This week on "Travel Tuesdays," I'm going to tell you about the restaurants we visited in Hilton Head Island, SC this year. When we arrived on the island, we decided we would revisit a few of the restaurants from last year, but we knew we wanted to try new places as well. Here are our thoughts...
The first restaurant we visited was The Frosty Frog Cafe. This happened to be the first restaurant we visited last year as well. If you're looking for fancy, this isn't your place. However, we love The Frosty Frog Cafe! The prices aren't unreasonable (which is the opposite of most other restaurants on the island). I had Rachael's Crab Cake Sandwich, which was delicious! The roasted red pepper sauce had some kick to it, but it was also quite good! Tanner and Eliana had RSA's Grouper Fingers. We had them last year, and I remembered them being tasty, but they really are great! The batter has a hint of sweetness. Eliana ate this, and she isn't a big fan of fish. The Frosty Frog Cafe is known for their daiquiri bar. They have at least 25 different flavors! If you like daiquiris, I suggest you try this restaurant. Be careful...some of the varieties have a pretty high alcohol proof.
Next, we tried The Crazy Crab @ Jarvis Creek for the first time. There are 2 Crazy Crab locations, andI haven't been to the one at Harbour Town, so I can't review it. I assume it would be just as good, though. We had heard good things about this restaurant last year, but we never managed to make it there. I'm so glad we did this year! We loved it! We expected a long line because they don't take reservations, but we actually walked right in. Apparently we got there just in time, because it did start to fill up quickly. We shared the Broiled Seafood Platter. It came with shrimp, scallops, a crab cake, fresh fish fillet, and stuffed flounder. It was all delicious! We will definitely go back here! Not to mention Eliana sweet-talked us into buying this seahorse. Look how proud she is of herself.
Another favorite from last year was Skull Creek Boathouse (SCB). This restaurant was recommended to us because of the great food and the toys outside to keep children occupied while you wait for a table (note the Lego table in the above picture). This year wasn't quite as great as our experience last year. My main recommendation is not to go to SCB if there is a chance of rain. This is a restaurant that normally has a long wait. However, many of their tables are outside. When it rains, all of those tables are unavailable. When we arrived, there was a chance of rain in the area, so they shut down all of the outside seating. This made the wait extremely long. I believe we ended up waiting about 1.5 - 2 hours. Also, because they were trying to fit more people inside the restaurant, it was very, very loud. The food was still great, though! We split the Low Country Boil again because we liked it so much last year.
This was a new restaurant for us, and I'm so glad we went! Tanner and I both agreed that this was our favorite meal of the trip. The Old Oyster Factory sits on Broad Creek, and it features steak, seafood, and more. They open at 4:45 pm each day, but you can also make reservations through Open Table (look on the restaurant's website under "Reservations"). We decided to go early just in case, but we also made a reservation. We got right in, and we were even able to request a table by the window. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of what Tanner and I both ate because it was a special for the evening. It was some kind of steak and shrimp skewers, and they were delicious! The sauce that was on them is one that I would love to try to recreate at home. If you go here, it may not hurt to ask if they offer this entree. You won't be disappointed.
This was also a new restaurant for us. The food was good, and the prices were quite reasonable, but I don't have a lot of good things to say for the service. We got a table right away, but we waited close to 30 minutes for the waitress to take our order. Part of this was our own fault. We had seen online that it was Kid's Night, and Eliana was supposed to be able to eat for free. We asked for a children's menu, and the waitress told us they had to print more. We asked if it was in fact Kid's Night, and she said she wasn't sure (she was new), but she would find out. She came back and told us that Eliana could get any kids' meal under $5.00 for free. Meanwhile, we were still waiting for them to print the Kids' Menu. Eventually she brought it to us, and then disappeared again. Needless to say, slow service with an antsy 2-year-old, isn't a lot of fun. However, our food was tasty. I had the grouper wrap, and Tanner had a burger. All in all the Hilton Head Brewing Company had good food at reasonable prices, but don't go there if you're in a hurry.
My favorite thing about Marley's Island Grille is that it truly makes me feel like I'm back in the Caribbean. We went here last year, and we decided we would go again. One of the great things about this restaurant is that they have an Early Bird Dinner Menu. For $14.49 you get to pick an entree and it includes soup or salad. You can also make reservations here with Open Table. I had the Broiled Seafood Platter (are you sensing a trend?), and Tanner had the Baked Flounder Imperial. Both were very good.
Last, but not least was Skillets Cafe. This was a new one for us, but we wanted to try it last year. Skillets also offers an Early Bird Menu. The online menu says that it is $18.99 and it includes dessert, but when we got there it did not include dessert, and it was $16.99 (I think). It included a drink, soup or salad, and an entree. I had fried shrimp, and Tanner had shrimp and grits. My fried shrimp was good, but it's also hard to mess that up. Tanner liked his, but he said it wasn't the best shrimp and grits he's had. We would definitely go back here, though. They have an interesting breakfast menu that we hope to try some day.
