Bowens Island Restaurant — Restaurant in Charleston

Cool place in a cool spot. The staff was friendly enough and the food was good. Unfortunately, some not so great stuff happened: 1–When we arrived, we didn’t know what the deal was—sit down, wait for a hostess, order at counter? Two or three staff walked past us during this time and nobody thought to ask or say anything to us, even though we probably looked obviously confused standing in the doorway looking around. 2– We figured out finally that the ordering is done at the counter and then you go sit down and wait for them to bring you your food. After ordering, the screen prompts you to leave a tip, and the options are 18%, 20%, and 25%. This is a huge pet peeve of mine because I haven’t yet been served, so how am I going to tip for service if I don’t know what the service is going to be like? Anyway, I hit 18%, which came out to about $10. Fine. But after the rest of the evening, I wish I had been asked to tip at the end… 3–We sat down at one of three empty tables we saw, none of which had been bussed. Eventually, I went up to the counter and asked for a towel to wipe the table down. The guys was cool and came over and bussed it for us. 4–Food eventually came out roughly 40 minutes after we ordered. It was a busy night, but when the food came out, more than half the place had already cleared out, so it was disappointing to wait so long for one platter of fried fish, friend shrimp, crab cakes, hush puppies, and mushy cole slaw. 4–Cleanliness was the biggest issue and the trigger for this review… The place is pretty dirty. Yes, it has a gritty atmosphere with all the graffiti and patio atmosphere, which I liked, but this isn’t an excuse to be gross… with all the staff, there should have been some cleanup going on. Places like this always have a little something on the floor, but there were napkins, shrimp, and all kinds of spilled food and garbage on the floors inside and outside—everywhere. Never did we see anyone just pick up a broom and sweep up a bit. Also, tables just weren’t getting bussed as people left. 5–When our food came out, I went over to the condiment table to get tartar sauce, napkins, utensils, and an extra plate for sharing the platter. No extra plates anywhere, and this table was a nightmare: it looks like a hurricane hit it from all the people using it all evening. There were three sauces: tartar, cocktail, and honey mustard. The cocktail sauce would barely come out, the top on the tartar sauce was broken and splattered with tartar sauce, and the honey mustard was in an empty bottle (in addition to its top also being broken, but still useable.) the table had splattered sauces all over it, wadded up napkins where people must have been trying to wipe up all evening, and crumpled and toppled paper cup thingies scattered and splattered on. Disgusting. I got an employee and asked if he could just give me some tartar sauce and I explained the sauce table situation. He seemed surprised about what I said regarding the sauce table to he asked me to come with him back to the table and started fumbling with the tartar sauce bottle. He apologized and said he’d go get me some. He never returned, and later I saw him cleaning stuff behind the bar. We just ate everything with ketchup and the little cocktail sauce I managed to get out of one of the bottles. 6–The...

⭐ 1 Star — Extremely Disappointed & Let Down by Bowers (South Carolina) I truly wish this review was different, especially since we were excited to try Bowers after hearing so many great things from locals. Unfortunately, our experience was so disappointing, frustrating, and poorly handled that we left shocked—and hungry. We arrived with our family on a Wednesday evening, expecting a nice dinner and good service. We placed our order promptly and settled in, expecting the usual 30–40 minute wait. But over an hour and a half passed, and we still had not received our food.

During that time, we checked in multiple times with the staff. Each time, we were given vague answers like “It’s coming soon” or “Let me check on that,” but never anything concrete. Finally, just under the two-hour mark, we were told something no diner ever wants to hear:

“Your order was never entered into the system.” Let that sink in—we sat there for almost two full hours, expecting a meal, while the kitchen had no idea we were even waiting. And to make things worse, the staff wasn’t even apologetic about it. No sincere apology, no effort to make things right, no urgency. Just a shrug and a “Sorry about that,” like we were an afterthought. It was now after 8 PM. Everywhere else in town had closed—leaving us, and our entire family, without dinner. It completely ruined our evening. We had young kids with us who went to bed hungry, and there was no effort by the restaurant to offer compensation, a rush order, or even a genuine apology.

For a place that prides itself on being a local favorite, this experience was the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a reputable business. The lack of communication, accountability, and basic hospitality was appalling.

We wanted to love this place. We wanted to become regulars. But after the way we were treated, we’ll never be back—and we’ll be sharing this experience...

Whenever I travel specially out of state, I always try my best to find hidden gems where The locals would go. Bowen’s Island Restaurant is in a very private secluded location. You Can easily pass by and without knowing it’s there because there’s only a small sign and plus you have to drive maybe .08 mile before you will finally see where are all the cars park. Let me tell you a summarized story of this island. Hope Barber is the 4th generation of her family’s owned business. I met her father (I need to go back again because I didn’t get a chance to snap a pic of him)! He told us that it’s been in SC eversince 1946!!! I can’t reiterate for out of towners to dine here. Wednesday and Thursday are the most better days to go. They open at 5pm so I suggest to be there at 430pm. Friday thru Sunday are the most busiest that the line will be out the door, pass the ramp and out the oyster shells outside. Wait times will be 1-2 hours so please plan ahead of time. I ordered the fried whiting fish platter. All platters are served with French fries, hush puppies and coleslaw. I slowly savored the fried fish. It’s lightly breaded with cornmeal.

Don’t forget to get your key lime pie!!! The best key lime pie I’ve ever eaten! Tart is good and the most silkiest smoothest ever!!! I wish I bought a whole pie so I can have 2nd and 3rd and 4ths. No joke I love it!!

The restaurant atmosphere is great for big groups and kid friendly. I love it that’s it’s al fresco! Perfect to catch the sunset in here! Stunning and relaxing view. I can actually stay there for the rest of the night!

TIP: oysters season MAY so it’s definitely advisable to go and experience it at Bowen’s Island Restaurant. The oyster shucking is located downstairs where all the big humongous pots where the oysters are steamed in perfection. Afterall, they have been doing...