

I've been to Hilton Head a few times for golf trips with friends, but I'll just say they were not as interested in trying some of the better spots. I found HHI a bit lacking in better restaurants, to be honest. It's too late now, since it's closed, but I enjoyed Robert Irvine's Eat a couple of times.

Dec 20, 2013 - "Robert Irvine's eat! Closing on Hilton Head Island" by Dan Burley on islandpacket.com

Pomodori is well-regarded, but I didn't have a chance to try it.

My daughter attends school in Savannah, and while it's not a dining destination either, she and her mom enjoyed The Florence a couple of weeks ago. The food was creative and tasty. I've not heard of Local 11 Ten--will have to check it out.

A few months ago, we ate at the Olde Pink House, and while it certainly draws tourists, I was pleasantly surprised. You might enjoy the basement bar, which is lit by candles only.

Southern hospitality is alive and well, and that goes a long way in my book.

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Thanks -- we're headed to Local 11 Ten later this week.

The big HHI food winner on our trip so far has been Java Burrito just outside Sea Pines.  Think of it as a very rich person's Chipotle, with high-quality, locally sourced ingredients.  You pick a protein (chicken is least expensive, up to fish, the latter of which is made to order) and then add toppings to make tacos, a burrito, bowl, or salad (no difference in price).  We've been here twice already and may go again before heading home!

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Thanks -- we're headed to Local 11 Ten later this week.

The big HHI food winner on our trip so far has been Java Burrito just outside Sea Pines.  Think of it as a very rich person's Chipotle, with high-quality, locally sourced ingredients.  You pick a protein (chicken is least expensive, up to fish, the latter of which is made to order) and then add toppings to make tacos, a burrito, bowl, or salad (no difference in price).  We've been here twice already and may go again before heading home!

Looking forward to reading your report.

I just remembered another spot that delivered great barbecue; One Hot Mama's. The chef/owner is Orchid, who was on Next Food Network Star some time ago. It's not a fancy place, but I ate there a few times, and I'm picky about barbecue.

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So I just went to Charlie LÉtoile Vert on our trip last week.  I think it is my favorite restaurant on the island.  I don't know that it is better than OMBRA, but it is very different.  OMBRA is Italian and Charlie's is seafood mainly, with a bit of a French accent.  I almost wish that entrees at Charlies didn't come with an entree salad, while it was nice to have some additional greens, it kept me from ordering crab soup or escargot.  I had swordfish in a tarragon butter sauce that was very good, prepared well.  I think everyone at our table had fish and everyone liked their preparations, except for FIL who had lobster mac and cheese, which was good, but I am never a huge fan of lobster mac and cheese, I would rather just have lobster droned in butter.  I had their caramel cake for dessert, it was ok, but I should have gotten mousse, as it was a vanilla cake with caramel frosting (and I make that), I was thinking it would be a caramel cake with real caramel on top.   

We also went to the Salty Dog for an obligatory shrimp basket.  

We also went to Wiseguys for dinner, which doesn't have much of an island feel, but the food is normally good.  I had the beet salad, which I really like there, lots of beets and then grouper, which was on top of grits and had a really good sauce with it.  

I went to the Gray in Savannah for lunch and will post about it in the other thread. 

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1 hour ago, Rovers2000 said:

I'm heading to HHI for a golf trip that, unluckily for me, overlaps with the Caps / Pens series.  To that end, does anyone have any good recommendations on potential Sports Bars that are worth heading to?

There is a pizza joint that is owned by someone from Pittsburgh and has a number of TVs, I think it could qualify as a sports bar.  I would think they would DEFINITELY have a Pens game on, but you could call.  (I am pretty darn certain on that one though.)  It's called Giuseppe's Pizza.  I have been there and thought the food was pretty good, they can have somewhat long waits sometimes FYI, so you might need to get there early, I am sure if you called, they could likely give you good advice on that.  It is part of the Serg group down there, which is normally pretty solid.

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Just got back from a week in HHI:

Red Fish:  They have a good shrimp burger, I had a nice wreck fish special with seasonal grilled vegetables and olive oil mashed potatoes.  We had a coconut cream pie slice for dessert- not as good as back home, but good.  Make sure you bring a sweater in here.  Our server was really nice and personable.

One Hot Mama's:  We had a catered dinner with friends from here.  The pulled pork was very good, the baked beans were normal, the cole slaw was that really small chopped coleslaw with lots of mayonnaise and just isn't my style at all.  If you are getting catering, I would just get the pork and make all the sides.

Pearl: http://www.thepearlbluffton.com  (Bluffton)  Bluffton has gotten really popular with all sorts of new restaurants and I would highly recommend some time over there.  Pearl has very neat beachy modern atmosphere, they had nice live music on Friday night that wasn't too loud and had nice music selection for a restaurant (Van Morrison, Paul Simon, etc.) there, the wine list wasn't spectacular, but wasn't bad.  The food was all delicious.  We got pork belly lettuce wraps- these were two big lettuce wraps, that we made into four smaller ones.  The pork belly had been nicely caramelized, they had kimichi that wasn't really spicy, but had good flavor.  We also had a pea soup with lobster that was good.  For entrees I had bites of the shrimp and grits, which was really good, very rich.  I had a flounder with rice, and vegetables in a light curry sauce with coconut milk- this was really delicious, not a huge amount of fish, and it was served not fileted- so you had to pick around some bones, but not a big deal.  Hubby had the big eye tuna with udon noodles, the sauce for that dish was a really light creamy curry, you could really taste the green tea in the soba.  For dessert we had the bread pudding- the peaches in it were really good, I didn't need the bacon in it and that felt gimmicky.  

Cahill's Chikcen Kitchen: http://cahillsmarket.com/ (Bluffton)  This is a great little spot with country cooking.  We all got meat and threes.  Mine came with fried chicken, which was very good.  I had fresh peaches, a great pea salad and a tomato salad with a corn muffin.  Big portions, cheap prices, good food.  They hand shell peas and beans here, so that is a good choice on the sides.  

Up the Creek Pub & Grill:  http://www.upthecreekpubandgrill.com/ I am not sure why they call this a pub, it really isn't.  It is more of a beach bar with good food.  We went on a rain was about to pour down day, so it was fairly empty.  We had delicious onion rings (thick onion style, not crumby batter), fish tacos, shrimp baskets were huge with somewhat small but plentiful fried shrimp with a nice batter (I think it had some coconut in it).  I thought the shrimp was WAY better than salty dog or Crusty Crab.  It can be rather noisy, as it's in the boat marina and where one of the big barges docks, but if you have kids that like watching construction vehicles, this would likely be an added bonus as we watched them take lots of boats in and out on large fork lifts.

The French Bakery: http://frenchbakeryhiltonhead.com/ this place has moved to shelter cove and now is in a really cute space.  They have a nice selection of breakfast and lunch items and they have some breads and pastry for take out.  It was a nice change of pace from Southern and seafood.  I had a chicken salad sandwich on this really good apricot bread, the roasted veggie sides were incredibly fresh and flavorful squash with some green pepper and onion.  My MIL had a cobb salad and their selection of salads looked really nice.

Port Royal Golf Club: This is open to the public.  We went for happy hour one night and just had some snacks- pulled pork sliders (fine, but pork not as good as One Hot Mama's), shrimp tacos, blue cheese flatbread, spinach and artichoke dip.  Nothing was bad, nothing was particularly noteworthy and it was a nice happy hour that wasn't very crowded, we could sit outside on the porch and were the only ones outside.  They had music inside which was a lot better than I thought it would be, the guy had a great voice.  It was relaxing and not crowded which is what made it nice.

Santa Fe: I never know what I really think about this place... the salsa is completely bland.  The chicken fajitas were acceptable, but it is very hard to mess up fajitas.  Hubby liked his fish tacos.  I have had other entrees I like, but I feel like the prices for what you are getting just are a bit off and seem a bit pricey for what you get.  

We went on a Daufuskie Island tour on one day that it was cloudy, and sprinkling, but not really raining, that was a nice way to spend the day, it wasn't the most interesting historical sight ever, but our captain from Outside Hilton Head was nice, it was fun to run around in golf carts, and there really isn't a lot to do on a overcast/rain impending day in Hilton Head and it was fun to see the place once (they don't go if it is a bad storm or really raining though).  I would do other tours by Outside Hilton Head, they had a number that looked fun, including the Outback Kayak tour (we dropped people off for that, and the guide seemed very nice) and one with little motorized catamaran boats that I totally want to do.  If you go to Daufuskie, be serious in your bug spray choice.  We missed the rattle snake at Port Royal, although we were briefly on the beach there that day, which is apparently a once in 27 year thing (I might be ok with that).  Hubby golfed at Port Royal.  It was a short visit that was fairly rainy, but it was nice to spend time at the beach and see my in-laws.

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Just got back from HHI:

Skullcreek Boathouse:  Part of the Surge Group Restaurants, with a really nice setting by Hudson's (I heard Hudson's got a new chef and is better than it used to be) where Charthouse used to be located.  They have a huge outside bar area, lots of indoor and outdoor seating.  We had deviled eggs and tuna stack for appetizers, both were good, but not anything you couldn't get elsewhere.  I got grilled shrimp and flounder with rice and beans and steamed veggies.  The steamed veggies were better than I thought they would be, not mushy.  The beans were not red beans, but a mix of butter, black eyed peas and etc, I thought these were really tasty.  Note the carolina gold rice is not actually carolina gold, not sure whey they call it that.  The seafood was good, the shrimp were a touch overcooked, but not in a way that really made them bad.  They have a huge menu hear and the views are great.  I would go back.

Annie O's Kitchen: This place is on Arrow road by all the furniture consignment stores.  We stopped in for lunch and it was cute inside and the manager was really nice.  Everything was made fresh.  We got BLT and Fried Green Tomato BLTs.  They were good, the menu had a lot of other good looking things on it, and it was nice and casual.  It is also enough off the beaten path it would likely not be too hard to get into.  They had really good sounding deconstructed pies in mason jars, but I didn't have any room after my sandwich and homemade chips.

Cahill's (Bluffton): As good as ever, if you are ok with country cooking in a not fancy setting, just go, they have great meat and threes and etc.  I had fried chicken, butter beans (delicious), collards, corn muffin and bean salad.  

Captain Woody's:  I got a grouper sandwich and I really liked it.  My Mom had a shrimp basket and it was fine (Up the Creek is better).  The live music was fun though.

Michael Anthony's Cooking Class (Demonstration):  So the demonstration class is more about socializing and drinking wine than actually learning how to cook.  I was laughing as what they did versus the recipe had some differences in each course, but the food was good and it was a fun activity.  We had amazing shrimp risotto during the class.  All the food we had at the class was tasty, it just wasn't a super serious culinary class, but we had a great time and were sitting with fun people.

Jane: I had the steak frites,  I think the steak was cooked sous vide and they didn't sear it off, it was fine, but could have been better.  They also serve it with big thick steak fries even though the burger was served with really thin french fries, the dressing also could have used more lemon.  This place was fine, but I am not in a hurry to go back.

There is now an Orange Theory on the island, just FYI.  And Belk had a huge selection of Lily Pullitzer, some of which was on sale.  The water was so hot there were a few shark sightings.  Also, they expanded the HHI runway, so airline prices directly onto the island have fallen some as bigger jets can now land.

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On 8/20/2018 at 3:01 PM, dracisk said:

Off topic, but did you hear about this:

"Woman Killed by 8-Foot Alligator while Walking Dog in South Carolina" by Kalhan Rosenblatt on nbcnews.com

I randomly came across it earlier, don't even remember how.

---

"Alligators Moving North" (ktmoomau)

In my parents’ neighborhood, and people kept texting my mom to make sure she wasn’t the one taken. 

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Trip to HHI for Thanksgiving:  Note- you can order a pre-brined fresh turkey from Whole Foods.

Wednesday was lunch at Poseidon, I had half a po-boy and half beet salad.  The salad was fine, the po-boy fell apart with every bite.  This place isn't bad, it just isn't good.  

Thursday we cooked.

Friday was a pop up dinner by Vivian Howard (Chef and the Farmer) at the Lucky Rooster, she cooked recipes from her cookbook that I hadn't had before and everything was amazing- the cucumber crab dip, red pea samosas, oyster pie, whole fish with these amazing ginger collards, sweet potato mash with orange and clove with lamb ribs, chicken thighs that were maybe some of the best I have had.  Anyway it was all delicious.  I need to cook more from her cookbook. Anyway, they do other pop up events from time to time so look out for that.

Saturday we went to Bluffton and ate at the May River Grill, while the Fried Green Tomato salad was quite good, I thought the entrees we got were mostly all misses, the pasta had way too much wine and lemon that wasn't cooked down.  The salmon- I could have done better myself, the crabcakes were just ehhh.  We did have drinks beforehand at the Calhoun Street Tavern in Bluffton and that was fun, good cocktails.

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We are heading to Hilton Head in August. Based on this thread, I think Charlie LE’toile Vert might be the best place to celebrate my sweetheart’s birthday while we are there. Anyone been there lately? Any other thoughts? We will be there four nights, so suggestions for other meals are welcome as well.

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Updating this thread, I have been to HHI twice this summer and highlights were:

Ela's on the Water- we were seated inside, but up in a section that was really private.  All of our meal was very good.  We ordered a bottle of wine. I had a beet salad to start- there are very few beet salads I dislike, so no real surprise that I liked this.  For an entree I had seafood bucatini with what tasted like homemade noodles that was really delicious in a garlic, butter, white wine sauce.  I also had bites of a few friends dishes, and really liked a lot of what was on the menu.  I thought the preparation was pretty upscale for HHI. The strawberry cake for dessert and key lime pie were good. Service was very good here.

Nunzio- I was here twice, and both time I thought the food was very good, again a little on the fancier side of HHI.  I had the tuna carpaccio (with golden beets notice a theme?) one visit, and their tomato salad another time (the tomato salad was really good, very, very ripe tomatoes).  For entrees I think I had specials, branzino one time and grouper another.  Both were good, no complaints here on the food.  I would rate it up with Ombre. Again, service was good here both times we went.

Scull Creek Boathouse- we were here for the 4th, the pitchers of cocktails were good, nice view of fireworks on the opposite island, the food was perfectly acceptable.  We mostly did friend shrimp baskets, nothing too fancy.  This isn't amazing food, but it isn't bad, and they have tons of outdoor seating for anyone only doing outside.  

Tio's- We REALLY like Tio's for eat in, their take out is another story- we found that sloppy and not packaged well which made for a really disappointing meal.  The 48 hour braised pork is delicious, that is what I would come here for, I also really liked the latin tuna poke, we got empanadas and thought those were good. The more Mexican dishes looked good, but more standard, the nacho menu is tempting.  This is much more low key than the above restaurants.

Crazy Crab near the bridge- We went here with a babe, and he really enjoyed the fish tank and how quickly our food came.  We sat out on the back deck with fans, which was nice in May.  Again, the food was acceptable.  I would stay away from crab crakes, go more in on shrimp, fish.  I had blackened fish of some sort which was quite good.  Hubby's crab cake was not to our level of acceptable.  Hush puppies good as always.  The bar here gets pretty hoppin, even during the pandemic.

CQ's- cocktails were good, I was not impressed by the food.

Sea Grass Grille- we sat outside in awkward tables that the seats were too low for the table.  I needed a phone book.  I can't remember the food, but would suggest going next door to Santa Fe instead.

Note that a lot of the restaurants and bars are a lot more limited on hours, and very short staffed, we waited a lot, with patience because I get it. 

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