Ride on down to Flavortown. Look inside Guy Fieri’s new Myrtle Beach area restaurant

Get ready to take a trip down to Flavortown. Guy Fieri’s new restaurant and entertainment hub is finally opening at the Myrtle Beach Mall.

Downtown Flavortown, a 50,000-square-foot space featuring a restaurant, arcade and bowling alley, was first announced in October 2024. Just over a year and a half later, Downtown Flavortown is expected to open its doors on Friday.

Fieri’s company, Knuckle Sandwich, collaborated with FACE Amusement to bring Downtown Flavortown to the Grand Strand.

“From the beginning, our goal was to create more than a restaurant or entertainment venue. We wanted to create a place where families can celebrate milestones, friends can gather and visitors can make lasting memories,” FACE Amusement CEO Bucky Mabe wrote in a statement to The Sun News. “We are honored to become part of the Myrtle Beach community.”

The Myrtle Beach Mall location is the second iteration of Downtown Flavortown, which opened its first location in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in March 2022. Fieri’s expansion into South Carolina promises a bigger space, a new menu and even more fun.

Myrtle Beach was a strong choice for the dinner and entertainment concept’s second location due to the area drawing many tourists and its existing entertainment industry, Andrew Bledsoe, marketing manager for FACE Amusement, said.

Dining, games and bowling all in one

Downtown Flavortown boasts an arcade with more than 100 games, a bowling alley with 14 lanes and a restaurant with seating for about 400 diners.

The arcade features a variety of games ranging from racing set-ups to claw machines. Downtown Flavortown sells game cards loaded with G-Bucks, which is the arcade’s currency for playing games. Arcade games range in price from 10 to 50 G-Bucks, and customers can buy G-Bucks starting at $25 for 300 G-Bucks.

After playing a few arcade games, customers can try out duckpin bowling, which features smaller bowling balls and smaller lanes. One of the biggest perks of Downtown Flavortown’s duckpin bowling setup is that bowlers can keep their shoes on without having to change into special bowling shoes.

At the heart of Downtown Flavortown is the restaurant with a menu featuring Fieri’s signature comfort food and diner fare dishes.

Trash can nachos, a bacon macaroni and cheeseburger and Cajun chicken alfredo all star on the Downtown Flavortown menu, alongside other dishes the celebrity chef popularized on his Food Network TV shows like “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Big Bite.”

Diners can watch their food be made in the restaurant’s display kitchen separated by a glass panel, or enjoy a sports game on one of the restaurant and lounge’s 60 televisions.

Myrtle Beach Downtown Flavortown visitors will also be able to enjoy locally inspired Lowcountry cuisine such as pimento cheeseburgers and a smoked pimento cheese dish.

Those just looking for a quick refreshment can stop at Downtown Flavortown’s full-service tiki bar, complete with themed cocktails inspired by the tropical aesthetic and Fieri’s signature spicy flavor profile.

“When people come to a themed dining establishment, a lot of times, the food is secondary to the experience,” Bledsoe said. “What we’ve done with Downtown Flavortown is put the food right along beside the experience.”

Downtown Flavortown will be open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, with the restaurant and bar opening at 11 a.m.

What’s next for Myrtle Beach Mall

Opening in the former JCPenney spot at Myrtle Beach Mall, the addition of Downtown Flavortown is the start of a revitalization of the Briarcliff Acres mall aimed at gearing it toward more entertainment-centered experiences, Bledsoe said.

Kings Highway Partners I LLC, which lists Mabe as its registered agent, bought Myrtle Beach Mall in 2023 amid the mall’s continued loss of tenants and customers alike.

With Downtown Flavortown serving as a new anchor at Myrtle Beach Mall, the shopping center could see a long-needed uptick in traffic.

“Downtown Flavortown is definitely the first step in a revitalization of the mall,” Bledsoe said. “We’re hoping that we just continue to see more and more businesses come.”