South Carolina to Beaufort County

Beaufort

The Lowcountry jewel on Port Royal Sound. Where Gullah Geechee food culture, antebellum architecture, and the tidal creeks' extraordinary seafood produce one of America's most distinctive small-city dining experiences.

6Restaurants Listed
$$-$$$Average Price Range
8Avg Food Score
8Avg Ambience Score

Best Restaurants in Beaufort

Five essential tables, ranked by occasion.

$ Under $20  |  $$ $20–50  |  $$$ $50–100  |  $$$$ Over $100

Saltus River Grill Beaufort
#1 in Beaufort
Saltus River Grill
Lowcountry / Seafood$$$
ProposalClose a Deal
The Beaufort waterfront's most accomplished kitchen. Lowcountry seafood on the Beaufort River with the Spanish moss and antebellum architecture as the permanent backdrop.
Food 8Ambience 9Value 7
Emily's Restaurant & Tapas Bar Beaufort
#2 in Beaufort
Emily's Restaurant & Tapas Bar
International / Tapas$$
First DateBirthday
The Bay Street tapas bar that Beaufort's sophisticated year-round community built and the summer visitors discovered. Wine, small plates, and the Lowcountry's most animated evening atmosphere.
Food 7Ambience 8Value 8
The Back Porch Restaurant Beaufort
#3 in Beaufort
The Back Porch Restaurant
Gullah Geechee / Lowcountry$$
BirthdaySolo Dining
The Gullah Geechee cooking that makes Beaufort's culinary culture irreplaceable. Red rice, Frogmore stew, and the African-American culinary tradition that shaped the entire Lowcountry.
Food 8Ambience 8Value 8
Plum's Restaurant Beaufort
#4 in Beaufort
Plum's Restaurant
American / Lowcountry$
Solo DiningBirthday
The Beaufort everyday anchor. The shrimp and grits and the pimento cheese sandwich that the city's year-round community depends on.
Food 7Ambience 7Value 9
Bank Waterfront Bar & Grill Beaufort
#5 in Beaufort
Bank Waterfront Bar & Grill
American / Waterfront$$
BirthdaySolo Dining
The Bay Street waterfront bar in the historic district. Oysters on the half shell, craft beer, and the Beaufort River view that the Low Country's most beautiful small city provides as standard.
Food 7Ambience 9Value 8
Breakwater Restaurant & Bar Beaufort
#6 in Beaufort
Breakwater Restaurant & Bar
Lowcountry / Contemporary$$$
First DateBirthday
The contemporary Lowcountry kitchen that completes Beaufort's fine-dining scene. Locally sourced seafood and farm produce in the city's most thoughtfully designed dining room.
Food 8Ambience 8Value 7

Beaufort’s Top 5

01

Saltus River Grill

Saltus River Grill has anchored Beaufort's Bay Street waterfront as the city's most accomplished seafood restaurant. A kitchen that takes the Lowcountry's extraordinary tidal-creek and offshore seafood seriously and app...

02

Emily's Restaurant & Tapas Bar

Emily's has been the social heart of Beaufort's Bay Street restaurant corridor for decades. A tapas bar and wine-focused restaurant that serves both the city's creative professional community and the visitors who find i...

03

The Back Porch Restaurant

The Back Porch represents the Gullah Geechee culinary tradition. The cooking of the African-American community that has lived in the South Carolina sea islands since the era of slavery, preserving West African food trad...

04

Plum's Restaurant

Plum's is the Beaufort restaurant that serves the year-round community's practical needs. A Bay Street café that produces Lowcountry comfort food with consistent quality and the accessibility that a small historic city ...

05

Bank Waterfront Bar & Grill

The Bank occupies a Bay Street building with a deck that extends toward the Beaufort River. One of the most beautiful waterfront dining positions in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The view of the tidal creek, the salt m...

06

Breakwater Restaurant & Bar

Breakwater arrived in Beaufort's restaurant landscape with the conviction that the city's culinary potential exceeded what its dining scene had previously expressed. A contemporary Lowcountry kitchen that sources with r...

Dining in Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort is the Lowcountry's most beautiful small city. A perfectly preserved antebellum town on Port Royal Sound whose streets of live oak and Spanish moss, Federal-style mansions, and tidal creek waterfront have made it one of the South's most celebrated historic districts. The culinary culture reflects the specific intersection of the Gullah Geechee heritage (the African-American community that has lived in the Sea Islands since the slavery era), the extraordinary tidal-creek seafood, and the contemporary restaurant investment that Beaufort's tourism economy supports.

Gullah Geechee Culture

The Gullah Geechee people. The descendants of enslaved Africans who were brought to the Sea Islands specifically for rice cultivation, and who maintained West African language, culture, and culinary traditions more completely than any other African-American community in the United States. Are the foundation of the Lowcountry's culinary identity. Red rice, Frogmore stew, and the flavors of the Sea Island kitchen trace directly to West African food traditions preserved in this specific place.

The Tidal Creek Seafood

Port Royal Sound and the tidal creeks that surround the Sea Islands produce seafood of exceptional quality. The Atlantic Thorogood oysters from the region's specific tidal micro-environments, the creek shrimp that the South Carolina coast's tidal system produces in summer abundance, and the various finfish from the offshore waters that the Beaufort fishing community harvests. These are ingredients specific to this geography.

Practical Notes

Beaufort is reached by car on US-21 from I-95 (1 hour west) or from Hilton Head Island (45 minutes south). Savannah is 1.5 hours southwest; Charleston is 1.5 hours north. No commercial airport serves Beaufort; Hilton Head Island Airport is the nearest option. Card payments are universal. The historic district is walkable.

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