Hilton Head’s 10 Best Restaurants, Top Local Eats

The Jazz Corner has your whole night out in one place. With its delicious food and world-class jazz, it’s perfect for a special occasion, or just a night when you need a boost in life. They try to keep the music at the restaurant as close to the original form of jazz as possible, a throwback to the roaring twenties with live music every night of the week. The food comes out elegantly plated, with unexpected flavors coming together to create harmonies that almost rival the music in the background. The Jazz Corner also definitely takes advantage of the beach location with some very enticing seafood options, like prosciutto-wrapped sea scallops.

In addition to being a restaurant, The Studio is also exactly what its name purports it to be: an art studio. You’ll find the walls adored by the works of several artists, and sometimes you’ll even find a painter hard at work behind an easel. Besides visual entertainment, they also have live music for your ears, and that’s before you’ve even gotten to your taste buds. The chef has put together a menu combining influences from all over the world, with a sizable vegetarian menu including numerous vegan options. Very rarely can one menu list both lamb rogan josh and and seafood paella so close to each other and still maintain a sense of connectedness, but The Studio manages it, and we’re all better off for it.

Vine doesn’t have a website, but all the energy they would have spent on one went instead, into the impeccable quality of their food. Their menu has specials that change every day, and they revamp the whole linwup each season to keep the ingredients as fresh as possible. The food is largely Italian, but includes influences from across the globe as well. You’re also sure to get a beautiful presentation at Vine, with the colors blending together in an edible collage and a swirl of balsamic vinegar (or perhaps chocolate, depending on the dish) to complete the piece of art.

The name may sound intimidating, but don’t be fooled. It’s just the name of the water that the restaurant sits next to. Since it’s an open air restaurant, the pleasant saltiness of the sea air wafting in will just be a nice addition to your dinner out. Unsurprisingly, the seafood is the main draw for Skull Creek Boathouse, but besides your normal friend catfish and oysters on the half shell, they also have more difficult to find items like high quality sushi, ceviche, and po’ boy sandwiches that taste just like a little piece of New Orleans. The wine and cocktail menus are also extensive, which are only part of what makes this place so perfect for those long summer evenings.

The owners of A Lowcountry Backyard knew Hilton Head before it was a hip destination for people from across America. They’ve watched the island grow into itself around them, but A Lowcountry Backyard reminds visitors of what it once was: a small, quiet, southern town by the seashore. You can find all the southern favorites here – barbecue, shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy, and to top it off, banana pudding for dessert. If you plan it right, you might get to come on one of the delightful nights when they’re welcoming everyone and everyone in for an oyster roast or cookout in their spacious backyard.

If the Hilton Head restaurant scene has one thing in plenty, it’s good Italian restaurants. Ombra has carved out a place for itself with its sheer elegance. Their menu isn’t long, so you know that each dish has required plenty of thought and effort to put together so smoothly. For a real treat that will really let you explore, come for the early dining menu, where you’ll pay a set price to enjoy a three course meal that you put together yourself off their options. Try a salad with goat cheese and beets, fresh sea bass, and vanilla panna cotta. Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong.