Hyman's Seafood — Restaurant in Charleston

Had the opportunity to grab a seat and have a bite (or quite a few actually) of Hyman’s after being amazed by the free hush puppies being given outside their resto 😁 we then googled the place and found out that they have 4.9 stars and over 40,000 reviews, and as a traveler, that is rare! So of course my family and I had to try it! We tried to go there for lunch after being starved on a tour, but was told it was almost a 2 hour late so we decided to come back for dinner! We got there at 7:20 and they had an hour late so we did some walking around and the wait time is quite accurate which we appreciate.

Before coming in, I was scared it was all hype, but right when the chilean sea bass croquette came out, I knew we were in for a treat! All our orders came out great! We all ordered the “make your own set” and I ordered the fried flounder with the shellfish delight, hush puppies, coleslaw and potato chips! Here are my ratings for everything based on a 5-star-rating:

Food: Sweet Tea: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Chilean Seabass Croquette: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t doubt me and get this as an appetizer! If you are a fish fan, you would not regret choosing this!) Hush Puppies: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (when I tell you these hush puppies being distributed in front of their resto made us look this restaurant up and had us looking forward to dinner right when we were having lunch, I am not lying! That’s such an effective way to promote the place; not that they need it 😁 and the guy distributing it just looks happy doing his job!) Fried Flounder: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (great with the secret sauce and the hot sauce which you could also buy in their souvenir shop! As a seafood lover, I can’t forgive myself that this is my first flounder but it is DEFINITELY not my last!) Coleslaw: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (that slaw sauce was DELISH) Shellfish Delight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (they did not skimp on the seafood!) Shrimp and Grits: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (one of the best Shrimp and Grits I have ever tasted! They are not shy with the butter and make sure to add that extra cheese!) Shecrab soup: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (it was good, but I am just not a fan of sherry so that’s on me and I would not count this in my overall rating!)

Place: Ambiance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (It felt like we were out of the city) Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (our server Vlad was attentive and we met one of the owners Tobias who made it to a point to check on every table making sure everyone dining in their restaurant no matter how busy, will get to have a 5-star experience. Price: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (comparing to other restaurants with the same vibe not just in Charleston but in other states as well, this one really does have fair pricing given their food quality and popularity. Everything ranges to about $20-$30 +tax and you so get more than what you pay for)

OVERALL RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I do not lie when I say I would go back to Charleston just to eat here again! We did not get to try their dessert menu cause we were just so full after! You NEED to stop by Hyman’s if you are ever in the area; trust me, it is worth the wait!

Sidenotes: -make sure to grab their cute cards placed on the table and read the back of the cards! -they do have a box where you could put your phones in while you are in there and they would donate to charity if you make it until after your meal without using your phones! the promo where you get free hush puppies and/or boiled peanuts if you follow them on instagram is a nice perk and you do get a free appy so...

1st off, let me start out by saying , I don't normally give mediocre , let alone bad reviews out often or at all TBH. So we called. No resv allowed. No prob. We get there at 5 & they tell us 30-40 mins . No biggie. There were a ton of people waiting so we figured why not. Got seated finally at 5:55. But the odd thing is, inside was maybe 60% filled, if that. We start out with drinks. I figured I'd try the moonshine flight. Not realizing that it was basically Tequila3 outta the 4 offerings. I can't really drink T anymore but, whatever mistake I guess. Next we have 3 apps for the 4 of us..Mind you from the getgo we told them about 2 allergies.1 wheat and 1 Gluten/celiac. To which they gave a special menu.. perfect. We ordered reg. Fried green tomatoes. 1 GF brussel sprouts, I 1 cup of Lobster Bisque. The 1st 2 arrived in 10 mins.. awesome I'm waiting patiently for my soup to no avail so I try a bite of the other two. Mind you My waitress was nowhere to be seen for the next 10 mins. To which When I asked for her she said she'd be with me in a sec. Well she decided to take the order of a table next to us, and afterwards I told her we didn't get the soup to which she replied Oh, I was just going to get it for you. I said for what? We've been done with apps for like 10 mins now, And Didn't want it went my meal came out. So I had her just remove it from the bill. Then my son's and mine came out. Shrimp n grits (which was Hot and Excellent) and mussels scampi, which looked good, but upon 1st mussels, they were cool at best, and the sauce was already congealed. 2 opposite ends of the heating spectrum TBH. My son's Grouper was burnt and overdone and his crab cake was just ok. At this point 5 mins or so later they bring out the 2 GF dishes... Another shrimp n grits with a Hunk of bread dunked into the grits.... Uhm A HUGE no for GF. And my daughter's had hush puppies on her dish which we're touching other parts of the items. Once again they were ordered off the GF menu. Our waitress knew they had issues but yet they still came out this way. Needless to say they had to wait another 10 /15 mins for new plates... And I was done eating and my son wasn't feeling well now at this point. We asked to speak with the manager and then the owner and it seemed somewhat like they were sorry and cared a lil but TBH. When the bill came out , It was as nothing ever happened and they were just ok giving a a 10% DISCOUNT for the mishap and 50% off for the 2 items we didn't even eat. Big deal . All in all we just wanted the check so we could just leave. We ended up paying $155 for a very bad meal( if u could say that) and to be finally told that they wouldn't honor a military discount because they already took an item off for 10%I'm sorry, Seriously? We weren't the ones who had the issues that night. All in all, We do understand that some places just have bad nights, We get it. But no on so many different levels. And especially when a Restaurant has a 4.9 rating. Come on. Really? Anyhow we should've listened to another barmaid at a different restaurant, who when we said we were going to go here, they stated that it was overrated. We disregarded her knowledge of the local spots. I wish would've listened. But live n learn. Good luck to all that do end up trying this place, hopefully it will be a better experience than what...

When you have 43K+ reviews and your rating is higher than Disney World at 4.9 there is an expectation that this will be the best meal you have ever had. We came in for lunch on a Sunday right around noon and I think we lucked out. We beat the church crowd because we only had to wait five minutes for a table of four. Now, in the meantime that was long enough to get two Outstanding hushpuppies from the young lady on the sidewalk while we waited. We were then told to go upstairs and give them our table number to be seated so we made the long journey (this is a big place as you find out when going through) to our table. We were quickly greeted by Emily who took our drink order and pointed out the specials of the day. I am from Texas and any waitress that is oozing southern charm, she is from Georgia, and as sharp as Emily, is representing the atmosphere of this restaurant very well. The drink menu is excellent, and all drinks can be made a double for $4. Because of the plethora of Outstanding hushpuppies (yes, they are that good to be mentioned twice) and boiled peanuts we bypassed the apps and went straight for the entrees. During the wait one of the owners came by to chat and make sure all was well. This is how you treat customers! The wives both had seafood boils and were very impressed by the size of the boils and how well they were cooked. My son got the shrimp extravaganza and was brought an abundance of five different varieties of shrimp that were delicious according to him and taken as a to go box because of said abundance. I ordered the NOLA shrimp and was thoroughly impressed with the spicy seasoning that represented some true NOLA flavors. Literally my only complaint was the bread in my dish. They sent out just a plain white thin sliced loaf with no flavor. I asked Emily about it because I used the wife’s garlic bread that just made the whole dish better. The bread she said is usually dependent on the chef because sometimes they do send out garlic bread. Just to be safe I would ask for it since it does elevate the meal. All of this being said, we were impressed so much by our meal we recommended it to another couple that was in town with us and ended up joining them for dinner. This time I had the shrimp extravaganza that was superb and the wife had the lobster tail special that was cooked to perfection. Once again one of the owners came by to chat while we were waiting on our entrees and wanted to make sure we were not having any issues. So, all of this to say when you are looking for an outstanding meal this is your place. Some people will say it is a tourist trap but the family, wait staff, and cooks go out of their way to make this is not just a great meal but an experience to recommend to others while they are in Charleston. To all involved at Hyman’s your rating is well deserved and to everyone else this is a must stop if you are in...