Oyster bar to open and complete quartet of eateries on Myrtle Beach’s Restaurant Row
Sam Lauren has built a dining medley along the Intracoastal Waterway in Restaurant Row, and the largest and final piece of the multi-restaurant complex is set to open by the end of June.
The finishing touches are being put on Clearwater Oyster Bar and Grill, which will join three other Lauren-owned restaurants that have opened in the past year.
It’s a vast restaurant that will seat more than 400 inside and outside, and it will join Soho Steak and Seafood, which features sushi, The Chophouse Prime Steakhouse, and the recently-opened Burger Boys.
“If you’re looking for breakfast, if you’re looking for prime steak, if you’re looking for authentic Italian cuisine, if you’re looking for the freshest sushi around Myrtle Beach, or if you’re looking for [oysters] . . . you don’t have to go to different areas of Myrtle Beach to find them,” said John Maloney, who is the operations manager for all of the restaurants. “We’re trying to house them in one location.”
Clearwater Oyster Bar and Grill will offer up to eight types of oysters on display on ice from different regions and from different food vendors to guarantee options and quality, and customers will be able to pick out their oysters to eat them raw or choose the cooking method.
“Wherever we can get the freshest oysters, that’s where we’re going to get them from,” Maloney said. “We’ll have different vendors and distributors for fish as well. We’ve found over the years different distributors get a little bit better product from different regions. You pick and choose where you get it from to make sure you get the best.”
There will be a glass cooler with whole fish that customers will be able to choose for their filets, and a lobster tank where customers can choose the lobster they want to eat. King crab, snow crab, blue crab, shrimp, swordfish and tender octopus are expected to be staples as well, while soups and salads featuring seafood will also be offered.
“Everything is going to be made to order at the moment. We’re not going to have anything done, so it’s going to be an experience,” said executive chef and general manager Sammy Carannante. “And our boss only wants to use the top quality product, he doesn’t want to use anything less than that. So the food is going to be amazing and the experience is going to be amazing.”
While seafood will be the focus, Clearwater will also have traditional Tex-Mex offerings such as tacos, fajitas and burritos, and wings, steak and chicken will also be on the menu.
“Mexican food is a very popular item right now, and it mixes well I think,” owner Sam Lauren said.
Clearwater’s opening has been delayed primarily by two factors: difficulty finding enough employees during a worker shortage this summer on the Grand Strand, and a delay in the delivery of outdoor tables and chairs that have been back-ordered for months because of a building materials shortage.
“We’re just waiting to hire people, plus we ordered some tables [and chairs] a few months ago and every 10 days they say another 10 days, another 10 days,” Lauren said.
The restaurant backs up against the waterway, and a floating dock has been installed to allow boaters to dock and walk up to the back deck. Lauren said the deck and dock are reinforced by tons and tons of concrete. “The amount of concrete we put here you can build the Empire State Building,” Lauren said.
Views of the waterway are prevalent on the large back deck that has multiple sections and will have tables with umbrellas. Some will be picnic tables for larger groups, and those have been ordered for a couple months.
The back deck has an enclosed gazebo bar as well as an elevated room with a stage for live entertainment.
The primary dining area will be casual, and a second dining room may be used for large groups and parties or may become more formal dining.
Lauren’s latest Soho location was the first to open in the complex last July, and The Chophouse opened shortly thereafter above Soho featuring both hand-cut steaks that are aged 35 days and Italian cuisine including fresh in-house rolled pasta.
Soho doubles as Carolina’s Breakfast House in the mornings and early afternoons with a breakfast menu and breakfast and brunch buffet.
Burger Boys opened a few weeks ago featuring never-frozen beef hamburgers and some other offerings including french fries, onion rings, jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks. “If you love burgers, you’ll love our burgers,” Maloney said.
Clearwater will complete the food offerings in the connected restaurants in the space that once housed Thee DollHouse and The Afterdeck.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
