The Sea Shack — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

The madness of crowds? Have been aware of the Sea Shack and it's spectacular line for years of visiting HH but until this week had never succumbed to the temptation. The idea seems to be this is a "local" secret spot just for the special in-the-know crowd to get great seafood at good prices. Not fancy but good. Well, they've obviously failed incredibly at keeping it secret, it ain't anything close to fancy, but the reality is actually pretty bad.

We arrived about 10 of 6 on a Wed and the line was all the way across the building and into the adjacent pine straw. Actually, the first FAIL is the parking situation. There are about 1/3 of the necessary spaces and no attempt by the restaurant to be helpful with this. Its double/triple parking, folks yelling, etc. The adjacent restaurant and other business are for the most part VERY aggressive about posting and defending their proprietary parking areas. We did find that an adjacent construction company had posted limited daily hours for their parking restrictions and we parked there without issue. Seems like the Sea Shack could provide some guidance about parking after all these years operating in this dismal spot (maybe I missed it) but that would take caring about the customer which is not evident here.

So back to the line. It took about 50 minutes of hot, humid buggy standing to get through and the line tends to accrete as Uncle Bubba and the youngins show up to sidle in next to friends/family. Another bad issue was rude patrons leaving their parked vehicles running - two right along the front row adjacent to the line during our visit - so Aunt Bea can sit in the back of the huge killer truck cab and stay cool. Not cool. There is really no guidance as to how this s-show works other than you MUST order BEFORE you SIT down. When the Shack bouncer finally lets you through the door, you find a short line to go up to a counter and order/pay for your food. It is cool inside. We had anonymously specified "2 for inside" earlier when the bouncer went down the line with a clipboard - I guess just to help them keep track and not an actual seating list? This did help me to insist to an elderly couple who came in behind us that WE would be taking the single available plastic covered table when they tried to grab it. The bouncer reminded them they had said they were ok with sitting outside. Be prepared for a battle and you'll see other 1 star reviews discussing staggering rudeness by the restaurant staff (we didn't experience that).

You can see the menu online. We got fried shrimp and blackened shrimp and fish w/ a "mini salad" and french fries for our sides. The prices are just slightly cheaper than several other (much nicer) normal places on the island. And then we waited and waited some more. All in it was close on 90 minutes from arriving to getting our meager Styrofoam plates of food. All of it was mediocre. My blackened items were typical/poor; 9 small shrimp and 2 thin, small furiously cooked fish fillets. Cole slaw and fries were institutional and fries were cold. BTW, the "veggie of the day" side was English Peas, that staple of fish shack dining. LOLz. I think they found some dented cans half price at Publix. Hush puppies were fine. My Wife's mini salad was more like a micro salad, just enough soggy greens to fit into the tiny slot in the Styrofoam. We choked it all down, cut our losses and got out of there. They do advertise various local fish and perhaps people think they're getting a "deal" on those but most US restaurant fish is fake as to freshness and identification (I make no claims for this place) and I can't think they are cooking these supposedly elite choices any better. So: there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to STAND in the steamy line and end up wasting an evening in what is just a unpleasant, annoying and disappointing experience. So many more much superior HH options including small locally run places that respectfully and properly operate actual restaurants. BTW, no alcohol of any kind to help you through this...

My family rode our bikes to The Sea Shack for lunch one sunny August afternoon. Entering the front door, we were greeted by a staff member who asked if we were dining in or taking our food to go. We stated that we were dining in, but that we were planning to sit at one of the outside tables. We were hot and sweaty from our ride, so we didn't feel comfortable dining inside. Besides, we expected to find a lot of people at lunch vying for inside tables, and we were right. The inside dining was quite full.

We briefly studied the menu board before advancing to the order counter. We ordered three orders of fish and chips and one order of grilled flounder. After paying for our meal we filled our drink cups at the self-serve beverage station and then proceeded outside to a table under a shade canopy. In about 10 minutes our order arrived, delivered to our table by a staff member. My initial impression is that we got a lot of food for the price we paid. The fish portions were quite generous! I asked the server if the restaurant had ranch dressing to dip our onion rings in. She replied that they did and happily delivered an individual ranch dressing to our table.

The meal had just come from the kitchen and was very hot. We had to wait a couple minutes before taking a bite. But once it was cool enough to enjoy, enjoy it we did! The fried fish on the fish and chips meal was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The accompanying fries were a crispy shoestring variety that were quite good. The cole slaw that also came with that meal was a good, basic slaw. It will please those who enjoy a traditional cole slaw. There was nothing unusual about it and it was executed well, with crisp cabbage and carrots tossed in a zesty dressing. The hush puppies had a hint of sweetness to them, but they were not too sweet. One of our fish and chip meals also had onion rings which were breaded nicely and cooked to a golden brown.

I also got to sample the grilled flounder from another plate and it was really good! It was seasoned and cooked perfectly, and I will have a hard time deciding between fried fish or grilled fish on return visits. Both are excellent!

Most of us drank iced tea with our meals. The tea tasted crisp and clean and was quite refreshing on this hot summer day.

So, what is the bottom line with The Sea Shack? It's this: The Sea Shack serves excellent fish meals. The fish is among the best on the island, and the sides that came with the fish complimented the meals nicely. This isn't the place to go for those looking for an upscale atmosphere: linen tables, fine wines, and a stuffy staff. But this is a great place to find excellent fish, a casual setting, and great value. We've added The Sea Shack to our list of favorites on the island.

By the way, by 2:00 most of the crowd had left the restaurant. So, if you don't mind a little later lunch time, you might check out The...

We had Sea Shack recently on 2 occasions. Well if you’re looking for the seafood experience south of the bridge and Hudson’s or Skull Creek, this is the place for you.

First, it’s a hole in the wall or as we used to call it, a Dive. There is not much room to dine in and the lines start early (check their lunch and dinner schedules). At dinner time, the lines began at 4:15 for their 5pm dinner. Inside, there maybe room for 6 tables of 4 and that’s a high estimate. Even if you are getting a walk up carry out order, you have to wait in line. It’s best to order ahead.

Second, the food is good but not great. We had fried grouper, fried shrimp, fried catfish, and their soup of the day. On the first day, we had clam chowder and it was some of the best we’ve ever had and on the second day, we had their she-crab soup- marvelous. The not great part comes from their fry batter; it’s not thick so the coating is thin and will flake off before eating. We like our fried seafood double coated and crunchy, like deep fried chicken. Also their batter is on the salty side so beware if you have to watch the sodium intake. However, if you like thinly battered seafood, you will love their cooking.

Third, their blackened seafood looked amazing but we didn’t try it but the aroma was insanely tempting. As for their sides, the green beans are excellent and seasoned. We also had the sweet potato cornbread and it was horrible; not sure why it’s so popular. The taste is bland and it’s a cube of mush.

Fourth, parking is a premium so plan ahead or slide behind Captain Woody’s and walk over.

With that, I do recommend for the tourist looking for fried seafood on the island. It is truly a “dive” experience. I also believe they have daily specials like Fried or Blackened fresh catch too. Now this ain’t Captain D’s prices so be ready to drop $100+ for 4 people. But if you plan ahead, Skull creek dockside or Hudson’s are true seafood experiences (literally on the sea) and...