If you end up near the Murrell’s Inlet area of the Grand Strand to visit the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens or Huntington Beach State Park, plan on having lunch or dinner at Salt Creek Cafe or Salt Water Creek Cafe, just three miles north. This restaurant is family owned and operated by Keith and Wendy Wolff who have done a great job of creating a wonderful upscale casual dining locale. The Salt Creek Cafe is located in the Waccamaw Oaks shopping plaza and they invite guests of all ages to stop in and enjoy a top-notch dining experience. Just look for the building with the cedar shake roof and wood siding sitting under a huge oak tree. The full menu is served the entire day, so whether you want your larger meal of the day at lunch or just a sandwich for dinner, order what you like.
Salt Water Creek Cafe is very impressive as they have found just the right combination of service, menu options and charm. They have such an interesting menu with the delightful mix of choices that allows everyone to find something they like without being overwhelmed. Though menus are always subject to change somewhat, let’s take a look at a typical menu at Salt Creek. The appetizers make it really hard to pass by and move straight to the entrees. You want to at least share one or two with your party so you don’t miss out on these specialties. The Salt Creek Grits is a shrimp and grits dish with their special Creek Gravy. Homemade Potato Chips with chive dip can be enjoyed plain or jazzed up by adding cheese and bacon over the top. Mozzarella Stix are homemade and the Cluck Cluck is an inventive fried chicken liver plate with grits and creek gravy. Wow! Oyster Shooters with a splash of vodka, Fried Oysters, Steamed Artichoke or Cheesy Nachos, it’s hard to choose! The tender Calamari served with a Thai Chili Sauce, Soup of the Day and the Portabello & Zucchini Fries with a Horseradish Dipping Sauce round out these delectable choices. It would be so easy to make a meal out of the appetizers.
The Sandwiches Menu at Salt Water Creek Cafe is very popular at lunch time with quite a few fantastic selections. The Blue Moo Sandwich is flat iron steak with bleu cheese and carmelized onions. The Fresh Salmon Sandwich can be ordered blackened or grilled and the Po’ Boys come with shrimp or oysters. Try the Salt Creek Hamburger served on an English muffin with Gouda cheese, the Chicken Sandwich blackened or grilled on a toasty French roll or the Chicken Feta Wrap of grilled chicken and feta with spinach and tomatoes rolled together. Hearty appetites love the Meatloaf or Prime Rib Sandwich. Then there’s the Thai Steak Wrap, Fried Chicken Spinach Wrap and even a unique Turkey and Stuffing Sandwich reminiscent of the holidays.
The Other Good Stuff menu offers about eight pizza options from typical cheese or pepperoni to the more inventive chicken spinach, buffalo chicken, pesto or BBQ chicken. The Mushroom Pizza has a mixture of three types of gourmet mushrooms, Portabello, Shitake and Cremini, with an Alfredo sauce. The Homemade Chicken Fingers and Quesadillas are wonderful too. Mac n’ Cheese comes with bacon and ham and can be a meal in itself. One of the most popular menu items is the Fish Tacos served Baja or Grilled style with black beans and rice. There is a nice Salads Menu that includes the fabulous Cobb Salad filled with turkey, ham, eggs, jack cheese, tomato, apples, broccoli, cucumbers and carrots. What a refreshing and wholesome meal to enjoy while on vacation. Also offered are the Spinach, Hail Caesar, Classic Caesar and Creek’s House Salads filled with healthy ingredients. Additional toppings such as grilled or blackened salmon, chicken, shrimp and fried oysters can be added to these salads making them anything but boring.
And finally, we get to the Entrees Menu that starts with a provocative chicken assortment. Creek Chicken with honey mustard and bacon, Mushroom & Chicken Fettuccini in a garlic wine sauce, and the “Manga!” Chicken that is stuffed with ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella topped with Alfredo and marinara over fettuccini. You can even have a Thanksgiving Dinner with the trimmings, Cuban Pork, an 18-ounce Ribeye, 9-ounce Filet Mignon, Prime Rib or the Bleu Moo. Seafood lovers will be drawn to the Crab Cakes, Salmon and Fish of the Day served blackened or grilled with delicate basmati rice and fresh vegetables. The Surf and Turf combines the best of both worlds with a 3-ounce filet combined with shrimp. All of these tantalizing entrees are served with either a salad or cup of soup. They also have a Blue Light Special each day of the week that are served until they’re gone. Saturdays are great with fresh lobster, Tuesdays have a rack of ribs, Monday is fried chicken, delicious Thursday is Prime Rib and laid back Wednesday has pizzas and draft. Look out for fish & chips on Friday or beef liver on Sunday at Salt Water Creek Cafe.
Though everyone’s appetites will probably be more than satisfied by this point, let’s don’t forget dessert. Homemade Key Lime Pie, Ana Banana Pudding with pecan sandies and whipped cream or the Milky Way Brownie with super duper ultra chocolate, ice cream and whipped cream. Cookie Slop is such a terrific name for layers of chocolate pudding, whipped cream and chocolate chip cookies all “slopped” together. You might just have to take one of these with you to savor later. And if you don’t like to share, pick up two or three to take back to your hotel or condo.
They do welcome children at Salt Creek Cafe. There’s a special menu just for them that will satisfy the young tastes with Chicken Fingers & Mozzarella Stix with Fries, Cheese Quesadilla, Shrimp & Fries or Corn Dog n’ Fries all served with a drink and ice cream.
Sample the wine menu to accompany your meal or indulge in one of their inspired mixed drinks. Gin Grape Splash is one they say you should try even you don’t like Gin. It is combined with white grape juice, sprite and grapes. Pink is a citrus vodka refresher with cranberry juice and a splash of lemonade. Limoncello is a home brewed classic Italian liquor, while Flying Palmer Lemonade is a firefly sweet tea vodka. The infused rum and vodka martini is called Lolo and they have another vodka mixture named Jersey Shore Cherry Lemonade.
Brunch at the Salt Water Creek Cafe is an inviting occasion on Saturday and Sunday. Many love to get this mid-morning meal started with the $3 Bloody Mary, Mimosa, Kir Royal or Poinsettia drinks. Most of the brunch meals are served with sides of fresh fruit and grits with Creek gravy. What could be better than the Lobster Omelet with asparagus and jack cheese. Eggs Benedict with poached eggs and homemade hollandaise sauce can also be combined with Crab Cake or Filet Mignon. The Ham, Bacon & Cheese Omelet, Salt Creek Egg Breakfast or the Stuffer French Toast with strawberry preserves, cream cheese and bananas sound absolutely wonderful. What a way to spend the morning enjoying a luscious meal. Kids will like the scrambled eggs or French toast sticks. Guests look forward to the sweet bowl of cinnamon hush puppies to snack on while waiting for brunch to be served.
The inviting dining room has a welcomed spaciousness with ample seating, along with an outdoor patio that dwells under the live oak tree. The décor produces a cheerful and relaxing atmosphere with its enlarged sepia-toned surf photographs taken by a family friend. The interesting selection of attractive mirrors and the salt water fish tank reflect the local seaside environment in a casual and classy manner.
Salt Creek does recommend reservations, especially for large groups, but they’re not required. And don’t let the classy menu fool you, the prices are extremely reasonable. Many visitors come in expecting to pay extravagant prices and are pleasantly surprised to find the meals nicely priced. Have a great lunch for about $8-12 or a leisurely dinner entree for around $15-20.
Their menu is delightful and fun with an excellent selection of tempting choices. They manage to create a superb potpourri of imaginative, flavorful and appealing foods while still offering healthier options. Repeatedly, the food at the Cafe is described by customers with words such as fresh, quality, excellent tasty, healthy, refreshing and a welcome change from the typical beach restaurants and endless menus of predictable fried foods. While guests may use many different words to describe the Salt Water Creek Cafe, the message is always the same. Simply put, this is a fantastic restaurant near Myrtle Beach that provides excellent service and hospitality with out of this world food in a fabulous array of choices and at a great price. It leaves all who dine here with the desire to return for more.
View their commercial:
Salt Water Creek Cafe
4660 Highway 17 Bypass
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
843-357-2433
To see other great places to eat, visit our list of the best restaurants in Myrtle Beach, SC. Also, be sure to check out our list of the best hotels in Myrtle Beach, SC as well as our list of the best Myrtle Beach restaurant coupons and discounts.