Carolina Crab Company — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

Honestly, the food was great. I got the Dungeness crab lowcountry boil, and my wife got the shrimp version. They were delicious! They are prepared with a seasoning that is similar to Old Bay, but with more flavor and kick. The crab cake and she crab soup were very tasty appetizers.

So the food gets 5 stars. The reason my overall rating is lower is because of the restaurant setting and ambiance. There are actually three establishments that practically share the same space under a covered outdoor space. One of those is a bar that allows (encourages?) smoking, which was only a few feet from our table. The smell of putrid cigar smoke did not add to our dining experience. And, apparently, lots of people think it's a great idea to bring their dogs to a restaurant (seriously?!!!). So, between the dogs that were barking and yapping at each other, the young adults at the bar screaming every word they spoke (because of course, we all needed to hear every precious word they uttered), the nasty smell of cigar smoke drifting over, and the overall noise level at about 95 decibels (multiple football games on TV screens with copious amounts of alcohol consumed = jet engine noise level), we felt like we had landed in the living rooms of the other patrons, not a restaurant. 😄

So, we won't be going back here again. Which is unfortunate, because the food really is great. But if you enjoy a noisy, raucous, bar-like environment for your dinner, you're...

I went to this restaurant with my family while visiting my grandparents in HHI. My grandparents actually recommended this place for us to all go out to dinner. We made reservations for 7:45 and arrived at 7:30. We were seated right away, and our menus and water cups were already right in front of us. The place was gorgeous. Our server, Rich was very friendly and gave us a good laugh.

As a whole, we ordered Fried Clams, Boom boom Shrimp, and Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche appetizers. All of it came out shockingly fast seeing the number of people in the facility. Everything was excellent, and for a first-time clam eater, I was very happy with what I got.

For a main course, I ordered the Fried Haddock Sandwich. The only thing I would say is that the fish itself was too long to fit in the sandwich, so I just cut it in half and ate one half with the sandwich and the other half by itself, which I didn’t mind. The rest of my family got some sort of variation of seafood (shrimp, crab cakes, salmon, mahi-mahi, etc.). We all thought it was great!

We ended up deciding to go somewhere else for desert, but Rich was very helpful with guiding us the best choice. Overall, it was a great experience with good service, food, and the best waiter in the house. Rich is my new best friend. We definitely will be coming back in the future and trying the Lowcountry boil the next time. Owner, if you are reading this, tell Rich...

I probably would have given this place 5 stars because the food was very good. However they placed us directly in front of an industrial fan and we had to ask them to at least angle it for us. We couldn't hear each other over the noise. We couldn't hear the live music. My food got cold quickly. With as much as I was paying I would have thought they would have paid attention to how they treated the customer. The waitress was in attentive to us. We watched her pay much more attention to other guests while we waited. I'm a patient person. I can usually overlook allot. I was very dissatisfied with our overall stay. I'm sure if we we're put in a different location where we could hear each other or the live music it would have been a better visit. If the waitress would have showed up to our table after our meals arrived and asked if everything was ok before we already ate it, it might have been different. If she would have been even a little bit more attentive, I might have given a better review. I emptied my beverage way before she showed again. And I had to pay my bill at the bar because she was taking a picture of the people at the table beside us. The food was good. Just could have used a little...