The Beach Club

Lunch at the Kiawah Island Beach Club was perfection itself. The food was super good, and came with a view of the sea and a gentle island breeze. The best part? Barbara. She was our server, and she raised service to the level of high art. She was playful and down home, with that Low Country warmth, which is kind of like a Caribbean attitude mixed with Southern kindness. When two people ordered two dishes and said they wanted to share them, she brought the dishes already divided, half and half, and elegantly plated. I could go on, but believe me, Barbara gave the finest fine dining service without any feeling of stuffiness or formality.

I get really annoyed with places that don’t allow jeans for no apparent reason. Recently I came here in a group and 2 of us were wearing jeans (nice dark jeans, not ripped ones) and nice tops. This was a problem that got us disapproving glances and we had to get special permission from the supervisor in order to sit on the porch and eat. Meanwhile, my brother is in this same group of people. He is wearing a pair of old ripped chicago bulls running shorts and a grungy sweatshirt and has an overall hungover/​disheveled look. Yet there is no problem with him coming in and sitting down. I had actually changed out of my sweatpants before coming to the restaurant so I would like nice, so I was understandably annoyed by this. What a strange policy!
Other than that, I think the food here is the best on the island, both the breakfast food and the dinner. The shrimp and grits in particular are amazing, and the salmon for dinner. Last year, we went here for my birthday and they had this INCREDIBLE appetizer made out of chopped up shrimp and avocado. That appetizer and a tuna poke one at SEI in DC stand out in my mind as the best appetizers I have ever had in my life.
That appetizer and the other good food should give it 5 stars, but I am too annoyed about the jeans thing. If they want people who eat there to look nice, they should allow the seating person to make their own judgement. Since they don’t do that however, next time I go to the Beach Club I’m going to wear sweatpants and a tank top.

Spectacular view just to begin, the weather was perfect, warm breeze the entire day. Let’s begin with the cocktail list 4 – 5 pages long. I ordered the Bikini 11, surprisingly delicious not too sweet. Perfect melody of fruit flavors and rum. It’s not one of those strawberry daiquiri’s where they mix everything ahead of time. For lunch I asked if the fish tacos where fried or grilled. They offered both options. In about 5 – 7 minutes, we had our lunch. I must say… This is by far the best fish taco I’ve ever eaten. It was sweet, moist and spicy… simply delicious. I’m looking forward to having another tomorrow for lunch. YUM!

This is living at its finest. The beach club has everything that I need food, drink, sun, pool, and ocean.
I really enjoy this place. I wish there was a place like this closer to us. You can not beat the southern living.