Papa Doc's Shore Club — Restaurant in Lake Wylie

From my daughter's perspective: Yesterday my family & I (22) decided to go to lunch for my sister, as she leaves for college tomorrow. So, you could say we went in intending to enjoy our last meal as a family for a while. Being I’ve been here several times before I ordered my fav drink (Strawberry Daiquiri) to celebrate. The waitress (Macey D) asked for my ID like normal, approved it, and gave it back.After our food was submitted, Macey returned to our table and again requested my ID. Although puzzled by this repeat check, I willingly complied. She took my ID with her. When she later reappeared to check on us, we decided to ask about it. She explained that recent issues involving fake IDs and underage drinking had prompted her to involve her manager in a double-check of my ID. Drawing on my family's collective experience in the service industry, we empathetically acknowledged her concern and understood the need for vigilance. During this exchange, her manager was seen reviewing my ID near our table, verifying its authenticity. With my ID eventually returned to me without any further explanation, we assumed the matter had been resolved.15 minutes later our food arrives. At this point I still have not had my drink delivered, so I figured Macey forgot (totally ok, I’ve def done it before) or maybe the bar was backed up. So I grabbed her attention and asked. To our surprise, she revealed that she had chosen not to serve me the drink due to suspicions about my age. In a composed and understanding manner, we requested to speak with a manager, not to complain but to clarify the situation. The same manager who earlier verified my ID approached our table. He explained that the server's decision not to serve me had his support, regardless of his personal assessment of my ID. Expressing our frustration, my mother and I recounted my history of drinking there without issue. We even proposed scanning my ID, a measure that if available, would confirm my legal drinking age. We then expressed to him that our greatest concern, however, lay with Macey’s lack of communication regarding her decision. This omission left me under the impression that my drink was merely delayed, causing unnecessary confusion and disappointment. Regrettably, the manager could not offer any resolution, and our conversation ended without any form of apology or resolution. We continued our meal, but the atmosphere had been altered by this unfortunate incident. Macey comes back and says she didn’t mean to upset us. I explained to her that I was frustrated in her decision, but I was more upset that she never communicated it—brace yourselves for her response because I was astonished she even thought it was ok to say to her table (again, I’ve been a server before & had to approach similar situations and though never easy, you MUST communicate that decision to the customer)—she says that she didn’t tell me because she thought that was a better idea so we wouldn’t get mad and not stay. At that moment I became infuriated. As we concluded our lunch, a different manager approached with the check, acknowledging the earlier events. We expressed our disappointment, particularly about Macey’s deception, and shared how our celebratory lunch had been tainted by the poor handling of the situation. It also just blew my mind that Macey had the guts to decide to not serve me despite how understanding & completely legal I was but didn’t have the guts to bring us the check herself. We found ourselves in a situation where explanations and excuses were prioritized over accountability and customer satisfaction. So, Papa Docs, as a large place with 3 bar areas, hundreds of customers every night, boat service, if fake IDs & underage drinking has become such a problem that of age customers are being punished for it, maybe you should invest in some scanners. I’m sure that if you did, this situation, as well as the other apparently SEVERAL instances of you serving minors wouldn’t have happened. And if you choose not to, maybe at least teach your staff about transparent...

Papa Doc's - 1/5 Stars

I've been coming to Papa Doc's for years, always getting the Bang Bang Shrimp, and I'm honestly shocked at what happened to the portions. This used to be my go-to comfort food - a massive plate of crispy, juicy shrimp that could easily be a full meal. Now I'm wondering if they're pranking their customers.

What showed up at my table yesterday was honestly embarrassing. Seven shrimp. I counted them twice because I couldn't believe it. Seven tiny, sad little shrimp that looked like they'd been on a diet. I've gotten bigger portions at gas station sushi counters. My 8-year-old nephew gets more chicken nuggets in a Happy Meal.

The shrimp weren't just fewer - they were smaller too. I'm talking baby shrimp that needed a growth spurt. One was so small I thought it might actually be a piece of fried rice that got lost. I needed my reading glasses to see if it was properly seasoned.

And don't get me started on the sauce situation. Remember when the Bang Bang sauce was actually, you know, abundant? Now they give you just enough to remind you what you're missing. I had to ration it like I was rationing water in the desert. Each shrimp got exactly one careful dip because there wasn't enough for seconds.

When I asked the server if maybe they forgot half my order, he looked at me like I was crazy and said that WAS the full portion. The full portion! For $16.99! I'm paying almost $2.50 per individual shrimp at this point. I could buy a whole bag of frozen shrimp at the grocery store and still have money left over for cocktail sauce and my dignity.

Look, I get it - inflation is real, costs are up, shrimp are expensive. But shrinking portions while keeping the same prices just feels dishonest. If you need to charge more for the same amount of food, just do that. Don't give me what amounts to an appetizer and pretend it's an entree.

I left hungry, disappointed, and genuinely sad. This used to be my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant. Now I'm sitting here writing a negative review instead of planning my next visit like I usually do.

To Papa Doc's management: please bring back reasonable portions. Your longtime customers notice these things, and we're not happy about it. I want to keep coming here, but not if I need to order three entrees just to feel like I've eaten a meal.

The worst part? I'll probably still go back because I'm hoping this was just a bad night. But if the shrimp keep shrinking, pretty soon you'll just be serving me a single shrimp with a tiny flag stuck in it calling it the "Bang Bang Shrimp Experience."

Do better, Papa Doc's. Your customers deserve better than...

I have heard a lot of great things about Papa Doc’s.

It has a very interesting location right off the buster Boy Bridge,

Has a great atmosphere, lots of people and lots of music .

Also, they have a boat dock where you can pull your boat up just like you go to your car in the parking lot and it’s right next to a major marina.

So even with this review being wrote the way that it is, I will go back and try this place again just because of how many good reviews I have heard from people individually about this place .

I ordered a mahi-mahi sandwich which I have heard nothing but people, rant and rave about!

After waiting probably 25 to 30 minutes at the bar to even have my order be taken I put my order in after flagging somebody down for it to go meal of a mahi-mahi sandwich and sweet potato fries to go.

Even though they were busy, and I understand that impact things it took almost an hour to get my sandwich out .

It took almost 45 minutes for me to get my drink.

My drink was very good and I ordered a margarita that was exceptionally good.

When my mahi-mahi sandwich came out, it never came out with the special sauce that comes with it, and my fish was ice. Cold, my fries were very cold & soggy.

Took me about another five minutes to plug my waitress down and when I told her about it, she immediately said I will take that and make you another one. That doesn’t look right!

They immediately replaced it and actually got me the second replacement to go box out in about 10 minutes. May be a little bit more, much quicker than the first one.

This time it was hot and it was mediocre, and when I say mediocre, I mean mediocre nothing nowhere near like I’ve heard so many people talk about so maybe it was just a bad night.

I’m actually hoping that it is and I’ll try it one more time down the road and if I have a different experience with it this time then I will most certainly come back and edit this review and focus focused on the positive as I always like to do !

However, I will only give an honest review and I wasn’t impressed whatsoever, I was actually quite disappointed and irritated.

The place was busy and the time that we got there was around 9:30 maybe 10 o’clock on a Saturday night .

So I’m sure that’s one of their more busy times of the week and again it might’ve just been isolated bad experience and I will keep you all posted if my experience is different next time.

Bathrooms need more...