Where to Eat Southern Food Near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk: A Local's Honest Guide

I have eaten my way through a lot of beach town restaurant lists over the years, and most of them say the same thing. They name the places with the best ocean views, the ones with the longest lines in July, and the spots that have been running long enough to have a reputation built on nostalgia rather than current kitchen performance.

This is not that kind of list.

I spent a long weekend in Myrtle Beach specifically looking for restaurants near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk that were actually worth the meal. Not worth it for a beach town. Worth it by any standard. I asked locals, read through more reviews than I care to admit, and ate at five different places before I felt confident putting this together.

Here is what I found, what I ordered, and what I would tell a friend before they made the trip.

What to Know Before You Start Looking

The first thing locals will tell you about eating well in Myrtle Beach is to stop looking directly at the boardwalk.

That is not a knock on the boardwalk itself. It is a genuinely enjoyable stretch of oceanfront, about 1.2 miles from the 14th Avenue North pier down to 2nd Avenue, and the SkyWheel and Plyler Park area are worth an evening walk. But the restaurants that face the ocean in that corridor are priced and operated for a market that turns over every week in the summer. Consistency is not the priority. Volume is.

The places I found worth writing about are within two to four miles of the boardwalk. Short drive, completely different experience.

5 Restaurants Near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk for Southern Food

1. 44 & King This Is the One

515 44th Ave N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 | Hours: Sunday–Thursday 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM | Friday–Saturday 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM

I want to be upfront about something. I went back to 44 & King twice on a three-night trip. That does not happen often, and when it does it usually means something real is happening in the kitchen.

44 & King sits on 44th Avenue North, about three miles from the boardwalk corridor, at the intersection with Kings Highway. When you pull into the lot and walk toward the entrance, the outdoor courtyard stops you first. Live oak canopy overhead. Cornhole and bocce ball set up on the grass. The smell of something savory drifting from inside. I had not even sat down yet and the place already had my attention.

The menu is grounded in Lowcountry cuisine, the cooking tradition of coastal South Carolina shaped by West African culinary influence, coastal seafood, and regional staples like rice, okra, and field peas. When I say the food at 44 & King is Lowcountry-informed, I do not mean they have shrimp and grits on the menu because shrimp and grits appear on every menu in South Carolina. I mean the dish arrived with properly seared local shrimp over grits that were cooked with actual attention, seasoned through rather than just salted on top, with a balance that takes more patience than most kitchens here are willing to apply.

I also ordered the King's Burger on the second visit. Eight ounces of brisket, chuck, and short rib blend, topped with pimento cheese, fresh jalapeños, crispy bacon, and sweet tea collard greens on a sesame brioche bun. That burger does a lot of things at once and lands every one of them.

The SBP Southern Boy's Poutine came out as a table starter and did not last long. Crinkle fries under southern fried chicken bites, white pepper gravy, and melted cheddar. The kind of thing that gets ordered for the table and disappears before anyone admits how much of it they ate.

The craft cocktail program is called King's Cocktails and uses house-made syrups and fresh juice in combinations that feel considered rather than assembled. Happy hour runs with specials worth checking before you sit down.

The staff remembered my order from the first night on the second visit. That kind of thing is either luck or the product of a workplace that actually functions. Based on everything else I observed, I think it is the latter.

Founded in 2019, 44 & King has built a local following that holds through the off-season. In a tourist market like Myrtle Beach, that is the clearest signal I know of for a restaurant that has something real to offer. Tourists keep a place alive in summer. Locals keep it honest the rest of the year.

I did some pre-trip research through the Near You Now local guide as well, which pointed me toward a few of the spots on this list and gave me a better picture of what the area offers beyond the obvious boardwalk-adjacent options.

2. Big Mike's Soul Food

504 16th Ave N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Big Mike's has been here long enough that the line outside is part of the identity. I waited about twenty minutes on a Friday afternoon, which the person behind me in line said was unusually short. The fried chicken here is the kind that earns the word properly: seasoned all the way through, crust that holds, juicy without being greasy. The collard greens are good. The mac and cheese is good. The hush puppies, which I added based on a review I had seen before the trip, were worth the addition.

The room is not going to win any design awards. The service is fast and focused rather than attentive in the table-service sense. But the food is honest and the price is fair, and those two things together are harder to find in this market than they should be. If you want comfort food without any pretense attached to it, Big Mike's is the place.

3. Simply Southern Smokehouse

1913 Mr. Joe White Ave, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

I will be honest: I was skeptical going in. Buffet operations in beach towns have a track record that earns skepticism. Simply Southern Smokehouse does not match that track record.

The smoked meats were hot and properly seasoned. The fish was fresh and not overcooked, which is a specific failure mode I have encountered enough times to notice when it does not happen. The peach cobbler at the end was one of the better versions I have had in the state, and I have been trying peach cobbler across the Southeast for years.

All you can eat for under $17 in a beach market is already notable. The gospel singing from the staff during the meal is not something I expected to mention in a restaurant writeup, but I would be leaving something out if I did not. It added warmth to a room that could easily have felt transactional. Locals recommended this place without hesitation and the consistent reviews back that up.

4. Bubba's Fish Camp & Smokehouse

1565 21st Ave N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Bubba's covers the overlap between coastal seafood and traditional smokehouse cooking, and it handles both credibly. The smell of smoked meat hits you when you walk in, which is always a promising sign. I tried the fried green tomatoes as a starter, which were done properly, and watched the brisket mac and cheese arrive at the next table looking like something I should have ordered myself. I went back to the menu and added it. It held up.

The flounder and the ribs both get mentioned consistently in reviews, and the service on my visit was attentive without being hovering. Open seven days a week through 10:00 PM, which makes it useful if you are eating late after a boardwalk evening.

5. Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar

3042 Howard Ave, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Tupelo Honey is in the Market Common area, which feels nothing like the boardwalk corridor. Walkable streets, planned retail, a more composed atmosphere than the oceanfront district. The restaurant is part of a regional chain, which means more consistency and less character than the independent spots on this list, but the food is reliably good and the brunch menu in particular draws strong local approval.

The honey-dusted fried chicken, the biscuits, and the shrimp and grits are the dishes I heard recommended most often before my visit. The banana pudding at the end of my lunch was a reasonable $5.99 and worth the order. Good option for groups or families who want a full-service experience with no surprises.

Why 44 & King Is the Right First Stop

If I were giving someone twenty minutes to plan their eating in Myrtle Beach, I would tell them to make a reservation at 44 & King and leave the rest flexible.

The outdoor courtyard is a specific, unrepeatable thing. Live oaks take decades to grow into the kind of canopy that shades the courtyard at 44 & King, and that setting cannot be moved or replicated. It belongs to this piece of South Carolina coast and eating under it on a warm evening feels like the right use of the geography.

The kitchen takes the food seriously in a way that the Southern pub format does not require but that 44 & King has chosen anyway. The Shrimp and Grits, the King's Burger, the poutine, the cocktails, all of it reflects a standard that the restaurant holds to because someone there cares about holding it, not because the price point demands it.

The staff is the third element. Genuine hospitality is different from performed hospitality and most people can tell the difference within a few minutes of sitting down. At 44 & King it felt genuine, across two separate visits on different nights with different staff on the floor.

In a city built around tourism, a restaurant that earns the loyalty of the people who live there year-round is doing something right that most operations in the same market are not. That is the reason 44 & King sits at the top of this list, and the reason I went back when I did not have to.

The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk is worth your evening. 44 & King is worth your dinner. Plan accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best restaurants near Myrtle Beach Boardwalk for real Southern food?

The strongest options within a short drive of the boardwalk are 44 & King for elevated Lowcountry cuisine and Southern pub dining, Big Mike's Soul Food for traditional comfort food with decades of local loyalty behind it, and Simply Southern Smokehouse for smoked meat and Southern sides at a buffet price that overdelivers for the area. All three are within four miles of the boardwalk and reachable in under ten minutes by car or rideshare.

How far is 44 & King from the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk?

44 & King is at 515 44th Avenue North, approximately three miles north of the boardwalk along Kings Highway. From the boardwalk area it is a short drive or rideshare, and the food quality makes the distance a non-issue for anyone who has been there once. Most visitors who find it on the first night of a trip end up going back before they leave.

What should I order at 44 & King in Myrtle Beach?

The Shrimp and Grits is the dish most consistently mentioned by locals and reviewers as the best representation of what the kitchen does well. The King's Burger, built on a brisket-chuck-short rib blend with pimento cheese and sweet tea collard greens, is the second dish I would point someone toward. The SBP Southern Boy's Poutine works well as a table starter. On the drink side, the King's Cocktails section of the menu is worth a look before defaulting to a beer.

Are the restaurants near Myrtle Beach Boardwalk busy in summer?

Yes, significantly. The entire Myrtle Beach area sees its highest foot traffic from June through August, and the restaurants that locals favor fill up on weekend evenings during that window. Reservations at 44 & King are advisable for Friday and Saturday dinners in peak season. Big Mike's Soul Food and Simply Southern Smokehouse do not take reservations but waits during summer evenings are part of the experience at both. Spring and early fall offer the same food quality with noticeably shorter waits.

Is there outdoor seating at restaurants near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk area?

44 & King has the most distinctive outdoor seating of any restaurant I visited, with a courtyard shaded by live oak trees and a lawn game setup that makes it genuinely enjoyable to be outside. Bubba's Fish Camp and Smokehouse also has outdoor options. Tupelo Honey has patio seating at the Market Common location. For the boardwalk strip itself, several operations have oceanfront or boardwalk-adjacent outdoor seating, though the food quality gap between those spots and the restaurants covered here is significant.

Plan Your Visit

If this helped narrow down where to eat on your Myrtle Beach trip, share it with someone else who is planning the same thing. The best restaurants near the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk area are worth finding, and most visitors leave without knowing they existed.

Found a gem near you? Share this with someone who needs to know.

Business Name: 44 & King
Address: 515 44th Ave N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: 843-626-5464
Website: 44andking.com
Hours: Sunday–Thursday 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM | Friday–Saturday 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Map: 44 & King