Murrells Inlet, SC is dubbed the "Seafood Capital of South Carolina" with its many commercial fisheries and seafood restaurants in the small town south of Myrtle Beach. And one of the attractions in Murrells Inlet is the MarshWalk, a half-mile boardwalk along the marsh fields and the estuary where saltwater meets freshwater. The MarshWalk is home to 8 restaurants with a like number (if not more) in the immediate area along Business U.S. 17. One evening during our stay in Murrells Beach, we went down to the MarshWalk to take in the sights and sounds of live music, the rising tide, and to have a drink or two before we figured out where to have dinner. We had a lot of options, but we ended up at the first place we stopped to get a drink, a seafood restaurant by the name of The Claw House.
Charlie Campbell owns the Dead Dog Saloon next door to The Claw House. Campbell - along with his sons John and Mike, and partner Peter Jaentjens - opened the highly popular destination on the MarshWalk in 2002. A fire in February of 2012 destroyed the restaurant/bar, but they rebuilt and were back open later that year. In 2015, the lot just to the south of the Dead Dog Saloon that used to be part of an old fishery opened up and the group bought the land to "do something with it". They weren't exactly certain what to do, but it was going to be a seafood restaurant of some sort.
The problem was that there were dozens - maybe hundreds - of seafood restaurants up and down the Grand Strand, the 60-mile stretch of beach front and estuaries that went from just north of Myrtle Beach down to Georgetown south of Murrells Beach. The Campbells and Jaentjens knew they had to do something different than the usual seafood restaurants that blanketed the area.
The concept folded into a New England-style restaurant where fresh lobster would be brought in a couple times a week. Ground was broken for the new restaurant - the first one to be built in about 20 years along the main road in Murrells Beach - in November of 2015.
Construction on the new restaurant with room for over 250 patrons inside and a beer garden overlooking the marsh went quickly and the new restaurant opened with high anticipation in early April of 2016. The lobsters that are trucked in twice a week are kept in specially designed cold water tanks. A raw bar was also part of the new restaurant allowing patrons to have oysters-on-the half shell, steamed mussels and shrimp cocktail.
When we got to the MarshWalk around 6:30 that evening and were able to park right near The Claw House. (see map) It was already packed with people enjoying live music playing at two or three places along the boardwalk, and people getting ready to go on moonlight cruises from the docks next to the MarshWalk. The moon was going to be full that evening and we had anticipated heading over across the estuary to Garden City Beach to watch the moon rise out of the ocean.
After grabbing a beer for me and a Tito's and cranberry juice for my wife from the beer garden, we went out to the end of the MarshWalk pier to check out the sights. After walking around checking out some of the bars and restaurants, my wife decided that she needed food sooner than later. Like most restaurants along the boardwalk, The Claw House had their menu outside their back patio. After taking a quick look at the menu, we decided to go in and have dinner.
We went in the back door/patio side of the restaurant and made our way up front to the hostess stand to get seated. The focal point of the restaurant toward the front were large aquariums in a deep blue hue. The 3000 gallon tank on a pedestal was featured in the Animal Planet reality show called Tanked which depicted two men making over-the-top aquariums for commercial and private use.
The bar area featured a square bar with a large mobile of stingrays just over the center of the bar. Some tables and booths were off to the side in the bar area.
The main dining room was just over a half wall from the bar. Wooden plank banquette seats were along the half wall with large table that could seat up to six people at each table were in the dining area. Wood paneled walls and wood planked floors gave the place a lively feeling.
Just beyond the bar and main dining area was an indoor patio seating area. The well-lit area also featured a number of large table with metal chairs on a wooden floor. Windows that looked out onto the beer garden and the estuary beyond that were along the long back wall of the room.
We were seated at a booth next to the bar and given food menus to start out. A few moments later a young lady by the name of Alex came to greet us and told us she would be our server. She asked us what we wanted to drink and I took a quick look at the tap list they had on the table. They had nearly 60 beers on their tap list and it took me a few moments to get an idea of that they had to offer. Even though they had my beer of choice on tap - Kona Big Wave (and there was a large Kona Big Wave logo underneath the 3000-gallon aquarium in the restaurant) - I wanted to go local since I can get Big Wave back home. I ended up getting a Sway hazy IPA from the Crooked Hammock Brewery just up the road in North Myrtle Beach. My wife stuck with water for the time being, but ended up getting a glass of the house pinot grigio with her dinner.
The food offerings at The Claw House definitely did have a bit of old New England mixed with some southern seafood specialties. The Pig Wings - small, bone-in pork shanks served with either a barbecue sauce or Buffalo-style wing sauce - caught my eye right off the bat in the appetizer section of the menu. The drunken mussels that were steamed in beer, lemon juice, garlic butter with bacon bits and fresh herbs also got my attention. They had three different types of oysters-on-the-half shell available, as well as tuna ceviche and crab meat and shrimp wraps. Tuna poké tacos were also available either as an appetizer or as a main dish.
My wife wanted to start out with a cup of The Claw House's clam chowder. Except we think they brought her a bowl. That is, if this was a cup, I would have been interested to see what they thought a bowl size was. The clam chowder was rich and creamy with good-sized chunks of clams throughout. My wife was very happy with the clam chowder.
I got the peel & eat shrimp, they had it in the one pound size and the half pound size. Of course, I got the one pound size. The shrimp weren't all that big, but they were meaty enough. A zesty shrimp sauce came with the shrimp platter. I contemplated getting another pound of them for my main meal, but there were some interesting things on the menu that I was drawn to while going through the menu.
Seafood was, of course, the main item on the menu, but they did have steaks, chicken schnitzel, and a braised short rib plate served with garlic mashed potatoes and topped with a red wine demi glace. For seafood they had bacon jam scallops, pan-seared grouper, shrimp & grits, and a panko-encrusted grouper and crab cake served over rice and topped with a lobster cream sauce. I thought long and hard about getting that.
My wife sort of went that way getting the crab cake entree. They were Maryland-style pan-seared crab cakes served with fries and cole slaw. The crab cakes were thick and much larger than she expected. And, of course, they were very rich and she had a lot of trouble finishing one, let alone trying to finish two. She offered me bites of her second one and it was very good with a very fresh crabmeat flavor. But, boy, the WERE rich and filling!
After hemming and hawing over three or four different items on the menu (tuna poké tacos, another pound of the peel & eat shrimp, and the grouper and crab cake), I ended up going with the Cajun-style red snapper. I asked Alex if the chef could put even more of the blackening spice on it and he didn't disappoint. It was topped with a roasted corn salsa and served on a bed of creamy grits. This was Southern seafood cooking at its finest. The red snapper was light and flaky, and the abundance of blackening spices on the fish gave it a wonderful spicy flavor. The roasted corn salsa was a nice antidote to the spiciness of the fish. The fish mixed with the creamy grits was also a great flavor.
Even though my wife was full from eating the crab cakes and the clam chowder before, she still wanted dessert. The dessert menu at The Claw House wasn't all that big - just three items: a New York-style cheesecake, a slice of chocolate cake and key lime pie. Of course, my wife went with the key lime pie which Alex said was made in-house. It had a cool citrusy flavor with a sweet graham cracker crust with each bite. It was a great key lime pie.
As I said earlier, our goal was to make it across the inlet waterway and go to the beach to watch the full moon rise out of the ocean. But we were having a great meal at a very good restaurant and we didn't want to bother with trying to finish quickly, then drive 20 minutes to get out to the ocean. As we were sitting there talking with Alex after we finished our meal, my wife happened to look out the window and she excitedly exclaimed, "My moon!" That's an old family game that has been handed down through now four generations for the first person to declare that it's "their moon" when they first see the moon on a given evening. Full moons get you more gravitas within members of the family and can quite literally start arguments of who saw actually saw the rising full moon first. Now, for excited my wife was to see the full moon coming up over the horizon, I have to say that Alex was not. We figured that she probably sees the moon coming up over the water all the time.
After finishing up with Alex and getting the bill paid, we went out onto the boardwalk to walk off dinner and to take in the sight of the full moon rising over the inlet. It wasn't quite like watching it rise out of the ocean, but it was still pretty cool to see the warm hue of the moon shimmering over the water.
Walking back toward the MarshWalk, we lingered for a moment to take in the lights and colors of the bars and restaurants lined up and down the shore area. The evening had cooled down and it was very pleasant out. The large number of people who were on the patios and in the beer gardens of the establishments along the MarshWalk had pretty much cleared out by the time we were outside.
We figured that as nice that The Claw House looked from both its front and back that the food had to be pretty good. Taking a chance on the place, it turned out to be a winner all the way around. The food was very good, Alex's service was fine, and the interior of the restaurant was very nice, fun and relaxing. My wife loved her crab cakes, even though she couldn't finish them both and needed help from me. And the spicy blackened red snapper with the roasted corn salsa and the creamy grits were all excellent. Of course, I couldn't get out of here without saying that the clam chowder, the peel & eat shrimp, and the key lime pie were wall delicious, as well. With a number of seafood place up and down US Business Highway 17 and the MarshWalk, I'd say to try The Claw House first and then go from there.
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