Shuck yeah! 5 Myrtle Beach area restaurants that serve $1 oysters
When visitors come to the Grand Strand, a coastline filled with sandy beaches and salty marshes, they often look for oysters.
Although it’s long been a rule that people should only consume oysters with months that have a “R” — September through April — this is an outdated rule, said Andy Hollis with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
During the summer months, the warmer weather and water temperatures can cause vibrio bacteria to grow more, Hollis said. Oysters also spawn in the summer, which can give the shellfish a bitter flavor.
However, oyster lovers in South Carolina do not need to worry about this. It is illegal to harvest wild oysters caught in South Carolina once ocean temperatures reach above 80 degrees, according to Hollis. This means restaurants have to serve farmed oysters or oysters caught elsewhere in the country.
Farmed oysters have rigorous standards, which greatly reduce the chance of vibrio growth. Farmed oysters also do not spawn in the summer.
When eating oysters, keep an eye out for pea crabs, a parasitic crab that lives in oysters. They are both widely loved and widely hated.
“(Pea crabs are) a little bit crunchy and I think that the crunch adds something to the oyster that a lot of people find to be slimy and mushy,” Hollis said.
When looking for cheap oysters in the Myrtle Beach area, several restaurants offer $1 oyster specials. Keep in mind, they usually have to be ordered as a half dozen or a dozen.
Here is where to find the deals.
Original Shucker’s Raw Bar
On the south end of Myrtle Beach, Original Shucker’s Raw Bar, 300 N. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, serves 99-cent oysters from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There are also drink specials for $5 house liquors and certain beers for $2.75.
For food during happy hour, patrons can order wings for 99 cents each or mussels and shrimp for 75 cents each.
Rockefellers Raw Bar
The North Myrtle Beach restaurant, located at 3613 Highway 17 S., North Myrtle Beach, serves a half dozen oysters for $6 and a dozen oysters for $12 during happy hour. Customers can order raw or steamed oysters.
Rockefellers Raw Bar happy hour is every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
On the happy hour menu there is also a quarter pound of shrimp, either steamed or fried, for $8 and hot crab dip for $12.
1229 Shine
1229 Shine, 1229 Shine Ave., Myrtle Beach, has a happy hour special running from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Patrons can choose a $1 house oyster, a $2 blue point oyster or a $3 chef selection oyster. Also on the menu is three grilled oysters with garlic butter or oysters Rockefeller for $8.
On the Half Shell
Oyster enthusiasts in Murrells Inlet have to stop by On the Half Shell, 4500 Highway 17 Murrells Inlet, on Mondays for $1 oysters. The deal lasts all day and customers can choose raw, steamed or fried oysters.
Every other day of the week, people will have to pay market price for oysters or $13.50 for a fried oyster basket.
Bimini’s Oyster Bar
Found just outside Myrtle Beach, Bimini’s Oyster Bar happy hour serves oysters for a little more than $1 each. The happy hour, which runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily, offers 25% off oysters.
With the deal, a dozen oysters is $14.21 which is $1.18 for each oyster while a half dozen oysters is $9.71, which is $1.62 for each oyster. Bimini’s Oyster Bar is located at 930 Lake Arrowhead Road, Myrtle Beach.
