Restaurants in Hilton Head Island

Tangerine's menu collects dishes from all across Asia with an emphasis on Thai recipes and fresh sushi and sashimi. Large prawns are stir-fried in garlic sauce and tender raviolis are stuffed with lobster and dungeness crab meat then covered with a rich shitake-mushroom sauce. The sushi chefs make classic salmon and rainbow rolls in addition to specialty maki, such as the Tangerine roll filled with crab and five types of fish or the Millipede roll topped with avocado and cut into 1,000 pieces.

Fresh flowers and elegant linens help create a calming, upscale atmosphere in the saffron-hued dining room. An aquarium glows behind the sushi chefs as guests sit around the marble-topped bar, and parties slide into booths tucked in private alcoves lined with white drapery.

Nestled in among the trees, sunshine, and ferns of Hilton Head, Nick's Steak and Seafood looks like a friendly local joint from the outside. A simple step through the door, however, teleports diners from the Lowcountry to pure Pittsburgh sports mania. Owner Josh and his wife, Katie, both love the Steel City teams, and they celebrate that love with apparel and memorabilia from the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates all over the walls. To fuel the fanaticism, their chefs dish up a menu of classic surf 'n' turf, which includes filet mignon, lobster tail, and ready-to-peel shrimp.

The herringbone pattern of the bricks on the street just outside Eclectic Chef seems to point wandering feet right in the restaurant’s direction. In warmer months, the eatery’s patio welcomes guests beneath its large, red umbrellas, which offer shade as customers bite into crisp salads tossed with sliced strawberries or wild gathered greens. Guests can also feed on hot or cold sandwiches comprised of warm roast beef and slow-roasted barbecue pork, or paninis filled with barbecue chicken. In addition to the cozy café’s offerings, Eclectic Chef also offers personal-chef and gourmet to-go services, allowing busy diners to feed themselves and their families hearty, healthy meals.

Ta Ca's chefs firmly root their menu of sushi and teppanyaki entrees in Japanese culinary tradition. Although the selection of maki brims with familiar staples, it also features subtly modern specialty rolls with inventive ingredients, such as fried green-shell mussels, calamari, and tomato. The chefs spend mealtimes searing orders of vegetables, chicken, or lobster on the rippling-hot surface of hibachi grills. Wavy pendant lanterns illuminate the gleaming bar running along one of the dining room's orange walls. The shelves bristle with a selection of spirits, Japanese beers, and sake, which bring about endless toasts like a sand grain’s wedding reception.

The culinary team at Papa's Bar-B-Que & Seafood has honed the art of slow cooking pork loin and deep-frying shrimp through four decades of practice. After opening on West Bay Street in 1972 and spending nearly 20 years at Whitemarsh Island, the eatery arrived at its current spot on Charlotte Road. Although its location has bounced around, its food hasn’t. The same pit-cooked ribs, hand-breaded chicken fingers, and blackened tilapia pile onto plates to comfort stomachs so diners don't have to tuck teddy bears into their belts.

In keeping with this spirit of humble expertise, Papa's whips up housemade banana pudding and sells its own Bar-B-Que sauce by the gallon to drench homemade ribs or fill perfume bottles. They also sell barbecued pork, gumbo, and shrimp salad by the pint or pound. In addition to their dedication to hearty comfort food, owners Frank and Judy Ouzts have shown their commitment to the community with efforts such as a charity event, featured on WSAV-TV, that celebrated the eatery’s 40th anniversary while raising money for America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia.

Customers line up for southern-style seafood at The Sea Shack, where cravings for fried, grilled, or blackened seafood selections are made to order and then delivered to tables of Hilton Head locals and visitors. Along with seafood staples such as scallops, salmon, and flounder, The Sea Shack also serves triggerfish, frog legs, and conch fritters for adventurous diners who no longer get their kicks by eating rare steaks while suspended over shark tanks.