Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009
Big Daddy's Serves Warm Welcome and Comfort Food
Big Daddy's Roadhouse Grill
SETTING THE TABLE
If you enjoy being greeted with a smile and a hearty “How ya doin’?” you’ll enjoy the atmosphere at Big Daddy’s Roadhouse Grill. The ambiance is genuinely happy, and friendly belly laughs are the most common sounds you’ll hear.
This dinnertime restaurant opened in May, and is locally owned and operated by Ervin and Linda Brock. They are 33-year restaurant veterans who are active in the lives of their families, employees and church friends. The Brocks also own Big Daddy’s Oceanfront Dining on Second Avenue Pier in Myrtle Beach.
They encourage employees to interact with guests.
“We work hard to be upbeat,” Linda Brock says. “We joke around, encourage [servers] to be intimate with tables, talk to children, so people don’t feel like they’re being herded in like cattle.”
Outside Big Daddy’s looks like many other countrified roadhouse/steakhouse chains with a barn red exterior and white trim, and a long skinny front porch. Inside, an upper level with dozens of booths ring the windows, and a central area a few steps lower contains many tables that can accommodate large groups. Also on the lower level are more booths and the bar area; dominating the lower level is a grill pit where proteins are cooked over natural hickory charcoal. The rest of the kitchen is behind a copper-tiled wall.
The predominant décor is casual outdoorsy country. You’ll see antler chandeliers and a mounted bear standing on his hind legs in the lobby looking like he’d enjoy giving someone a friendly hug.
DOWN THE HATCH
Grilled steaks, chicken and seafood are the entrée specialties. Beef is USDA Choice, and if you want to give the Sterling Silver sirloin a try the best time to stop by is between 4 and 6 p.m. when there is a long list of early dining specials. One of them is two 6-ounce sirloin dinners, each with one side and a salad, for $17.95. The big pit grill turns out ribeyes, t-bones, filet mignons, sirloins and New York strips with char-crispy exteriors and juicy middles.
Another popular house special offered all night long is a Sirloin Steak and Lobster dinner for one, with two sides, for $18.99.
But if you’d rather order off the menu, there are plenty of choices. A few appetizer options are Hushpuppy Baskets, Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms, Tumbleweed (whole fried flower-cut onion), Yard Bird Wings (mild or hot), Chicken Quesadillas and Cajun Fried Oysters with roasted red pepper sauce.
Big Daddy’s offers House or Caesar salads and three soups: Big Daddy’s Chili, She-Crab Soup ($2.29-$4.19) and Homemade Soup of the Day. I tried the She-Crab, and it is one of the best versions I’ve tried since Marshall and Chubb’s closed in Garden City. Often She-Crab Soup is bland, but general manager/chef Chris Hartnett nailed a fantastic combination of flavors.
I also tried the Danish Baby Back Ribs ($12.99-$16.99), which are dry-rubbed with a seven-spice mixture. The finished dish is savory, moist, falling off the bones and slathered in a generous amount of tangy tomato-based barbecue sauce.
Side dishes include baked potato, au gratin potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and more, but my favorite Big Daddy’s side is mashed sweet potatoes, served with a brown sugar and chopped pecan topping. Soft warm yeast rolls are baked on-site and served with honey butter.
If you don’t want an entrée like Herb-crusted Prime Rib, Seafood Platter (fried, broiled, blackened or grilled), Chicken Alfredo or Southwestern Barbecue Chicken, there are several sandwich choices. The Big Daddy Burger ($7.99) is a classic 8-ounce patty served with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and a choice of cheese. Other sandwiches are Steak or Chicken Phillies, Grouper or Flounder sandwiches, and Hickory Barbecue Chicken served with onion straws. While the Crab Cake Sandwich isn’t lump crabmeat, it is mostly meat and melts in your mouth, and is served with red pepper tartar sauce.
CHECK, PLEASE
Big Daddy’s is home to locally famous $3 12-ounce margaritas, and that’s the normal everyday price. But if you’re talking happy hour, which is from 4-7 p.m. daily at the bar, you can get $1.50 drafts, $2.50 domestics and $3 well drinks. There’s also a drink special every night, such as the Big Daddy’s Hawaiian Punch (think college PJ parties) going for $5. The bar offers lots of specialty drinks, plus 10 beers on draft, seven wines by the glass, eight domestic bottles, five microbrew/imports and 13 bottles of wine.
Smoking is allowed at the bar, which is beside the heavy-duty exhaust system of the charcoal pit. I don’t smoke and did not smell cigarettes either at the entrance or from where I was seated across the room.
This is a great place to take a crowd of people; there’s plenty of room and everyone will find something to like on the menu.
Big Daddy’s Roadhouse Grill is at 1610 S. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, and the number is (843) 448-3819. They’re open starting at 4 p.m. every day.
Becky Billingsley serves daily restaurant news at www.MyrtleBeachRestaurantNews.com.
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