I seem to take great restaurants for granted, but these days it's getting harder to find a place this perfect. First off, service was just perfect. Attentive but not overbearing. We sat at the bar. Meagan? Was awesome. I need a cocktail before a meal. I didn't see any and then, SHAZAM! It appeared. The aspect of watching the kitchen work right in front of you is an honest glimpse of how a restaurant operates. It's art and a show all in one. Best part was the excellently executed food. I don't take pictures of food. Luckily someone did. We started out with the eggroll. It's melt in the mouth decadent. I had the lobster tail special, never had it this well executed before. Melt in the mouth plate of wonderful. Perfectly cooked veggies and mash that inhaled the sauce. My sidekick had the shrimp pasta. Pasta was great, shrimp better, sauce completely balanced, and carb cake on top was just gluttonous. Be back soon to try the duck. This place is Epic. read more

May River Grill - Lobster tail special... Amazing!!! - New American Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

Outstanding food and great service. Duck was outstanding as were the scallops. Definitely coming back.

I have to knock this place down a notch with my "Meh, I've experienced. better" Yelp. We held a business dinner here for some local customers. It is definitely a "special occasion" restaurant. I was thrown off because all of their award winning dinners listed on the wall aren't on the normal laminated menu (think Denny's menu). If something is available most (or all?) of the time, why not put in our your menu under "House Specialties." I don't know that I missed out the award winning "Jack Daniels NY Strip" because the three that I saw ordered at our table did not look good. Another thing that was strange were their salads. I ordered a caprese salad, which I expect to be like all of the other caprese salads I have ever had: sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. MRG's version was one slice of tomato and one slide of mozzarella over a bed a iceberg lettuce and carrots. It was a like a normal house salad - not a true caprese. I should have known when the server asked what kind of dressing I wanted on it. Other salads were similarly not what people were expected. I did hear that the crab soup was excellent. Service was off and disjointed through-out the meal. Our party received entrees at different epochs of time. Fortunately, the ones who were waiting say to go ahead and start, but mine was already cold by then. I had the salmon dijonaise, which in on the normal laminated menu and I can see why it hasn't won any awards. One positive I will say is that all of the entrees came with sliced red potatoes that were heavily garlic'd. There is a "full" bar but the liquor selection is quite limited. Our customer tried to order boubon and after asking for four different brands, he just asked the server what they had in stock (which was only one bourbon). Wouldn't it have been easier just to tell him that at the beginning?? read more

We've been living here for three years and finally made it to the May River Grill. I am sorry to say that I was disappointed and won't be rushing back. I had high hopes for a great dining experience. I'll start with the bread. The portion was plentiful and it was good, but I didn't like the way they cut it. It was scored so that you could pull off chunks of it which would be great if you were dipping in olive oil and herbs, but it was served with butter. Okay. So we have established that I am picky. We each got the green salad and it was not without issues. The beets were hard as rocks. Not sure if that was their intent - just not my thing. There were what I believe to be bacon bits in the salad, some of which even my husband couldn't chew through. He picked them out. As we were finishing our salads, our waitress came by and asked if I wanted another glass of wine. I said yes. It never came. For dinner, we had the chicken rollatini. I was not expecting it to have a crispy batter on the outside. Not what I was looking for but other patrons might like it. One of the breasts was okay. The other had that known chicken problem where it had a strange, unnatural texture. I recently bought chicken breasts from Krogers that had this same issue. Not expecting it in a somewhat pricey restaurant. The creamy marinara was disappointing. I can't place my finger on it. It almost tasted like it was raw tomatoes puréed. I have a feeling that I just hit an off night and chose the wrong thing. I won't write this place off yet. read more

This was our third time at May River Grill and probably our last. We have been residents of Bluffton for 6 months now and thought we had found a go to spot. Sadly, the kitchen is extremely inconsistent. Our first experience was top notch. Every dish was exceptional. Second time was decent but in no way rivaled our initial meal there. We figured maybe the kitchen was having an off night. It happens. This last meal was just plain awful. The She crab soup was way too spicy, my snapper special at $39.00 was virtually tasteless. The only flavor came from the petite shrimps and bay scallops sauce on top. The sides of vegetables were bland and my husband's Salmon, although a large portion, was fishy and just slathered with Dijon mustard on top. No sauce to speak of. In a word the meal was forgettable. Needless to say we were vastly disappointed. read more

My husband had the lamb osso bucco and it was amazing. Thankfully he gave me a taste. I had the bouillabaisse which lacked taste. The sauce tasted like chicken bouillon. The shrimp was pretty good. Calamari was a little rubbery. I was quite disappointed because I love seafood. The atmosphere is very nice, clean. Staff followed covid protocol. read more

Had dinner here once before, couldn't wait to come back after COVID. It did not disappoint, Tyler, our waiter was great, didn't rush us. Had something else in mind until we got there and I saw the specials. I had a grilled veal chop with mushrooms, peppers and onions. It was so good I ate the whole thing. Can't wait for our next visit. So good! read more

May River Grill - Grilled veal chop. - New American Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

We arrive this evening with a party of 10 lucky it was early in the house to see this quickly. We were greeted by a very friendly waitress Ashley. She described all the specials in great detail many of which we ended up ordering. The fried green tomato salad was awesome as was the grilled romaine wedge. I had the veal osso bucco which was delicious and cooked perfectly. Others had the scallops the Viener schnitzel the crispy duck and the pasta all of which everyone loved. I would strongly encourage you to check it out the next time you're in Bluffton. We will definitely be back read more

We found this little gem over 10 years ago. Came tonight and did not disappoint! Food and service were wonderful. Perfect for a family dinner. Yummy and so worth the price! read more

May River Grill - Stuffed shrimp with crab - New American Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

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My 2 sons took me here for my birthday dinner, and it was perfect! Of course it helps that 1 of them is a local (infamous!) bartender and the other a connoisseur of all things fine dining! We were greeted by the hostess who knew our name, had our table ready, and made us feel like we were the only people there! Then, when the waitress brought the menus, my eldest handed them back and said, "Chef's Choice ". That was the beginning of a culinary experience like none other! Wine pairings were perfect compliments to each course, and the food !!! AWESOME!! If you're looking for that special place for that special evening, this is it! MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS, and call as far in advance as possible. This place stays booked! read more

This place was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever experienced. My husband, mom, dad, and I all went to celebrate something completely wonderful happening in my family. We had been wanting to try this place out since we moved to Bluffton 2 years ago and finally thought this was the opportunity. We had a reservation at 7 and arrived at 6:45 to a completely packed restaurant (which was to be expected, we knew the place was always busy). We didn't get seated until 7:15 which was a bit frustrating but, we figured it would be well worth the wait. When we were finally seated, we were put at a corner table which was a maze to get to (definitely not wheelchair/handicapped accessable for those who need to know). After being seated, our waitress was fairly quick to ask for our drink order... HOLD UP... FORGOT A HUGE DETAIL!! The place REEKED of mothballs, it was so off putting and unbelieveably overwhelming. Our drinks took a few minutes to get to us (nothing too difficult, an Old Fashioned, a VO and water, a glass of red wine, and an unsweet tea), so we quickly put in our appetizer order upon our servers return. Our appetizers came out after about 15 mins. At this time, we still hadn't placed our order as the server had not been back to take it. The runners delivered our apps and went on their way. We placed our menus on the floor as they are huge and the tables are small so we had no where to put them besides the that. Ate our apps and waited, and waited, and then waited more for our order to be taken. Finally, the server came back to take our orders. She was very good with recommendations and describing the meals. We were all pumped to get our food as the appetizers were pretty good so we could only imagine how great the food would be...yeah...no... When our food came out, I had ordered a special, it was grouper stuffed with crab, my mom ordered the stuffed shrimp, my dad ordered a seafood pasta pomodoro, and my husband ordered the crispy seafood platter. I'll start with my husbands meal. He stated it was good, but it was like any fried seafood platter you ordered, he stated he could have gotten something similar from Red Lobster. My mom said the stuffed shrimp were "ok" but nothing spectacular and again, nothing she couldn't have ordered from a chain restaurant. My dad said his pasta was pretty good, but he also felt there was absolutely nothing special about it. Now my "special"... When the meal came out, I cut into the fish... completely raw. The server was still standing near our table so I flagged her down, asked her if the fish should be this raw to which she responded "no, let me take that back". There was nothing for me to munch on while waiting as we were never brought out bread like every other table around us. After about 5-10 minutes, my meal came back out (it was actually pretty quick so I'm thinking they had to steal it from someone else's order as they could not have prepped it that quickly). The special itself was "meh".. there was absolutely nothing special about it. It was bland and definitely something I could have purchased at any sub-par restaurant. So disappointing. To top it off, neither the manager or the chef came out to apologize for the raw fish and or delay in my meal. The special (along with my mom's meal) came with vegetables and potatoes. The potatoes were so watered down and bland, my mom and I both took a bite to try them and decided they were not worth eating. The vegetables, I'm not sure they were even cooked. The broccoli was raw, the squash was cold... and again, they were bland as all get out. When the meal was over, since we were celebrating, we wanted to end the meal with a dessert. I had a strawberries flambe, my mom had creme brulee and my dad had a brownie sundae. I have NEVER in my life seen my dad NOT finish a dessert. He did not finish his sundae, he stated it was ok, but nothing great. My strawberry dessert was really good, except for the crispy bowl they put it in. It was so hard you could chip a tooth on it. It would have been 800 times better if it had shortcake in it to soak up some of the juices, they should really consider it as I think it would be a top seller. Once we finished dessert, the bill came out... it was about $250 for the four of us without tip. The pricing for the food offered is ridiculous. We could have easily gone to another seafood restaurant and had a beyond anything we could imagine, enjoyable meal... but no, we were at May River Grill, eating what we hoped wold be amazing and worth our celebration and it just wasn't. We left disappointed, we had waited 2 years to try this and, well, it's not worth the wait, it's not worth the money, and it's just not worth the hype. To finish up, a manager or chef never came out to apologize for the raw fish, our bill was not credited for the meal, we were offered no compensation in the form of a dessert or any thing else, and the food was subpar and nothing special... so disappointing. read more

We were visiting Hilton Head last week with the whole family, but my Mom and Dad offered to watch our two little ones for an evening so my better half and I could enjoy an evening out. Well, it needed to be something special as our "date nights" are somewhat few and far between these days. So when I found the May River Grill by doing a little digging, we headed off the island for a special gem of a restaurant in Bluffton. As others have mentioned, the service was splendid from start to finish. The hostesses were welcoming and genuine and our server was one of the best I've ever encountered. I don't know if he sensed that we were a little in need of a break, but he was extremely helpful and knowledgable about the extensive menu. I ordered the Flounder with the "Texas Pete" sauce and my wife decided on the Chef Special of scallops and shrimp pasta dish. I really enjoyed my order, but as usual my wife's order trumped mine. We also enjoyed the calamari appetizer, which was perfect. We would love to visit again sometime. As great as Hilton Head's food offerings are, this was worth the trip to enjoy a wonderful dinner in a relaxed setting. read more

May River Grill - Date Night! - New American Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

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On of our favorite 'go to' places for dinner! Casual but clean and not too crowded. The food is great with a very broad menu and awesome specials! read more

Don't let the strip mall exterior fool you! Deliciousness awaits inside. We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the snapper entree and also the pasta entree. The snapper was cooked to perfection as was the pasta. For those who are gluten free, note that sauces are thicken with corn starch, not flour. There's little choice of sides as they do one vegetable and starch for the evening. We had sliced potatoes in an onion sauce and julienned squash and carrots. We had no room for dessert. read more

Always good, always consistent. Wether it's a table of two or as last night a table of 10, it's always a great night. All the staff are on point as the food. And Excellence is never cheap. read more

Very friendly staff. Very good food... Worth every penny. Brought in-laws here when they came to visit and everyone had such a good time and we all enjoyed the food and drinks. read more

Excellent food, excellent service. Because I was dining alone I sat at the bar where I could watch the open kitchen. The owner/ chef had a packed restaurant, on a Tuesday night, and delivered beyond expectations on food quality. The guests sitting next to me spoke very highly of the establishment as well. I am looking forward to frequenting this spot. Definitely oneof those very small, local, hidden gem spots! read more

May river grill was a perfect spot to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! It's a small place, but serves amazing food! We have visited hilton head together for 15 years and this was our best meal yet! Exceptional service as well! We had the wedge salad, fried green tomato salad, flounder with Thai chili sauce, Parmesan crusted walleye, chocolate and raspberry layer cake, and chocolate pecan pie! Everything was unbelievably delicious! Thank you for a perfect evening! read more

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We went to the early bird dining and we were the first ones there. Service was great, but food was just okay. I ordered the fried seafood platter. The crab cake was awful, the fried bay scallops and shrimp were taken out of the fried too early as they were blonde, not brown. The fried fish was the only thing I would rate as perfect. My husband got the crispy duck which was a complete disappointment as well as the side of vegetables that were not cooked completely. He likes them crunchy but these were raw. The only thing he enjoyed was the mashed potatoes. To top it off, when we received the bill, the wait staff had written in the amount of the tip at 20% and total. That was a real surprise as we had not seen that done before. He was excellent waiter, very responsive, but what if he wasn't? read more

I am not counting them out since I have had good food here in the past. My wife and I weren't wanting fish (probably their best dishes) and ordered Chicken Marsala and meatloaf. We also had the soups She Crab and Cauliflower. The soups were quite good. The marsala had no taste of marsala in it. It tasted like mushroom beef gravy versus marsala. The meatloaf was a bit better and the mushroom gravy on the meatloaf tasted and looked exactly like the "marsala" gravy. Hmmm. The sides were bland and more or less tasteless. The peach cobbler was excellent..the most memorable part of the meal. The service was really good..the food not so much. read more

This is our go to place. Love everything about it. Our favorites are the Walleye , pork chop and the peanut butter pie. read more

I have been here in the past for My Mother's Birthday and my parent's anniversary. While we have had good experiences in the past, more recent visits have been less satisfactory. The Venue is tiny and you feel as though you are packed it. They really need to either expand to the space next door or take out some tables but it's too packed as it is. Another thing I noticed is while my entrée has always been good, the quality of the sides has slipped. After this last visit, my mom said she would like to go elsewhere for her Birthday and truthfully there are plenty of better places with more room and consistent quality food. read more

This is a fantastic local spot in Bluffton. My parents took me here about a year ago and I had to come back when my wife and I were visiting. You'll want to start off with the sticks. It's a three dollar appetizer that is great to snack on while your making your lunch/dinner selection. My favorite entree is the seafood Pomodoro. It's light, fresh and the seafood is top notch. The wine list is not very long, but it will have something that you like. The staff is friendly and attentive. The owner, Charlie, is very personable as well. This is an absolute must visit if you're in the Bluffton/Hilton Head area but keep in mind that the restaurant is small and sometimes has odd hours. I'd suggest calling ahead to get a table in case it's busy. Pro-tip: make sure to grab one of the key-lime candies on the way out the door! read more

In town visiting friends and they wanted to treat us to a great place. 8:00pm reservations at May River Grill. I'm a tough critic of good food. I'm 320lbs and I've traveled the world eating the best foods. I give this place a 10 out of 10. It's a quaint place that has you smitten from the beginning. I love how you watch the kitchen while your food is being prepared. The service, drinks, presentation, food, and energy was incredible. We had the escargot, fried green tomatoes, blah blah. I think we had everything. Anyway, I'm leaving having had an awesome meal with awesome friends. This was a perfect place. Hope you enjoy. read more

We loved, loved, loved this place. It was one of the only restaurants in the area that took reservations, which was great since we waited 3 hours to be seated for supper downtown last night. The food was great and the desserts were even better. Our waiter was very attentive and was able to check on us often since the dining area was smaller. The owner came by several time and cleaned our table and filled our glasses. This was our favorite restaurant all week! read more

we went here for our anniversar however we were very disappointed with the food and slow service. we set back the she crab soup which is normally always great in most seafood restaurant in the low country, the calamari was over cooked. I ordered this signature stuff flounder with Dufuski crab, well the crab was yellow that did not taste like crab and the flounder was not fresh either, with their usual mash potatoes (dry) and under cooked vegs , overall the once highly rated May River grill is way over rated! You would of thought the cook or manager would visit your table after you sent food back! The waiter just said a lot of people do not like our spicy version of she crab! read more

Had a decent lunch however the Crème Brule was so old it had separated. Since we were with friends I did not send it back however I did call and told them. Someone told me the manager would call back but I never received a return call. Will never go back. read more

I've been coming for years and the food has always been consistently remarkable. An excellent place for tasting the food of 'low country'. My favorite dish has always been The Steedman Stuffed Shrimp. read more

This was a find. After exploring almost every restaurant in Hilton Head, I headed for Bluffton. May River Grill was a great start! It reminded me of an old school restaurant frequented by locals and it is but it is so much more. Every category on the menu had something new to offer.. even the wine list was more than I would have expected. Looks are deceiving!!! I had the rack of lamb special and I have never had better. This restaurant is definitely a "must try". You will return. , read more

This place is absolutely superb! It's a little hidden gem with a fresh and creative cuisine to choose from. The menu is always changing with new creations. Living in Savannah, this is one of my very favorite restaurants in this entire coastal Georgia and Hilton Head/Bluffton area. Dessert is an absolutely must also! The staff is wonderful and you always leave with overly pleased tastebuds:) read more

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One word.... Ordinary Ugly decor. Average food. No imagination. Friendly but unsophisticated service. Would not go back.... read more

Hostess was extremely friendly and polite. Food was just okay. Screwed up two of our orders and the waiter tried to blame the woman busing the tables. He was pretty rude to her loud enough that we could hear. Two in our group got the fried green tomato salad and it was awful, even used head lettuce. Crab cakes were good. Presentation was depressing as well, looked like cafeteria food. Blueberry cheesecake was great, but the "raspberry" chocolate moose cake left much to be desired. I'm not sure what it was but it wasn't raspberry. Next time we are in town we will try somewhere else. read more

Dined at May River Grill very recently. Food quality continues to be good. However, the service was as poor as I've experienced in the HHI area. I asked our waiter for a bottle of wine and it took 20 minutes. The time between ordering dinner and food arriving at the table was slow as well. I've been going to the restaurant for many years and the service has degraded significantly. Not sure I'll be back. read more

Went for Early Bird Special was inform it only goes from 4:45 to 5:00 PM ?????? Ok them ordered appetizers and a drink each! Crab Cakes Burnt mentioned to waitresses and she said yeah there deep fried and a Little well done ... No offer to take them off bill ... Bill was $84 WTH really Early Bird was Supposed to be $21.95 3 Course Dinner WOW Never Again and if you go for Early Bird Special you better be at door knocking on Door when they open. Early Bird Special is a Come On for Them to get you to the door and not give it to you !!!!! read more

My mom had mentioned many times that she liked going to the May River Grill. She said it was a little pricey, but you know what, what is pricey these days? Went on a Friday afternoon and we were seated promptly. My mother ordered off the specials - fried perch and I ordered the crispy oysters. We first got 2 buttermilk biscuits and the house salad to start. Both were great and well made. My mother's special looked quite good, but a lot of capers for about 5 pieces of perch. Nonetheless, brush it to the side and it's ok. My crispy oysters were just as it sounds, crispy, fried oysters. The size of the oysters were great, but I wouldn't say anything out of the ordinary. The julienne-d vegetables were beautiful and tasty. The rice on the side was a little undercooked, but it was tolerable. Out of the many places I've eaten in Bluffton, this gets 4 stars because it's one of the better places, but it can be better I'm sure. read more

Disappointed in this local restaurant. It's less than a mile from the Oyster Factory on the May River yet the seafood dishes we had didn't seem that fresh. Since this was our first time going we tried the early bird menu as my wife likes smaller portions. Smaller portions is the best that can be said about our meals. Worst was how rude the owner was, seemed like we were second class citizens for coming to the early bird hour. Interesting since the restaurant is just a store front establishment in an old strip mall. read more

At there last night for the first time and we regret not visiting earlier. Sat at the bar, met great people and the food and service were great. We both had the walleye and loved it after devouring the fried green tomatoes and oysters. Now this will be a regular destination for us. read more

Fantastic just as the locals told us it would be! Food, service, atmosphere. Certainly recommend May River Grill as it was to us!

Very nice restaurant with very nice employees. We did not realize we should have made a reservation (duh-spring break week), and so we were going to have to wait an hour. The hostess was on the ball enough to mention that there was a party of the same size that was already 10 minutes late, and if they did not show up, she would give us their table. She took my number, and 10 minutes later, called me and they had a table for us. It was pretty busy that night so it took a minute for our waitress to get to us, but she was very nice and personable. They have a great menu, but they also have a very LONG list of specials so wait to hear about those. There dishes are kind of unique and not your typical seafood restaurant kind of choices. They are- not super crazy exotic-just unique-but those that want a straight fried seafood platter--might not be as happy. On the other hand, I think they would fix things for you however you liked them. Our food was great--We got sauteed calamari--wonderful sauce to dip their bread--yummy! I had shrimp, scallop eggplant parmesean (had enough leftovers for two additional meals--portions are huge). My husband had the shrimp curry which was very good also. My husband got a 'small' salad which was enough for him and I to share. They boxed up our leftovers for us which was nice. Also, we had our three children with us, and they enjoyed their food as well. The chef's 'special' pasta is red and white sauce mixed together, but you can just get red sauce or just white sauce is what you want--my daughter gobbled that up. I asked for sides of veggies for the kids and they liked those too. read more

My wife and I went to the May River Grill last week to Celebrate her new job. The restaurant is small and can be kind of overwhelming with noise with so many tables in a small space. But aside from that everything was fantastic. I got the Crispy Duck and she got the Swordfish special, both were the best prepared food we have had in a while. The fried green tomato appetizer was incredible! The entree prices are moderate to high at 18 to 30, we consider it more of a special occasion restaurant but they always have cheaper menu items. read more