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 lowcountryfoodand experience.

i adore this place. a little out of the way, but o so worth it. thfooddelightful 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

you either get.....or dont!. pricey.....yes! goodfoodwith 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.

mediocrefoodand high prices in a unique setting. once is more than enough.

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 friedfoodis 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.foodchallenge just to finish a single tray.
forget everything else on the menu and order a tray! you will understand immediately.

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. thefoodreminds 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!

blandfoodgreat view. been a few times and i must say in my opinion thefoodis 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.foodwas 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.

once legendary, now vapid.. i have lived in charleston for over 12 years and have been going to bowen's island to slurp oysters every winter since i have lived here. from a local perspective, sad to see this place go downhill so badly over the past few years. you would think the hushpuppies would be amazing to accompany such purportedly good seafood, but they were either solid bricks of fry batter or dripping with grease. i would not recommend anything here except the beer (only local, all draught, very good). my steamed oysters (which this place is known for) were undercooked. don't even touch the fried seafood. you'd be better off eating a mcfish fastfoodsandwich. if you are looking for good views and a beer, go. if you are looking for fresh seafood, go elsewhere. bowen's, despite its excellent charm, has lost its passion for good seafood. james beard award should be taken away. its quite misleading. staff needs a strong kick in the butt for an attitude adjustment (they were rude and dismissive and service is nearly non-existent) and the kitchen needs to relearn how to prepare good southern fried food. such a tragedy to see such a local place of legend wheeze and putter to the finish line like a dying mule. at this point, its simply treading on its name and former glory. many better seafood options in town. too bad the great charm of this place doesn't put flavor in the food...this place is a shell of its former self. no pun intended.

a nightmare in the form of a restaurant.. the blueprint for the minimalist genre of restaurants, chances are good that from the dining room to the restroom, bowen's will be like no other dining establishment you've ever visited.

if thefoodhad been superior i could have ignored all the other negatives such as the noise, the long wait in line, the exorbitant amount of time it took to receive our food, the deficiency of service and the lack of available tables.

this must be where people go to give their alcoholism a memorable night out. most of the crowd was boisterous and obnoxious. i can't recall when i have been in a restaurant where the ambient noise level increased as the total number of occupants decreased.

i got stuck sitting next to a trash container and when the busboy emptied the trash from the tables, the noise he created went through my head like an oyster knife.

the hushpuppies were large, spherical sponges. their singular purpose was to soak up every drop of cooking oil they were fried in. they were disgustingly inedible. when a fried item absorbs this much grease it is a clear indication that the oil is old and needs to be changed. had i known how bad bowen's hushpuppies were, i would not have ordered a separate side of them. i really should have asked for a refund. fed to an unsuspecting pup, expect a knock on the door from the aspca.

the fish offered that evening was whiting. at first, the portion size of the two fillets appeared huge. as i got further into the entrée however, there wasn't much fish at all once all the barrage of batter, skin a few bones were accounted for. what little actual fish remained tasted fresh, however.

i was told by my wife that the shrimp were good but those offered by sullivan's restaurant on the island are better.

the fries were prepared adequately but they were unremarkably standard.

what passes for cole slaw was merely chopped lettuce with some vinegar and sugar added. i might have detected an onion bit in there somewhere but i'm still not certain.

if you are still determined to eat at bowen's, consider bringing earplugs and an abundant amount of patience.

garbage. we went out to see a spectacular sc low country sunset and they have an awesome location to do that. we ordered some kind of seafood platter and it was total garbage. they must have been understaffed as well b/c the bartender was taking all of the orders from bar patrons as well as all of the people in line to getfoodfor tables. the fish had tons of bones in it and the shrimp etc.. was terriible. this is probably the worst seafood i've had in charleston. i actually left and had dinner elsewhere.

bowen's island restaurant is quite the dive type of place, but that's okay because their focus is on goodfoodand fun.

captin d's would have been better. i took my wife there for dinner last night..what a major disappointment. she got the fried oysters and i got the seafood platter. so much for fresh local oysters.. they were heavily breaded, lacked any type of seasoning and poorly cooked. i question the freshness of the oysters as they were mushy and tasteless. most likely frozen.
the seafoodplatter had shrimp, crab cake and a piece of nondescript fish. all three were frozen not fresh. the fish was hard and chewy.
the bill came to $47 that included an iced tea and one local brewed beer which was excellent.
if you want a place to have a few drinks and enjoy a nice marsh view this would be a good place, but don't' come for the food.

food was great- my daughter amd i split the big ol seafood platter and had some left over. my husband had fried oysters that were the best i jave ever had. the chicken was just okay- we ordered that for my 5 year old. the only thing none of us cared for was the hush puppies. do not expect fine dining,,, thia is a paper plates- plastic cups order at the counter kinda place, but ithefoodis worth it and you can wear your shorts and tshirt - it's also reasonably priced for the portions. def. will go again but won't order the chicken- i'll stick with the fried oysters.!!!

ok i guess. this place is your typical tourisit trap.foodok, service ok, over priced. location is great. if visiting folly beach i would give it a try just once.