BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS IN NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

What Are the Best Seafood Restaurants in North Myrtle Beach, SC?

A local's honest guide to where residents actually eat — no tourist traps, no fluff

By Cathy Cagno | North Myrtle Beach Real Estate

Ask anyone who has relocated to North Myrtle Beach what surprised them most about living here, and food almost always comes up. Not just the beach, not just the weather — the food. Specifically the seafood.

There's something about being close to the coast that changes how you eat. Freshness becomes the baseline expectation. And North Myrtle Beach, with its Atlantic location and deep fishing culture, consistently delivers on that.

Cathy Cagno is a real estate agent in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina helping buyers and sellers who ask, almost without fail, what the dining scene is like before they commit to a move. This guide covers the best seafood restaurants right here in North Myrtle Beach — the places locals actually frequent, not just the ones that show up first in a tourist search.

Why North Myrtle Beach Is Known for Seafood

North Myrtle Beach sits directly on the Atlantic coast, which means proximity to some of the freshest seafood available on the East Coast. Local shrimp, flounder, grouper, mahi-mahi, blue crab, and oysters all find their way onto menus throughout the city.

The area also sits in the orbit of Calabash, North Carolina — just a few miles north — where a style of lightly breaded, golden-fried seafood originated that became so popular it spread across the entire Grand Strand. When North Myrtle Beach restaurants talk about "Calabash-style," that heritage is real and local.

What makes the dining culture here feel genuine is that it developed alongside a real fishing and coastal community — not just to serve tourists. The result is a mix of no-frills neighborhood spots, waterfront gems, and a handful of more polished options that are all worth knowing about.

The Best Seafood Restaurants in North Myrtle Beach, SC

These are the places worth knowing — organized loosely by area of the city so you can find what's closest to where you're looking to live or stay.

Ocean Drive Area

Duffy Street Seafood Shack

Ocean Drive | Casual | Local Favorite

If there's one spot that defines the spirit of North Myrtle Beach dining, Duffy Street is it. Unpretentious, consistent, and genuinely loved by people who live here year-round. The menu leans into classic coastal cooking — shrimp done several ways, fried seafood platters, fresh fish — without overcomplicating anything. The prices are fair, the portions are honest, and it's exactly the kind of neighborhood spot you find yourself coming back to without thinking about it.

Filet's Seafood Restaurant

Ocean Drive | Waterfront | Family-Friendly

A local staple that has been drawing steady crowds for good reason. Filet's sits in the heart of the Ocean Drive area and serves up generous portions of fresh seafood in a relaxed, family-friendly setting. The crab legs and steamed shrimp are consistently cited by regulars, and the atmosphere is comfortable enough for a casual dinner without feeling like you're in a tourist trap. Worth adding to the regular rotation.

Main Street Area

SoHo Steak and Seafood

Main Street, North Myrtle Beach | Casual Upscale | Local Favorite

SoHo Steak and Seafood sits on Main Street in the heart of North Myrtle Beach and earns consistent loyalty from residents who want something a step above casual without tipping into formal. The seafood menu is thoughtfully put together — fresh preparations, solid technique, and enough variety to satisfy different tastes at the same table. The Main Street location gives it a genuine neighborhood anchor feel, the kind of spot locals are proud to bring guests to. If you want well-executed seafood in a comfortable setting that reflects the best of what this community has to offer, SoHo is a strong answer.

Castaway Key on Main

Main Street, North Myrtle Beach | Casual and Fun | Local Hangout

Castaway Key on Main brings a fun, island-inspired energy to the Main Street dining scene. The seafood is fresh and approachable — the kind of menu that doesn’t take itself too seriously but delivers consistently. It has the relaxed, come-as-you-are atmosphere that fits the North Myrtle Beach lifestyle well, and locals gravitate to it precisely because it feels like a neighborhood spot rather than a tourist production. A great option when you want good seafood with an easygoing vibe and no fuss.

Barefoot Resort & Highway 17 Corridor

Nacho Hippo

Near Barefoot | Casual | Great for Groups

Nacho Hippo isn't exclusively a seafood restaurant, but locals include it in the conversation because the fish tacos and shrimp dishes are consistently good, the atmosphere is fun without being chaotic, and it's an easy choice when you're feeding a group with mixed preferences. It reflects the kind of casual, well-executed dining that North Myrtle Beach does well — relaxed, reasonably priced, and genuinely enjoyable.

Greg Norman's Australian Grille

Barefoot Landing | Upscale Waterfront | Special Occasions

For a more elevated experience, Greg Norman's sits on the water at Barefoot Landing and offers one of the more refined dining settings in North Myrtle Beach. The seafood menu features fresh fish prepared with considerably more technique than the average beach restaurant. The waterfront views, the wine list, and the overall atmosphere make it the spot locals recommend when someone wants to celebrate something or impress a guest. It's not an everyday dinner, but it's a genuinely good one.

Crab Catchers on the Waterway

Intracoastal Waterway | Waterfront Dining | Local Staple

Crab Catchers earns consistent loyalty from residents who want waterfront dining without driving far. Situated on the Intracoastal Waterway, the views are a genuine draw, but the food holds up on its own — fresh catch, crab dishes, and classic coastal seafood prepared well. The deck seating is popular and books up, so plan ahead during season. A reliable answer to the question of where to take out-of-town visitors.

Types of Seafood Experiences in North Myrtle Beach

What stands out about the seafood dining scene in North Myrtle Beach is how much of it is built for people who actually live here, not just passing through. That's the signal of a real community — when restaurants are sustained by regulars, not just seasonal foot traffic.

What This Says About Living in North Myrtle Beach

Food culture reflects something true about a place. The seafood scene in North Myrtle Beach — fresh, unpretentious, locally anchored — mirrors the broader lifestyle here pretty accurately. It's a place that takes quality seriously without taking itself too seriously.

People who move here tend to develop their own rotation of spots quickly. The Friday night place. The Sunday brunch spot. The restaurant they bring every visitor to. The seafood options in North Myrtle Beach give you plenty of material to build those habits.

Cathy Cagno is a real estate agent in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina helping buyers and sellers think through not just the real estate side of a move, but whether the day-to-day life here actually fits what they're looking for. The dining scene is part of that conversation.

Final Thoughts

The best seafood restaurants in North Myrtle Beach, SC range from the completely casual to the genuinely special. What they share is an authenticity that comes from being part of a real coastal community with real fishing roots.

Whether you want to eat on the beach, on the waterway, or in a neighborhood spot that feels like yours — it's all here. And for anyone considering a move to this area, that's one more reason the lifestyle is worth exploring seriously.

Just verify hours and current status before you go — restaurants evolve, and what's listed here reflects the best available local knowledge at the time of writing.

Next Steps

If the North Myrtle Beach lifestyle sounds like a genuine fit — the seafood, the beaches, the community — the next step is a real conversation about the market and what your options look like.

No pressure. Just straight answers from someone who knows this area well.

© Cathy Cagno | North Myrtle Beach Real Estate | localtocoastalrealty.com