Whaley's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Edisto Beach

Review April 14, 2024

They have made some changes to the inside. However the food quality has declined. Two of us ordered the special which was beer battered fish. The fish was undercooked and the breading was gummy. They didn't have their grease high enough and it wasn't fresh grease. My mom got a grilled chicken salad. She said her chicken tasted of fish. They allowed us to order something else. However, I couldn't eat what I ordered. I completely forgot to review this place again. My parents aren't hard to please with food but they left upset. We won't be back. We will just cook at the campground next time we are out there.

We weren't planning to visit this restaurant. However, when there are only 4 restaurants supposedly open and the one you planned to visit was randomly closed. We were pleasantly surprised.

When you walk in, you notice how grubby the place is. There is an awkward smell and the bathrooms don't make sense at all. I kept thinking to myself how easy it would be to give the place a makeover since it does have charm. They kept the old industrial coolers from the gas station. My dad said it reminded him of an old school bar.

The waitress didn't seem happy but she was honest and she complied with all our requests. We were under a 45 minute time crunch and the bartender was confident we could eat within that time frame.

Based on previous reviews, we ordered the sushi nachos. This is where the pleasantly surprised comes in. They were decent and accurately reflected previous reviews about being hearty. This place is so close to being awesome it makes me sad. They were too happy with the sauces. They were all over the plate and the nachos were amid the sea of the oily sauce. The proportion of the toppings to wonton was too much. HOWEVER, I am not going to complain about too much meat. There were too many chopped tomatoes and they were difficult to eat.

We also got the crab cake and flounder platter. The crab cake was surprisingly good and the white sauce on top was equally good. The flounder regardless of whether it was freshly caught or not was freshly battered and it was NOT greasy. The plate automatically comes with HOMEMADE chips or you can pay an extra $1.50 for frozen fries. I like to put servers on the spot and ask which they would choose. The waitress in all her unhappy glory didn't hesitate with her choice. She also gave us a heads up about the only option of water being bottled water. We also got a half/half tea. It was weird! Kinda like they used one of those concentrated tiny bottles that you squirt into a bottle of water. Even the unsweetened had a syrupy texture to it. My dad proposed it was the tap water used to make the tea.

I would return to this place if I had to again. They are in my thoughts about turning the place around. They have so much potential! Just gut the place (except for the beautiful antique bar set up) and make it...

My family and I have been coming to Whaley’s for years and it’s always been a good place for comfort seafood; definitely a hole in the wall dive, but reliable food. Tonight we decided to introduce my brother-in-law and it was our first truly disappointing visit. We arrived 30 minutes after dinner service started and we were quickly sat, greeted by our server, and drinks brought out. The restaurant was bustling, but not brimming with customers; shortly after we placed our food orders it became truly busy, and the service began to slacken as a result, but we understood to an extent, and being honest, we received our food before our server become truly inundated, so it didn’t affect us too much until time for the check.

We ordered the crab cake and sushi nachos appetizers and both were very good- definitely recommend. My husband and I shared the round man platter and had food to spare- it’s what you would expect from a fried seafood platter. The real disappointment was my ‘bisque’ and my sister’s raw oysters. The lobster and shrimp bisque, which in years past I have truly enjoyed, was thin and watery, bland- lacking any spices, and tasted undercooked, like flour water- as if it hadn’t been cooked enough to break the flour to remove the taste and thicken the bisque. I only took a couple bites before I pushed it to the side. My sister ordered a half dozen raw oysters and in her words: ‘I’ve never been worried about seafood making me sick, but I would put those oysters at 50/50. They aren’t chilled nearly as much as any other oyster plates I’ve received, nor as much as I think they should be.” In fact there was no ice packed around them, but they were cool.

When it came time for the check we asked for the bill to be split 3 ways and our server wasn’t able (was unsure of how) to accomplish this. We ended up having to split it ourselves and tell him how much to charge each card. Not a huge deal, but the menu states they can split bills up to three ways and and it was another inconvenience piling up.

Lastly: the bathrooms, while definitely updated and much nicer than before, are extremely cramped and awkward- the toilet is parallel with the door, a few inches away from it in fact, and juts in front of the door about halfway, so you have to turn sideways and side step into the bathroom since the toilet is blocking half the space, and then you’ll be able to close the door. Just a really really bad set up and positioning. Absolutely cleaner than previous renditions, though.

Whaley’s is a staple dinner spot for us, so we hope this was just an off night. Would recommend, but with some caveats and an explanation of...

We came for an early dinner, and very glad we did. By 5 pm, there were a lot of people waiting. We waited about 20 minutes for a table. I felt like the staff went above and beyond to make sure their waiting patrons were seated as soon as possible. (Generally, We have discovered that this is not an area to wait until you're hungry to go to dinner, because you're likely going to be waiting 40 minutes to well over and hour.) Our server was absolutely outstanding! He was funny, energetic, and attentive! Our drinks were always full. It did take a while for the food. We were so glad that we ordered appetizers. The tuna nachos and fried cheese were delicious! All of us enjoyed our food. The BLT, fish and chips, kids burgers, smash burgers, and steak sandwich were simply wonderful!!!!!!

I also feel it's worth mentioning that we witnessed incredible kindness towards disabled patrons. As they did with others, the staff prepared seating as soon as they could. But they also checked in with the families multiple times to make sure they had what the needed before seating them. Then, at least three staff members cleared chairs, escorted and greeted the family. It was simply heartwarming to see that level of care for their customers.

We enjoyed it so much, and the people were amazing, so why the low rating for atmosphere you might be asking? Well, it was the cleanliness and sporadic damaged chairs. Our tables were fine; but generally it was the smaller details we noticed. The front window had greasy finger prints, there were more general crumbs and dirt than what we've seen in other restaurants. The bathrooms were gross. Really gross. I used it as a teaching moment for the kids as to why we tell them to "go" before we leave the house. I don't know; maybe it's the age of the building. Maybe it was people that used it before being inconsiderate. But frankly, the smell was neauseating. I want so much for this place to continue being successful. Their food is great, staff phenomenal, but the building itself needs a lot of TLC. I would definitely go back, but after the family has used...