Myrtle Beach Dining: Restaurant Row, Broadway at the Beach, the Boardwalk, and Market Common

Restaurant Row: The Highway 17 Corridor Our Neighborhoods Page Named, Now Filled In

Our neighborhoods coverage describes Arcadian Shores as sitting near "Restaurant Row," the well-known Highway 17 dining corridor, and separately names the adjacent Deerfield area as part of the same strip — while flagging that deeper restaurant-level detail was an honest gap in that research pass. Restaurant Row runs along North Kings Highway (Highway 17) roughly between the Arcadian Shores and Deerfield areas, north of the Boardwalk core, and it's dominated by a specific, long-running format: large, family-style seafood-and-steak houses, several dating to the 1970s and 1980s, built around buffets, carving stations, and big group tables rather than small-plates dining.

Named restaurants confirmed along the corridor, per a current MyrtleBeach.com dining-guide compilation: Chesapeake House (9918 Highway 17 North), operating since 1971 with waterfront views and local seafood specialties; Chestnut Hill: The Restaurant (9922 North Kings Highway), in business since 1987, known for local seafood and vegetarian options; Chuck's Steak House (9695 North Kings Highway), an award-winning steakhouse with a hunting-lodge feel; Giant Crab (9597 North Kings Highway), an all-you-can-eat buffet built around a hibachi grill and carving station; Thoroughbreds Chophouse and Seafood Grille (9706 N. Kings Hwy.), positioned as the corridor's more upscale steak-and-seafood option; Barons Steaks and Spirits, billed locally as having some of the best steaks on the beach; Bennett's Calabash Seafood, an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet also serving crab legs, steak, BBQ, and ribs; Bimini's Oyster Bar (930 Lake Arrowhead Rd.), built around oysters, shrimp, and steampots; Carolina Seafood and Steak (9911 N Kings Hwy), a family-friendly room with live music; and Margaritas Mexican Restaurant, a multi-location Mexican spot with a presence on the corridor. Miyabi, a Japanese sushi-and-hibachi restaurant at 4201 Hwy 17 in Murrells Inlet, sits just south of the core Restaurant Row stretch on the same highway.

Broadway at the Beach: The Named Roster Inside a 23-Acre (or 350-Acre) Entertainment Complex

Our landmarks research already covers Broadway at the Beach's origin story: it opened July 4, 1995, developed by the Burroughs and Chapin Company around Lake Broadway, starting with just 30 shops and one restaurant on what Wikipedia describes as a 23-acre core — though the same source separately puts the complex's total footprint at 350 acres, a large, unreconciled discrepancy our research could not resolve (the larger figure likely folds in surrounding parking, hotel, and outparcel development, but that's an inference, not a confirmed fact). Whichever figure you use, the dining roster today is a recognizable mix of national and regional chain-style anchors rather than independent local restaurants.

Currently listed restaurants at Broadway at the Beach, per the property's own current tenant information: Hard Rock Cafe, Dave & Buster's, Joe's Crab Shack, Landry's Seafood House, Paula Deen's Family Kitchen, Señor Frog's, The Grumpy Monk (craft-beer-focused pub food, including wings, burgers, and sushi), Wahlburgers (the Wahlberg-family burger chain, which closed for a stretch in its early years before reopening at this location, per Grand Strand Magazine's own reporting), Yamato hibachi and sushi, Margaritaville, The Hangout (Southern comfort food with live music), and Sweet Molly's Creamery for ice cream and frozen yogurt.

Turnover is real here too: Key West Grill, a 25-year tenant of the complex, closed in January 2020, and as of a September 2023 report its building sat vacant with no announced replacement — confirm current status directly, since that gap may since have been filled. Rooster's Restaurant & Bar was reported temporarily closed as of November 2024 with no stated reason given at the time; we could not confirm whether it has since reopened. Both are a reminder that any single restaurant's status here can change faster than a static page can track.

Downtown and the Boardwalk: The Oceanfront Strip Behind the Nat Geo Ranking

Our landmarks research covers the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and Promenade itself — the 1.2-mile oceanfront walkway that opened in summer 2010 and was ranked #3 on National Geographic's "Top 10 U.S. Boardwalks" list. The restaurants lining it mix genuine multi-decade holdovers with newer additions built around the Boardwalk's 2010 makeover.

Named restaurants on or immediately along the Boardwalk: Wicked Tuna, at the 2nd Avenue Pier, serving steaks, seafood, sandwiches, and sushi with panoramic ocean and boardwalk views; Dirty Don's Oyster Bar & Grill, a Key West-style seafood spot billed as the only oceanfront location among three regional Dirty Don's outposts; ART Burger Sushi Bar, an art-centric room pairing gourmet burgers with made-to-order sushi; 8th Avenue Tiki Bar & Grill, an American-Caribbean spot known for two-foot skewers; Landshark Bar & Grill, the Jimmy Buffett-owned American-Caribbean seafood spot positioned directly beneath the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel our landmarks page already covers; Moe Moon's, a surf-themed grill serving burgers, wings, tacos, and barbecue; NY Pizza Kitchen, a thin-crust New York-style pizzeria operating since 1996; Oceanfront Bar & Grill, established in 1948 and renovated when the Boardwalk itself opened in 2010 — making it one of the oldest continuously named restaurant sites in this stretch of the city, on the same historical clock as the Hurricane Hazel rebuilding story our coastal-risk page covers; Pier 14, a seafood room atop the 14th Avenue Pier known for lobster, shrimp, and flounder; and Sharkey's Beach Bar, serving grilled triggerfish, seared tuna, and firecracker shrimp alongside cocktails.

Market Common: Dining Built Into a Former Air Force Base

Our neighborhoods research already tells Market Common's origin story: built on the roughly 110-acre former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base (closed 1993), redeveloped starting in 1995, and now laid out as a walkable, neo-traditional village with ground-floor retail and dining along Howard Avenue. That dining layer is real and independently confirmable today.

Named restaurants currently listed on Market Common's own dining page: Nacho Hippo (Mexican, nachos, and margaritas), Dirty Don's Oyster Bar & Grill (a separate, non-oceanfront location of the same regional group listed above on the Boardwalk), Zardin Healthy Eatery, P.F. Chang's, CO Sushi, Cold Stone Creamery, Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar, CK's Bistro, King Street Grille, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Travinia Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar, and Gios Pizzeria Napoletana. That's a genuine sit-down mix — Southern, Italian, sushi, brewery fare, and a health-forward option — distinct in character from both Restaurant Row's buffet-and-steakhouse format and Broadway at the Beach's chain-anchored roster.

Verify Before You Visit

This page names four distinct dining clusters with real addresses, founding years where they exist, and current tenant information as of this research pass — a genuine improvement over generic "best restaurants in Myrtle Beach" lists that don't distinguish between Restaurant Row, Broadway at the Beach, the Boardwalk, and Market Common as the geographically separate districts they actually are. But hours, ownership, and even whether a given restaurant is still operating can change quickly in a market this dependent on seasonal tourism, as the Key West Grill and Rooster's examples above show directly. Restaurant Row and Market Common's rosters here are drawn from travel-guide and property-management compilations rather than each restaurant's own individually verified site, so confirm hours and status directly with the restaurant, OpenTable, or Google Maps before planning a visit around any single name.