Nectar — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

I debated going here after reading some of these reviews and I really wish I would have skipped out on this (or any of the similar Serg restaurants since it looks like many of them just have the exact same menu items). What super stinks is that my family and I LOVED Marley's Shrimp Shack (also owned by Serg) but they shut that restaurant down so now we are scrambling to find other restaurants on this beach trip. That's the only reason we even tried out Nectar.

Anyways, the food was terrible. First thing that tipped me off was that it didn't even smell good when they handed me my bag. It just had a strong fishy smell. Unfortunately the taste wasn't any better. We ordered the seafood pasta, the shrimp and grits, and the chicken fingers and fried shrimp plate. We didn't like any of them.

The seafood pasta's sauce was really weird tasting and very bland. Not sure why they felt the need to put red sauce into it to make it a super orange color and add the strange taste. The shrimp, crab, mussels were very overcooked. I'm not sure if I've ever had a bad seafood pasta before, but I guess now I have. This dish was 2 out of 10. We threw away probably 75% of it.

The shrimp and grits were also just as bad. The grits themselves were cooked perfectly, just didn't have any flavor. The "gravy" wasn't like a normal shrimp and grits gravy. It was also super bright orange like the seafood pasta and also didn't have much flavor. Very bland (which is what I saw many times in other reviews). The shrimp were overcooked just like in the seafood pasta and the sausage in it wasn't that good either. It wasn't even normal andouille sausage like everyone else does. The sausage looked like someone just pulled the guts out of a sausage and cooked it in random piles. The presentation and taste were just bad. Also a 2/10 dish. We ate all of the grits and threw away most of the rest.

The shrimp and chicken fingers was the best thing we had there but we didn't even like it that much. Coleslaw wasn't good and had a stronger, horseradish-y spicy taste. The fries were great and my daughter liked the garlic ranch. My son hated the garlic ranch. So my family was kind of divided on that. The shrimp were very overcooked and the breading was just mediocre. The chicken fingers were very mediocre. The chicken itself was cooked perfectly but the breading on them had a sort of burned, darker tasted and the breading was a pretty dark brown color. We ate the shrimp, 1 of the chicken fingers, and all of the fries and threw the rest away. I'd also give this a 2/10.

Overall, this was a waste of my $65 and my entire family all hated it. We have no plans on ever coming back and will now be avoiding any other "Serg" restaurant as they seem to have shared menu items and will likely have the same terrible experience we had tonight....

We were looking for a spot for date night and decided to give Nectar a try. We've typically had great experiences with SERG Group restaurants, and the menu at Nectar looked unique and interesting—definitely a step above your average vacation spot.

Booking a reservation was easy—we were able to secure a table the same day. When we arrived early, we were seated right away, which was a great start. The bread service appetizer was absolutely delicious and set a really nice tone for the meal.

We each ordered a cocktail, and while they were creative and tasty (a refreshing change from typical beachy drinks), they took nearly 15 minutes to arrive. Unfortunately, this is where the service started to falter. Our server only came over once we were visibly waiting and wondering, and let us know the bar was backed up. While we completely understand that these things happen, it would’ve been nice to have that communicated sooner—or at least to be acknowledged.

Our meals, though, were outstanding. I had the smothered chicken, and my husband ordered the seafood pasta—both were delicious, generous portions, and came out quickly. We were really happy with the food and impressed by the kitchen.

Sadly, the service never really recovered. It seemed our server was overwhelmed by a large table nearby, and while we sympathize—everyone has tough nights—it felt like we were completely overlooked as a result. Her tone was rushed and dismissive, and her total time at our table all night was maybe a minute. She dropped the bill with a quick “have a good one” while walking away and didn’t thank us or check in. When we passed her on the way out, she didn’t say a word.

That said, we did notice other servers around us being warm and attentive, and one (possibly the manager) even noticed the sun was in my eyes and kindly adjusted the blinds without being asked. The hostess was also very kind as we were leaving.

Bottom line: The food was excellent and we’ll likely return for that reason alone—but if we ended up with the same server, we’d politely request someone else. Service matters, and while we’re empathetic to rough nights, it shouldn’t come at the expense of other guests...

Went there on early Saturday evening. We had reservations and STILL had to wait when we’re were one of only four tables in the entire restaurant. Hostess was busy doing “something else” when we arrived and was not at the front. I observed two or three more tables come in and they had to wait a good bit also. I think one group of five walked out.

After we were seated it took at least ten minutes for our server to arrive at our table. When he arrived at the table he acted surprised to have customers. He then proceeded to turn on a fake smile and begin making speeches….the conversation was forced and VERY uncomfortable. He probably doesn’t need to be a server.

We ordered an appetizer of fried green tomatoes, which was great but I felt the portion was a bit small for the cost.

We ordered salads and they were fine. It was like pulling teeth to get a different salad dressing I wanted to try. I got the fried chicken which was a huge portion and my dining partner got shrimp and chicken; he complained that the shrimp was good but very small. I agree. Food was good.

The food runner was just that, if he could have thrown the food on the table he would have cause he acted like it killed him to bring it over. Guess he needed to get back to socializing at the end of the bar and chatting it up with his friends. Server was the same, he was rushing more and more as the meal completed. It felt like he needed to be somewhere else or we were keeping him from something. He finally brought the checks and we were glad to get out of there. $76 dollars later he got a reduced tip for being so weird and rushed. Tip meter was running!

Guess this is normal for “vacationland”, but if you’re gonna charge so much for the food you better have a server with personality and the willingness to help the customer along, not just run and plop.

On a positive note, we went to Harris-teeter right behind Nectur and and had a...