Seafood World Calabash Seafood And Steak Buffet — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

We ate here last night, looking for a good seafood buffet that we haven't tried yet in Myrtle Beach (which is hard to do). We arrived at 7pm and we're seated in just a few minutes. The place was noisy and there were people, but not over crowdedas there were several open tables throughout. We sat and ordered 6 waters and 6 buffets (4 adults and 2 kids) then went to the bar to get started. Even at prime dinner time there were several items that were empty or had been sitting a while. The steaks were ok but most of the seafood was overcooked and rubbery. The desserts were the worst part of the food as all of the cakes were soggy and watery to the point that they weren't edible; my son said the ice cream was ok though. Now, for the service, it was worse than the food. The waiter brought our waters as we had already started eating and only returned once to take a single plate off the table. He never returned to refill the glasses until I had to call him over and ask him to; twice. One of the other servers came over and asked if we needed our server as we were waiting on the check so we could just get out of there. When he still didn't show, I went to the front desk and asked them to get our check. I finally see our guy across the dining room and he hands our check over to a different server for them to deliver it to us. When he put it on the table I asked to speak to the manager. This takes another 10 minutes or so for her to show up after stopping by a table where there were 3 servers sitting and rolling silverware at the very first table in the dining room when you first walk in. She finally make it over with our original server; now he shows up 🙄. I explained to her that we haven't gotten any service since we arrived and our drinks ran out several times, even pointing out that our glasses on the table were empty again. I told her that I don't mind paying a mandatory gratuity on a 6 person ticket as long as we get some kind of service, but when you have to constantly ask for drinks, ask for the check to multiple other workers, and not to mention that it's a buffet so you're not actually serving food, I felt that more than $40 for what we received was a little ridiculous. She goes on to tell me that they add gratuity to parties of 6 or more, which I already understood. I explained again that we didn't get any service during our visit. She then looks at me with her attitude and says "Did he bus your table"? I said yes he took one plate but we were out of drinks several times and couldn't get our check, not to mention all of the plates and bowls of shells that were on our table while she was standing right there, like really? Does it look like it? I then asked the waiter himself if I had to ask for drinks when our glasses were empty and he couldn't deny it in front of her because he knew he hadn't been over to check on us. It's also not like he was busy taking care of other folks as he was nowhere to be seen on the floor the entire time. I told her just to take the check and my card so we could pay and get out of there. She walks away with it still with the same attitude, and returns with the 15% gratuity removed. Long story just to say, we didn't get good food, didn't get good service, management was no help, and all we have to show for it is being out $300. Save yourself the hassle and go to any of the other seafood joints in town (Crabby Mike's, Bennett's, Crabby George's, Pirate's Table, etc. which were all far better) to get more of your money's worth. We will never be going back to...

The only redeeming quality of this restaurant was the steak, which was surprisingly good compared to the rest of the food.

-The buffet: its small and there's only one spot for grab legs which are taken manually by the customer so you have people taking the entire pot each time and everyone else is waiting. The shrimp tasted like chicken, not an exaggeration it was literally chicken flavored. The vegetables and fruit were passable which is funny considering this is a seafood restaurant you would think the seafood would be passable not the sides.

-Seafood boil: When its sat in front of you it looks great, and that's where its greatness ends. you would think since you're not ordering the buffet the crab legs would be different/better... they are not. You get 4 of the skimpiest crab legs known to man and then they have the nerve to give you a hand cracker for them like you'd need it. Want more than 4 skimpy legs: That'll be an additional 52 dollars added onto the bill. The boil is 90% shrimp which was okay tasting aka better than the buffet shrimp but not by much.

The Steak: was actually well done (medium rare lol) and is the only reason this place isn't getting a 1 star.

Service: after receiving our food the server checked back in twice within 50 minutes and the second time was when we were asking for the check. Considering its a buffet and 95% of customers are only going to need you to run drinks im not sure why we were only checked on once. My two guests were basically bullied out the bathroom by two employees comandeering the entire tiny space for a chit chat.

The atmosphere: if you have kids this would be a fine establishment to go as around 75% of the people at time we went had kids. Its extremely noisy as its an open room concept with one room on the side. If you don't have children there are much better options for the price range.

I went to Seafood World Calabash and all I got was a an X on my list of seafood restaurants to eat at in...

WATCH YOUR RECEIPT TOTAL! And be prepared to be talked down to if you notice & question the charges by the manager. We decided to try someplace different from where we normally go. Was disappointed. I asked how much the buffet was and was told $51.99 by the hostess. We gave her our coupon from the savings book and ate. The food was either bland or salty, the crab legs were a fight to get the meat out. But the slivers of meat were tasty with butter. Some of the fish was dry, so request you some tartar or cocktail to give yourself some flavor and moisture... but the real issue is Ok, so we got our check and noticed the subtotal was wrong, the tax was 11.5%, (apparently normal for restaurants that want to charge the max), they charge more for using your debit card than cash, which is like charging the table attendant if a patron pays with a card, that's unfair. (I do not charge my customers to do business with me) When I asked the attendant, she got the manager and I was told by her quote.."there's 2 charges that don't show up on the receipts...???" She said the buffet is $57, again NOT on the receipt, so basically if you use the savings coupon, you're charged more for the buffet, to make up the difference." I asked her what is $52+$52, she said $108.84.... ? Really, since when? Then she changed it to the $106.58...again, how? $3 is NOT the deal, the BIG deal is "IF" they CHEAT every table out of $3 without people noticing, that's $90 every 30 tables "served" (which other than the girl taking the plate twice, she didnt even bring more drinks, soooo). Thereby, cheating their patrons. I can't support businesses with these kind of practices. But if they see this, maybe they'll change it, if more people notice and say something. I won't be back however. Thank you for reading &...