SeeWee Restaurant
Who doesn't love a little roadside diner?
I certainly do.
To me, traveling means trying to understand the region, the people, the culture of wherever you're visiting. And that means bypassing the chains and sampling some of the area's restaurants. If the locals are eating somewhere, that's where I want to be as well.
Charleston has a ton of really great, gourmet restaurants--some with seafood, some with a focus on farm-to-table dishes, some with exotic twists on classic Southern food. Sadly, it can be hard to find basic, classic Southern food among all of the award-winning chefs and the seafood restaurants.
When you come to Charleston, sometimes you just want some comfort food like your grandma used to make. There are a a few places to get this downtown (including Jestine's, one of my FAVORITES!), but what if you want a less-fancy, super casual dining experience?
You just can't get that downtown.
This is where the SeeWee Restaurant steps in. It's not gourmet. It's not fancy. It's not trying to impress anyone.
And that's the best part of it! (Well, that, and the food.)
On our way out to Hampton Plantation, Landon, Britton, and I decided to do brunch at SeeWee Restaurant in Awendaw. You have to go through Awendaw to get to McClellanvile (where the plantation is) so we didn't even have to veer from our path to eat. Time is money, friends.
SeeWee has many dishes, including some great seafood ones. Nearby McClellanville is known for its shrimping industry, so when you eat at SeeWee, you're getting food that's been locally sourced and was probably alive just a few hours before. (There's a thought for you.)
As I'm allergic to shellfish, I can't personally speak to the tastiness of the shrimp and oysters and such, but the non-allergic members of my family assure me that SeeWee's version of these foods are worth the drive out to Awendaw.
I usually dive into the veggie plate--you get to choose from about a dozen homecooked favorites, including potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and cole slaw. It's the South, people, so these are all veggies according to us. (No complaints from me!)
On this most recent trip, Landon and I both got the veggie plate. Mine had a distinct blend of non-veggie veggies: the macaroni and cheese and the potato salad. I rounded out the yumminess with fried okra and some green beans.
Have I mentioned their sweet tea? Because I need to. You wouldn't think that sweet tea would be difficult to get right--it's just sugar, water, and tea bags. But the ratio of these three is really important. SeeWee's got it figured out. I could go there and just drink the tea.
The decor's all sort of thrown together, and is this great mixture of local art, taxidermy, area maps, and antiques. There's one framed picture above the register that's been crooked since the first time I visited (which was quite some time ago). But that's the endearing part of SeeWee--it is what it is with no apologies.
SeeWee Restaurant is located at 4808 Highway 17 in Awendaw. It's located across the highway from Sewee Outpost. It's about five or six miles above Mount Pleasant, and about ten or fifteen miles below McClellanville.
On your travels, do you like trying local restaurants? Which do you prefer: something fancy or a roadside diner?