Lowcountry Produce Market & Café — Restaurant in Beaufort

Just had the worst dining experience ever. We've eaten here so many times and have always enjoyed it, but this was entirely new, so I can't let it slide without leaving a review. This was significantly bad enough that I honestly don't think we'll ever return. My husband and I always split our meals. So we ordered the flounder and grits (which is what I usually always get) and he got the eggs benedict with crab cakes. We usually get it with smoked salmon but were excited to try the crab cakes for the first time. Bad move. I'll speak from my experience. First, the flounder had a slightly off flavor and I wish I had said something to the staff at that moment, but I'm one of those people who hesitates to make a big deal of things aren't perfect with something I order. Having a childhood where our family relied on food donations from the church, I do not like to waste food. So the tomato sauce with the grits was enough to hide the occasionally funky flounder bites so I ate half of it. I switched plates with my husband to try the crab cake and the first tiny taste of crab cake had me instantaneous gagging. The only ever time I've ever had that reaction was when I tried fermented soybeans. I'm telling you, this was worse was fermented soybeans. The crab cakes were OFF. With a capital OH-no-thank-you. I ran to the bathroom because I couldn't control my gagging and worried I might honestly vomit. I gagged in the toilet,  rallied hard because I do not want to puke in a public bathroom. Returned to the table to throw down a hunk of rye bread with jam to desperately rid my mouth of the taste. Just wanted to leave immediately at that point, but not about to "dine and dash" without explanation. We alerted the staff, they dissappeared to alert the manager, then returned and told us the manager was too busy... the manager was too busy to address my gag reflex to the rotten crab cake, y'all.... they were too busy.... So staff were authorized to remove the cost of the crab cake and take 50% off the flounder dish. We still had to PAY for part of that meal. Even just $10. But, I'm telling you, that was my worst dining experience ever. This needs to be told. CAUTION with the crab cakes... CAUTION with it all. Manager should take...

Placed a take out order that was supposed to be ready at 2:32. I walked in and immediately felt like a bother based on the looks I got from staff at the front counter. The hostess in particular looked at me and then looked down at her watch before properly greeting me. I understand they close at 3 so I'm sure she was double checking the time to make sure I wasn't cutting it too close but it felt a little rude. But as soon as I mentioned I was simply just picking up a take out order she seemed more cheery, I guess knowing that I didn't need a table less than half an hour before closing made things better. Unfortunately my food was not ready on time and I ended up standing around by the side counter for an additional 10 minutes or so before my food came out.

The food itself was kind of pricey to be honest. Especially for the basic menu items that you can get elsewhere for cheaper. I had the Breakfast Burrito with bacon and then for my side I chose the grits. The burrito was really good I enjoyed it. But the grits were lacking in flavor and I received a pretty sad portion of them. My partner had the Salmon BLT with fries. Unfortunately he said the bun was rock hard and it really ruined the dish for him all together. For both dishes it was $40 (that's without tip).

Overall it was a disappointing first impression for us. We have been to the Seabrook location, and although the menu is more limited over there, the service, atmosphere and the food were better.

(Note: Parking was a little difficult to find if you don't want to have to walk too far, so be prepared for that as well. But bare in mind I went on a Saturday late...

Food is good here, but do not attempt with a large party, or with small kids. The service is very slow, in their defense, it is all cooked to order, but waiting forty minutes for food with small children (it has happened each of the three times we chanced it) means little ones want to wander and there is a lot of stuff for little hands to get hold of in here. We even tried ordering French fries and donuts as we sat down, to try to get the kids settled sooner, and they took thirty minutes to come out, then at that point, the waitress took the adult orders (hadn't seen her in the 30 minute wait for the kids order). Another time we tried a party of nine at 11:00am and when we arrived were told that they had accidentally given our table to another group of people that just happened to also be nine ... no name asked, just an assumption that they were us, due to party size and time of arrival!!! We waited for an hour to be seated while we watched another group enjoy our reserved table. We finally sat at two hastily cobbled together tables and the order was placed. 45 minutes later, with no food in sight (not even the donuts we ordered as we sat down) ... we told them the kids were hungry and we were leaving to find something, somewhere to feed them. We are not tourists, we live here ... we love it here and always try to patronize local businesses, bringing friends and family from all over to enjoy the low country hospitality. It is unfortunately lacking at Low Country Produce...