bowen's island restaurant

great food, beautiful views. local. love this place. they're a well established favorite of the charleston area locals. don't miss out on a casual atmosphere, true lowcountry food and experience.

fantastic hole in the wall!! don’t let the appearance distract you!
oysters, oysters and a beer
buy a tray of steamed oyster clusters. they are totally worth the work for your meal!

i adore this place. a little out of the way, but o so worth it. th food delightful and don't forget dessert. the drink selection isn't wide but you won't miss your drink with good ole fresh seafood done right! i love the seafood platter. thinking about that crab cake makes me smile and you can taste the water in the crab meat. if you've had fresh crab, you know what i mean. love the hushpuppies, make sure you try the dessert too. if i remember correctly, they have a solid key lime pie. driving down the road is deceiving but drive to the water a fresh taste of charleston. 

i heard the oysters are refreshingly delicious. make sure you check it out! shuck a few for me, no hot sauce, thanks! =:) enjoy!

o and i almost forgot, if you're not a fan of fried seafood but still looking for yummy fresh seafood, try the big ole seafood. its a plate of boiled shrimp, sausage and corn. yummm-e.

signed with love and calories, 
the original charlestonian
#lewreviews #theoriginalcharlestonian

30 minute wait to order. 45 minute wait for food. dinner was good but not worth all that.

rip off. ordered oyster platter. had to pay first.got six little oyster pieces. i basically payed 18 bucks for a plate of fries. don't do it

you either get.....or dont!. pricey.....yes! good food with a relaxing view.....most definitely! the yanks usually dont get it and even some southerners. relax and enjoy the view and take some numbers off your blood pressure! nothing left to say folks.

mediocre food and high prices in a unique setting. once is more than enough.

funky with great food. great fried seafood and lovely view. bring your bug spray! inside gets hot in the summer.

da best oysters!. i've had oysters all over the world and these are the best!! go hungry and get a tray or all u can eat. also, include some low country boil and a cold bud light and you will be in heaven!

authentic steamed oyster. there at the end of a gravel road, which is blair witchish in the dark, is a plywood and stud shack laid on of top block walls, that is must have dining experience. you cant be a germaphobe and enjoy your visit, so if your expecting ultra white linens and clean tables.......dont go. cocktail sauce is dealt out of former gatorade bottles and the only service is the occasional dumping of buckets filled with discarded oyster shells. that is the beauty of the place. it knows what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
the fried food is fair at best. the shrimp may be local but they are not fresh. the fish is whiting and no matter how you dress it, it will never be prom queen, just not that kind of girl. but.......they get oysters, they do everything right. a heaping mound of briny manna, served on a tray that in a former life saw 1000's of middle school mystery meats. they are steamed in the basement that feels like you walked into a secret clubhouse of ex-moonshiners that gave up "white lightning" for the marshie delicacy. the first one is best. still steaming and boiling within the shell. perfect cocktail sauce, that has the best consistency of any cocktail sauce i have ever had, paired with texas pete's hot sauce and squeezed lemon, it will keep you coming back again and again.
fanastic experience and very reasonable. i paid $13.00 and gorged myself on my own man vs. food challenge just to finish a single tray.
forget everything else on the menu and order a tray! you will understand immediately.

if you've never been to the restaurant, it's a low country legend, named one of the top 10 southern seafood dives by southern living and marked by coastal living as one of america's great seafood dives. several movies have been filmed here including the date scene in dear john. the first time we visited years ago, it was just a dark, scary little shack on the water. it was chock full of mismatched tables and chairs and there was sharpie scribblings all over the walls from floor to ceiling.

2006 was a long time ago for that james beard award!
if go at a time when the oysters aren't in season turn around and leave! we did not go at such a time. everything else there was ok, not great. only one thing one the menu was not fried. the fried shrimp was ok. the fried fish very boney. the crab cake was clearly frozen from a box (too uniform).
i got the one not fried thing - frogman stew which is just a seafood boil. and it's just that. potato, corn, sausage, shrimp all boiled with no seasoning. bland bland bland.
by far worst and most boring meal of the trip

great seafood. not much to say about this joint other than it is a nice local place to go and eat fried seafood or lowcountry boil if you wish. i go most of the year without ever eating fried seafood and when our family visits the area to bowen island seafood we go to get shrimp and oysters! very rudimentary with stud walls and writing all over the boards in sharpie! the simplicity of this joint is what makes it the best. beware though................it is addicting. if you go in the summer or warmer months i have found those biting gnats to be unbearable outside so we always sit inside. no frills here other than good eats! there will be the detractors of course that want to be waited on hand and foot but not here..........you order; go get your own drink; get your own condiments; refill your own drink; then leave! like i said.............no frills but great lowcountry food. pricey............yeah just a tad; but every so often you can catch a dolphin or two in the water by the restaurant playing. worth it for that alone! if i were a self-made millionaire i would retire to the area and hang out at the restaurant all day eating oysters and shrimp till i die!


-----14 apr, 2011-----

local yocal. being a southerner you just like those places that are not necessarily glamour joints but just like what you grew up on! well, bowen's island restaurant is that! no frills..........just low country calabash style thrills! we were very lucky while dining to see a few dolphins in the inlet playing. the food reminds me of the great southern fried seafood i grew up on! the atmosphere is what makes this place. seems a little chaotic but it works! if you go away not liking this island favorite you just need not come back because your either a socialite snob or you have no idea what low country is about.......enough said!

bland food great view. been a few times and i must say in my opinion the food is horrible. way to much batter and very greasy. really no flavor at all. the view is beautiful and i think that's why people come, it surely can't be the food. i will give them an a for portion size but where is the flavor??? and having no real cocktail sauce is a huge disappointment.

very disappointed. 2nd trip to bowen's. went in the summer two years ago. food was ok but the line was long and because of the wind direction, bugs made it almost unbearable to wait. but that isn't the restaurants fault so decided to try it again. wife and i waited 45 minutes and when we got to the counter to order, hostess said they were all out of fried oysters. and the line behind us was still an hours wait! we were disappointed but order seafood platters. fried shrimp was very good, fried fish was good, but not great. crap cake was bready and appeared deep fried from frozen, not made fresh. disappointed in the hushpuppies, not homemade and something you would get a low end fish camp. the fries were also not very good, but you do get a bunch. the slaw was great, but they only give you a large tablespoon's worth in a tiny paper cup. the setting, history and sunset are all cool, but if you are looking for good food, there are better options.