On The Half Shell — Restaurant in South Carolina

TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED!

Very rarely do I feel so disappointed that I place a not so good review after just one visit, but this visit tonight was terrible, absolutely disappointing. I think I have only had two bad first experiences, bad enough to write about them after just one visit. This was the second bad one.

I decided to try "On The Half Shell" due to the overwhelmingly positive reviews I read elsewhere online. The only negative I would read was the noise, well, it is a bar setting so that is what one would expect. Any time one tries a new restaurant it is a role of the dice but this one came up anything but pleasant.

Going into a place on a Tuesday that is only about 2/3 full inside, around 5:30pm, one would think it would not have so many issues or problems serving dinner for just two people.

From the moment we walked in the vibe was strange. I ask for a table of two for my wife and I and the hostess asked me if I could just sit at the bar. I noticed about a half a dozen empty tables on both ends of the place (2- 2 person, 3- four person, and two larger tables), so I thought the request was odd. I asked to sit outside, as I wanted to sit at a table with my wife. They had a few picnic tables as well as an outside bar. The smoking was irritating, even outside so we went back in.

I asked the hostess if we could sit at one of the empty tables inside due to the smoking outside. She hemmed and hawed about service would be very slow (which observing the other tables they were being served just fine so I thought the resistance odd to say the least). I told her I really did not want to sit at the bar with my wife, so she relented.

So we sat in one of the pub bar tables for two. The sever (who worked the bar) finally got to us after being pretty attentive to what appeared to be locals/regulars. He took our drink order and disappeared for a bit.

When he returned I ordered a half a dozen oysters (as an appetizer) on the half shell (as I love raw oysters), a side salad with my dinner which was a grilled fish basket. My wife ordered some steamed shrimp and an order of fried mozzarella cheese sticks.

Well, after what seemed like an exorbitant period of time my three items were brought out at exactly the same time. There was so many errors:

They only brought out my wife's appetizer, and did not give either of us any silverware. We waited again too long for the silverware (can't eat without utensils) so I had to get up and find the the server and again ask as he forgot to bring us utensils.

The food was not bad, other than the fact they put my fish over the french fries, which of course were soggy. They brought no horseradish sauce or crackers for my oysters, not to mention who ever attempted to shuck the oysters did a lousy job (they might as well not have tried to shuck at all, same result). No ketchup was brought for my soggy fries either.

My wife, she usually is pretty forgiving, and layed back, but was totally disgusted with this establishment. She rarely writes off a place but this one she said she would never go back to.

Again, rarely does a first impression go so terribly bad, at least in my experience. It's disappointing to experience such a let down, a terrible first visit, especially after reading such good reviews prior.

On The Half Shell blew it, no chance I'd ever go back to give them another chance to earn my patronage when we visit the area. I have been coming to Murrels Inlet for almost 30 years.

Can not recommend this restaurant, take your chances if...

By far the most pathetic establishment ever. This past Sunday we called 7:30 to confirm that they were serving dinner, they said come on down bro", we were a party of five. We arrived at 8:00 and chose to sit outside. Put our drink orders in (at the outside bar, no wait staff), paid for them at that time. After looking over the menu & deciding what we wanted, two of us went back to the bar to place our order. The bartender took our orders down on a napkin, after 10 minutes of making sure it was all correct, we returned to our table. Some 15 minutes later someone came from the kitchen and announced there were no lobster tails or filets left, neither of those items were ordered by us. Another 15-20 minutes later the bartender & someone else came to our table and announced that they were out of beef tips & another item that was ordered, & presented us with an appetizer menu Since they were out of tea I ordered a coke. I went to pay for it so we could leave, the bartender wasn't there, when she did arrive, she announced to me that, behold, the kitchen was turning the grill back on, would heat up 5 minutes & the beef tips & other item would be cooked. So we went from "being out" of these items to them going to be prepared for us. After another prolonged wait, we went again to the bar to inquire about our order. This bartender just rolled her eyes, and told us just to forget it, she would just comp us for our drinks, which we already paid for. They could not even get their story straight & stick with it. . Sometimes you have to go somewhere just to find out where not to go. Sorry to have inconvenienced the staff of the half shell with our...

Disappointed from the start as the regular menu online posted much cheaper prices than in house. Waitstaff all seemed to have just come from the gym or just woke up. Do people ever smile here? My waitress couldn't tell me anything about the menu or where the oysters came from...'I usually dont work Weds' was the excuse. Oh...well I'm sorry I came in on a day you normally don't work, how rude of me for inconveniencing you at your job! The calamari was cooked perfectly...but the marinara, if you can call it that, was watery blended canned tomatoes with onions. I asked for horseradish to liven it up which helped but then after getting my bill saw that all the sauces were an up-charge of .50. They should say it on the menu or tell you. I would not have gotten any extras except the horseradish as I'm not much of a fan of cocktail or tartar. 'I've never had any complaints' was the response when I brought it up. I also enjoyed the shrimp...Wed night's .50 cents, 6pc min of each...fried, blackened or pan fried. All delish. I'm actually surprised they didnt charge me for the lemons too. I am very unlikely to return. Looking for homes in the area but this would not be my first choice of watering hole by any means. Left a lot to be desired. But maybe since I just drove up from Charleston I was spoiled by decent customer service. And I've been a hostess, waitress etc etc so I still tipped 22% on the total (before...