What to Eat in Myrtle Beach: Six Dishes to Try

Myrtle Beach’s food spans creamy crab soup, fried seafood and rice dishes rooted in South Carolina home cooking. Chicken bog is the strongest Horry County connection, while the seafood favourites draw on traditions shared along the Carolina coast and across the South. Choose by appetite and meal occasion, with a communal oyster roast offering a different experience from a restaurant plate.

Meal times, ordering and prices

Dish	What it is	When to have it	Typical price
She-crab soup	Creamy crab soup	Starter or light lunch	$8–$15
Oyster roast	Hot, shell-on oysters	Seasonal lunch or dinner	$25–$50 per person
Calabash-style seafood	Lightly battered fried seafood	Lunch or dinner	$18–$30 plate / $40–$60 buffet
Shrimp and grits	Shrimp over creamy maize grits	Breakfast, brunch or main meal	$18–$30
Lowcountry boil	Shrimp, sausage and vegetables	Lunch or dinner	$25–$40 per person
Chicken bog	Chicken, rice and smoked sausage	Lunch or dinner	$12–$20 meal

Chicken bog’s Horry County association extends into South Carolina’s Pee Dee and Lowcountry. Community gatherings and food festivals celebrate it, while the other dishes reflect shared coastal and Southern traditions.

Lunch is commonly around 11am–2pm, with dinner around 5pm–9pm. At an à la carte restaurant you order individual dishes, while a buffet usually charges per person. A separate cover charge is not customary, although tax, drinks and tips add to the bill.

Included sides can make a plate a complete meal. Larger portions, premium seafood and table service raise the bill. A buffet suits a substantial appetite.

She-crab soup

She-crab soup brings blue crab meat together with cream or milk, often with sherry for a rounded finish. Have it as a starter at a coastal seafood restaurant, or choose a bowl for a light lunch. The crab’s sweetness sits against a rich, creamy base.

Crab roe gives traditional she-crab soup its pale-orange colour and briny, earthy richness. The name refers to the female crab and her eggs. Roe may be blended into the soup or reserved as a garnish, although some contemporary versions omit it or use alternatives. The name alone therefore does not guarantee the traditional preparation.

Sea Captain’s House serves she-crab soup as a signature offering and describes it as an award-winning guest favourite. It is a walk-in reference for trying the dish. Ask whether you are ordering a cup or a bowl when deciding how much else to eat.

Oyster roasts

An oyster roast is a communal meal of hot oysters you open yourself, with a briny flavour quite different from a plate of cold raw oysters. Oysters are usually steamed in batches over fire or coals, often beneath wet burlap, then tipped onto shared tables for diners to shuck.

Cocktail sauce, hot sauce, lemon and saltine crackers commonly accompany them. Use a shucking glove or thick towel to hold the shell, and work with an oyster knife rather than a table knife. Ask the host for equipment and a demonstration if this is your first roast. Shells arrive hot, so let them become comfortable to handle.

Around Myrtle Beach, the customary season runs from late autumn through winter. A seafood restaurant’s scheduled roast combines the meal with its usual dining setting, sometimes with music. An outdoor community event may add vendors and shared seating. Treat a roast as a seasonal event for lunch or dinner, not an everyday menu option, especially on a summer visit.

Calabash-style seafood

Calabash-style seafood originated in Calabash, North Carolina. A light batter deep-fried crisp and golden is its distinguishing feature, letting the seafood remain the centre of the plate. Shrimp, flounder and oysters are common choices for lunch or dinner, often accompanied by hushpuppies, small fried cornmeal balls.

At a seafood restaurant offering both formats, choose a plated order when you want one seafood favourite and a defined portion. A buffet suits a bigger appetite and lets you sample several kinds. Start with small helpings so you can enjoy the coating while it is crisp rather than piling up food that cools.

The Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood offers an all-you-can-eat Calabash-style buffet as a walk-in reference. The restaurant dates its buffet tradition to 1986 and claims to have introduced authentic Calabash-style seafood to the Myrtle Beach area. Its extensive buffet makes it an example of the variety-focused meal, rather than the single fried-seafood plate.

Shrimp and grits

Shrimp and grits pairs shrimp with creamy stone-ground grits, ground maize cooked until soft. The dish is associated with the Lowcountry, and its appeal lies in the contrast between the shrimp and the smooth, savoury base. Cheese and a butter-based sauce or gravy can make it particularly rich.

A seafood-sounding name does not mean a meat-free dish. Bacon, andouille, a smoked sausage, and ham all occur in Myrtle Beach preparations. If you avoid meat, ask whether it is in the sauce or grits as well as scattered over the top. Removing a garnish will not remove meat already cooked into the dish.

Cafés may serve shrimp and grits at breakfast or brunch, while Southern seafood restaurants offer it for lunch or dinner. A lighter serving suits an earlier meal, and a generous portion with a rich gravy works as a main course. When ordering, ask about portion size if you are deciding whether to add another dish.

Lowcountry boil

Lowcountry boil brings shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes together in seasoned water. It is a substantial lunch or dinner at a casual seafood restaurant, with the vegetables taking on the seasoning alongside the seafood. Sausage is part of the core dish, so it is not a seafood-only choice.

Frogmore stew is another traditional name for the same sort of boil, despite the word “stew”. Recipes vary, but expect a meal of solid ingredients rather than a bowl of broth. On the menu, a steam pot usually means a broader steamed seafood combination, often with crab legs as well as shrimp, corn and potatoes.

Portions may be individual or intended for sharing. Ask how many people the serving is meant to feed before adding starters. Shell-on shrimp makes this a hands-on meal, and corn on the cob also calls for fingers. Keep a discard bowl close and use the napkins provided, particularly when sharing a large platter across the table.

Chicken bog

Chicken bog combines chicken, rice and smoked sausage simmered in savoury broth, commonly with onion and seasonings. Its rice is moist, soft and cohesive, almost porridge-like, rather than fluffy and separate as in a drier pilau-style rice dish. The sausage adds a smoky flavour throughout, not just in individual bites.

Church suppers, fundraisers, family gatherings and community cook-offs keep this food rooted in shared meals. For a visitor, a Southern buffet offers a straightforward way to taste it at lunch or dinner. It can be the main course or a smaller side alongside other dishes, depending on how much you serve yourself.

Simply Southern Smokehouse lists chicken bog on its menu and is a walk-in reference for the dish. Its inexpensive buffet setting suits trying a small helping first, then deciding whether to make it the centre of your meal. Choose it for the savoury rice and home-cooking tradition rather than for a seafood experience.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: key figures.

• Simply Southern Smokehouse — key figures
• South Carolina Encyclopedia — key figures
• Sea Captain’s House — key figures
• World Famous All-You-Can-Eat Seafood Buffet in Myrtle Beach
• A Family Tradition