Resort Restaurants on Hilton Head Island
The island’s resorts run some of its best dining rooms and beach bars, and every one on this list is open to people who aren’t staying there.
Sea Pines Resort restaurants
The resort runs these itself. Day visitors pay the $10 Sea Pines gate fee per car.
Seafood on the deck of the Sea Pines Beach Club, with the Atlantic just past the dunes. The one to book for an oceanfront dinner.
Coastal dinner on the Harbour Town yacht basin beside the lighthouse, with a rooftop deck over the harbor.
Steaks and seafood in the Harbour Town Clubhouse, overlooking Harbour Town Golf Links.
A wood-paneled golf tavern at the Plantation Golf Club clubhouse, with American pub food and golf on the TVs.
Omni and Palmetto Dunes resort restaurants
Two resorts sit inside Palmetto Dunes. Omni visitors get passes at the South Gate, and the Hilton Beachfront Resort on Hotel Circle needs no pass. Alexander’s and The Dunes House need no hotel stay.
The Omni’s steakhouse: USDA Prime steaks, she crab soup and diver scallops at dinner, and a breakfast buffet every morning.
The Omni’s sports bar, for burgers, nachos and a game on the big screens, open until midnight.
The Hilton Beachfront Resort’s restaurant, the former Marriott’s: poke, coconut shrimp, fish tacos and burgers, lunch and dinner daily, walk-in.
Upscale seafood in a glassed-in room over a Palmetto Dunes lagoon, open since 1977. No resort pass needed.
The resort’s beach bar on the sand: fish tacos, wraps and frozen drinks on a deck at the dunes.
The Hilton also runs Ocean Blu, a seasonal poolside café for salads and sandwiches.
Westin and Sonesta restaurants
Two full-service hotels with a main dining room open to the public: the Westin on the north end, inside Port Royal Plantation, and the Sonesta in Shipyard on the south end.
The Westin’s three-meal dining room, with Lowcountry and coastal Southern cooking. Books on OpenTable.
The Sonesta’s restaurant on the lagoons: a breakfast buffet until 11 a.m. and Lowcountry dinner from 5 p.m.
Resort beach bars and grills
Casual, walk-in and mostly outdoors. The first four are at the Forest Beach resorts near Coligny, with no gate.
The Beach House’s thatched bar on the sand at Coligny Beach, with live music every day, weather permitting.
The Beach House’s all-day restaurant, from eggs Benedict at 7 a.m. to dinner by the pool.
A thatched tiki bar at the Sea Crest, a Forest Beach fixture since 1993, with the dunes right behind it.
Marriott’s Grande Ocean bar and grille on an oceanfront deck under navy umbrellas. Open to the public.
The sports bar at Hilton Head Island Beach and Tennis Resort, beside the lagoon, with trivia and music bingo nights.
About this list
The island’s resorts run some of its best dining rooms and beach bars, and every one on this list is open to people who aren’t staying there. Sea Pines has the most, from Coast on the beach to the Quarterdeck and Links in Harbour Town. The Omni’s steakhouse, HH Prime, and Alexander’s anchor Palmetto Dunes, and the Westin and the Sonesta each have a main dining room with breakfast.
The one thing to plan around is the gate. Sea Pines charges day visitors $10 per car, Palmetto Dunes sends Omni visitors to its South Gate for a pass, and Shipyard’s gate officers issue a pass to anyone heading to the Sonesta. The Westin sits inside Port Royal Plantation on the north end. The Forest Beach resorts near Coligny have no gate at all.
Most of the sit-down rooms take reservations, and in summer the ones with a view (Coast, the Quarterdeck, Links) fill up. The beach bars and grills are walk-in. Staying at one of these resorts? See Hilton Head resorts, hotels and inns, and for a pool day without a room, resort day passes.
More ways to choose where to eat
23 Sea Pines restaurants across Harbour Town, South Beach, Sea Pines Center and the Beach Club, from waterfront seafood to cafés, with phone numbers.
Palmetto Dunes restaurants on Hilton Head: a beach bar, clubhouse grills, a lagoon-view dinner room and a general store, with hours and phone numbers.
Steakhouse Hilton Head guide: prime chophouses, an old-school Main Street steakhouse and seafood-and-steak dinner rooms, with phone numbers.
Hilton Head restaurants on the water: Skull Creek docks, Broad Creek decks, marina patios, oceanfront tiki bars and Harbour Town views, with phone numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you eat at a Hilton Head resort restaurant if you aren’t staying there?
Yes. Every restaurant on this list is open to the public. In Sea Pines, day visitors pay a $10 gate fee per car. Palmetto Dunes gives Omni visitors a pass at the South Gate, and Shipyard’s gate officers issue passes to anyone heading to the Sonesta.
Which Hilton Head resorts have the best restaurants?
Sea Pines has the most choice, with Coast on the beach and the Quarterdeck and Links in Harbour Town, all highly rated. For steak, HH Prime at the Omni and Links are the two resort steakhouses.
Which resort restaurants serve breakfast?
HH Prime at the Omni and Seacrest at the Sonesta both serve a breakfast buffet until 11 a.m., the Westin’s Carolina Room serves three meals a day, and The Porch at the Beach House opens at 7 a.m.
Do Hilton Head resort restaurants take reservations?
The sit-down rooms do: Coast, the Quarterdeck, Links, Fraser’s Tavern, HH Prime, Alexander’s, the Carolina Room and Seacrest. The beach bars and grills are walk-in.
Is there a resort restaurant on the beach on Hilton Head?
Several. Coast is at the Sea Pines Beach Club, The Dunes House is on the sand in Palmetto Dunes, Tiki Hut is on Coligny Beach, and Loggerhead Landing and Pool Bar Jim’s sit just behind the dunes on Forest Beach.
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