Wicked Tuna - Murrells Inlet (Myrtle Beach)

The view from the Wicked Tuna, overlooking its fishing boat and the Inlet.

As part of the MoVernie Mission on this Myrtle Beach Press Trip, MoKenny & I were looking for hidden gems, good eats and good hotspots in this city. Did you know Myrtle Beach is an up & rising city with a good Food Tourism? One of our discoveries is the “Wicked Tuna“. It’s a waterfront restaurant & bar located inside the Murrells Inlet, serving creative seafood, sushi & steaks in a colorful, casual setting.

So, where is Murrells Inlet? Murrells Inlet is located in the Georgetown County and is considered by many as the Seafood Capital of South Carolina. It’s about 20 minutes drive from downtown Myrtle Beach and 30 minutes from North Myrtle Beach (where we stayed at North Beach Plantation). So, the commute is super reasonable as compared to the traffic jam back in the6ix. The rewards are high as you will get to taste lots of fresh variety of seafood at Wicked Tuna.

Welcome to Wicked Tuna at the Murrells Inlet, with accessible ramp on the side of the restaurant that leads into the dining area.

Wicked Tuna is a big modern restaurant with a nice waterfront view. Plenty of parking spots for Wicked Tuna customers. Just a note that some peeps that just want to park and walk around the waterfront will have to pay the parking attendant at the entrance. But if you tell the attendant that you are going to dine at the Wicked Tuna, then you don’t have to pay the parking. Obviously, when you leave, you maybe asked to show the Wicked Tuna receipt to show you did indeed had your food there. Never hustle!

You basically can’t miss the Wicked Tuna as its sign is posted right and centred at the front of the restaurant. This place looks very welcoming from the outside, it’s huge just by the looks of it. More importantly, this restaurant has a ramp that is wheel chair accessible, which is very thoughtful to its patrons and much appreciated by many. This is a major plus and also shows you that this restaurant cares about its customers.

As we walked a few steps up to the entrance and into the lobby, we were greeted by the friendly hostess at the entrance counter. A few minutes later, the General Manager, Scot came and greeted us as he knew we were coming for a nice brunch. Scot gave us a nice tour and told us more about Wicked Tuna. You could understand why he is the General Manager here as you could feel his energy and his passion in this restaurant industry. While he was giving us a tour, he also greeted other customers and was very observant and making sure other customers received what they were looking for. The attention-to-detail went off the roof, super impressive!

Wicked Tuna is a huge restaurant. This is only one section of it, overlooking the bar area and the sushi area.

The Wicked Tuna was a huge restaurant. It had many different sections. If you want to watch the sports game, you can sit near the bar section. If you want to watch the sushi chef prepare the fresh sushi, you can sit near that area. If you just want to dine in the indoor setting, there is another big section on the other end of the restaurant. Scot also showed us the outdoor patio section. You could sit out there overlooking the waterfront and many fishing boats were parked near it. There was also another VIP outdoor section that was perfect for Corporate Functions, Team Bonding Parties or perhaps a Wedding Reception. The space was super versatile and Scot told us they had already organized and hosted many parties and corporate functions. So, if you are an event planner or an executive planning a party, consider Wicked Tuna to be one of your options.

Scot also gave us a tour explaining to us why their seafood is so fresh and delicious. Basically, they have their own Wicked Tuna fishing boat. Almost weekly, they have a crew of fishing crew who sails the boat out to the ocean to catch fresh seafood. A few days later, they come back and all the fresh catches are stored right at the fridge across the boat while some seafood is just being served instantly. This type of “Sea-to-Table” are getting and getting more popular. However, it’s not always doable anywhere in the world. The environment, the availability of seafood and the surroundings are KEY for this special dining experience and the Murrells Inlet in Myrtle Beach can achieved that.

Wicked Tuna’s own fishing boat that has a whole crew out at sea to catch the freshest seafood for its customers.

After a nice tour, we had decided to sit in a table in the outdoor patio, so we could enjoy the nice view of the fishing boats and the waterfront view. Scot told us that the beauty about Wicked Tuna is its ability to serve fresh sushi, raw fish and also cooked food. If some peeps love sashimi, they can order the raw fish food items. If some folks prefer cooked food, they can also order those as well. There is always something for everyone while under the same roof, which is a major plus at Wicked Tuna.

MoKenny and I had noticed that during this trip to Myrtle Beach, the term “Surf n Turf” took a whole new meaning in Myrtle Beach. Although the traditional surf n turf with steak and cooked lobster tail are still available. The peeps at Myrtle Beach love steak and sushi/sashimi even more. In Toronto, you don’t always see sushi/sashimi being served with ribeye steak or T-bone steak often. In the Myrtle Beach area, this is its specialty.

Dragon Egg, it’s signature dish here at Wicked Tuna. You can’t order this anywhere else. It’s a MUST-TRY! MoVernie Approved!

Scot told us that he highly recommend us to order some of its specialty cocktails, especially a number of its signature drinks have a nice story behind it. Also, he said we had to order this special sushi item called the “Dragon Egg”, which is a halved avocado stuffed with cream cheese, smoked salmon, blue crab, king crab and spicy crab served in a nest of tempura sweet potato with spicy mayo and sweet glaze. That sounds delicious and also not available anywhere else. This is a signature dish at Wicked Tuna.

Wicked Tuna is definitely a great hotspot during all season round. Scot told us that later this summer, they will have a seafood and cold beverage stations out in the patio section, so the patrons can check out the seafood and order on demand. The food quality and culinary skills are phenomenal here at Wicked Tuna.

In particular, we also highly recommend you to order their seafood platter. Subject to availability, the seafood platter came with giant Alaskan crab legs, snow legs, jumbo shrimps, oysters, mussels and lobster creamy salad lettuce wrap all for $38 USD. In Toronto, this seafood platter will cost you at least $90 CDN. So, even if you include the weak Canadian dollar conversion, having seafood platter at Wicked Tuna is a bargain. Plus the fresh seafood being caught by its own fishing crew on its own fishing boat and Sea-to-Table experience? You can’t match that.

Wicked Tuna
4123 US-17 BUS
Murrells Inlet
South Carolina 29576
(843) 651-9987
TheWickedTuna.com

Our stay at Myrtle Beach was paid for by Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce as part of our press trip. As always, all reviews and opinions are entirely my own. For more photos, tweets and videos check out #MyMyrtleBeach and @MyMyrtleBeach on Twitter & Instagram!

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