Restaurant Review:
Pawleys Island Tavern
and Restaurant

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.c. -- It just changed it's name, but you may not know that unless you case the southern portion of the Grand Strand along U.S. 17 a few times a week monitoring the streetscape (or refreshing lack thereof).

Pawleys Island Tavern and Restaurant, formerly the Island Country Store, is tucked away in the back of a cozy little set of gift shops called the Lowcountry Stores about fifteen miles south of Myrtle Beach in the relatively rustic community of Pawleys Island.

How did I happen upon this watering hole / home style cooking establishment that relies on one little roadside sign as it's sole source of advertising. After a morning round at Winyah Bay Country Club in the historic burg of Georgetown, I was making a b-line back to Garden City . . .deadlines, deadlines.

Stomach rumbling from a lack of breakfast and a score card that featured more high numbers than the Kentucky Derby, I had to eat. Food, deadlines, sleep, country, - I do have my priorities straight. Besides, how can you pass up a restaurant in the Grand Strand original enough not to be named "House of All-You-Can Eat fill in the blank here"? Surely, any editor would understand.

Walking up to this tucked away little Lowcountry joint, I was immediately pleased, yet disappointed. Pleased because the outside patio was so quaint, complete with tastefully done outdoor furniture and waitresses without tattoos. Disappointed because the patio was so quaint there were no waitress with tattoos. Translation - this writer has not met a roadside dive he doesn't dig for some reason or the other.

Much to my relief, things started to get a little more rustic inside. Heck, with a bar basically made of some plywood sitting in the middle of the tavern, with some metal signs and taxidermy hanging from the walls, this was starting to feel like my kind of place. What's more, the chalkboard listed some specials for under five dollars that included southern staples like butter beans, rice with gravy, and corn bread.

The specialty of the house are crab cakes, and a little sample revealed why: the cakes are lightly coated and melt in your mouth with a little lemon and red wine vinegar. But I was meat and potatoes style hungry, so I opted for the lunch special, which included a slab of meatloaf, butter beans, peas, rice with gravy, and cornbread for just $4.50.

Also on tap was a fried shrimp platter that looked like more than anyone would ever want to eat for lunch (unlike a slab of meatloaf and the FOUR side items.) This platter, like almost every dish at Pawleys Island Tavern and Restaurant, is priced under six dollars. The only way you can come remotely close to blowing a ten spot is on the crab cakes, which also come with potato salad and cole slaw, and are worth the price of admission.

Outside of crab cakes and the specials, the menu is stocked with sandwiches and salads ranging from herbed chicken breast to barbecue with sweet potatoes and cornbread. And we're talking Carolina style que, not some Texas imitation stuff.

It would be easy for Pawleys to get by on it's sandwich, salad, and lunch special offerings, but the menu doesn't stop there. Turn the page and find a full slate of pizzas, and calzones that are even available delivered.

But you heard it here that the meatloaf or fried shrimp lunch special, washed down by a cold long neck beer or glass of sweet tea, followed by a piece of Key Lime pie is the best thing going at Pawleys Island Tavern and Restaurant. Well, at least until I come back tomorrow.

Pawleys Island Tavern and Restaurant
Highway 17 Pawleys Island
(behind the Mole Hole in the Island Shops, west side of the highway).
843-237-8465

Atmosphere: ****
Food: ****
Service: ***
Value: ****

Rating System
* - Put your dog under the table
** - Drink a lot, and it will be great
*** - Solid birdie effort
**** - Qualifies for the Tour
***** - Could easily win a major