Dirty Don's Oyster Bar on 21st Avenue N in Myrtle Beach
It seems like people are starting to catch on to what I have been saying since I started writing Places to Be.
Since the beginning, I have told people there are two ways to get me to write about their restaurant or club. I can discover it through the course of my random wanderings along the Grand Strand, or they can invite me to come check it out.
After Doug Kelly asked me to come see Elvis at Studebaker’s last week, I was invited to Dirty Don’s Oyster Bar and Grill to have lunch with the owner. Well, dang. There I was, not even into the next week, and I already had plans. I wasn’t used to this kind of popularity, but I think I can handle it. Especially if it fast tracks me to some great food.
And man-o-man, does Dirty Don’s have some great food.
Sitting just a block from the ocean on 21st Avenue North, Dirty Don’s is a cozy little place with a tropical “island” feel. I have seen the place at night during the summer and it is always packed. There is seating outside on the deck as well as plenty of booths inside.
I met Don and his girlfriend, Kelli, on Tuesday afternoon. It was a quiet time at the place, just after the lunch rush but well before the dinner crowd. And one of the benefits of eating with the owner is that you definitely get the inside track on what is good to eat.
The first thing I learned is that many of the sauces served are made from scratch, which includes the pleasantly spiced cocktail sauce set out on the table, and the wild “Dirty Don’s sauce” that came with the appetizers like Shrimp Fritters and Salt-n-Pepper Catfish fingers, which Kelli and Don ordered respectively. I got to try them both, and they were good, great even, but what came next was even better.
It was tough to choose as each appetizer sounded better than the last, but I finally decided on the Oysters Salsa. Somewhat like Oysters Rockerfeller, these giant oysters were topped with salsa and provolone cheese.
Billed as the chef’s secret creation, I have never come across anything like them. They were so good they were gone before I realized I had eaten them all.
The rest of the menu was just as tempting and hard to choose from. Doug had told me that I had to try the Dunking Pot, a pot of steamed shellfish topped with corn on the cob, hot sausages and garlic bread. I was told it easily serves two or more, and that was a bit more than I could handle for lunch.
Instead, I went with the ribeye sandwich. Both Don and Doug had talked up this sandwich. Don said he had recently upgraded the choice cut of steak for the sandwich, so I agreed to give it a try.
Now, I was putting a lot of faith in what they were telling me, because I never seem to have any luck with “steak sandwiches.” They are usually all right, but more often than not, I find myself having to discard the bun and eat it with a fork and knife. Most steak sandwiches don’t bite off that easily.
This sandwich was amazing. Cooked perfectly to my taste (on the rare side of medium rare), the meat was juicy and perfect. In addition, each bite came with little resistance.
I have had ice cream sandwiches that offered more resistance. This is definitely one of the best sandwiches I have had, if not one of the best steaks on the beach. Oh, and the fries were fresh cut and a perfect golden brown.
I also tried some of the Carolina crab cake sandwich, and was just as surprised and impressed. I am more than likely to pass on crab cakes, but this one had a spicy tang to it that really caught my interest.
Don assured me that crab cakes were made fresh at the restaurant, as was just about everything. Nothing was frozen or prepackaged.
I don’t think I have tasted this much amazingly good food in one place. Well, if it is fresh food you want, prepared perfectly with amazingly unique twists to the recipes, then Dirty Don’s Oyster Bar and Grill is the place to be.
