Reilley's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

Five-star review ruined by unbelievably rude hostess... Our group of 10 had reservations for dinner at 7pm on 7/9/25. It was a torrential downpour when we walked in, so it was very loud and chaotic in the small foyer area with lots of people leaving and arriving at the same time. There was a short older lady with an accent at the hostess stand who "assisted" us. We said our name and she asked if we needed kids' menus. Unfortunately, due to the noise level and her accent, we had difficulty understanding her question and had to ask her 2x what she was asking. On the 3rd time, she screamed the question at us, while looking up at the ceiling in frustration. At this point, one of the men in our group raised his voice and yelled back at her face, "YES, we do need kids' menus."

She was so unprofessional and out of line, but it didn't stop there. She then proceeded to walk away saying nothing and set up napkins on several tables moved together in the bar area. Upon noticing that no one followed her (because she did not ask us to), she again screamed at us, "Aren't you going to sit down at your table?" Our whole group was in utter shock. It left all of us angry and not wanting to eat here at all. However, there were 10 of us, it was 7pm and downpouring. We were stuck, and now every one of us was in a bad mood from being screamed at. (This is not an exaggeration when I used the word SCREAM.) Our excitement in going out as a big group/family had been completely deflated, and we sat at the table in silence not wanting to be there.

Fortunately, a female server with dark hair greeted us to promptly take our drink order. She was extremely nice and on it with drinks. The server was also super knowledgeable with questions and checked with the kitchen with concerns about a family member with a severe food allergy. She 100% took care of us and fixed the horrible mood we had all be put in by the hostess. Eventually, we were finally able to relax and enjoy our meal and time with our group. In a nutshell, the portions are HUGE! The shrimp linguini can easily feed 2 people; the salads were large; and the drinks were very well made! We did not share our encounter with the hostess with our server, but she saved the day on her own.

This review would have been 5 stars easily if it weren't for that hostess screaming at us. Not sure if she is one of the owners, but perhaps time to not be the first face/voice you encounter coming into the restaurant. (I saw another review stating they left due to a rude hostess...hmmm.) There was a young girl who was also at the hostess stand, but the older woman took over and was running the show. We 100% would have left if we could have gone elsewhere. I'm glad we stayed, but happy to try other places the next time we visit...

Okay, some of you may have seen my previous review in past years on this place and how much I loved it. However, unfortunately, I can no longer recommend it. We went tonight, and while everyone can have an off night, tonight everything went wrong. It started when we showed up, with a reservation, which they sent out reminders constantly and the last one within 30 minutes of our arrival. We arrived 10 minutes early and was told that there would be a wait as many people were just taking their time. Understanding that you can't control everything, however, there was an open four top which would accommodate our party of 3. We were told that the table was reserved, and I asked, isn't that what we had, a reservation? They said it was the owners table and it was his reservation. I get it, but that sounded strange as I am sure that any reasonable owner would put his customers' needs over those of his own, but again, his place so his prerogative. We waited 20 minutes past our reservation before being seated, and of course, the bar was full, so standing at the hostess stand for that time. By the way, the "reserved "table was empty all this time. The four hostess seemed to be a bit confused as the restaurant was full and again somewhat understood, but they could have been friendlier about the situation. We were finally seated, and our meals came out. We had 2 orders of the Chicken Condon Blue, a house specialty, and I have had it many times over the years. However, tonight was my last visit as there is no reason to go back. Both dishes come with mashed potatoes and green beans. The plates showed up with what would be considered half a piece of chicken, and the breading was way over cooked, burnt to a crisp would be a better description which made the chicken dry. The mashed potatoes were cold, and the green beans turned out to be asparagus. Clearly not worth the price, and there are many great restaurants on the island to choose from. The bar and the restaurant are very crowded so if you choose to go, you should at least try the reservation route. They won't miss my business, I understand that, and probably won't care, but it is too bad because it had been good for so long. On a positive note, just as we were finishing dinner the party for the reserved table did show up. Mt wife asked our waiter if that was the owner and he replied, no, the owner isn't here tonight. I was glad to hear that because again I think the owner would have addressed the situation in a much better fashion, but can't but wonder why one reservation was more valuable than another. It was a simple Hightop in the bar area... I guess not all reservation are equal, so at least they won't have to worry about mine in the...

full disclaimer: I’m a writer and my reviews are very detailed. Skip to the end for my TL;DR if you want

I’ve been coming to Hilton Head for 40 years. Reilley’s has been an institution for about that long… It had been 8 years since I was last down here, but I knew I wanted to come back!

After striking out at our first choice (an hour or more of a wait) I called Reilley’s to ask about their wait time: immediate seating if we got there quickly. We got there within 5 minutes and were seated right away. We’re a party of 4 + a high chair, and the hostess said they only had a high top table available, but that they had extra tall high chairs available, so we were pleased. They gave our older children a coloring page kids menu and some crayons and we made ourselves comfortable. Our server came by quickly and got things going. We were seated in a high traffic area, but everyone was very cautious, especially given that our 2 year old daughter was seated near the walkway.

We ordered the Buffalo shrimp appetizer, Hubs ordered the seafood platter and I ordered the fish and chips. I got one of their specialty cocktails and he got a beer. The kids were tired and hungry, so we didn’t argue when they ordered typical kids food: chicken fingers and grilled cheese.

The appetizer and drinks came out quickly and the serving assistant was very mindful of Little Bits’ grabby hands and kept the hot food far from her reach. The martini I ordered was really great, a fun tropical twist with their own house brand of flavored vodka. The Buffalo shrimp were incredible, the flavor was fantastic and they were cooked perfectly. If I had one complaint, it’s that there weren’t many on the plate and it wasn’t really a shareable appetizer.

Our main meals were delivered shortly after we finished our appetizer and were hot and fresh. Again, the SAs were mindful of Grabby Hands, placing the food out of her reach. The portions were large, everything was flavored and cooked perfectly. The fish and chips was fantastic! Crisp, flavorful beer batter, moist tender fish, great French fries. Hubs loved his, again, the shrimp was cooked perfectly and was fresh (definitely not frozen). No leftovers for anyone!

We ordered some dessert to go (leprechaun pie and peanut butter pie) and were in and out in a very reasonable time. I love Reilley’s and will definitely return when we come back to Hilton Head!

TL; DR: larger restaurant = shorter wait times. Fresh and delicious food. Wonderful wait staff. Great drinks. Fun atmosphere. Great for kids, great for larger groups. An island...