Sole Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

Back in 2020, my mom, aunt, and myself started taking an annual trip to Myrtle Beach in November. We thought the cooler weather, fewer crowds, and cheaper prices would provide a great getaway. When looking for food, we decided that not every night could be seafood and we love Italian food.

I did a lot of research and landed on Sole.

The atmosphere: It is a hole in the wall. It looks like a nothing place that you would pass. However, I find that those can sometimes provide the best food. I loved how small it was and how dim it was. I have seen a lot of negative reviews. But I found the atmosphere pleasing instead of a turn-off.

The service: I will say that out of the 5 years we have been, the majority of the time we have been served by the owner or his mom. They are both extremely chatty and it can be a turn-off to some. However, we always find it very entertaining. This year we watch a video of his daughter singing and playing an instrument. There has been a delay in years past between courses or getting water filled. Usually this was when it was busier, or other things were going on. All in all, we’ve been very happy.

The food: I’ve never been to Italy. I don’t know true Italian food compared to frozen Italian food. What I will say is this place has some of my favorite red sauce ever! My mom and aunt love the fiochhi pear purses. This is the main reason they want to go back each year. Our bread was warm and tasty. I will admit, my ravioli the first year was not my favorite. However, I LOVE the manicotti and my family LOVES the lasagna. My aunt eats at a lot of different Italian places back home so she has had good and bad. The limoncellos cheesecake was light and fluffy and absolutely divine. So for those saying it was a frozen cake - who cares! It was heavenly!

Overall - there is a reason we’ve gone 5 years in a row and it will continue to be one of our go-to places until a bad experience. I can’t speak to the ticket, tip, charges, etc. All I know is that we will keep going back and everyone has...

My children (9-10-17), my husband and I had decided to enjoy our last night in Myrtle beach by having Italian dinner! We ended up in this restaurant and the whole experience got awkward after the owner or “mom” kept coming to our table the whole time to talk “too much” about her personal life, illness and tragedy to the point that my daughter (9) almost cried. At the beginning the owner was telling us about her restaurant and how amazing her fresh and “just cooked” TRADITIONAL ITALIAN food was. Ok, we were looking forward, so I asked her if she had any Italian background but she said no, she said that she was from Bolivia. Then I asked if she had been in Italy before and she said “never, no need”. But we have been in Italy multiple times and we knew about traditional Italian food. HERE THE WORST PART: once we got our meals, “mom” (the owner) kept coming to our table over and over interrupting us by saying too much information about her life, inappropriate double sense jokes (Hawk tuah joke) things that we were not even asking for, things that we didn’t want to hear about. We ended up eating mediocre food (Olive Garden can be better) and feeling uncomfortable after listening to her stories. To the owner: her behavior was was unprofessional, zero discretion, intrusive, rude and that was not a cultural difference, ( I am from South America too). The whole thing was such a lack of manners.

I truly didn’t want my children to hear all of that! Not enough, she was pushy by asking us to put a NICE review. Really? At the end she asked us if we would want desserts and we declined. She still brought a piece of limoncello cake and charged us for it, even though we said “no thanks we are good”. Too much! We will never come back.

The bill: it was alright, 4 meals and an unwanted dessert (125+) but the owner included tip (18%) by herself, and started to justify it by giving us explanations that again we DID NOT asked for.

I didn’t enjoy dealing with such a rude person. Here is my honest review....

This place is a scam. Buyer beware! Read to the end with evidence attached. I had very high hopes and took my daughters. Was disappointed overall with food, service, and pricing practice.

Immediately upon entering, I was told by the owner that this is "the best Italian restaurant on the East coast!" Then proceeds to tell his life and family story and how successful he's become with multiple restaurants. He's a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with the friendliness other than setting the expectation sooooo high and then under delivering by a mile.

The free warm bread was the best dish. The powdery parmesan tastes artificial. Appetizer came fast. Free salad came after 40 minutes. Main dish came 1:15 hrs after I asked about them.

I wouldn't have posted this review if the food was actually tasty. The spaghetti ($18.95) with meat sauce (extra $5.95) is made of packaged noodles and bland sauce. Prego would've tasted better. The promoted special Zuppa di Pesce ($38.95!!) was made with a few frozen seafood ingredients (we're oceanside and yes it's very obviously not fresh), bland sauce, and overcooked packaged pasta. The parmesan risotto was bland and overcooked (likely precooked and ready to serve rather than fresh made to order.)

The surprise doesn't end there. The bill came and 18% automatic gratuity was already added (the server is the owner and we're only 3 people). THEN, the mandatory gratuity was TAXED 11.5%! I asked him and he said it's not taxed (a lie, receipt is attached. You do the math). LASTLY, there's a 3.99% credit card fee in addition to the whole bill.

Felt like I ate at a tourist trap in Naples....