Gulfstream Cafe — Restaurant in South Carolina

This used to be our favorite restaurant and we still come here at least once when we come down, but the last 3 times we have gone, the service and food quality have gone downhill. Last night we came to celebrate and even asked if we could get a drink at the bar until our table was ready. The hostess said our table was ready so we could order our cocktails there. We got seated then the hostess triple sat the server. Our cold she crab soup showed up before we ever even got water on the table. We had no true table service all night (not because of our server’s attitude bc mind you Tony was busting his tail and showed nothing but positivety and kept saying “it’s all good” and “thank you for being so patient”), no one did or said anything special for our special occasion, no one took our drinks off or offered a complimentary dessert - you know, nothing we expected, but certainly would have appreciated the gesture. If I were a manager on duty and had a table with our experience, I would have comp’d their whole meal and bottle of wine! Our poor server forgot my cosmopolitan not once, but twice so then we decided to order a bottle of wine so we could pour it ourselves. 😂 He had no training on wine service, so I showed him the basics, but was very surprised bc in every industry job where i served wine, i was educated on the brands, how to pour, the proper stemware, etc. After having to replace one glass bc it smelled like fish and the second having a dirty interior that he brought an extra cloth napkin over to give to my other half to wipe his own glass out, we finally were about to get some real food. Our tuna tartare was served with the ponzu in a bowl so there was no way around the tuna being saturated in it. For anyone who watches sodium intake, this kind of sucked plus i actually like to taste the tuna and don’t like my sushi saturated in soy or my tuna saturated in ponzu. Then my entree, the low country boil, was served similarly in a bowl saturated in what tasted like a hot chili oil. It tasted nothing like a traditional old bay which you would expect and I certainly didn’t expect my seafood to all be so spicy and saturated in oil. I said nothing and just came home and made a spread of pretzels, popcorn & jelly beans for dinner. Despite the super disappointing dinner and service, we had a fabulous view and we appreciated Tony’s humble attitude and left him a $100 tip. I would say the problem here was not understaffing as we saw plenty of staff, but the efficiency of how the tables were seated, the education training for the servers, and the menu recipes need a tweak. We will reluctantly be back, but dang I miss the...

First visit was for appetizers and drinks with a view outside and was ok. Hence 3 stars overall score. Again this is for drinks and an appetizer on the outside deck overlooking the view. Not full service dinner service. That review is below and would be 2 stars overall. This review is for our visit this past Saturday.

Our party of 3 arrived and was seated inside before 5:20 pm and was not given the early bird menu. The server had stepped away when we noticed we had been given the dinner menu only. Asked hoatess for the early bird menu as it was before 5:30pm and was told we would have needed reservations to order from that menu. Nowhere is that printed but ok. Asked server and by the time she returned with our drink order it was 5:35pm. She said as it was then after 530 the kitchen had stopped that menu. So disappointing - lack of service from 2 staff members.

Ordered appetizers and those were brought out. The hush puppies came with a sweet icing type dip. Not butter based. The cocktails were good.

Everyone ordered fried items and everyone was disappointed in the food. Flounder breading was mushy, not crispy. Was falling off in mushy pieces on the plate. The fish flavor was good but the texture of the breading was overbreaded and mushy. The shrimp was overcooked and overbreaded as well.

We did not have a refill our water at any time during our meal. We each offered feedback about the less than great meals - the manager did not come over and not even sure if the feedback made it to them or the kitchen. Seemed disinterested.

As for our checks - we split 2 ways. The server presented them tableside and stayed there while we paid - she handed over a credit card machine from the back pocket of her blue jeans. My friend paid and handed back the machine. The server looked down at the machine and asked my friend if she meant to add a tip. (She didn't, she tips in cash - but she felt this was rude not to mention uncomfortable for guests).

We all agreed that this restaurant has potential to be excellent if only the food and service matched the atmosphere. Unfortunately there are too many establishments within close range that execute a better quality guest experience and deliver excellent food and service - even with staffing issues that the entire industry is...

I'd give it a fraction of one star if that was an option.

Having been to Gulfstream Cafe in Murrells Inlet, SC, multiple times, my expectation for good food and good service was automatic just thinking about the invitation we had to join friends for dinner on 9/30/23. What a disappointment! The sunset did not let us down, but the restaurant certainly did. Clearly our server (not his fault, of course) was overstretched and never caught up. All the basic requests, beverage, refills, food, refills, etc, were far too slow and involved apologies on his part. The food was hit or miss at our table. My wife's salmon was excellent. My NY Strip ordered medium rare was closer to medium well, which toughened it into nearly beef jerky. Given the sloppy service, even thinking about sending it back and waiting for another one was out of the question. Another steak at our table was apparently okay. A roasted chicken dish also was apparently okay. Beverages came slow and went empty for far too long all around the table. The final fail was regarding the request, and subsequent wait, for our checks. There were very few tables left within sight which had customers at them. However, 6-8 staff members could be observed across the room setting up for something, maybe a party for the next day or a catering or to-go order, or something else that looked like a big deal. Nobody seemed to care about our status. We finally chased down a nice young lady who stepped up to rescue us. As we were trying to escape with our good graces intact, interactions with the manager on duty came up way short of "does he even care about what his customers are experiencing or saying?" We spent about $300 at our table, and would have been far more pleased and happier with a $30 fast food experience delivered by a grumpy teenager on plastic benches listening to hip hop music we don't care for. Gulfstream is now on the "I don't think so" list from now on. Too bad. Always such a nice view at...