New diner near Market Common offers home cooked comfort food for Southerners

Larry Hancock’s family has been in the restaurant business in Myrtle Beach for decades.

They owned Buddy’s Grill in the 1990s, where Big Mike’s Soul Food now serves their popular blue plate specials. Hancock also made a go of the Salty Sailor Cafe for a season in the Holiday Sands.

Now the family is back together again in the newly opened Sandlapper Grill on the outskirts of Market Common at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 Bypass and Northgate, where they are serving up home-cooked Southern comfort food with a diner flair.

Hancock can be seen daily working at the grill, while daughter Autumn Fowler is taking orders at the register. The cakes are fresh and homemade by his mother, Margaret, using his grandmother’s secret recipe.

Sandlapper is a nickname for South Carolinians that is believed to have originated during the Revolutionary War to describe the guerrilla war tactics of early Americans to escape enemy fire by diving into the sand.

“Sandlappers are made up of South Carolinians, and that’s what we are, with a diner feel and a big menu,” said Hancock, a Clemson graduate who has lived along the Grand Strand for 30 years.

The shotgun diner is lined with booths and tables and also offers counter service for those who are in a hurry or feeling more sociable.

The extensive menu is moderately priced with nearly every item under $10. They offer the standard fare of burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads.

Then there’s the traditional diner standards of fried chicken, liver and onions, fish and chips, pulled pork or spaghetti and meatballs.

The seafood offerings are also considerable, and includes oysters, shrimp, flounder, or a Cajun Pasta with linguine, grilled shrimp and chicken tossed in a Cajun Alfredo sauce. Hancock says the diner could soon be offering it’s own daily blue plate special for seafood.

“My fried seafood is pretty darn good,” he bragged.

Hancock says he has been catering to the locals, which is a more reliable clientele that tourists.

“Business has been pretty good,” Hancock said. “We’re not tearing it up, but the first four days have exceeded my expectations, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

Hancock is next to Remedies Bar and Grill on the Frontage Road that leads to Market Common. The restaurant is on a busy highway with a traffic light for easy access, and there’s plenty of parking.

The location has been home to several restaurants. Most recently it was a pizza place, and it was also a hamburger joint.

“The neighborhood is popping but there’s really no place to eat except fast food restaurants,” Hancock said.

What the location needed, he said, was home, Southern cooking.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 4:00 PM with the headline "New diner near Market Common offers home cooked comfort food for Southerners."