Fish Camps of South Carolina
They are a favorite for locals, and we’re sure South Carolina visitors will love them too. They are our hidden jewels, generally off the beaten path near lakes and rivers that our locals frequent.
Fish camps - those family style seafood restaurants where you can find the freshest catch battered in cornmeal and deep fried ‘til it’s golden brown. But what makes the meal complete are the sides. Hush puppies, fries and coleslaw top off any plate of seafood. There are a sea of fish camps throughout the Palmetto State where you can munch on some of the best fried fish, shrimp and scallops.
The small restaurant started out selling perch, fantail shrimp, whole flounder, catfish and chicken when it opened in 1952. The menu has expanded and Catawba Fish Camp has become a lot larger, seating more than 500 customers who come in with big appetites. Down South we eat plenty of fried foods, but the cooks at Catawba have made their deep fried foods a little healthier. They cook with trans fat free oil, but the seafood still tastes the same. The restaurant is open 4-9:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Many fish camps have been around South Carolina for quite a while, some passed from generation to generation. Black’s Seafood, located where else but on Fish Camp Road in Easley, has been serving seafood since 1968. The current owner’s grandparents started the fish camp. Though it’s a seafood restaurant, okra is on the menu. Don’t come to Black’s on Sundays expecting seafood. While the restaurant is open, it serves a country-style buffet with three meats and seven vegetables. The grease is bubbling at Black’s from 4:30-9:30pm Wednesday-Saturday and 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday.
Seel’s on Sullivans Fish Camp and Bar on Sullivan's Island is “not fancy, just fresh.” What you’ll spend on a meal here will just be a drop in the bucket. Seel's is committed to serving fresh, local seafood at a reasonable price. Depending on the day, you can find anything from fried crawfish, whiting and shrimp. New to the menu are fish tacos. Since the kids don’t eat as much as you, there’s also a menu for the young’uns. Seel’s is closed Sunday and Monday.
In the Upcountry Tall Tales and Wagon Wheel fish camps are well known among Cowpens residents. Located at 160 Springdale Rd., Tall Tales has more than 80 saltwater and freshwater catches from which to choose. Their grilled dishes are popular with the health conscience, especially the grilled shrimp with a helping of shrimp scampi.
Wagon Wheel, at 115 Wagon Wheel Rd., is the oldest fish camp in the area. The hot items here include catfish stew and fried fish. Besides deep fried seafood, Wagon Wheels serves deep fried Oreos, cookies dipped in funnel cake dough and dropped into hot grease. Not exactly what you’d expect to eat after a plate (or two) of seafood, huh?
Fish Camps of Yore
Fish camps originated as sheds where anglers could fry their fresh catches. The earliest in South Carolina were along the Catawba River in the 1930s and 1940s. Fish camps later evolved into restaurants in the 1950s.
Don’t expect linen tablecloths and dinner napkins when you visit one of our modern day South Carolina fish camps. These are “no frills” establishments. Many have no table cloths, ladder-back wooden chairs and taxidermic fish decorating the walls.
You'll love the cozy country atmosphere and the restaurant staff's smiling faces. Oh, and the food will make you want to come back to South Carolina again. On your next culinary excursion, include a South Carolina fish camp to your list of places to eat.