Okatie Ale House — Restaurant in South Carolina

There were four of us stopping by mid-afternoon on our way to Hilton Head Island from Charlotte. We were early for our check-in and breakfast was a long ways back in the rear-view.

I chose the Oakatie Ale House based solely on the reviews on Google.

As far as “Ale Houses”, go it is OK. The beer menu isn’t very extensive at all. They feature the usual domestic suspects and a handful of craft beers. If you drink beer, you’ll find something. Full bar.

The menu has a good variety of food choices although I can’t speak for vegan or gluten-free since I don’t pay attention things.

On order: Macadamia Crusted Chicken Salad, Meatball Parmesan, Ale Houses Burger, and The Godfather.

Everyone said their food was delicious and would order again except for me. I had the Meatball Parmesan sandwich: Homemade meatballs smothered in fresh marinara and mozzarella cheese served on an Amaroso Roll.

I really don’t know what an Amaroso Roll is but is is soft and spongy with a nice taste. The meatballs were good and the mozzarella cheese acceptable. Where the sandwich failed was in the sauce. The marinara sauce was ordinary it just wasn’t saucy enough. There simply wasn’t enough ladled onto the sandwich.

I essentially ate a sandwich with meatballs and cheese. I don’t recommend the Meatball Parmesan at all. Even with more sauce, I question whether the marinara sauce’s flavor can bring this one home.

Service was good to begin with, but at the end of the meal, and after the server had dropped the check, it took a minute for her to arrive to pick it up.

For the HHI area, lunch prices seemed reasonable.

The ambience is fine. The place seems to cater to the nearby Sun City retirement community, but that is just an impression on one visit.

I go back again because the menu has enough variety that there has to be other things that I would enjoy. I just won’t be ordering the Meatball...

What a great little restaurant! We decided to try this location (new to us) for a quick bite while out shopping. It surprised us with a cozy atmosphere. Multiple tvs notwithstanding, the dining room was pleasant. As we ate after 3 - crazily enough - I can imagine it jumping on a Friday night! Today was perfect for a more quiet conversational meal. The Buffalo Chicken salad was filled with crisp lettuce, chilled carrots, tomates and celery with a delicious moist chicken breast covered in a buffalo sauce that sneaked up on you! ( In a good way). The pastrami sandwich was lean and flavorful, piled high on toasted rye with mustard and swiss cheese. I ordered the chili as a side - it was SO good. There is an outside patio with standing heaters and even in the afternoon there were several people enjoying the atmosphere. We'll definitely be back!

Edit, next day. We enjoyed ourselves so much yesterday that we went back today. It was a very different experience. I ordered the meat loaf patty melt with a side of onion soup. My husband ordered a sandwich called The Godfather, with fries. I asked for a 1/4 tsp of meatloaf to taste, they said they couldn't do that. Not a problem. Actually, it was a problem. The meatloaf stated it was angus beef with savory spices. The server said it was very good. It looked very good, but it was so full of fillers it wouldn't hold up when I tried to eat it. I needed to use a fork and knife. The taste was mediocre at best and the texture, for me, not palatable. My husband gave me half of his sandwich - which was also just so so. The onion soup looked amazing!! ... it was broth. Watery broth. They exchanged it for onion rings that had been under a heat lamp for who knows how long. Not a great...

After spending the week at Hilton Head we stayed with another family member that stays in Bluffton, they told us how good the ale house was and That we should go there for dinner. We got there 545 and were told 20 min wait so we waited outside along the sidewalk furniture, after 20 min the family member that originally spoke with the hostess went back in the patio dining area and ask the lady if it would be much longer, she replied that the table in front of her was being cleared now for us to be seated at. At that moment 3 older persons from the residential housing behind the restaurant came out from inside and got 3 chairs and moved them to sit with 5 other people already at the table beside the one being prepared for us. My family member said something to the lady that was telling her it's being cleared and said guess we're going to need to move chairs from another table, the lady managing the seating said we could not do that and that it was not allowed to move chairs from other tables cause they had other people to seat and told my family member that we would just have to seat at separate tables away from each other. So it was OK for the local older regular clients to do as they please but for others it's the rules I guess.. They brought us 3 metal chairs which 2 only had 3/4 of the leg on one leg each Guess they wanted us to seat low and crooked... We told them they were broke and they acted like it was an inconvenience for them to correct it. Awful, disgusting lack of management and respect. Tim ogore doesn't return calls. Guess he makes enough off the golfcart riders. But......