pawleys front porch

ehh. been here twice. we went for the burgers which guy fieri suggested on his show. i've been to two places guy fieri "suggests" and neither was anything special.

my first trip i got a basic burger since their claim to fame is the ground sirloin whatever they make the burgers out of. i added applewood bacon and gruyere cheese. it was a big burger but nothing awesome about it. it was decent.

thefriedoysters were awesome the first time i went. the second time they must have had a different cook.

second trip we tried thefriedgreen tomato tower and i do not suggest it. the tomato was hard and instead offriedand green tomato going together the two components fell apart.

good service decent food, but there are way better options to try.

of course we all know that this restaurant was featured on "triple d" with ol guy fieri. not sure why he went there because more than grinding your own hamburger meat should be required to be on there.

long story short, they have decent food here, but this place is too expensive and grossly overrated. also, there was "new country" blaring from the speakers and the wait for our food was incredibly long. our waitress was not attentive despite the restaurant not being terribly crowded.

for $23, including tip, i had a burger, fries, sweet tea, and half an order offriedpickles.

avoid this place and go somewhere else

one of the best burger places in cola. sometimes the service is shotty and the wait is long (avoid usc semester) but the food makes up for it.friedpickles are a must. definitely a place to visit when visiting usc or having friends from out of town.

had lunch...good food and great beer selection of locally brewed beers. also had thefriedpickles and there was plenty to go around. enjoyed our visit and would definitely go again.

almost ruined stay in columbia. my wife and i were in town briefly to visit congaree np and decided to try pawleys for dinner on our last night. the wait was interminably long for the quality of food that we received. my wife ordered a soda and i a beer, and then the server disappeared. about twenty minutes later, as i was about to have us get up and leave, she returned stating that the particular beer that i ordered was out and that they had been looking for a new keg -- fine, but let the patron know sooner instead of keeping them waiting. i ordered a different beer, an appetizer offriedpickles, and we each ordered a burger -- my wife's well-done and mine medium. the pickles were unremarkable and came out two minutes before our burgers. really? it's supposed to be an appetizer, not a side order. my wife's burger was cooked as ordered and with her fries, her meal was, by all accounts, decent. my burger was not medium, but medium rare to rare and one bite, possibly raw. my fries were so ridiculously over-seasoned that they were inedible -- and i pride myself in having an iron stomach. the server was nowhere to be found so i could not complain and have the plate taken back -- so i plodded through the burger, leaving the fires untouched -- nor could i ask where my beer was. literally down to my final bite of burger, she finally returned with my beer. i refused it, as we were done and i was not going to spend any extra time in that place. the only good thing that the server was able to do all night was that she got the manager to waive the cost of thefriedpickles to make up for me not getting a beer to drink with my meal. i voiced my concerns about the poor quality of my dinner and how one bite of burger bordered on raw and was met with indifference. we left and, if ever back in the area, will never return. stay away!!

great burgers.. thefriedpickles and hand cut fries are excellent. the isle of palms burger is one of the best burgers i've had in a long time. i definitely recommend.

the service was also great. i'll be going back next time i'm in town.

thoroughly enjoyed our first meal here. attentive wait staff,friedpickles and crawfish tails were delicious nibbles. everyone's burgers were perfectly cooked and we will definitely return to this easy going joint for more!

great food, terrible service. the food was delicious! we had thefriedgreen tomato app and i had the palmetto burger. i would definitely eat there again. unfortunately, our server was terrible, and i don't ever complain about service. i myself worked in the service industry for many years. she rolled her eyes at me at least twice when i asked her for something and ignored us basically the entire time. the only time she was actually nice, was when she brought us the check. it is the first time that i have not tipped a server 20% off the check. yes, it is important that the food taste great, but great customer service should also be a priority. all in all 4 out 5 stars for me!

unless you're comfortable in a dive, don't go.. have been twice. the atmosphere is certainly divey but the food is first class. the first time i ordered the caw caw burger substituting the chicken breast for the hamburger. the chicken breast was large and cooked to perfection, and the pimento cheese (green!) was generous and delicious. my side of onion rings were crispy and tasty. we also ordered thefriedpickles which were fine. my sister raved and raved over the fish tacos, so i ordered those on the second visit. sadly, i was not impressed. the mahi mahi was generous and good but the accompaniments were tasteless. the buffalo shrimp was too spicy for me, but that's a me problem. the service was just ok, nothing to write home about. we visited both times when u.s.c. was not in session and during an "off" hour, so i would be very nervous of the service at a busy time.

pawley's is pretty good. it's been hit or miss with food since i arrived in columbia. i noticed that a place from triple d was near by so i figured i'd give it a try. the place had a line out the door but it only took about 15 minutes to get a seat. the drinks were cold and the burgers were delicious. it was a loud bar atmosphere which i enjoyed in a saturday night, but may not be as fun during the day if i was there with family. i had thefriedpickles and the beaufort burger which had franks red hot onion rings,friedegg, apple cured ham, cheddar cheese on a pretzle bun, with sweet potato fries on the side because i'm healthy like that. i will likely go back again to try something else. score: 8/10

best burger in town.friedgreen tomato appetizer was excellent, and the best burger i ever had at a restaurant.

delicious burgers and sides. my favorite burger is the rockville burger on the pretzel bun with frank's red hot onion rings. the burger is perfectly sized and the toppings are paired excellently. getting the pretzal bun is must for which ever burger you choose! don't let the name frank's red hot fool you though, the onion rings are not spicy but are just as delicious. i also recommend the sweet potato fries and thefriedpickle appetizer.

not that great. i am kind of surprised people like this place so much. my burger was overcooked and unappealingly large and difficult to eat. i was also charged a fee to substitute jalapeno bacon for regular bacon. i'd understand a charge if i were adding bacon to a burger, but changing one type of bacon to another? it just seemed like poor customer service. i will say theirfriedpickles were great, but i don't think that's enough to make me go back again.

loved the atmosphere -friedpickles, onion rings & the big burgers rocked!!

good, sometimes great. driving through columbia on our way to the beach, our family googled to see if guy fieri had visited any local eateries on his show diners, drive-ins and dives. we found the episode that featured pawley's and had to try it out.

the beginning of the meal was very promising. we tried thefriedgreen tomato napoleon, and it was absolutely delicious! easily among the top appetizers i've ever eaten in my life. if you get one, make sure you get a little bit of every ingredient on the fork at one time to appreciate it properly.

we were therefore very optimistic about the burgers. the standard front porch burger was average. the ciabatta bun was a little dry. the fripp island burger was a little more tasty but not as flavorful as we expected from all the ingredients. the beaufort burger however was very good.

for dessert, we tried the key lime pie. it was drizzled in both strawberry and lime sauces, making it both very attractive and rather tasty.

overall, well worth a stop!