Favorite pub of North Myrtle Beach locals has sold. What will happen to Oscar’s?
Carla Williams eases into a chair at one of the many tables scattered around Oscars Food and Spirits.
She looks comfortable as she talks about the eatery’s history, but then again, she should be. Williams has been a well-known presence at the North Myrtle Beach restaurant and bar for 38 years. The only one that could outshine Williams is her late husband, Freddy.
Oscar Frederick Williams owned and operated the local neighborhood restaurant that opened in 1988. And while it is called Oscars, everyone knew the owner simply as Freddy. If anyone did come in asking for Oscar, “we knew they were selling something,” Carla said.
After Freddy’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2008 at age 53, Carla continued to run the restaurant without her longtime partner. “Failure was not an option,” she said.
But after 20 years of going it alone, Carla felt it was time for her to pass the torch. Last month, she sold the restaurant to a local group of investors.
Immediately after it was announced, hundreds of people took to social media, begging the new owners not to change a thing at the Pittsburgh-themed joint, especially the menu and the atmosphere that has been a big draw for both locals and tourists over the years.
But Marc McDowell, one of the three new owners of Oscar’s, is not overly concerned about the worriers.
There will be some changes, he said, but the partners aren’t planning to change the core of Oscar’s.
“We think Oscar’s is an iconic thing,” he said. “What people know Oscar’s for, the menu, is not going to change.”
‘The character behind the business’
Freddy and Carla met after she came into his restaurant wearing a red top, red skirt and red shoes. She sat down at the bar and ordered food.
Carla immediately caught Freddy’s eye, greeting her with, “Hello, beautiful!” He ended up asking her out and the couple dated for six months before they married.
Their meeting happened at the former location of Oscar’s, just up the street at what is now the Rockefellers Raw Bar. Freddy moved his bar and restaurant to its current location at 4101 Highway 17 South five years later.
Carla said her husband always had his eye on the building, although it had gone through five businesses in five years. When Carla asked him why, he said, “’Because I like it and I want it.’ I’ll never forget him saying that,” Carla said.
When the restaurant switched locations, Freddy laid out the new place so it resembled the old, even down to the shape of the bar and palm trees. But the palm trees became a source of frustration for Carla who constantly hit her legs and shins on the base while delivering food. Eventually Freddy had them removed.
“We wanted them to feel like it was home,” Carla said of the restaurant’s decor.
The business has been for years a favorite neighborhood sports bar.
Freddy had been a boilermaker in Pennsylvania for 15 years. He had vacationed in the area for years and had always wanted to open a coastal bar, Carla said. It is known as a Pittsburgh bar, a haven for Steeler fans and a place where other sports followers could gather for a beer, food and watch the game.
The bar has two picture tables that are filled with photos of longtime customers. Many of them are now gone, Carla said. But their children and grandchildren still come, she said.
Freddy’s interest in sports is all around the restaurant, as football helmets and posters cover the walls and shelves. But his collection didn’t stop there.
Among the other many manly items of collector cars and matchbook covers of long-gone Myrtle Beach area restaurants and bars was a collection Disney characters. And while it’s easy to think that the Disney items were Carla’s touch, in fact, “He was the Disney fan,” she said.
The other collectibles will remain with the restaurant, even the life-size Laurel and Hardy statues that greet customers as they walk in, and the giant photo of Freddy, taken from his driver’s license, that hangs at the back of the restaurant. It is a favorite of diners, who often take their picture with the picture. However, the Disney items are personal for Carla, and she has taken them home.
At the restaurant, Carla handled the people and Freddy was the PR guy, Carla said. “He was the character behind the business,” she said.
Carla tears up when she recalls the day two men in military uniforms came into the restaurant and sat down at the bar. Carla let them know she was going to pay for their meal, thanking them for their service.
One of the men then asked if she was Freddy’s wife. She said she was, and the man told her that they were in Afghanistan when they heard about Freddy’s death. The men said afterward they sat around a fire in that foreign country, talking about their memories of Oscar’s.
The exchange took place two years after Freddy’s death, but it’s something that she hasn’t forgotten all these years later when she thinks about how much her husband meant to people.
What changes will be made to Oscar’s?
Carla admits she had a little anxiety for 15 minutes after selling the bar. But now, she knows she made the right decision.
McDowell bought the restaurant along with Kevin Richard, who owns Captain Archie’s in Little River with McDowell, as well as Chuck’s Steak House in North Myrtle Beach, and local attorney Roger Roy.
McDowell, who is a lifelong Horry County resident, said the partners are working to preserve the legacy of the restaurant.
“We are all customers of Oscar’s,” said McDowell, who has been friends with Carla for years. “I think the first place I ever ate a chicken wing was at Oscar’s in college”
There are plans to upgrade the restaurant, including the televisions and adding video screens; new flooring, new furniture and bar stools.
“They’ll recognize the menu, they’ll recognize the staff,” McDowell said of the restaurant. “I think what people will say as they walk in is, ‘Man, it looks great in here, it looks fresh.’”
Carla said what people don’t realize is that if Freddy was still living, he would have already made many of the alterations that are being planned. “He was the king of change,” she said.
Marc said there is pressure to maintain the level of atmosphere and service that Oscar’s has had over the years. “Oscars is a lot of things to a lot of people,” McDowell said. “We feel like it’s a duty to a community.”
And people won’t see the last of Carla. She’s considering coming in now and then and being a hostess “I haven’t quit in 38 years,” she said.
“When can you start?” McDowell said laughing.
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
