Edisto Beach, the crown jewel of Edisto Island, South Carolina, offers an abundance of activities and recreation year-round. An Edisto Beach vacation rental not only gives you quick and convenient access to the shore, but also allows you to easily sample some of the island’s most prominent eateries. Many of these restaurants are family-owned and offer special kids’ menus. These dining spots range from specialized food trucks to seafood shacks. Enjoy the amazing sunset while you and your family dig into an unforgettable meal.

1. Ella & Ollie’s

Satisfy your culinary curiosity with a visit to Ella & Ollie’s, which describes itself as a seafood-driven food and beverage concept. The cuisine is seasonal and emphasizes fresh, local ingredients, so menus change often. Summer lunch menus often feature watermelon salad, tuna tartare, and beef carpaccio as starters, while a fisherman’s stew and chicken-fried catfish stand out on the more upscale dinner menu. There are also sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and fried shrimp dishes that appeal to children.

2. The Sea Cow Eatery

The Sea Cow Eatery is a favorite among locals and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a friendly atmosphere seven days a week. Expect large portions at reasonable prices. Relax while you eat outdoors on the pet-friendly deck during the summer. The menu offers plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free choices, and the chefs accommodate any dietary requests. Specialties include the moo-la-la French toast, lightly battered shrimp and grits, and blackened tuna. Be sure to save room for one of the famous desserts, which are made on the premises.

3. The Waterfront Restaurant

Make the Waterfront Restaurant your choice for the freshest seafood delivered directly from the dock. With a kiddie menu and a family-style menu in addition to its standard carte, the Waterfront welcomes you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the spacious outdoor deck. Specialties include popcorn shrimp, crab cakes, and steamed king crab legs.

4. McConkey’s Jungle Shack

McConkey’s Jungle Shack welcomes you for lunch and dinner with al fresco dining, a cozy, down-home atmosphere, and a menu peppered with international dishes. A kid’s menu offers a variety of choices from corndogs, cheeseburgers, and quesadillas, while the adult menu includes seafood dishes such as fried shrimp, oysters or flounder and chips, and fish tacos, as well as international delights that include Greek gyros and Cuban pulled pork sandwiches.

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5. Finn’s Island Grill

Walk right off the beach and into Finn’s Island Grill for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Finn’s provides spectacular views of the ocean, along with amazing sunrises at breakfast and sunsets at dinner in a dining room that is the only one in Edisto on the beach. Frequently ordered dishes include shrimp and grits, crab soup, and oyster po’ boys.

6. Pressley’s at The Marina

Sit and unwind while you watch the fishing boats approaching and leaving the island at Pressley’s at The Marina. Serving lunch and dinner daily, the lunch menu offers shrimp, mahi-mahi, and chicken tacos, sandwiches, and wraps, while the more upscale dinner menu adds grilled tuna, and salmon, meat, and Italian specialties.

7. Whaley’s

Expect the unexpected at Whaley’s, a self-described seafood shack that stands on the site of a former gas station. Whaley’s is one of the oldest bars and restaurants in the area; guests had to bring their owns stools when it first opened, and that hodgepodge approach to decor now adorns the walls in items donated by patrons. An eclectic menu offers various dishes, from fried cheese cubes to mussels steamed in white wine and garlic to sushi nachos sprinkled with pan-seared ahi tuna. There is a small kid’s menu and live entertainment or karaoke nightly.

8. Dock Side Restaurant

If you want to avoid the beach, head over to the Dock Side Restaurant for a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, outdoor patio, and specialties such as shrimp burgers, peel ’n’ eat shrimp, and Philly cheese steak sandwiches.

9. Edisto Seafood

Visit Edisto Seafood for shrimp, blue crab, and shellfish where the Sarah Jane fishing boat docks at its doors. You’re likely to enjoy fresh scallops, shrimp, and other fish that have been fetched from the ocean just a few minutes earlier. More of a retail establishment than a formal restaurant, Edisto Seafood offers cooked blue crab and shucked oysters for eating on the spot.

10. Flowers Seafood Company

Take a tip from the locals and head to Flowers Seafood Company to purchase fresh shrimp and shellfish to take home, or order from the truck out back and eat at the picnic tables in a shaded area. Menu favorites include stuffed or fried blue crab, grilled shark, and hush puppies.

11. La Retta Pizzeria

When you need a break from seafood and want something quick and casual that the kids can enjoy, visit La Retta’s Pizzeria for authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. La Retta’s makes pizza according to a traditional family recipe and features locally grown produce in its pies. Calzones, salads, sandwiches, chicken fingers, and wraps round out the menu and provide choices that the whole family can enjoy.

12. The Coffee Shop at Edisto Beach

Take a quick trip to the Coffee Shop at Edisto Beach for a quick bite in the morning or between meals when you don’t have time for a full, sit-down meal. Choose from a variety of coffees and lattes for adults and fruit smoothies for the kids, along with muffins, sausage biscuits, and sliders to keep hunger at bay until mealtime. All dishes come with a spectacular ocean view.


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