To the uninitiated, the oyster joint on Bowen’s Island was a curiosity of sorts—an aging pile of cinderblocks and boards held up by layers of graffiti, with bivalves being cooked inside on some sacrificial altar. To legions of loyal customers, the place could hardly be called a restaurant. The island became a state of mind.
In 2006, the year that Bowen’s Island Restaurant celebrated its sixtieth anniversary, Robert Barber accepted a James Beard Award, honoring the place as an American Classic. Five months later, the restaurant that his late grandmother, May Bowen, started burned to the ground. What remained were but stories of greatness.
Today, fresh oysters are being brought in from the marshes, new walls are ready to receive their marks, and new memories are being made. Will you be a part of the history of Bowens Island?
Check out the restaurant for dinner from 5pm to 10pm Tuesday through Saturday nights, or look into booking Bowens Island for a private party today. In any case, it's not worth missing if you're a Charleston local or even better, an adventurous tourist.
On the way to Folly Beach you'll see a run-down billboard that points the way down a road that isn't all that well maintained (and then isn't maintained at all, and turns into a dirt road). At the end of the road it just turns into a parking lot and then you have arrived at the best seafood in the area. [We think so, too!]
The restaurant isn't much to look at, that's for sure, but the food is wonderful. Even the sides - fries and cornbread hush puppies - are excellent. The shrimp are large and lightly breaded, served on a disposable plate out on the deck (or inside if you're there in the cooler months). They have other food, too, depending on the catch that day, but don't miss the shrimp. [or the oysters, or the fries...]