Best Casual Dining - 2023

(Left to right) Pizza Hyena; Wild Wing Café; Chimichanga Llama Cantina.

The Boundary House
1045 River Road, Calabash, NC, (910) 579-8888
Boundaryhouserestaurant.com
In the historic waterfront town of Calabash, minutes from Myrtle Beach, you’ll find The Boundary House, part of the Callahan family of restaurants, situated next to the well-known gift shop, Callahan’s of Calabash. This restaurant boasts a spacious and inviting dining room, a show kitchen, and a large, double-sided bar. With its diverse menu featuring USDA choice steaks, fresh seafood creations, salads, burgers, and more, it’s a favored spot for lunch and dinner. 

Austin’s Cabana Café
1 Norris Drive, Pawleys Island, (843) 235-8700
Austinsoceanone.com
Downstairs from Oceans One at Litchfield Inn, this come-as-you-are oceanfront poolside restaurant offers both lunch and dinner. It exudes an ultra-casual vibe and serves a diverse menu selection, including soups, salads, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and wraps. As part of the Austin’s group of restaurants, it also features unique dishes like fresh locally caught grouper, crab cakes, surf & turf, and other options.

Wild Wing Café
4706 Hwy 17 S, North Myrtle Beach, (843) 361-9464
Wildwingcafe.com/location/north-myrtle-beach-sc
Wild Wing Cafe is renowned for serving arguably the best chicken wings on the Grand Strand. Alongside its casual sports bar theme, it offers seasonal live music, two bars, two spacious interior dining rooms, and a large outdoor waterfront deck. The diverse menu features not only wings, but also burgers, salads, a bacon-wrapped spinach-stuffed chicken dish, boneless wings, BBQ, Philly cheesesteak, and even a touch of Mexican flair with nachos, quesadillas, and guacamole. The bar selection includes craft and domestic beers on tap, and a full bar is available.

River City Café
404 21st Ave. North, Myrtle Beach, (843) 448-1900
9550 Shore Drive (inside the Sands Ocean Resort), Myrtle Beach, (843) 497-5299
208 73rd Ave. North, Myrtle Beach, (843) 448-8877
4742 Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, (843) 272-7077
4393 Highway 17, Murrells Inlet, (843) 651-1004
11 North Seaside Drive, Surfside Beach,  (843) 232-9797
5835 Dick Pond Road, Myrtle Beach, (843) 215-8808
Rivercitycafe.com
River City Café consistently earns “best burger” awards from numerous sources. This family-friendly burger joint, with some seven locations, embraces a fun atmosphere where you can toss peanut shells on the floor and search the wall for your signature left years earlier. Their menu offers a variety of traditional and creative specialty burgers including every flavor combination known to man from pimento cheese, Swiss and mushroom, chili, bacon jam, and more. Also choose from starters, chicken dishes, and various fish sandwiches. 

Chuck’s Steak House
9695 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, (843)449-7611
Chuckssteakhousemb.com
Since 1979, Chuck’s Steak House in Myrtle Beach along the famed Restaurant Row, has earned acclaim for its “best happy hour.” The appeal goes beyond that with their delectable steaks, chops, prime rib, lobster tails, BBQ ribs, chicken, and seafood dishes. The rustic hunting lodge ambiance, featuring Waterway views on enclosed decks, adds to the dining experience. With a full bar and a children’s menu, Chuck’s has remained a beloved, family-friendly favorite for over 40 years.

Gracious Pig Smokehouse
12 Ocean Blvd S., Surfside Beach, (843) 945-2017
Graciouspig.com
The Gracious Pig Smokehouse, starting its second year in Surfside Beach, delights patrons with mouthwatering BBQ like beef brisket, perfectly charred, impossibly tender with flavorful crispy bark. Also choose from build-your-own platters including smoked turkey, pulled pork, smoked sausages, ribs, sandwiches, salads and more. Their house-made sides, including corn puddin’, collard greens, and mac & cheese, complement the meal’s old-timey ambiance. Additionally, they offer moonshine, a full bar, and delectable desserts.

Chimichanga Llama Cantina
14 Ocean. Blvd S., Surfside Beach, (843) 945-9306
Chimichangallama.com
Hungry? No prob-llama! One of restaurateur Nate Anderson’s three newer restaurants along the Surfside Beach oceanfront, Chimichanga Llama stands out as an extra-casual, Mexican-themed open-air cantina. The menu boasts diverse offerings such as octopus ceviche, traditional Mexican favorites including house-made chips & salsas, guacamole, as well as the El Smasho Torta—a Mexican-spiced smash burger—and, of course, chimichangas, tacos, seafood, and so much more. Try sister eateries the Gracious Pig and Pizza Hyena, too, all offering something unique to the beach.

Pizza Hyena
13 South Ocean Blvd., Surfside Beach, (843) 945-9025
Pizzahyena.com
Step into the world of clever and funky flavors at the Pizza Hyena, located adjacent to the soon-to-be-completed Surfside Beach Pier. Why settle for ordinary when you can savor 22 specialty gourmet pizzas like the hilariously named Funny as Shiitake, the adventurous Goudawill Hunting (with Gouda cheese and wild boar sausage), the health-conscious Kale Yeah, and the cheesy delight Ricotta Be Kidding Me, plus salads and sandwiches. Don’t miss the Hyena Balls—Kobe beef, lamb, and veal meatballs served with crispy flatbread and a zesty marinara sauce. And they’ve got vegetarian and gluten-free, too!

Marker 42
929 Front St., Georgetown, (843) 461-9224
Marker42Cantina.com
This Lowcountry cantina’s slogan is “Put some south in your mouth!” and they mean South Carolina and south of the border. Tex-Mex meets Lowcountry at its finest, Marker 42, along Front St. in historic Georgetown, and offers smoked wings, fried shrimp with mango jalapeno sauce for dipping, Mexican street corn, salads, tacos, and signature entrees including Mexi-Country Shrimp & Grits, a surf & turf burger, fajitas, grouper platter and much more. Specialty drinks and top-shelf tequila round out the choices.

Grumpy Mustache
3140 US 17 Bus, Murrells Inlet, (843) 357-9998
Thegrumpymustache.com
Specializing in on-line to-go orders with discounts as incentives, The Grumpy Mustache is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.-7 p.m., for local delivery or pickup, and dine-in. They serve Reuben egg rolls, meatballs, street tacos, nachos and more as starters, several salads, along with burgers (including an Elvis-approved Peanut Butter and Bacon Burger), sliders, coneys, sandwiches of every variety, subs, sides, a kids menu and even a catering menu for those special occasions where more is better. Catch live music acts.

Chianti South
2109 Hwy 17, Little River, (843) 249-7888
Chiantisouth.us
In a humble home built more than 100 years ago, surrounded by a glassed-in, wrap-around porch and towering Live Oaks, Chianti South (since 1997) has been serving fine Italian cuisine from perfected recipes. A dozen or more starters (nearly meals in and of themselves), veal chops, ossobuco, steaks, pasta, seafood specialties, along with veal medallions in Marsala, scaloppine, and several chicken entrees. A Wine Spectator Award Winner each year since opening, Chianti South has made casual fine Italian dining its hallmark. An open-air patio is also available, weather permitting.

Pizzeria 90
7066 Hwy 90, Longs, (843) 399-7499
Pizzeria90.net
Pizza, wings, subs and salads await patrons of this popular Horry County pizzeria open seven days per week. Brick oven pies, hand-tossed dough that never sees a freezer, and all your favorite toppings. Try one their many signature specialty pies when you can’t make a decision. How about The Long Island with grilled chicken, pesto, roasted red peppers and mushrooms? Or the all veggie, The Gardener? Strombolis, calzones, lasagna, stuffed shells, chicken tenders, hot subs (including Philly cheesesteak and a chicken Philly) round out the meal options. Finish with a cannoli, tiramisu or ricotta cheesecake.

Ultimate California Pizza
2500 N. Kings Hwy, Myrtle Beach, (843) 626-8900
4862 Hwy 17 S. Barefoot Landing North Myrtle Beach, (843) 361-8108
1502 US 17 Bus. (Surfside Beach) Myrtle Beach, (843) 477-8282
Ultimatecaliforniapizza.com
With three locations serving the Grand Strand, this locally owned, award-winning, small pizza chain offers dine-in, or carryout and is well known for its dizzying array of specialty pizzas and customizable pies with 70-plus toppings from which to choose. Try their homemade Italian white, gluten free or thin & crispy cauliflower crusts, and then let your imagination run wild. Build your own pies, or choose from some 30 specialty pies including Hollywood Meat Lovers, Hawaiian, meatball, a black & blue with blackened USDA filet, crumbled bleu cheese, and more. 

Bonfire: a Smokin’ Taqueria
951 2nd Ave, Conway, (843)488-4227
Smithsbonfire.com
Along the Waccamaw River in Conway, Bonfire Taqueria ignites a sizzling experience for Mexican-meets-BBQ lovers for lunch and dinner seven days a week. With a welcoming atmosphere, this restaurant serves up a mouthwatering array. From classics including a dozen taco options, eight sandwich choices, salads, daily specials, platters of seafood and smoked meats and chicken, their  menu will tantalize your taste buds. Vegetarian  and gluten-free choices cater to all palates; a fiesta of flavors.

Joe’s Bar & Grill
810 Conway St., North Myrtle Beach, (843) 272-4666
Joesbarandgrillonline.com
Don’t judge this restaurant by its name. Sure, there’s a Joe (the owner), and a bar, and a grill, but this three-decade-plus North Myrtle Beach establishment is known for its casual yet elegant fine dining experience. Equally famous for its money-saving happy hour lounge service and back patio on the marshlands of Windy Hill, Joe’s is also famous for its seafood and steak dishes. Joe’s is a casual fine-dining carnivore’s paradise. 

Dirty Don’s Oyster Bar
408 21st Ave N, Myrtle Beach, (843) 448-4881
910 S. Ocn Blvd MB Boardwalk, (843) 213-1632
661 Main St. North Myrtle Beach, (843) 663-0219
Dirtydonsmyrtlebeach.com
A Grand Strand original, including the first location on 21st Ave. N. in Myrtle Beach, Dirty Don’s over the years has expanded onto the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and Main St. in North Myrtle Beach, with the same attention to what hungry tourists and locals crave; oysters, seafood, and a lively bar often featuring live music. Oysters come raw or roasted such as Oysters Parmesan, “Rockafella,” blackened or a combo. Betty Sue’s Tuna Avocado Boats stuff halved avocados with tuna, cucumber, ginger, sesame and a drizzle of wasabi, teriyaki and siracha. Seafood, steaks and burgers and a weekend oyster and clam roast 1-3 p.m.

SoCo Grille
619 Front St., Georgetown, (843) 833-8789
SoCoGrille.com
Discover the Southern charm and culinary delights of SoCo Grille in historic Georgetown. Set along famed Front St. in the heart of the historic waterfront district, SoCo Grille exudes a warm and inviting ambiance. With a menu boasting a fusion of Southern and Coastal cuisines, SoCo offers a delectable range of dishes including inventive starters, six salad options, eight burger choices, a dozen sandwich options, and that’s just a fraction of the large menu. Choose from succulent seafood entrees, mouthwatering steaks, Southern comfort classics (in half and full portion sizes), and even tacos. Whether dining indoors or on the charming outdoor patio, SoCo Grille promises an unforgettable dining experience. Lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and Sunday Brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m.