This was our 3rd time here since August 2024. March and June 2025. Not sure what happened since August. August food was amazing, presentation was over the top. We dreamt of coming back. March we noticed the changes. The Salmon BLT went from gourmet to something I could make at home. Oyster PoBoy went from wow to where's the oyster? Is that a hot dog bun ? The tuna tower went from an appetizer to share , to about 4 tablespoons of tuna hidden by a ton of fried wontons. Our appetizers came out after our entrees. The kitchen staff clearly can't keep up with the few orders. Disappointed is an understatement. We could tell something had changed when we easily find a parking spot. The changes are noticeable to others but I guess not the owners. Sadly we won't go be going back. read more

Best place we've been in a long while. Incredible service, atmosphere, food, drinks (with cold glasses), and music! Thank you for an amazing anniversary dinner, Blue Drum! read more

Blue Drum - Mahi tacos are fire!!! - Seafood Near Me - Little River, South Carolina

Salmon avocado toast with an added egg was amazing today! We sampled a pineapple and a strawberry mimosa. Excellent service as usual read more

Blue Drum - Salmon toast with an egg and mimosas - Seafood Near Me - Little River, South Carolina

The food was all delicious and perfectly prepared. The service was great and the live music was wonderful!! Great place!! read more

See all

This is one of our favorite places to go as locals. It's nice to finally have another place on the waterway in Little River, where it's clean and the service is great. Everything we have always tried here has been awesome. We're not a big fan of their nightly entertainment though. It's usually way too loud and you cannot have a decent conversation. If we get there and we see that they have live entertainment, we asked us to sit down by the water where it's not so loud. Whoever they have playing seems to play to a bar crowd, and this doesn't really have the bar vibe. read more

Third time is not a charm. Went a few weeks or so after they first opened. Cool place - came by boat. The service was awful, drinks were ok. It's hard to mess up a cold beer. Thought we'd give the new local restaurant a second chance after they got the kinks out. Went with a group again in May 2025 for drinks and appetizers. Our food was just OK. Beer was cold, but the mixed drinks left a little to be desired. 3 out of 10 rating. Went by boat again, Labor Day 2025 - 3 PM. The bar service was awful. After waiting a while to even be acknowledged at the outside bar we ordered happy hour food from the menu. Approximately 15 minutes later, we were told we could not order anything for happy hour; our order was canceled. No options, no "I will bring you a menu.". After asking for a menu and ordering the second time we waited and waited. Our food ifinally arrived. The order was wrong. It takes a lot to F up one of the few waterside locations in this area, but they are managing to do just that. If you want a place for drinks on the water maybe go here and see if they allow DoorDash. I understand the lack of staffing in the area but we did not even get an apology from a manager. They don't take pride in their work and the "I just don't care attitude" is inherent in this establishment's culture. This could be such a cool place to go to. read more

Second time in and a much better experience than first time! We went for a late lunch at 230 in afternoon during the week. Latisha was our server and she was super attentive, friendly, kept our glasses full and an absolute delight! Between us we are the gumbo (delicious), crab salad (light and refreshing), steamed shrimp (overcooked but actually deveined unlike many places that say deveined and the shrimp is obviously NOT), and French fries which my husband said were good. Our only complaints on food were the shrimp being over cooked and the crab salad would have gone nicely with club crackers rather than saltines. Overall we were pleased with our meal and Latisha's service. The only real negative experience was the hostess left us standing at the door for a few minutes to go talk to another server it appeared. Again, we there during a not-so-busy afternoon and it was weird that she told us to wait and she'd be right back....5 minutes later she was back and sat us 2 paces behind her station - why couldn't she seat us and then go chat with another server? We do plan to go back for happy hour one day soon and hope Latisha will be our server again. The ambience and location make this a nice casual hangout on a hot afternoon. read more

See all

Food, views and service were top tier. Our server, Cella, anticipated our every need and made us feel welcomed. We will request her from now on. read more

Service was wonderful. However, signed up to receive text messages from Blue Drum on previous visit. Received a text message for $1 wings on Thursday, 10/9 for happy hour. No other stipulations. However when we got there at 4:15 there we were advised that you could only get the $1 wings "at the bar". Nowhere in the restaurant did it state this special was only available at the bar and the bar was full. I believe that's called BAIT & SWITCH/False Advertising. The text doesnt even say anything about restrictions apply....You need to do better, Blue Drum. Cindy H read more

Food was acceptable, not extraordinary. Service was worst I have experienced (40 years). Arrived for 7 p.m. reservation, seated at 7:25, ordered appetizer at 7:30, arrived at 8:14; ordered entree at 7:30, arrived at 8:40. To top it off, the metal chairs were not exactly "comforting". One the positive side, we were able to watch several boat loads of inebriated people floating by! Did I mention awful service..... read more

We ate there last year and enjoyed the gluten free crab soup. This visit we were told it is no longer gluten free (Husband has allergy). I wanted the grouper sandwich grilled. Told it only comes fried. Server said most everything had gluten. Try a salad she said. We paid for our tea and left. Very disappointed. (Went to coopers and the server was knowledgeable and provided a gluten free menu. Coopers was great.) read more

OMG!! Please go!! Te food was phenomenal and service was excellent. Now I know I give it a 4 star rating but it's against my nature to give it a 5. I would rather give it a 4.5. We arrived at happy hour and ordered drinks. We started with she-crab soup. Which was excellent. The soup was rich and tasty. We split tuna nachos and crab balls to split. The nachos had plentiful tuna with avocados, cucumbers and sauce. This tasty dish was well worth it. The crab balls were tasty and stuffed full of crab. read more

The food here is amazing! Great prices, great service and amazing views. We have eaten here every year on vacation multiple times in a week-long visit. read more

We went for a casual birthday celebration. I ordered a cosmopolitan. It arrived and was very red and it had olives in it!!! I have been drinking cosmos for 30 years and never have a received olives in it. I asked the waitress to please take it back and have it made properly with more lime juice (as a proper cosmos should be pinky and no olives)! I was told yes I will take it back but you will be charged!!!! What?? Well then just fix it!! No I am sorry....I asked can I get a glass of wine and was told you would be charged for both,,,,,OMG!!! So the waitress brought me limes and I squeezed them in my drink!! thought in the restaurant business you are there to please the customer!! It was my fault not ask to speak to management. The food was OK, 2 people enjoyed their meal, 2 did not. Being it was my birthday they did bring me a dessert to share with the table. This was not because of the drink this was part of the reservation. Also if you do not want to sit in the sun request covered patio. We requested outdoor shaded area and got direct sun. It had a sun shade over it but was not in the shade, read more

Blue Drum - A very red cosmopolitan with olives in it~ - Seafood Near Me - Little River, South Carolina

Food and service were excellent. We have become regulars even though it takes about forty minutes to get there . Well worth the drive. Shoutout to our server Cella! read more

I enjoyed the grilled chicken sandwich. Family with me didn't love their stuff. But the server was great and personable and there's a good view. It's a little confusing where it's located and not near any other restaurants. Ample seating out back on the water. read more

Blue Drum - Out back - Seafood Near Me - Little River, South Carolina

See all

New restaurant on the water in Little River, SC. We visited on the first night of their soft opening. In fairness, they have a few service kinks to work out but really nothing major. The purpose of a soft opening is to work out the challenges. There was absolutely no challenges with the quality of the food or the depth of the menu. The food was super good and the bartenders / servers were great. I predict this place will enjoy quick success. It has a great look inside, a great water view and the prices were extremely fair. read more

See all

The food has always been great & its locally owned!!service was good the waiter had too many tables. The Ambiance & view of the waterway is breathtaking!! read more

The food was good. Cella was an amazing server and the atmosphere was very festive. I will plan to go back.

AMAZING! Food, atmosphere and especially service. Our first time visiting but will definitely become a part of our yearly trip! Cannot recommend enough! Ryder, our server was top notch and made the entire visit really enjoyable for our family! read more

See all

This is a TOTALLY honest review of our experience. This place isn't worth the trip to Little River and is just another overrated Myrtle Beach restaurant and the epitome of a tourist trap. First of all nowhere that we saw on their website or on the menu was there any mention of a 3% fee when using a credit card. Poor business to not advise customers of this. The server Madison also seemed confused about the few questions we asked her as if it was her first day on the job. As far as the service and food. They don't even have house wine Merlot (the server didn't even know what this is LOL!), nor do they have a drink menu at all. How do you operate any restaurant without these? The calamari was decent, but the portion could have been a little bigger. My wife ordered the salmon entree with a side Caesar salad. Any good restaurant knows that it isn't good dining etiquette to serve the side salad when you do at the same time as the entree itself which they did and is wrong. The Caesar side salad itself was not very good and included bacon (?) in it. The salmon itself was way overcooked and very dry, and they gave her a whole two pieces of asparagus. Sounds like someone needs to learn how to cook seafood huh? You would think that after as many times they have served salmon that they would know how to do this. I ordered the Cajun seafood pasta with blackened shrimp and scallops. The taste itself was average, but the shrimp were very small and the scallops cut in half to make it look like you got more of them than you actually did and there was very little andouille sausage to be seen. What bothered me most though is that they charged me $2 to blacken the seafood. Really? That is so, so petty!! It was obvious to us that their prices were high for people to pay for the view, but in our opinion not worth it at all. I guess now we know why the parking lot wasn't that packed because others must have found the same about this place and why a table of six may have left before they ever even ordered any food at all. I would imagine that there have been a number of "once and never again" in this group after they dined here. 8/14/25: I heard back from the owner at Blue Drum about my review and received an EXTREMELY hostile response from him attempting to defend their dysfunctionalities. Here are parts of it what his accusations against me: "you were determined to find fault before even sitting down" and "your exaggerated critique sounds more like a vendetta than constructive feedback" and "we suspect no gesture will satisfy someone who seems more interested in complaining than enjoying a meal" and then proceeded and said that I was "whining" and using "theatrics" with our reviews. Everything he stated is completely false and not the case as we had no hidden agenda, just honesty about our experience. He also claimed that there is a drink list on every table. In our case there absolutely and without any doubt there was not, nor did the server offer one to us. Based on his extremely unprofessional, defensive, and irresponsible response this is clearly an establishment that cannot accept any criticism whatsoever and should tell you everything that you need to know and validate the reason not to go there. Most establishments would react in a totally different manner and try to find a way to welcome people back and to give them another chance. This just a extremely poor look. Can you only imagine what this individual must be like in person? Why would anyone want to support a place that reacts to a customer this way and really makes me wonder what this individual must be like in person. Don't waste your money at a place that can't handle direct and honest feedback! read more

Something has changed. The portion, quality and presentation is nothing what it was less than a year ago. On top of that dinner was served before the appetizers. We brought another couple with us who had never been here before. We told them all about it and were so looking forward to another awesome dining experience Premium sides ( honey Brussel sprouts) were served in a tiny condiment dish which was drowning in a watery honey sauce and the Tuna Poke Tower had a few pieces of tuna with some wonton chips scattered on a plate. Main course entrees were coated with some much batter and little oysters. Avocado salad was on a very tiny dish with a few pieces of tomato and sliced cheese. Very disappointed and will not go back. It's a shame as the location is so perfect and pretty and by the way our sever was wonderful! I hope that the owner/ manager can turn this place around to what it was before. read more

Best brunch!!! A few notes: Vibe Dog Friendly Full Bar Patio Beachfront Free Parking Family Friendly Beer Wine Cocktails read more

Several friends decided to try this place after going on a boat cruise in the area. I had some reservations after reading some of the reviews but since it was so close we decided to give it a try. There were 10 of us in our group and I can speak for everyone when I say that this was a great place to eat. I had made reservations online and we were seated immediately upon arrival. The service was absolutely fantastic. Our waiter Joshua was super upbeat and very enthusiastic. He was attentive to everyone and answered everyones questions with a smile. The food was served quickly and hot. The food was absolutely delicious. We had bang bang shrimp and grouper bites that I will say were some of the best I have ever had. Although we were sitting inside the views of the intercostal were great. Blue Drum is definitely a place to go for good food and very nice atmosphere. read more

Lizzie B was an amazing waitress. Very kind and knowledgeable. I had the crabcake sandwich with sweet potato fries and it was so fresh and delicious. Will definitely be back when I come back to this area. read more

We love having lunch along the Intracoastal Waterway for the beautiful views and watching the boats travel along the waterway. Blue Drum is in a perfect spot for boat watching. The service here is top notch but it can get busy so if you're in a rush, this may not be an ideal place to eat. Restaurants like Blue Drum are more about relaxing and enjoying your time on the water. The food is hit or miss but is mostly good. If you like crab, you definitely want to try the Blue Crabby Balls as an appetizer. It's like a small crab cake but shaped like a hush puppy and it has plenty of of delicious crab. The Steak Tips are good if you're not into seafood. The She Crab Soup, unfortunately, wasn't all that great. It just didn't stand up to others that I've had over the years. The Mussels were pretty good but the broth left something to be desired. Overall, Blue Drum is a fantastic place and we plan to come back monthly to check out some more of their menu. read more

See all

What an experience. Greeted by the best server Camryn!! Food was wonderful. Ordered seafood platter. She crab soup best ever. And get the chocolate cake for dessert. It was to die for. They have remodeled and it's even prettier. Stage improvements were great. Singer excellent. read more

Great food and the waitress Ashlyn was awesome. Never waited long for anything going and she kept checking on us through our meameal.

Came with a party of 15 and the food was amazing. Our waitress Cameron was very attentive, amazing and she was very knowledgeable of the menu. We will definitely come back! read more

Good food and fries better than Mac n cheese. Overpriced though. Look for special days special foods. On water. Back walkway Dangerous for handicapped. I hurt my arms and feet walking inside walkway. Told them no courtesy from them. Be careful read more

I loved this place and have recommended it to many. Food service and ambiance very good. But I'm disappointed to say as the restaurant becomes more popular they are adding to the pricing. It's bad enough that you up charge $4 for sweet potato fries( while most restaurants offer either regular or sweet potato same price) on top of a $20 sandwich but when asked, I did agree to pay. Then the bill shows an additional $2 for blackening! That is absurd and unacceptable! The waitress was kind enough to take of the extra $2 after I said this is ridiculous. $28 for sandwich with tax is unacceptable read more

Go somewhere else. This was a terrible experience. Spend you money somewhere else. The manager is the abs worst

Good location, ambiance and service. Really bad food. The shrimp boats were ok to start but the oysters were atrocious. Neither the raw on the halfshell nor the Rockefeller were shucked - they were just split open and left attached to the shell. The Rockefeller had a large dollop of what might be creamed spinach dip on top, but the oysters were inedible. We left them on the plate and didn't risk ordering an entree after hearing the table next to us have similar experiences with other menu options. I don't think we'll be back. 10/28/24 update to business owner's reply (sent PM as well): Yes, we let our server know how bad they were to explain why we left them on the plate. I wasn't looking for a refund then or now, just want others to know about our experience. read more

The location and ambience is terrific. The servers are well trained, know the menu and can offer suggestions. I posted a positive review several months ago and have brought family and friends here many times. However last Sunday was our first disappointment. Three people had the Shrimp Lobster lemon linguine but couldn't taste any lemon flavor. My wife had the Shrimp and Grits but found the grits much too busy almost like a salad. I had the Crab Cakes which was disappointing as they were too bready and not moist. Perhaps a bad day, we will be back. read more

This restaurant has a great location and water view. However, the food just doesn't measure up. Disappointed every time.

We ate at the Blue Drum for Father's Day Sunday brunch and ordered the Chicken and Waffles and am very disappointed. The waffle was small and seemed to have candied nuts mixed in which were not supposed to be there. It was drenched in maple syrup and hence was very soggy. The strawberries were also drenched in maple syrup as was the fried chicken pieces which did not taste fresh. I will not be going back there for brunch. read more

We were there last Sunday. I had the muscles in a tomato based sauce. I was served what was probably 2 dozen muscles. Excellent. It was served with a half dozen+ toast points. Although I did ask for extra toast. As compared when they first opened and they served none and I had to beg for the "sopping" bread before. It was possibly the best mussels I have had in a good long time. I wish I had taken a photo. You can't go wrong with this was the appetizer, I think, I ate as a meal. read more

Cella was on the spot with everything and very friendly. great waitress. The food was excellen.

Great outside waterfront dining with local music and delicious cocktail! Nice menu options for this non seafood eater also. Our family had a great dinner together and we loved being served by Cella. She was on top of everything and so kind. read more

Party of 2 My 3 star rating is based upon the food. The restaurant is beautiful & the staff was very friendly. However, the food was a real disappointment. We ordered the She Crab soup & it was horrible. When they brought out the soup it had a distinct fishy smell & it looked like a watered down milk base with some crab thrown in. The taste was equally poor & for $9 a bowl, it should be an amazing dish. We also ordered the blackened salmon sandwich with chips. The piece of salmon was a very generous portion & seasoned well + the chips were delicious , so we would recommend this! The restaurant is beautiful with lots of seating that overlooks the awesome intracoastal view, so we will definitely make another visit. read more