River City Cafe

So River City Cafe is one of those places that inevitably gets brought up in this area whenever anyone decides to enter the minefield that is asking the question, "Who has the best burgers on the beach?" Now, the reason I happen to like when this type of question pops up is that I get to take mental notes of all the places I should need to go to...you know...to discover the TRUTH.

It was with great anticipation then that my girlfriend and I decided to visit the River City Cafe located on 21st Avenue North (there are a handful of locations up and down the beach - don't be a caveman, use Google Maps or something for the others!) to get to the bottom of some burger business (and, subsequently, our plates). Read on after the jump to see what we found out, alright?

The Bowery

The Anti-Photographer Strikes

Damn, alright, so my girlfriend and I spun the wheel of random today and landed on The Bowery for our lunch destination. Before I get down to grease tacks I should note that, like a bunch of other bar establishments in Myrtle Beach, The Bowery is attached to/has its food services handled by a place called Duffy's Bar & Grill.

Say hello, Duffy's!

Hello!

Also, and this is less "important" and more "what is going on", but the classic-country-southern-rock band Alabama was the house band for The Bowery for something like 8 years in the '70's.

Oh, oh, oh! Also...

Jimmyz Original Hibachi...PLUS BONUS STAR TREK DESSERT, DUDES

Guys, remember the Habibi's review where I neglected to get photos because I'm bad at this? I still don't have an excuse for the same thing happening AGAIN this time other than to say:

1. I had the most unfortunate hangover during my dining experience
2. I just watched the new Star Trek movie and I'm a big dork and kept talking about that
3. I am still a terrible food and restaurant critic
Bonus Reason: It's Bike Week in Myrtle Beach and motorcycles are like, loud and distracting or something.

Anyway, coming home from the movies Friday, my girlfriend and I decided to stop at Jimmyz Original Hibachi to treat our tastebuds to a style that hasn't been featured yet on Eating Myrtle Beach: Asian(ish) food! It will be the first of many, I assure you. Personally, I can't wait to gag on some too-hot curry in the name of culinary exploration.

Habibi's Cafe & Market

It's kind of easy to get tired of routine, even something as intensely comforting as a lunch routine. I've probably spent too much of my time scouring the internet for local lunch choices that don't immediately make themselves obvious as an option when you're plucking things off the top of your head that you might want to eat.

Enter Habibi's Cafe & Market. Habibi's is a Lebanese joint right around the corner from where I work and I figured something with a Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern flavor would be a welcome departure from the norm. A departure it totally was.

Let's jump into some Falafel and Gyros, shall we?

Nacho Hippo

Valhalla

"High-class nachos" seems like a phrase one might come up with lying in a stupor on the floor of a dirty dorm room floor as they steel themselves to "enjoy" the results of throwing a bunch of stale corn chips on a plate and microwaving it with a few slices of american cheese on top.

Speaking of inscrutable phrases associated with the word "nacho", I haven't yet taken the time to find an explicit explanation of where, why, and how Nacho Hippo, a wonder of an establishment nestled within the Market Common "upscale urban center", got its name. After sampling the fruits within, I came to the almost too obvious conclusion that it has to do with serving sizes. We'll get to that.

The Shack

SKIM LIZARD (?)

I have a love-hate relationship with breakfast. On the one hand, traditional breakfast food as a concept is pretty out of this world. Waffles, pancakes, biscuits, bacon, sausage, bagels, scrapple*, pork roll*, french toast, eggs, syrup, AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!

*New Jersey roots, represent!

Okay, okay. We're alright now. Where was I? Oh right, love-hate. Here's the thing - during the work week I normally skip breakfast and it's a rare thing on the weekend where I'm up early enough to go a place with strict breakfast menu times IN time to actually break my fast properly. There is little else worse in this world than getting up early if you don't specifically have to. This is a real opinion you (I) have that can be filed away under First World Problems.

On my way to Basil's Pizza for my first review, I passed The Shack. It looked like a funky little place to get some food and the parking lot was slammed. A lighted sign out front heartily demanded I EAT HERE so I made a mental note to do just that as soon as I could. Such wanton brazenness should be applauded and rewarded. How did that work out? Sadly, the experience was hit or miss.

Guest Post! Founders Dinner Beer Review!

Roommate Joe - neat freak, aspiring (and excellent) home brewer, INCREDIBLY accommodating. Joe got pretty excited about the opportunity to review some beers to the point where he took things way more professionally than I did and actually took tasting notes all night. What a guy! What follows is his review in order of consumption and course-pairing.

"The Founders Dinner beerlist turned out to be a (almost) vertical tasting, and while I wholly believe this was unintentional, I enjoyed the experience more than I thought I would given that I've had 3 out of 4 of them individually in the past.

Unfortunately the representative they sent worked for a distributor -not the brewery- so we were very limited on the amount and kinds of information we were able to get from him."