Bennett's Calabash — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

Be aware of fine print Nancy is a shining star in an otherwise poor excuse for a restaurant with any claim to customer service. We chose this restaurant due to multiple factors. We are part of Bluegreen and it was a suggested restaurant through them. We also had a book of coupons. We researched the website ahead of time, and saw it offered senior citizen discounts as well as being closely located to our condo, and family owned.

However, the fine print says coupons must be presented at time of seating. We didn't realize this. When we presented them at time to pay, the manager smirked at us and happily told us in no uncertain terms that they would not honor the coupons. She also claimed they offer no senior discounts even though it's listed on the website. While, it's admittedly on us for not seeing the fine print, the rudeness of the management in gleefully denying it, was appalling. It was bad enough that my family will never darken their doors again. It seemed especially uncalled for in a restaurant claiming great service while catering to tourists unfamiliar with their practices. In an effort to be thorough, I will say that there was a large selection of food to choose from, and the decor and seating were pretty good. Our family felt a lot of the dishes mediocre, but the crab legs, fried shrimp, and pecan pie were especially good. Our waitress, Nancy did a good job keeping up with our large group. She was kind and understanding and we highly recommend asking for her if you attempt to go. I couldn't possibly give more than one star after the interaction at the end. I honestly can't imagine a ruder ending to an otherwise filling meal than what we experienced with the management there. It's probably not the worst place to go, but with MANY more options around, I'd suggest trying something different or walk in waving your coupons around wildly and plaster them to your face if you want them...

Waaayyy too overpriced for the options!! Our Lyft driver, Chermaine HIGHLY recommended this place over (our original destination) Hooks...huge mistake!!!! How she talked this place up versus what we were presented with, makes this seem like a tourist scam. We were only in town for a short time and sadly, left feeling swindled. Chermaine spoke badly about Hooks and how bland their food is. How she is from here and she knows where to find good seafood and later added how we won't regret it... I will live to regret it, pray to get over it and learn from it. Food was not hot.. warm but not hot at all. Although you can filter through to find an edible meal, my overall opinion of the food is cold, stale and questionable. The best thing going was the crab legs. The "butter" mixture they give you is yuck. My daughter asked me why it tastes like oil. After your first refill..... THEY DON’T REFILL YOUR CUP ALL THE WAY! 3/4ths at most!!!!??!!!!! Our server was very polite. Her customer service skills should be commended. Just wish we would've been able to keep the same 4/4 (whole) refills going.....especially...for the price that we are expected to pay!!!!! All in all, we would’ve left the place, but my baby was hungry and we were all just trying to make the best of it without getting upset and angry. We were SO looking forward to a good seafood buffet experience and Bennett's (and Chermaine) did...

For the money paid per person, this place does not offer any where near quality ingredients. Generally, all the cooked food is over cooked and tasteless. A brand new prime rib has just come out, and despite being freshly cooked, was tasteless, rubbery and simply not good. Most of the calabash seafood was rubbery and frankly not good. A few items were decent: the cocktail shrimp and salad bar and to my surprise the ribs. Those were awesome. As for the crab legs, they were ok as long as you drowned them in the liquid butter. Deserts were a bust. We were looking forward to the lemon pie and it was gas station grade. Finally, while cocktails were on, it felt that they only poured half shots of liquor, rendering each beverage weak.

The service is what redeemed the establishment. Our waiter (who shared with us that she was on her third job) was amazing. She was sweet and busting her behind at every table. She even took time to teach us out to get the most meat out of the crab legs. She was genuinely waning to help and chat a little.

Restaurant wise, while it was fairly clean, when we walked in, we almost turned around because the smell of the seafood was pungent. A good establishment with fresh food...