original benjamin's calabash seafood

in myrtle beach there are several really bad seafood buffets. this is not one of them. the food is well prepared, often refreshed, and very enjoyable. if you are looking for agoodplace to eat all the seafood you can, this is the place! while you are there, take the time to closely examine and admire the beautifully crafted ship replicas ranging from 12 inches in length to more than 15 feet. then go downstairs and meet the artist/craftsman who creates them. great place, great service,goodseafood, and lots of it!

definite revisit. mouthwatering oysters and fish primo prime rib and steak and crazygoodsweet potato and other casseroles. this is an incredible feast for the eyes and appetite. great service and nice ambience
definitely return

this place was horrible. i will not pay my hard earned money for this bikini bottom food ok. only thinggoodis the crab legs and they speak for themselves. over priced like hell but staff is nice.

good seafood, plenty of options! great friendly staff and i loved the crab legs! would recommend for a buffet, which normally i do not enjoy since the food is made in bulk and the waste is probably astronomical, however this place was well kept and almost an event in itself! the offseason was agoodtime to try as i heard the wait can stretch from an hour +

redicuously crowded.goodwas fine. large selection. expensive. probably my last visit.

great seafood buffet with awesome atmosphere and customer service. great staff and atmosphere.goodprice for the size of the buffet: 160-item buffet plus 25-item dessert bar. seriously, the customer service is amazing.

i am a certified chef and a hard critic as well. from the start the hostess was nice and took our reservation for six on a wednesday night and was told it would be a 45 minute wait. the reason being there was two coach busses just leaving. the wait was extremely less then projected, which from the start is a plus.

from this point the hostess took our party to our table, explaining where restrooms were and how the buffet is set up, again another plus. also another advantage, the restaurant didn't smell of gross fish, like you find when walking in restaurants such as red lobster. as we were seated, we were given a basket of sweetened hush puppies, taste like a donut, was absolutely amazing.

our server, lorna, was the absolute best. she was attentive and friendly.

now onto the food. from a chefs prospective, this is the best buffet i've been to. the seafood is fresh, flavorful, juicy, tender. the food is amazing. the mussels where perfectly seasoned and cooked, and for a buffet mussels are difficult to not over cook. for the crab legs the chef hands you three clusters of crab at a time. definitely enough to keep you busy for awhile. i was extremely impressed with how delicious the food was, especially for being a buffet. only complaint is that the plates aren't big enough, for i'm one who likes to get one of everything.

time for dessert. all items are make in-house in their bakery. the items were delicious! i have no complaint on food at this restaurant.

now lets talk about pricing. the cost is $30 a person. why? seafood is an expensive product, especially with the selection they have, the price is extremely reasonable. now if you are one who is a picky eater or doesn't like seafood, then perhaps you may not feel the price was worth it. i see reviews of how it's too expensive and expect more. hello!!! this is a seafood buffet! buffet = all you can eat! if you want seafood, expect to pay agoodprice. and if you are more worried about the price instead of great food, there's a mcdonald's in the area, get a mcfilet. and again, for being a buffet, this place exceeded all expectations.

i can't help but to strict down all the ridiculous complainers on here:

some say the fried seafood tastes the same. well no duh. if you fry something, it's going taste like grease and breading. what do you expect?

another complain people say is about the price. let me put it this way. you pay $30 for all you can eat. if you go to a restaurant with an a la carte menu (pay for individual items or entrees like red lobster) how much will you pay for that one entree? about the same? if you don't want to pay for great food, go somewhere else.

this restaurant, from a certified chef perspective, receive the best review i have given any restaurant. i highly recommend this restaurant. a+++

better than i expected! nice touches all around,goodatmosphere, and very friendly staff. like the uniforms. have to explore a little to see all the decor. and the food was good. we were there early, but i didn't have anything that was not tasty.

best selection of seafood. my family and i love this place. great food! i just did not like paying $4 for a bottled beer. other than this, great selections!!!!!!!


-----27 feb, 2012-----

great choices.goodbuffet. great choices. hit and miss with crab legs. you have to get to the crab legs when they come out. get 2 plates....attendant will only give you 2 clusters. clusters fresh out of the steamer are awesome.


-----30 dec, 2010-----

best seafood buffett in mb!. plain and simple...if you want seafood buffett, then benjamin's is the place to go. hands-down....the best of myrtle beach. coupons available for early-bird folks.

despite the volume of people, the staff are friendly, courteous, attentive and on point with drink refills, extra napkins, to clear plates or just about any other thing you can think of without being asked. if you do need something extra or special, just let the server know and they will gladly get it for you. on our trip we asked for tiny shrimp forks which our server happily obliged. we always have agooddining experience when we go to benjamin's, which with all the dining options in the area, is the main reason that always keeps us coming back.

plan a trip to benjamin's soon -- check out myrtle beach while you are there. i love this place! all food is well above average - they have crab legs, ribeye steak and prime rib on the buffet. if you are not craving these high end items then it may not be agoodvalue for your dollar as the buffet is $30 per head. they have creative and aggressively seasoned dishes, i thought the fried ( calabash items ) weren't outstanding so if what you're wanting is a fried seafood plate without all the extras then you'll probably do better elsewhere. that being said i consider this the king of buffets and eat here every trip to myrtle, it has crept into my bones and i think about it frequently throughout the year. the staff is great and the quality is better than most chain restaurants. there is also lots of it. i recommend you go later (after 5) when they are busiest and frequently bring out food. this brings me to perhaps my only criticism- the buffet area and walkways are chaotic - the layout is not really effecient, cooks are bringing hot food trays, children are running wild and customers are trying to navigate the many different small buffet bars. to those who think it is overpriced, i have a little philosophy that especially applies to vacations- spend a little more and eat a meal that you will remember. if you eat at mcdonalds you wont even remember it in a week, much less a year.

typical seafood buffet x 1000 seats. entry into the place was loved by the kids, pirates giving out beads and the entry is great with all the ships and sharks etc. we were a party of 10 that entered at about 9pm on a wednesday night and were seated straight away. our waitress was polite and attentative.
they certainly have 170 items as they claim, steaks were a little dried out. people at our table said the crab legs, the clams & mussels were excellent. i did notice that a lot of the hot food in the buffet warmers were certainly not as hot as they should have been, getting some supposedly hot food back to your table only to find it is cold or at best luke warm wasnt agoodthing. i also noticed they turned off all the buffet heaters while people were still seated in the restaurant. not agoodthing to maintain temps in certain foods that were already luke warm to start.
there is a large section downstairs for kids, i did see them wiping down all of the kids play equipment with sanitizing spray which is always a great thing. it is expensive, go there with an empty stomach and get some crab.

always stop in. one of my top 2 for buffet dining at the beach. verygoodselection of different foods and styles. hush puppies are the best you will ever eat.

one of the best buffets in myrtle beach. a bit pricey, but much better than most of the buffets you find in the area. there is an extremely large selection of food, so you can pick and choose your favorites. crab legs are excellent. lots ofgooddesert choices as well.

good food, great environment for kids!. my family - including 4 small kids - went to this restaurant last night. it was prime dinner time and was extremely crowded. we had about a 45 minute wait, and the staff invited us to the original benjamin's kids' nautical experience. at first, it seemed like a basement area built to separate screaming, hungry kids from other patrons. but the more i looked around, it was obvious that a whole lot of thought went into this area. the kids could "fish" with nets or fishing line. there was a "galley" where kids could "cook". there were also a couple of aquariums and a marine bunk. there were also sailor outfits, books, activities, and other games. i was floored. to top it all off, they had free face painting. it is a gimmick aimed at making kids wait times more enjoyable. if you don't have kids, it's not a big deal. if you do have kids, it is the difference between 30 minutes of fun and 30 minutes of torture.

the food was prettygoodas well. i saw one reviewer who thought it was like paying 3 times as much for golden corral food (except the crab legs). that may be true for some of the items, but there were a lot more items offered at benjamin's. they had a whole line of nothing but calabash style seafood. there was also a meat carving station (the prime rib was amazing).

for anyone looking for a satisfying family dining experience at about $30 per person (typical for huge seafood buffets) i recommend the original benjamin's. and for those with kids and a long wait time, make sure you go downstairs. it was an experience!