Visited Edisto on a family vacation; overall great trip, except for lunch at The Pavilion.
First off let me just say that the waiter we had was very friendly and apologetic, BUT I still have to give them 1 star for the following reasons: Â Dirty cup, hair in food, took 2 hours to get food, messed up order when we finally received food.
It took a few minutes for the waiter to take our drink order, and about 10 minutes to get our drinks. My glass had pink lipstick all over the rim, gross. The waiter was very friendly and got me  a new (clean) cup right away. We placed our food order  and after 30 mins we decided to do some shopping at the gift shop. Returned, and still no signs of food. People who had came in after us had already received their food. An hour after placing our order the waiter came over to apologized for the wait, and told us that the kitchen was backed up. We took another trip to the gift shop, and finally received our food 2 hours later!
They got some of the orders wrong. My friend ordered the oyster basket, but did not get oysters, and two other people asked for onion rings but received french fries. My brother found a hair in his french fries and at that point we left.
The waiter took 15% off our meal which was really nice of him.
We could have just came on a bad day, so decide for yourself.
At least the view of the ocean is terrific.
When I asked, the friendly hostess admitted wistfully that none of the seafood was fresh. Â This is due to the fact that all the local commerical fisherman and shrimpers were put out of business when the boat docks were sold to developers.
The high point of the meal was the fish stew. Â One of our party, a native of Buffalo (the home of hot chicken wings) ordered them and was pleased. Â The broiled shrimp was OK. Â The soft shell crab and fried oysters were mostly greasy breading and obviously not fresh. Â The hushpuppies were likewise greasy and tasted of fish. Â Some the group had hamburgers, which were judged satisfactory.
The wait for seating was an acceptable 15'. Â The service was rather indifferent.
Bottom line: Â If you decide to eat here, order the fish stew, hot wings, and sweet tea. Â Skip the rest.
Give it a shot, decide for yourself. Discussions with locals convinced me that it was worth giving Pavilion another try. I've been there multiple times but each visit it's under different ownership.
Last summer, I swore I wouldn't go back, but I made it back down to Edisto and learned that the good folks who used to run Dock Side - management and core wait staff - all moved to Pavilion. Our experience with Dock Side had been fantastic, so we had to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I am glad we went back. Our server was so kind, prompt and thoughtful. The oyster cocktail was perfect, mmm, so plump and briny. The rest of the meal was decent, and with such limited dining options in Edisto, we were satisfied.
Arrived before house ready. Didn't want to drive too far and desperate to see ocean, I stopped here. Had broiled shrimp with fries. Â Was reasonably tasty but overly seasoned and salty. Â No one in our party sick yet so given previous reviews we're doing well.
24 Hours later: we're still alive!!!!
Last note: Â Here's one redeeming aspect of this restaurant: Â in the women's restroom, there is a dish of secret Bahamian rubbing salt that you can use on your hands. Â It smells like coconut and looks like a lemon ice in a martini glass.
We've been going to Edisto for the last 6 years now and within my family and close friends, 3 have been sick from eating here. Â I've only been here once and wasn't impressed one bit. Â Captain D serves better meals, and that's sad since the ocean is a few feet away. Â The only reason why this place exists is because of its location.
Review Source:Terrible. Seriously. This place misses the mark in every aspect. Cleanliness - ugh. Service - this term doesn't even apply. Food - had tuna...extremely disappointing...comparable to any cruddy land-locked location seafood restaurant. Definitely not what you expect from a locatio on the beach. Even the fries were freezer burned. Nuff said.
Review Source:"We Don't put cheese on our salads" is the first thing that always comes to my mind when I think of this restaurant. A puzzling thing that I have found in the Charleston area. I'm always given a hard time about cheese on salads here.
OK so maybe that's an odd way to start out a review, but it struck me as so odd its forever ingrained into my memory.
This is actually 3 separate facilities in 1 building. A restaurant, a bar, and a gift shop. As far as I know they are all considered "The Pavilion."
Since I am not a bar-goer, my review focuses on the Pavilion restaurant.
this restaurant, called by my friends and family as "the pier" is built on.. you guessed it, a Pier out into the water. It used to be a lot longer, but a hurricane shortened it long ago and they never put it back. The restaurant itself is themed with the whole beach theme that is obviously prevalent here in Edisto. Guests park in a sand parking lot that overlooks the beach by mere inches and walk up the thankfully large stairs into the main door.
Ample seating allows you to almost always sit down without a wait and service is prompt, although after my "we don't PUT cheese on our salads here" event, I cant say always friendly.
Some of the best non seafood on the island comes from this restaurant. They have a hamburger steak that is unmatched for miles. The portions are HUGE although they take considerable time to prepare.
On certain days (I Think Wednesday) they have an all-you-can-eat buffet with shrimp fries and other great items for about $10.99 (this is from memory) the buffet is a great deal! I highly recommend it.
We used to always take the whole house to this restaurant usually some time in the afternoon before the sun went all the way down. Since the restaurant overlooks the beach when the windows aren't fogged with the salt spray you can look out onto the beach and into the water as it rolls onto the sand. It can be very relaxing.
Prices are about what you would expect for the size of the meal. A party of 5 should expect to pay at least $60, more if you are all "hearty eaters" like my family. I think the cheapest we ever got out of here with was $68. This is pretty reasonable however when you consider how much food you get!
So what keeps it from getting 5 stars? Well, to their defense after making issue with the cheese on my salad they DID put some on it and it was great! so I'm not holding this against them.
The restaurant is "good for kids" as the additional tips section names. As you know kids can be noisy, so that was one item that prevents a perfect score for me, I like a quiet meal.
The service isn't quite as friendly as it could be. Sometimes you get the feeling the people working there may not exactly love their job. I don't expect them to, but please don't take it out on me!
The wait time to get to the table is null, but the wait time to get your food is very long. Sometimes you can expect 45 minutes before the food arrives, especially if you have a large party.
Combine these few items and it only loses 1 star. The quality of the food is the most important aspect of a restaurant, and they have certainly more than enough tasty goodness to fill the void that the above issues have raised.
Try it out. You cant miss it. Just drive straight onto the island and if you hit the building with your car, you've gone too far.