At first glance, you may mistake Ollie’s by the Bay for just another historic home. The house was built around 1850. It was turned into this delightful restaurant in 1990. Ollie’s is a favorite of both locals and tourists alike.
You can chose to dine upstairs, in a more formal atmosphere, or you can go downstairs for a more casual feel. Or, if you are very lucky, you can grab outdoor dining, which gives you an amazing view of the Beaufort River. They are located on Bay St. You can just park in the municipal parking, and it is just a few minutes' walk.
Ollie’s offers patrons an array of fresh seafood, steaks, pasta, and sandwiches. They are also well-known for the fresh-made crab dip. If you order oysters, they shuck them right in front of you!
John and his mom are big seafood fans, but I am not. John loves shrimp and went with their shrimp sautéed in butter and a rich garlic sauce. It was served with a loaded baked potato and hushpuppies, as well as fresh-made coleslaw. John is very picky about coleslaw, but he loved this slaw. Oh, and in case you haven’t the foggiest what a hushpuppy is, it is a Southern thing! It is fried cornbread batter. They are yummy and wonderful with ketchup, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce. Brenda had breaded grouper on a bed of herbed rice. She said it was one of the best pieces of fish she had ever had and noted the breading was perfect. Not too hard and not too mushy. She paired her fish entrée with a small house salad. I went with the steak. I got an 8-ounce filet minon that was sublime, with a wonderful peppercorn sauce on top. The steak was so tender, you almost didn’t need a knife. I also had a baked potato and house salad. Their house vinaigrette was simply wonderful. They do offer homemade tartar sauce for fish. They start you off with a loaf of homemade wheat bread that is marvelous. It is served with regular butter, herbed butter, and honey butter. I could make a meal of the bread and butter alone. For dessert, Brenda had a piece of chocolate cake that was oh, so yummy. It came with fresh cream and chocolate shavings on top. John and I split an apple brown betty that had an incredible walnut sauce on top and walnut ice cream. What a meal. Needless to say, we didn’t go away hungry.
They do serve both lunch and dinner. They accept major credit cards. They do not take reservations, except for parties of eight or more. They offer nightly entertainment inside five nights a week. If you want to grab an outdoor seat at sunset, make sure you come early. They do have a full-service bar. You can call them at 843-524-2500 for more information, or go to www.beaufortsc.org for more information.