Gilligan's Seafood Restaurant-Summerville — Restaurant in Summerville

If you were blessed to be alive and experience an off the beaten path Seafood Hut in the 70’s or 80’s where you waited for 1-2 hours to get a table to enjoy the authentic flavors of the Carolina Coast, then you will appreciate, enjoy and relish in this cuisine and the flavors that hail from times almost forgotten. My first bite was the hush puppy and I looked at my Mom and said, “THIS is 1975 the original grease fried flavor with the perfect hint of sweetness, this takes me back to when I was a boy in Garden City and Surfside Beach”! No culinary experience has Ever transcended me this way. Let me pause here before I describe the best Seafood meal I have had in decades, and tell you I was not even hungry and had said, “I will just get a little something to eat”. As we all know, when you are not hungry, you are not easily impressed. When they brought out the food, much sooner than you would expect, They accidentally gave Mom shrimp in addition to the flounder so naturally I had to eat those and you simply can not cook better fried shrimp! It was The perfect light batter that doesn’t overpower and hold a lot of grease with the perfect amount of seasoning that would satisfy and never offend even the most discriminating palette. The Cheesy Grits are the perfect match for the shrimp and THEE BEST I have EVER eaten in my life and there is not a second place even close! I got the Grilled Trio. The Mahi Mahi was not tough and overcooked like most places but flaky and juicy cooked perfectly and the scallops the same. The grilled shrimp seasoned just right. Home Cooked like Grandma, tongue slap your brains out, Can I get a witness somebody... Collard Greens!!! I had three little bites of Mahi left when I realized I had forgotten about and not even noticed the cocktail sauce and ketchup they put in front of me. When you don’t even think about sauce for grilled seafood, you know, “somebody done put they foot in it”! That “somebody”, I found out, is Curtis who has been perfecting his craft in Gilligan’s kitchen for decades and is so shy and humble he won’t even come out so you can praise or thank him. (I hope he is blessed to see this review). The two young guys, Cole and Cameron, who served us with upbeat attitudes were a true joy and will restore your hope for the present generation! We told them Mom got shrimp by accident and they brought out an extra filet of flounder for her after we insisted they didn’t need to. Then after I had eaten everything in sight, they brought out a piece of Peanut Butter Pie for us to take home to further make up for the mistake! I hope Gilligan’s finds two more great young people to replace them in a few months when they head off to College to become Gamecocks! (Remember what I told you Cole, “don’t go crazy partying and ruin your life but take care of business!”) My last Reflection is this, PLEASE DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY WHAT YOU SEE! Things are not always as they appear. Don’t be discouraged by the looks of the place outside when you pull in the parking lot and don’t make the mistake of thinking the table is dirty! Let me help you understand, these are good old fashioned solid wood tables with many coats of polyurethane and the secret to them is that sticky feeling is because they Have been wiped down with disinfectant and your plate will not slide around while you are shoveling your mouth full of some of the best Seafood in the South! I have never written a review like this for any restaurant in my life and no they didn’t pay me to do this! I don’t even know who owns the place but Lord Bless Them for running such a Great Place! If you are Ever, Anywhere close to Summerville, SC I can’t express enough how much you need to come and experience this Awesome, Authentic...

Summerville location Ladson Rd. We have been here 5 or 6 times in the last year. The first 3 were great. The last time, food was not very good at all and very salty. We waited several months to come back, and tonight was a mistake. The calamari was so salty, we couldn't eat it. When we told the server it was too salty, she asked if we wanted a box to take it home. (Why? Would it be less salty later?). When deciding between the shrimp dip and the crab and spinach artichoke dip for my dinner, I asked the server if they were both creamy, made with cream cheese? She said yes, but failed to mention that not only was the shrimp dip served cold, but made with mayonnaise, not cream cheese. So the manager brought out the crab dip to replace it. Served with fried potato chips. Very. Salty. Potato. Chips. I asked for crackers instead. Half of the prepackaged crackers were stale. My husband ordered the seafood platter. Gave the shrimp to me, but again... Way too salty. Tried putting fresh lemon juice on themno help. He took the breading off the fish, but couldn't eat the oysters. We paid for our drinks, the platter, and the crab dip (only because they replaced the mis represented shrimp dip), but were so dissatisfied, we will not be back. One final note to put things into perspective. I like salty foods. I love to snack on muchos (which are basically salt covered freezed dried potaoes), and I love the salt on the rim of a margarita glass. I generally salt my food before eating (after trying it first).

This tasted as though the kitchen accidentally added twice the amount of salt to the batter. Once I said that to my husband, he remembered that's exactly what we said last time.

Update: I forgot to mention that there was no one around up front when we arrived at hour before closing, so we sat ourselves, and I got back up to get menus. I should have gotten our own silverware too. Shame on me for not providing the complete services of a hostess. The server was pretty bad as well, but I figured this review is scalding enough as it is. Still left 10% on the adjusted total.(which is unheard of for us) but service and food wasn't worth the $50+ we spent. On the occasion something is removed from our check for being incorrectly cooked, or taking more than 45 minutes to be served, we still tip at least 20% on the before comp total, but this was...

When I told our server that I didn't care for my iced tea and to please bring me a glass of water, he said ok and brought one. When he brought the water, I said that I wasn't going to drink the tea and that he could take it. He just replied, "I got you" and walked away. Later, the iced tea was still on the check and I had to ask him to remove it.

The hush puppies tasted like they were undercooked or something. It was a gooey texture throughout.

We were served raw oysters on the halfshell, stacked on each other in a bed of crushed ice. The oysters were not cut from the knuckle and had to be scraped from the shell with a fork. The oyster shells were not cleaned prior to shucking and the dirty, mucky, shells were placed on top of the oysters .

Additionally, they didn't serve lemon wedges with the order and we had to request them from the manager as the server frequently disappeared. The manager, passing the bar several times while looking for the server, came back almost 10 minutes later to see if we received the lemons. When we said no, she went past the bar into the kitchen and brought out some lemons. Later, the server finally brought a bunch of lemons as we finished the last two oysters. I mentioned the manager repeatedly passing the bar to point out that, ALL BARS HAVE LEMONS. She also spent the greater majority of her time looking for the server instead of just bringing us lemons. She didn't really "set...