My husband and I had dinner here on a Friday evening. Make reservations if you intend to eat here on the weekend. The restaurant is small with an open kitchen, so sitting at the bar is a lot of fun if you are a foodie. The menu is diverse and our meal was good. Our server was engaged in making our experience positive. We will return I'm sure. read more

This place is a must in Bluffton. The food is phenomenal, the service and wine are great!! A must dine!!

Whenever i visit our house in HH, or technically Belfair, my family and I always end up at this restaurant once or twice during the week. The staff is very friendly and speedy. The food is great and I rarely pick something i have already have. I am picky and only like good food, this place does not disappoint. Dont let its back road location fool you. Make sure you get the caprese for your starter. Check it out. read more

This restaurant was highly recommended but I was not impressed. The place is small and the service was fair at best. The food was good but very expensive if you factor in the ambiance and service for the restaurant. read more

This restaurant makes me wish yelp had more than 5 stars. We truly discovered a 5-star hidden gem tonight. If you do nothing else while visiting Hilton Head, make sure you make rhe drive out to Bluffton and eat at the May River Grill. You will definitely have to make a reservation, although we stumbled across it without a reservation, and the owner Charlie and hostess Boo bent over backwards to find a table for us. We were lucky (and grateful). They were booked solid, and we shortly discovered why. The food was out of this world. Despite the tiny town, their food is comparable and even better than many 5-star restaurants. Sure enough, they have awards all over their walls. I can't recommend it enough. You MUST go there!!! Trust us on this! read more

We ate here for my wife's birthday on 12/28. Called 45 minutes ahead to remind them "it was my wife's birthday" was assured they would have a desert with candle. When we got there the hostess rushed over to wish my wife a happy birthday. They then packed us in and rushed us through our meal but forgot the birthday desert they had promised!! Food was ok. Will go elsewhere in the future. read more

I'm hoping - for the sake of this restuarant owner - that my recent lunch gift to a friend was just an aberration. The last three times I've been there, over a two year period, the food was amazing and so was the service. The 30th of November I took a friend to lunch there. As a vegetarian, I'm always challenged to find something on the menu. IN this case there was nothing I could eat, but the server told me that the chef could make the crepes with a vegetable stuffing. My friend had the chicken crepes. I told my server of my 1/2 off coupon at the time we ordered. When the food arrived, my friend got a crepe, and I was served an omelette. If you you're a vegan, you don't eat eggs - and I don't know why I didn't get two crepes like my friend did. This is an example of a chef being out of touch, and a server having no clue that I got scrambled eggs wrapped around the veggies. I told the server and she argued with me that it was a crepe. I gave up and just ate the stuffing, knowing that at least my meal was going to be free. When it came time to pay up, the server didn't want to acknowledge the coupon because she wasn't told. But I reminded her of our initial conversation and we finally squared it away. Not a very nice experience for my friend who was hoping to enjoy her birthday and have the attention on her. I probably won't go back. There are a lot of other choices for crappy service in Bluffton. read more

My wife and I had the early bird special, the chicken saltimbocca. When I asked where the prosciutto was the server proceeded to say, "the early bird special does not have the prosciutto and what do you want for $20.00." I laughed and asked her if she was serious. She walked away and came back with two slivers of prosciutto. She then said, "this is because you complained," and walked away in disgust. Obviously, I didn't eat it and told her that her attitude needed an adjustment and that the restaurant should not use a description of a meal that is deceptive. The chicken was dry to say the least and portion extremely small. With that said, we will never dine at the May River Grill. Beware to future diners. read more

A lovely location to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary with my Junior high school friend & his wife. Their favorite restaurant - such a treat! The appetizers were too tempting and after a round of fried green tomato salads, & crispy oysters, the boys had a dinner of the fish special and Delmonica steak. Us gals were near full but had calamari read more

A little pricey, but good food. The big thing however is if you have a food allergy. DO NOT GO. The owner and chef made a point to come out after our meal and tell us what a bother it was for him and the waitress to look up the dishes we wanted to see if it had soy in it. That its not fair to the other customers to stop what we are doing to see if you can eat this appetizer and entrée. We always say to the waitress if it does have soy, what can the chef recommend that doesn't. We have never been in a restaurant that anyone has said that to us. Actually we say we're sorry, because we know its a little more work for them. The better restaurants we've either had the chef come out to tell us what we can eat or the waitress or manager has said we can just cook this with butter for example instead of vegetable oil. One manger even said their chef likes challenges and whipped up something. We will never visit this restaurant again considering their are so many good restaurants around, why would we go somewhere that doesn't care about whether you come back and considers food allergies a bother. read more

Honestly the BEST place in town! Being from NYC looking for these gems are hard to find especially since it's in a tiny strip mall. For sure you MUST make reservations yet we lucked out someone cancelled. So words of advice: DON'T look at the menu!!!The specials are amazing and you should for sure order the fried green tomato salad -that was re-dunk-u-los. Kudos to this spot, the Chef and our waitress - Meagan. Wait till she recites the specials...it's cray cray'! read more

This is our favorite place to eat in Bluffton. They have the best fried green tomatoes. Have never had a bad meal there. The wait staff is very friendly and professional. Definitely recommend that you try this place. If you go early you can usually always get a table but it does get crowded. . read more

Not the value it was - After making The May River Grill a must when we are in town for numerous years, tonight we left very disappointed. By no means do we mind spending money on a great meal, however, the portions on everything have been significantly reduced. The glass of wine was 6 oz at best, their fried green tomato salad was much smaller and priced higher, and my fish portion ($37) was very small. The quality of food was good and service (Adam) was great, but please beware that you are going to greatly overpay for very little at what was once one of the low country's premiere premium eateries. read more

I have never written a review but was moved when my wife and I, my son his wife and two children dined at May River Grill. The food was great the bill was 500+tip. The problem was we were asked to leave before we finished coffee after dessert. We were told someone was waiting for our table. I was embarrassed but left quietly. This was a rude thing to do to my family. Due to the service I will not return and certainly will share my experience with others read more

I absolutely love this place. Do not like the outside of the restaurant fool you, they have amazing food. I've been here several times and I've never had anything bad! Not to mention everyone is so nice. read more

We had reservations on the busy PGA tour weekend. We were seated very quickly. The server took our drink orders and came back with everything quickly. They had a good selection of specials to complement their already impressive regular menu items. The food was very tasty. Everyone in our party enjoyed their meals. Definitely worth heading off the island. read more

My husband and I arrived on time for our reservation and we were given two options for seating - one was a very cramped table next to the bar and the other was next to the front door. We chose the table by the bar. Eventually the waiter showed up and when we indicated our table was unstable it was eventually rectified, but it took over a half hour for our drink order to arrive. The waiter was very nice but clearly out of his element - he wasn't organized and consequently everything we ordered was slow to arrive. The entrees came out at different times and we feel the kitchen should have timed the dinners to come out together (given the price they charged). The ultimate insult was that a gift card from the restaurant was presented (purchased from Charlie, the owner) and since they could not validate THEIR OWN GIFT CARD we waited for about 45 minutes before we could settle our bill. At one point we were told that Charlie was actually not going to honor the gift card our mother purchased from him. On another note, Charlie even charged our mother an additional $10 fee for the "labor incurred" for placing a stamp on an envelope and mailing the gift card to her! RIDICULOUS!!! The food was good but the inadequate service and the cramped restaurant environment made for an unpleasant experience that we will never repeat. There are too many other local restaurants that offer a more pleasant dining experience. read more

Have been to the May River grill at least 5 times and have never had a bad meal. The scored flounder is excellent as is the duck and surprisingly they have one of the best rib eye steaks ever. Fun atmosphere that is small busy and really a community event. You can eat at the counter and watch the cooks. Everyone is cordial and it is as good as it gets in Bluffton read more

Went in for a late lunch and was very pleasantly surprised. You would never know this gem was hidden in the heart of Bluffton. Prices are more than reasonable and has some very tasty sounding selections. We both had the she-crab soup, which may have been the best soup I've ever had. And the filet stroganoff was to die for! Looking forward to trying dinner next! read more

What a great find in an unexpected set of stores. The food is fantastic, with many voices including creating seafood dishes. I recommend the various types of louder including the Thai. There is a wide variety of food, something for everyone. Be sure to make a reservation because it fills up around 6! The service so fantastic. It is ver popular with the locals! read more

The service is slow and the food is very overpriced!!!!! We arrived for a 6:30 reservation and got home to our house that is 10 minutes away at 9:20 p.m. Our party of 3 did not get food until 8:30 p.m. and then they screwed up our bill. They admitted that they "forgot or misplaced" our order at 7:45 and then we still didn't get food until 8:30. Terrible!!!!!!! read more

An amazing place! The staff is phenomenal, the food is beyond amazing, and I love taking visitors here. Chef Charlie is friendly, thoughtful and very talented. The dishes he comes up with are delicious. The fresh fish is to die for! We almost always order the specials, and we have never had a bad meal there. I would recommend a reservation, they fill up fast. The pricing is beyond reasonable for what you get. We love, love, love the May River Grill! read more

Tiny place in Bluffton. Getting reservations was no problem, and you definitely need them because the place is packed. The service is outstanding - everyone, from the hostess to the wait staff to the busboys, works together to make sure you have what you need. It takes a little getting used to, as one person asks if you want a drink, a second recites the specials, a third takes your order, a fourth delivers your food. The list of specials is just crazy - one soup, two salads, two appetizers, three fish, three meat, one pasta - all in addition to the regular menu. It's a bit over the top. I ordered the wrong thing at this type of restaurant, but I read about the dish online and thought it sounded great: eggplant parmesan topped with boursin cheese, shrimp and scallops, over pasta. It just wasn't good. Covered with mozzarella, the shrimp and scallops were watery, the eggplant was way overbreaded, the pasta overcooked to mush. My baked oyster appetizer was tasty, wish the main course was half as good. Worth a try, but I think a safer bet is to stick to the seafood. read more

Last night my family and I ate at May River Grill. We have eaten there before and enjoyed it. Last night was very different. The service was poor. We discussed food allergies with the waiter and then the waiter brought the entree with the food specifically told my daughter was allergic too. The entrees were brought out at different times and some members of our party had to wait for over five minutes for their selection. But the worst part was while we were eating a roach crawled across our table. My daughter was able to kill it. But we were not sure where it came from. From our food ? The manager came over with a napkin to take it away. But didn't wash the table and his comment disturbed we more. He said " we just were sprayed and it brings the roaches out". I couldn't eat another bite of food thinking about where the roach came from. I asked for the check, which took longer then usual and we left paying a bill of more than $215. The manager quietly said he was sorry as we left. The whole experience was terrible. We were there to celebrate a special event and this experience was far from special. read more