Wagon Wheel Restaurant

My husband was born and raised in Lancaster, and when we were dating he wanted to take me to all of the "local landmarks" to show me what the city had to offer. ;-)  I'm also from a small southern town, so I can appreciate a good local joint when I see it and the Wagon Wheel didn't disappoint.  In fact, on my first trip we basically just went for the Fried Squash.  And no joke - it's the best I've ever had.  They cut it length-wise instead of in circles, and the batter is closer to a tempura batter than a cornmeal batter - light, fluffy and just perfect.  Served with plenty of ranch dressing it's a meal in itself.  If you go to the Wagon Wheel and don't get the fried squash consider your visit an epic failure.  There are 3 appetizers on the menu, but just to prove my point, listen to the waitress when she takes your drink order.  She doesn't say "Can I get you stared with an appetizer?"  She says "Do we need some fried squash to get started with here?"  Not kidding.

The food at the Wagon Wheel is plentiful and tasty and the service is friendly and fast.  My sweet tea glass never gets empty and I've never been disappointed.  Last Saturday we went there to celebrate my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday.  With 30 people in the room our meals came out quickly, the sweet tea was always at the ready and the food was great.  I had the marinated beef tips, salad bar and fried squash, and my FIL got the ever-popular Fisherman's platter which is a legend to anyone that's ever seen it.

If you find yourself in Lancaster (LA as the hubs calls it), and you're looking for a good meal (or have a hankering for fried squash) definitely visit the Wagon Wheel!

I'm not always in South Carolina, but when I am, I always eat at Wagon Wheel. The place is usually crowded on Sunday, especially because the after-church crowd tends to occupy this place by force. That's the best time to go because they have the buffet and it is AWESOME!!! All you can eat of scrum-diddly-umtious wonderfulness. I tend to favor the fried squash (to die for).  If you haven't tried fried squash, you need to try theirs, and get a side of ranch dressing to dip. I tend to stay away from fried and southern'ish food, but when I come here, the belt comes off. I have come numerous times for lunch, and the specials are usually spot on; especially the grilled chicken breast. A lot of bang for the buck.

A busy local spot where you can expect to see a solo old timer finishing up their early bird special or an entire baseball team straight off of a win. The menu is pretty big, almost greek diner like. Lots of fried and broiled seafood options. We had The Fisherman's Platter with deviled crab, fried fish, scallops and shrimp. It was pretty good. The waitress seemed a little overwhelmed and slightly unsure of what was on the menu. Maybe. Overall a great place to eat and to do a little people watching. My dad loves their fried squash!