flying fish public market & grill

i've eaten here a few times and the food has always been wonderful! the guys in the market area who throw the fish are always a joy and sogoodwith the kids! some of the wait staff need to go back through training or pick a different career/job though. this last time we went, it was crowded, as to be expected durning the season. the waitress brought out our kids drinks, then the apps came, 5 minutes later she comes back and says "oh did they not bring your drinks?" another bit passes and we finally get our drinks. we had ordered sushi as an app and the same thing happened with that. "oh they didn't bring it?" we were like, ummm.. we thought you were our waitress and you haven't brought it. food came out a little while later and everything was fantastic! i highly recommend the shrimp and grits. it was fantastic!!! i would nearly sell a kidney for the recipe! haha! the only downside to a couple of our visits have been some of the wait staff. most are very friendly and nice, just some seem forgetful and in their own little worlds. i mean, at one point my mom was ready to throw her cup at the girl to get a refill. haha! but yes, other than that, this place is excellent!

red snapper had bones and just didn't taste right. corn on the cob overcooked. lobster tail was barely warm when received. onlygoodthings were salad and hush puppy. horrible experience for a place with a supposed 4.5 rating.

i went for happy hour on a monday night. this has always been my favorite happy hour place at the beach. they recently changed the happy hour menu a bit but still have some of the favorites on it. i had 6 steamed oysters which weregoodand the poblano shrimp dip which was okay. they have a decent beer selection including a few locals on tap. got out for $29 with tip and was completely stuffed. the bartenders were super friendly too. highly recommended. 4 1/2 stars.

the wife and myself ate here yesterday. we had eaten here before but it had been 5 or more years ago. we both had a drink. the drinks were ok but neither of us could tell there was any alcohol. the smoked fish spread they bring you was quickly gobbled up and was good. we each had one of their fresh fish selections. both with cajun seasoning and an herb cream sauce. they were both very good. the gouda mac and cheese was also quitegoodand the hush puppies were nice and crispy. verygoodmeal, we will eat here again while we are here but forgo the alcoholic drinks.

second time around and it was asgoodthis time as it was the first time. service was excellent - thank you amber. food was delicious - crab cakes, wedge salad, caesar salad, grilled shrimp, mascarpone cake, chocolate mousse cake and coffee. everything was excellent.

we had the fried scallops dinner and fresh grouper prepared cajun style . scallops were large and not overcooked . the grouper was agood10 oz portion and juicy. best fresh fish selection.

excellent food, average service. for food, i had the southern fried chicken sandwich, which came topped with pickles - agoodchoice. my 5-year-old had the mac-n-cheese ("1 sideways thumb" - basically kraft mac n cheese from a box). my wife had the buffalo shrimp tacos ("tacos were good, but the rice, dirty rice, was bland.") we also ordered the hush puppies as an appetizer - perfectly round and delicious, but arrived less than a minute before our meal.

server was confused why i wanted ketchup for my fries, and didn't offer to refill my drink until we asked for the check. the table next to us had an issue with their check.

view was nice. i'd order take-out from them, but probably wouldn't eat in again.

after all the positive reviews we were pretty excited to try the flying fish. my father is a seafood lover and i can't eat it so i was happy to find somewhere that offered other options as well. we had about a 20 minute wait it wasn't too crowded, when we got to our seats the server came over and took our drink order and told us all the fresh catches of the day. my dad wanted salmon and asked what comes with it, the waiter asked how he wanted it and my dad was confused because the waiter did tell us they had the fresh catch he didn't explain that there were different ways to have it prepared, he again said how do you want your salmon prepared i also had no idea what he was talking about as this was our first time in the restaurant. then he pointed to the menu and said again how do you want it. after my dad figured out what he meant, he ordered it and again asked what comes with it and the waiter said rice and green beans. my dad wanted the extra shrimp on top and the waiter was getting very short with my dad at this point as if him actually having to take his order was annoying. i ordered the honey apple bbq chicken with rice,  gouda smashed potatoes,  and a salad. we also ordered a basket of hushpuppies for the table. when the salad came it had little goldfish in it which was cute and it was delicious it was the best part of my meal. the table in back of us had the same waiter and they also had trouble ordering with him, he did not want to explain anything or answer any questions, i guess after they got done with their salad plates they stacked them up and he picked them up and dropped plates everywhere and he very rudely said i'm so glad you stacked them for me. we got our dinner and they looked reallygoodand my dad did enjoy his fish, however we both didn't like the rice it had some season in it that just made it taste funky. and my apple bbq chicken… apple nothing there was zero taste of apple and the chicken was so dry i couldn't cut it with a steak knife. the potatoes were good, i did order the chocolate cake it was absolutely scrumptious it was sogoodit would be the only reason i went back. $70 for sub-par meal and a server with attitude no thank you.  

we came on a tuesday night and had to wait 45 minutes which is always agoodsign. the food and service were very good. the portions were large.

heavenly experience

the entire experience here was wonderful for us.  diners are brought a complimentary smoked mahi mahi dip with crackers.  that dip is absolutely magical.  we got the fried oyster appetizer and my wife said it was the best oysters she's ever had.  they were definitely in my top three, if not the best.  i've always used sri racha sauce for my oysters, but the goat cheese to me was a brilliant touch.  the mahi mahi was incredible with the asian sesame sauce.  the swordfish was perfectly delectable with the habanero orange chutney, but after trying the asian sesame sauce, i wished i had chosen that for my dish.  the vegetables tasted garden fresh and were perfectly steamed.  the shrimp and grits are one of the best you will find--just absolutely perfectly comforting, with split grape tomatoes, chives, & country ham.

the service was perfect and friendly with a beautiful smile.  this has become our family's new favorite and must-go-to place during every visit to the beach, ever since they first opened.

edit:  we went back august 2018, and my positive impression was greatly reinforced.  this is a wonderful, hip, and classy place.  they have top notch service, great drinks, and excellent meals.  and they still bring that absolutely wonderful complimentary dip to your table.  the chipotle lime sauce is not run-of-the-mill; it is alarminglygoodon the halibut.

went to this restaurant because of the high ratings andgoodreviews but once we arrived and received our meals i wasn't impressed. the star dish on the menu the shrimp and grits were not what they were made out to be and over all our meals weren't up to par. although i do recommend the hush puppies as an appetizer and the crackers they give you in the beginning were great.

wow! great atmosphere,goodfood, polite wait staff andgoodprices! looking forward to coming back again. mother in law said the fried flounder was the best she's ever had in 62 years. makes coming to myrtle beach worth the while!

rick from tennessee. i had the flounder, fries, and slaw. ordered the hush puppy basket for starter. hush puppies were hard as a rock and very dense. the cinnamon butter that came with them made them a little better. the flounder had very little taste and sides were not any better. very disappointed after reading the reviews on here i was expecting better. service was verygoodand waitress offered to bring me something else and apologized. just seemed like very poor preparation of food. i guess the best part is at least i tried it and will know not to go back.

great seafood in north myrtle. after a complete shopping failure for our planned dinner tonight, we decided to try this place based on thegoodreviews. it was around 6:30 by the time we got there and we were told it was a 45 minute to an hour wait. thanks to "lynn" who apparently chose not to wait for his or her table, we got moved up the queue and were seated in about 25 minutes. i was a little worried about the atmosphere because it seemed really loud while we were waiting but once we were seated upstairs, it was fine.

they start by delivering complimentary mahi mahi dip with saltine-type crackers. it was a bit like whitefish salad and pretty good. my bil ate it with a fork when we ran out of crackers. :)

we ordered the basket of hushpuppies as an appetizer and they got rave reviews around the table but with the qualifications that "deep fried rubber bands" would also be good. they're served with honey butter which made my sister kind of go all homer-y (she did stop just shy of drooling).

mom got the shrimp and grits which was freakin' amazing. i did not pick up her bowl after she finished and lick it out but i considered it. a few people at the table (not me) thought it might be too rich but three of us decided she won the dinner raffle.

sister number 1 got the fire roasted trout and thought it was excellent but the asian glaze she got with it fell a little flat. she asked for the habanero chutney instead and that was delicious - spicy and sweet.

sister number 2 got fire roasted tile fish with herb cream sauce. she found it to be a little rare and would have liked it cooked more. it was also a bit bland but after a couple of shakes of salt and pepper considered it worthy of recommendation.

my bil got the cornmeal sautéed wreckfish. he said it was delicious but did not actually lick the plate. (of course he was helping mom eat her shrimp and grits too so...)

the fish and chips was verygoodbut i ended up spending most of my time envying my mother her shrimp and grits.

the little one got fish sticks which ended up circling the table and were deemed better than my fried fish. they're not your typical frozen formed fish stick things - they're actually real fish.

our server devin was terrific. she was extremely knowledgable about the menu and the various fish they offered. she even noticed that i needed a drink refill before i did which, to me, is the trademark of agoodserver. she was sogoodthat the little one gave her two of his stickers!

we got two slices of pecan pie for dessert and it was possibly life-altering.

basically, we left here so happy that we've decided that we might have to go back tomorrow...

terrific staff across the board and verygoodfood. large portions. tremendous clam chowder - the best we've ever had! arrive early, but worth the wait.