CK’S Bistro — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

Our first time dinning with CK’s bistro…let’s highlight the food first, it was good. Within our party, we consumed the penne vodka with chicken, the sirloin salad, the pasta parm, the cordon blue, chicken tenders, tuna app, firecracker rolls, parm fries and more. The food was good. No complaints. It was all tasty, good portioned for the price and the drinks (peach tea, old fashions (can’t tell you which ones because out of 6 of the “same” ordered old fashions, we got a different one each time ((unintentionally, because each one was supposed to be the same, but they were all made differently)), gingerbread martini, dirty martini). We were a party of 12.

The food was good but the service was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough! The good food was not worth the almost 4 hour dinner time. It might have been better if our orders were not so messed up and our service was even worse! They could not seem to get us what we asked for (lemons for our water, sauces for dips for the chicken, Parmesan cheese for pastas) until after we had asked several different times. It took about 15/20 minutes to get the sauces and cheese we asked for, after several times of asking. It took an hour for our appetizers, after being seated 20 minutes AFTER our reservation time. The servers stood in one spot and asked “who got the pasta” we asked “what pasta” as they serve different kinds and there were multiple pasta meals ordered. They had to take the food back to the kitchen to figure out what meals they were delivering. The two kids meals came out last which was fine, had it not taken an extra 12 minutes for the two chicken tenders to come to the table after every meal was delivered.

We had to ask for several items, like lemons, cheese, sauces multiple times (I counted 7 times for one item) before we got it.

The drinks we ordered were NEVER made the same. Literally the same drink ordered, was made differently every time and there was only one bar tender so it wasn’t like there were multiple bar tenders who have different spins on drinks.

Then the bill came. I will go ahead and say we had 5 splits. That’s a lot. I get it. But they brought bills the first time and the split was so far off. They took 30 minutes to fix it and they were ALL still wrong. The second correction took another 30 minutes and EVERY BILL was STILL wrong (I won’t even go into the many times we tried to help in regards to writting down our meals and drinks on a peice of paper to help them) they wouldn’t even accept it! I believe the answer was “Carol is at the computer and she will figure it out”.

My crew has been to many restaurants, fancy, non fancy, bars, grills, all kinds. This place does not have their stuff together AT ALL!!!!!!! I cannot even tell you how many times we had to ask for different items, (I know I’ve said this several times already, but it was really REALLY bad!!) even as simple as “can I get a refill of water”…..I held my cool until the bill came and when I tried to tell the waitress (the first time) that the bills were mixed up, she completely ignored me and walked away. I thought perhaps she didn’t hear me. So I waited for our second waitress to walk by and tried to get her attention, she acknowledged me and gave me the “just a minute” finger, then proceeded to chat and laugh with fellow waitresses for 15 minutes before coming over and asking if everything was okay. I told her that the bills were wrong and she said “okay, well I’m not the main waitress so let me get her”……….what should have been a 2 hour dinner (from start to finish with our large group) ended up being close to 4 hours!!!

Our reservation was at 6:30, we were seated at 6:48, we didn’t leave until 10:36pm. THIS IS INSANE!!!! I do understand that we had a large group, I get it. But we had two waitresses, we didn’t order custom items, and we should not have to ask more than twice for something as simple as lemons or sauce or water.

I...

Had an invitation to try CK's after a very positive recommendation by a friend. Please know our ranking is a high 3 ⭐ but not a 4 ⭐. First parking, it's a bit of a challenge in order to find a spot but once you do it could be a bit of a walk. Had 6pm reservations and do recommend that you do that even though for a Tuesday it wasn't busy. Our party of four was seated in a nice booth, however regretfully next to a party of five who could not have been louder, not a great start. Shane was our server and did an admirable job but seemed a little off. Order drinks and was surprised that one guests Chocolate Martini came clear as they had no Bayles, Shane came with cream to mix but we sent it back to the Bar to be mixed. For this we give one ⭐. Bill ordered Belvedere Vodka, not having switched to Absolute Rocks Twist and when he ordered a second was advised they were out. This is a first time we have had that happen. Appetizers were ordered. Calamari was perfect but came out without any lemon 🍋 so 4 ⭐. CK Pork Pot sticker's we supposed to be steamed however came out browned and nothing special so 2 ⭐. Two guests ordered Scallops on Rosutto both were good so 5 ⭐. Bill wanted to order the Eggplant, but was waved off so he went with the Fried Pork Shank on Rosutto with some dry Asparagus. At best this is 3 ⭐. Why? The Shank was ok but placed on top of dry tasteless Risotto kills the whole dish. If it was on top of Garlic Mashed with a Pork Gravy and some fresh Asparagus then this would be a 5 ⭐ dish worthy of the $30.00 price. Another guest ordered the special steak with scallops on mashed with grilled tomatoes. Scallops on this dish were slightly overcooked so 4 ⭐. Two guests wanted decaf coffee but Shane forgot to place the order. In addition by mistake one guests Doggy Bag meal never made it and was discarded in error so 0 ⭐ for that. What surprised us was no offer was made to even comp anything as we did order a cheesecake dessert that was good 5 ⭐.As you can see we expected a lot of CK's but it didn't meet our expectations. Will we be back? Even though the Chef has a stellar history cooking for some of the best places, CK's missed...

New restaurants face many challenges as they open their doors during their first days of operation. For that reason they should be given a little "slack" when giving them reviews, especially as is the case here. CK's hasn't even had its official opening yet. Well, I'm not going to give CK's any leawsay as they don't need any.

Our waitress, Maddy, was personable, knowledgeable, and attentive. The food came out within a reasonable time. And what food it was.!

We started with a pastry-wrapped baked brie cheese accompanied with both a Dijon and a raspberry sauce. I have to return just for more of this amazing dish. The crunch of the Philo pastry, the creamy, warm cheese filling and the sweet burst of that berry sauce was amazing delight.

I ordered the piled chicken cordon bleu entre. Another winner! And the Parmesan risotto was easily the best I've had: creamy, cheesy with just the perfect amount of moisture.

One other dish at our table was the chicken marsala entre. That sauce was the afternoons winner. It was sweet and savory, with a copious amount of mushrooms.

It is clear that the entire staff is deeply interested in the success of the restaurant. Not only did several other wait staff come over to see how we were doing, but the Chef, Kevin, came out to chat too. And this "parade" of inquisitive staff didn't intrude but rather added to our dining experience.

Now, this is not an inexpensive restaurant. It's not outrageously expensive either, especially given the expertly prepared large portions provided

My only regret is that I was too full to order dessert. I'm just going to have to go back (tomorrow?)...