Bowen’s Island: Easy to miss but don’t
Bowen’s Island is a tiny island of not more than 5 or 10 acres, in a marsh just west of the beach at Folly Beach, South Carolina, about 15 miles from the old historic city of Charleston. Even if you look for Bowen’s Island, and a weathered old highway sign pointing to it, you probably won’t spot it until the 3rd or 4th attempt, because it is way off the beaten path, although it is only a few hundred yards from a major highway.
This restaurant was established about 60 years ago and has not really gone through any renovations since then. Some would claim that it has not even been cleaned or dusted since then, although the kitchen area is the exception to that rule, being clean and sanitary and compliant with local health codes. But true enough, the rest of the place is rather startling, with graffiti covered concrete block walls, old tile floors, and random mismatched furniture and decades of memorabilia scattered about the place. But the view from outside on the docks is stunning, especially as the sun sets over the wetlands.
Bowen’s is known for serving the best seafood in the part of the country, in the roughest and most unadorned atmosphere. You will either be served on a paper plate or on top of old newspapers, and if you order a beer it will be handed to you in a can. Men serve the all-you-can-eat oyster dinner in stained clothes and literally use shovels to serve the steaming oysters onto your table atop sheets of newspaper. It is then up to you to shuck the oysters yourself. But the food is some of the best in the world, and tourists staying in five star hotels show up to stand in line with motorcycle gang members and frat boys, to get their tray of fish.