After delays, Clearwater Oyster Bar opens on Myrtle Beach’s Restaurant Row
Sam Lauren has built a dining medley along the Intracoastal Waterway on Restaurant Row, and the largest and final piece of the multi-restaurant complex is opening Monday afternoon.
Lauren hoped to open Clearwater Oyster Bar and Grill before the summer tourism season, but the opening has been delayed by issues related to staffing and the delivery of equipment and furnishings, according to John Maloney, operations manager for all of the restaurants.
Some items are still back ordered and concessions were made to open, including changing the type of outdoor picnic tables and bar stools for the back deck along the waterway. But the restaurant is ready for a soft opening to the public at 4 p.m.
Clearwater is a vast restaurant that seats more than 400 inside and outside, and it joins Soho Steak and Seafood, which features sushi, The Chophouse Prime Steakhouse, and Burger Boys — all Lauren-owned restaurants that have opened in 2020 or 2021.
“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,” Maloney said. “We’re trying to house them in one location.”
Clearwater Oyster Bar and Grill offers 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 can 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 is a glass cooler with whole fish that customers can 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 are also 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 also has traditional Tex-Mex offerings such as tacos, fajitas and burritos, and wings, steak and chicken are also on the menu.
“Mexican food is a very popular item right now, and it mixes well I think,” Lauren said.
A floating dock has been installed to allow waterway 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 tables with umbrellas, some that can accommodate larger groups.
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 this spring 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.
The restaurants are in a rebuilt space that once housed Thee DollHouse and The Afterdeck.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 12:46 PM.
