Lowcountry Food in Myrtle Beach: A Local's Guide to the Southern Plates Worth Seeking Out

 

I have spent more evenings than I can count working my way through restaurants along the Grand Strand, and the one question I get from people new to the area is always some version of the same thing. Where do you actually eat? Not where the billboards point. Not the places with the giant crab signs out front. Where do people who live here go when they want a real meal?

When it comes to Lowcountry food, Myrtle Beach has more depth than most visitors give it credit for. The tradition itself goes back further than most of the hotels on this coastline. Lowcountry cuisine developed along the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia over centuries, built around what the land and water here naturally produced: fresh seafood, rice, legumes, slow-cooked meats, and vegetables that hold up to long cooking times. The Gullah Geechee communities who shaped this culinary tradition were not improvising. They were working with ingredients they knew deeply, and the results are dishes that hold up because they were built to last.

Shrimp and grits, chicken bog, lowcountry boil, slow-smoked BBQ, pot roast, fried chicken with white gravy, collard greens cooked down with intention. These are not trends. They are what people have always cooked in this part of the country, and when a kitchen takes them seriously, you notice.

I went looking for the places in Myrtle Beach that are actually doing that. Here is what I found after checking into five spots worth knowing.

Five Restaurants Serving Lowcountry Food in Myrtle Beach Worth Your Time

44 & King

I want to start here because this is the place locals kept mentioning when I asked around. 44 & King sits at the corner of 44th Avenue North and Kings Highway, which puts it in a more residential part of Myrtle Beach rather than the tourist strip. That geography matters. A restaurant that runs on local repeat business has to earn it in a way that tourist-dependent spots do not.

When I stopped in, I ordered the King's Shrimp and Grits. Large East Coast shrimp sauteed in heirloom tomato and sausage in a creamy bechamel sauce, served over sweet potato grits. The sweet potato grits are the detail that sets this dish apart from the standard version. They bring a natural richness that makes the whole plate feel more complete, and the bechamel holds the shrimp and sausage in a sauce that is thick enough to coat without being cloying. I ate the whole thing and sat there for a moment afterward.

The Southern Fried Chicken Dinner is the other plate I would point people toward immediately. Buttermilk-fried chicken breast, white pepper gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, and sweet tea collards. The collards here are worth paying attention to specifically. They still have some texture, they are properly seasoned, and they carry enough pot likker that you want to soak it up with whatever bread is in reach. Good collard greens are harder to find than they should be. These are good.

I also spent some time with the BBQ program. The Baby Back Ribs are smoked for twelve hours. That is not a detail they throw out casually; you can taste the time in them. The Chopped Pork Butt is rubbed with their signature King's seasoning and slow-smoked to a point where it pulls apart without effort. The Pit BBQ Sampler brings together smoked sausage, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and ribs with pickles, coleslaw, and sourdough bread on the side. If you are eating here for the first time and want to understand what the kitchen is capable of, that sampler is the clearest way to do it.

Beyond the food, the outdoor courtyard is something specific to this place. Live oaks and magnolias overhead, cornhole and bocce ball available for guests, warm lighting, and a pace that encourages you to stay a while. The owners, Brown and Phil Bethune, opened 44 & King in 2019 with the idea that Myrtle Beach was missing a true neighborhood pub that served genuinely elevated Southern food without pretension. From what I saw, that is still what they are building.

The full Southern dining menu at 44 & King covers everything from starters and flatbreads through handhelds, grilled specialties, and their local favorites section where the Shrimp and Grits, Pot Roast, Fried Chicken Dinner, and Baby Back Ribs all live. There is also a craft cocktail program built around what they call King's Cocktails, with premium spirits, fresh juices, and house-made syrups. A well-made bourbon drink alongside a plate of smoked meat is not something I would argue against. The South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association has long recognized restaurants that put regional culinary identity at the center of what they do, and 44 & King fits that standard in a way that is evident from the first bite.

For anyone planning a visit, you can review the story and philosophy behind the restaurant on their about page.

Sea Captain's House

Sea Captain's House has been part of the Myrtle Beach dining scene for decades, and its oceanfront location keeps visitors coming back year after year. The she-crab soup is the dish people talk about most, and it deserves the reputation. Shrimp and grits are also on the menu and prepared with care. Weekend wait times run long during peak season, and the volume of tourists the location attracts means the experience can feel less intimate than a neighborhood spot. The food is genuinely good, particularly the seafood, and the ocean views are a real draw.

Gulfstream Cafe

Out in Garden City, Gulfstream Cafe offers sunset views over the Murrells Inlet marshline alongside a kitchen that handles local seafood well. The Grouper Francaise is consistently praised, and the She Crab Soup appears on most shortlists of what to order here. The atmosphere leans toward a more traditional fine-dining feel, so it suits a different kind of evening than somewhere with a more casual pub energy. Worth the drive if you want a quieter, more scenic dinner.

The Porch in Socastee

Located near the Intracoastal Waterway, The Porch is a rustic, unpretentious spot that has built a following among locals who want Southern cooking without fanfare. The lowcountry boil is the dish most people cite first, and chicken bog appears on the menu as well. The egg rolls stuffed with barbecue and Lowcountry fillings have developed a reputation of their own among regulars. Socastee is a bit removed from the main tourist areas, which is part of why locals prefer it.

Simply Southern Smokehouse

A buffet-style smokehouse near downtown Myrtle Beach that serves a broad range of Southern staples in generous portions. The barbecue is taken seriously, the sweets section has fans of its own, and the format works well for larger groups who want to cover a lot of ground on one visit. It is a higher-volume operation than a neighborhood pub, but the BBQ quality holds up.

Why I Keep Recommending 44 & King for Lowcountry Food in Myrtle Beach

When I think about what separates a restaurant that uses Lowcountry as a marketing term from one that actually means it, the distinction usually shows up in how the kitchen handles the slower parts of the process. Anyone can plate shrimp over grits and call it a day. What 44 & King does is use large East Coast shrimp, build a sauce around heirloom tomato and sausage, and serve it over sweet potato grits that have a character of their own. The Our Famous Pot Roast is slow-cooked beef finished with a demi-glace and crispy onion straws. The ribs go into the smoker for twelve hours. These are not shortcuts. They are the details that tell you the kitchen is paying attention.

I also want to be direct about the courtyard. In a town where outdoor seating often means sidewalk tables next to a busy road, sitting under live oaks with lawn games and warm lighting at night is a different kind of experience entirely. It is one of those places where the atmosphere adds to the meal rather than competing with it.

Locals I spoke to after visiting mentioned 44 & King unprompted, which is the clearest signal I know. Tourists find restaurants through advertising. Residents find them by word of mouth and then keep going back. The fact that this spot has built genuine loyalty in a market this saturated with dining options says something real about what they are doing.

FAQ About Lowcountry Food in Myrtle Beach

What exactly is Lowcountry food and where does it come from?

Lowcountry cuisine is a regional cooking tradition rooted in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. It developed over centuries, shaped by the Gullah Geechee communities who lived and worked along this coastline and built a food culture around locally available ingredients: fresh seafood, rice, field peas, slow-cooked meats, and vegetables. Dishes like shrimp and grits, red rice, hoppin' John, chicken bog, and lowcountry boil all trace back to this tradition. Myrtle Beach sits at the northern reach of this geographic and culinary region, which is why so many restaurants here carry these dishes on their menus.

What are the must-try Lowcountry food dishes when visiting Myrtle Beach?

If you are working through the list while you are in town, prioritize shrimp and grits, slow-smoked BBQ of some kind, fried chicken with white gravy, a long-braised meat like pot roast, and collard greens cooked the Southern way. Chicken bog and lowcountry boil are worth seeking out specifically because they are dishes you will not find presented the same way anywhere outside this region.

Is 44 & King a good spot for Lowcountry food in Myrtle Beach for first-time visitors?

For a first-time visitor who wants to understand what Lowcountry cooking actually tastes like in a well-executed modern setting, yes, it is one of the stronger choices in town. The menu covers the range from shrimp and grits to slow-smoked BBQ to fried chicken and pot roast, and the outdoor courtyard gives you a genuinely Southern atmosphere to go with the food. It is an evening restaurant, open from 4 PM daily, so plan accordingly.

How does Southern BBQ fit into the Lowcountry food tradition?

BBQ along the South Carolina coast has its own specific identity that sits within the broader Lowcountry tradition. Carolina Gold mustard-based sauce and vinegar-based preparations are both regionally specific, and the emphasis on slow-smoking whole cuts of pork over long periods is part of the same food culture that produced the rest of Lowcountry cooking. When a restaurant like 44 & King smokes their ribs for twelve hours or rubs a pork butt with a signature seasoning blend before the smoker, they are working within that tradition even when the menu also includes elevated dishes like a bechamel-sauced shrimp and grits.

What time does 44 & King open and do they take reservations?

44 & King is open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 9 PM, Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 PM, and Sunday from 4 to 9 PM. Reservations are accepted through their website at 44andking.com/reservations, and booking ahead for weekend evenings is a good idea, particularly if you want courtyard seating.

Worth the Visit

The Grand Strand has no shortage of places to eat, but the restaurants that earn genuine local loyalty are fewer than the neon signs would suggest. For Lowcountry food Myrtle Beach has a real culinary tradition behind it, and the places that honor that tradition rather than borrowing its vocabulary are the ones worth your time.

44 & King is one of those places. The food is the kind that slows you down in the best way, the courtyard is the kind of outdoor space that actually earns its atmosphere, and the local following it has built since 2019 is the kind of approval that matters most in a town that sees this much foot traffic.

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Business Name: 44 & King Address: 515 44th Ave N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 Phone: +1 843-626-5464 Website: 44andking.com Hours: Mon–Thu: 4–9 PM | Fri–Sat: 4–10 PM | Sun: 4–9 PM Find 44 & King on Google Maps