Charter One Realty Blog

If you’re bringing the whole gang out for a bite to eat, here’s where you can make everyone happy.

Taken as a whole, Hilton Head Island is enormously kid-friendly. This should be fairly evident based on a quick drive down William Hilton Parkway, where putt-putt courses line the street on either side.

And let’s face it, this is a place for the kid in all of us. Families have been coming to the island for years, to enjoy our beaches, golf courses, tennis courts and waterways together. Young or old, this is the place where you can let loose and have fun with the whole family.

But when it comes time to dine out, you might find that Hilton Head Island’s sophisticated dining scene hasn’t left a lot of room for the chicken fingers and crayons crowd. So short of encouraging your kids to expand their culinary horizons or hoping that they’ll sit through a whole meal (good luck with that), where can you go?

As a word of warning, a lot of the lists you’ll find online from sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor have a few restaurants on there that are decidedly not for kids. Not that they won’t welcome kids, it’s just they’re a little on the upscale side and more… energetic kids will quickly wind up bored. The list below is compiled from the author’s knowledge of 10+ years dragging multiple children to area restaurants.

A Lowcountry Backyard

It’s a common summertime refrain among parents whose children are home from school and quickly tearing up the house: “Go play in the backyard!”

Here, your kids can do exactly that at a restaurant built to emulate its namesake – A Lowcountry Backyard. While you’re sampling some mouth-watering cuisine (try the fried green tomato BLT) or even kicking back with a cold drink, the kids can dance to live music or play some of the enjoyable backyard games set up out back.

It’s like sending your kids to go play in the backyard, only the food, drinks and music are better. Total family win.

A Lowcountry Backyard

32 Palmetto Bay Road

Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

843-785-9273

Crazy Crab Jarvis Creek

One of the most difficult parts of taking kids out to eat, particular during summers on Hilton Head Island where wait times for a table can start to creep up, is the inevitable cries of “is it ready yet? I’m bored” from your children.

You won’t hear a peep out of them here.

Is there a wait for your table? No problem. Send the kids out to the adjacent playground while you take in gorgeous views of the creek.  Entrees taking a little longer than usual? Walk your kids over to the massive fish tank, and see if you can find Nemo together.

We’re not saying there are long waits here. We’re saying your kids will wish the the wait was longer.

104 William Hilton Parkway

The Crazy Crab Jarvis Creek

Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

843-681-5021

CharBar Co.

As soon as you sit down at CharBar, you’ll realize this place gets families.

Start with the burgers, which run from a kid-friendly patty on a bun to the award-winning Dirty South burger with pimento cheese, confit pork belly, red onion, tomato, candied jalapeños and bbq sauce on a toasted brioche bun. It can be tough to please everyone in the family, but it’s a lot easier here.

But what will really drive it home is when you find the tablet at every table pre-loaded with games and activities. You can either buy yourself a little bit of quiet time by letting the kids play around for a little bit, or fire up family games and enjoy each other’s company while indulging in some truly spectacular family fare.

And if you get the signature CharBar dessert, be sure to share with the kids. It’s so good that you won’t want to, but you probably should.

Charbar Company

33 Office Park Road #213

Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

843-785-2427

The Salty Dog

You didn’t think we’d leave off the only restaurant on Hilton Head Island with its own furry mascot did you?

Yes, the restaurant whose logo has adorned countless T-shirts and bumper stickers across the nation practically wrote the book on kid-friendly dining. Not only are there photo ops with the dog himself, Jake, but there are a slew of regularly scheduled activities just for kids. Depending on when you visit you might hear kid-friendly tunes from Beth Green “The Music Lady,” try your hand at taking tie-dye T-shirts, learn to juggle, or learn about local wildlife on Sea Turtle Sundays.

There’s so much for the kids to see and do, it’s almost like taking the family out to a festival that just happens to serve delicious seafood.

The Salty Dog Cafe

232 S Sea Pines Drive (South Beach Marina)

HIlton Head Island, SC 29928

843-671-2233