Water Tree Treats — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

Long post summary: Enjoyable if you have the time. Do not come here if you are on a time crunch, though. Staffing varies and likely to get an "in training" waitress. Have yet to be disappointed by food, however and they offer carry-out.

I have been here a few times now and have enjoyed each meal I had, as well as the people who joined me on a couple excursions. While I do know the price is a bit on the higher side for this independent restaurant, I also understand the need to given it's desire to provide fresh ingredients where they can.

However, if you are looking for a quick bite to eat, I do not recommend coming here. Yes it may take at least a half hour to get your food, but it is worth the wait in most cases /if you are willing to just hang around for a bit/. It is a small business still working on getting the staffing it needs and patience is needed. I have been there a total of three times and have had different waitresses each time, but the chef/owner has been the same. 2/3 times, the waitress has been in training.

Things I have tried: --Appetizer-- fried pickles: a bit more on the milder side compared to other places I have had them, but they are also not as greasy as ones I have had at other locations. The dipping sauce is also on the milder side, but has a little bit of a smokey-ness to it. I enjoy it enough to recommend to others and have ordered it a couple times now. pirogi (appetizer): Those who are more familiar with the traditional potato or cheese filled pirogis, you may be disappointed here. The appetizer ones are filled with sliced steak and are (I believe) deep fried rather than sauteed/boiled. As someone who is used to the softer, cheesey-potato filled morsels served with fried onions, it was a bit jarring for myself. I did not dislike them, but I did end up using the complimentary house cream cheese (that comes with your crackers when you sit down) to fill the need for the softer texture I am used to. It is served with a siracha-ketchup to dip that is enjoyable, but as someone used to the traditional pirogis it is not a favorite of mine. --Entree-- chipotle chicken mac&cheese: A spicy take on cheesy, noodley goodness. It is a filling, enjoyable dish that had me tempted to order it again the next time I visited, but I resist for the sake of exploring other dishes. Using a noodle different from the standard elbow macaroni, it holds onto the cheese flavor along with the seasoning from the chipotle grilled chicken and bell peppers. It is a favorite of mine and a recommended dish. buffalo chicken wrap: While it is not the worst wrap I have had, it also was not anything to write home about. It is your standard wrap with lettuce and chicken along with a blue cheese dressing to soften the blow of the buffalo sauce. However, the chicken tenders used in the wrap are moist and it was one of the cheaper items that surprisingly left me full in the end. If you don't know what to get and don't feel adventurous, get this. chicken waffle grilled cheese: This item is a guilty pleasure. It's a fried chicken patty stuck between two waffles with maple bacon and cheddar cheese paired with syrup to dip in. This is super good and I hope it remains a staple of the restaurant. Highly recommend this sweet and salty treat. --Dessert-- I have only tried one of the ice creams that they offer. It was some kind of berry-sorbet like item. I cannot remember the name at this time, but it was surprisingly tasty though it reminded me of...

Pay very, very close attention to all of the reviews (including mine) that discuss the incredibly long wait times at The Water Tree Cafe. Apparently this is how this business operates all the time, and isn't seasonal, etc.

The cafe is small, but welcoming. There is only one employee, the owner. I learned after we arrived and had been there awhile that she clears the tables, takes the orders, and cooks all food to order. They do have a dine-in business as well as a takeout business.

As a result, some of the tables may be messy when you arrive and you may have a long wait to have her take your order and/or refill drinks.

We ended up being at the cafe for over two hours by the time everything was said and done. It took more than 90 minutes for any food to come out, and none of our drinks were refilled during that 90 minutes. Had I known that this wait times would be so long, I wouldn't have ordered an appetizer.

The owner did not communicate how long things would take, and didn't check in with us often. I think that our expectations could have been much better managed with upfront communication from her.

I perceived that our wait times were even longer because some takeout orders came in after we arrived and while we were there. The people who came in to order takeout in-person were served their food before we were.

We arrived at 2:00 p.m. and were told that none of the quiches were available, which I thought was odd since the cafe opens at 12 Noon.

I am vegan, so I was happy to see that there were so many options for me. I was visiting the cafe with two people who are omnivores, so it was nice that there were options that they were happy with, too.

All three of us commented that the food was delicious. The owner clearly is an excellent chef and uses good, fresh ingredients in her dishes. The food gets five stars. The slow service and lack of communication is significant enough to bring my review down to three stars.

My main constructive feedback would be that I definitely think that hiring a second person would be so useful. They could take orders, clear the tables, and make sure that drinks are topped off, leaving the owner/chef available to focus on what she does best: cook delicious food. This would allow her to turn over tables more quickly and should certainly shorten down the time it takes for food...

My husband and I had reservations to go see a Motown tribute show at 7 pm last night so we looked for a restaurant nearby. We saw Water Tree at about 5 pm and thought we would have plenty of time for a nice dinner before the show. 90 minutes should have been plenty of time and then allow 30 minutes to get to our destination. We always like to support small businesses when we can. So we walked in at 5 pm and a nice lady greeted us and said sit anywhere. There were only 2 other tables with customers. The menu was interesting and my husband ordered a BLT and Onion Rings. I ordered off the daily special "Bang bang shrimp bowl. We had sweet tea. She brought the tea immediately and we chatted a few minutes. I noticed one woman cooking. We waited for our food and waited and waited and waited. At 615 pm much to my husbands dismay I had to ask our server when our food would be ready as we have a show at 7. She said let me check and came back to say she was making it now. AN HOUR AND A 15 MINUTES AFTER WE ORDERED! Then proceeded to tell me they are a made to order restaurant. There was only one other lady in the restaurant who was there before us. She had to wait at least 90 minutes for her food. I noticed she was almost falling asleep waiting. We finally got our food at 620 pm and had to rush to eat. My husbands sandwich had a ton of lettuce but very little bacon. He removed hald the lettuce. The bread crust was hard to chew. My shrimp was hard and very little bang bang sauce on the actual rice. The rice of course was dry. The snow peas were good but put off to one side instead mixed in with the shrimp and rice. I left it all there. We left. But of course paid for food we hardly ate and rushed to our show. There chef needs to learn how to cook for more than one person at a time. Very very...