Big Chill Island House — Restaurant in North Myrtle Beach

I have emailed a few times to no avail, I've been left with no other choice than to review. There were a few issues I experienced this past Saturday 09.06.21. I made a 5:45 reservation for 2 online, when we arrived they couldn't find my name and there were no tables to seat us downstairs so we were told to go upstairs. Once there the hostess said she had no tables either. I said we were sent up because we were told you did up here, she radio'd someone and eventually she sat us against the right wall where the tables are very, very close together. It was a warm day and although there were fans we were still warm. All frozen bar and soft drinks with ice were melting. Ordered food that took over 30 minutes to arrive, to find that my entree of skewers with fries and pasta salad were under cooked. Burnt tips and outside areas but raw at the stick. I cut around and ate what I could as we were very hungry. Pasta salad had absolutely no flavor other than mayo. Large mound of IQF fries and 3 small cubes of beef on two cocktail toothpicks for $30?!?! There were no pictures to know what the meal looked like in advance. I added the ceaser salad for an additional $6 which was decent. For almost $40 my meal was very disappointing. Waiter checked in on us 1 time, where I showed him the meat and the cook that was supposed to be medium well. He asked what he could do to fix the issue and I said just get me new skewers and I'd keep eating the sides as again I was very hungry and didn't want to wait any longer. A few minutes before 8pm he placed the new skewers only on the table missing the chimichurri sauce. I knew I was not going to get to eat them as we saw a DJ setting up equipment really close to our table and realized that it was about to get loud, I asked for a box togo. Check comes and its got two of my meal rung up which I had to get fixed before I was going to pay. By that time the LOUD music and even LOUDER customers at the table next to us made it almost unbearable. My dinner companion and I are cancer patients and were celebrating some good news results, but definitely weren't able to enjoy the music and rowdiness that it became. I wish I knew in advance and we wouldn't have gone here or sat upstairs. I'm glad others enjoyed themselves, though it was way too much for us. This is why the remake of skewers were not eaten that night. Next day I heated up the leftovers and the skewers were exactly the same, bunt outside and pink/raw at the stick. That is what led me to send this email as I do not feel that the wait, service and food was up to par with my past visits. Total check for 2 with 1 bar drink each and 2 entrees was almost $100!! I do not feel we got the best value or experience this visit. I respectfully request someone reply to me to discuss...

AWFUL describes our experience! We had our son’s rehearsal dinner there. They totally clowned it!!! DO NOT use them for any event they are clueless!

There were three choices of entree for everyone to select so they weren’t surprised when we ordered.

One example that sums up the night was A guest at my table and myself ordered the ribeye steak medium. my wife and another guest ordered the crab cake. After about 45 minutes the steaks came out but they didn’t serve the crab cakes at the same time. The waitress said they would be right out. After a few minutes the ladies told us to go ahead and eat while it’s warm. That is when we noticed we only had butter knives - they didn’t give us steak knives. We tried to cut our steaks and after a bit we cut through them and we both noticed they were charred on the outside but blue red rare on the inside!

When the waitress was nearby I called her over and asked where were the crab cakes and showed her the steaks we ordered were to be medium and these were totally rare. I also asked for some steak knives. She apologized, said the crab cakes were on the way and she would get us new steaks cooked medium.

I got up to check other tables and very few people had steak knives. I found someone and asked if the could give everyone who ordered steak a steak knife. A novel idea! I noticed several others were sending steaks back due to them being raw.

it was 20-30 minutes after our table received their first round of rare steaks that the people who ordered the crab cakes finally got them. I don’t know about you but when at a restaurant I like it when the whole table eats at the same time.

Really long awful story short. Our guest at our table who ordered his steak medium got THREE blue red rare steaks and I got TWO before we both said forget it we don’t want any more.

We were told we were to receive a Chef’s selection for dessert. It was churro sticks. Not a dessert you would think of a chef making.

Remember, this is my sons wedding rehearsal dinner with my me, mywife and 31 guests. Myself and at least one other person at my table did not even eat dinner due to the ineptness of the Big Chill staff. We had one chance to do this and had been planning it for a year. There is no excuse for what they did.

I will give credit where credit is due. The shrimp and calamari appetizer was delicious. The crab cakes when they finally got them were wonderful.

I feel obligated to let everyone know that these People have no idea how to run a restaurant and how to...

I really wanted to give Big Chill Island House another chance after a disappointing visit right after their grand opening. Unfortunately, this return visit was even worse.

It started at the downstairs bar, where one side was completely swarmed with gnats. As soon as I got my cocktail, they were landing in it nonstop. I decided to move rather than dine there—but the bartender insisted I pay for the drink first, even though the issue was due to cleanliness and not preference. The bar area and fruit containers clearly weren’t being maintained.

After paying, I asked to be seated elsewhere and was placed outside. The view is great, and the vibe could be wonderful, but that’s where the positives end.

I ordered the Chicken Peanut Mango Salad from the entrée section—completely dry, flavorless, and the spicy dressing pooled at the bottom did nothing to help. It also took 40 mins to receive. I sent it back and opted for the burger based on a review I read while sitting at my table, which, to their credit, was actually really good. Still, it arrived lukewarm, likely due to poor kitchen timing. It took the burger about 25 minutes to get to me. The espresso martini (with rum) was excellent, but the only real highlights of the night were the drinks.

The server outside was friendly, but then came the final straw: I used a gift card and was never given a receipt to sign or add a tip. She just added 20% automatically without a word. While I fully intended to tip (I’ve worked in the service industry), not having the conversation or being given the choice was off-putting. She seems so friendly, so it was a real shame to end it this way and to not give me a receipt reflecting the final charge amount. She just dropped the original itemized copy off and said I was all good. I almost left a cash tip, until I decided to log into the gift card account and see the amount charged. That is when I saw she tipped herself without saying anything. Both illegal and unethical, but hopefully what she took did her some good if she is having issues.

As someone who works in tourism in this community, I hate to say this—but this kind of experience does not encourage locals or tourists to return. For their pricing, the food and service are beyond subpar. I genuinely wish this place was better, but I won’t be...