The Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood

It is the height of tourist season for this place and I get that, but theres something to be said about limiting the size of a restaurant. This place was HUGE which contributed to the most crowded buffet I’ve ever been to. However if your a fan of fresh steamed crab its worth it. The service was good we were seated in 15 minutes and there was complementary valet which was nice. The rest of the eats were what you’d expect to see at your average place. I would go there again… for the steamed crab and shrimp.

So glad we: got the early bird special (coupon is worth it) and went early 2:30. All the food was great, fresh and hot. The crab legs were great must have had eight or ten clusters. $ 32 for the buffet-​4 coupon = totally worth it. Plenty of stuff for non seafood eaters as well. Even the grits were good! Service was excellent, full baskets were removed promptly, water refilled often. All the attractions kept our little ones on information overload, if you have to wait go out back and rock in the four person rockers and take goofy photos in the pirate and mermaid cutouts. The extra large models of QE and QE II and other large schooners are amazing, as are the sharks and swordfish displayed everywhere.
Google for coupons and go early. You won’t be sorry unless you are not hungry or very picky eater. If you can’t fill up there you are not trying. No place will satisfy you anyway.

we came here in april 2014 for vaca and it was good. we had the buffett for $ 30 a person which is kinda pricy but we enjoyed it. we only ate the crab which was good since we saw the cook place it on the hot spot. Everytime he would we would go and get it lol. The only thing would be if the crab was seasoned a little but we loved it anyway

Awesome place! Tons of great food options! Our waitress was awesome and friendly ! Crab legs were fresh and tasted wonderful! Well worth the money! We went for an early dinner around 4 and it was like 10 minute wait!

I tried this restaurant for the first time on Wednesday, June 8. We were a party of three. Two have been here before; however, this was my first visit.
There are a lot of seafood buffets in Myrtle Beach. There also apparently are a lot with close to the same name. However, this one is located in an area they call «Restaurant Row» kind of just north of Myrtle Beach; however, before North Myrtle Beach (close to the Carolina Opry)
There is plentiful parking. When we arrived at 6:15PM it was very busy, even for a Wednesday; however, there is a lot of seating.
There was plenty of food and not that long of a wait; however, the buffet (with A LOT OF FOOD) is crammed into a pretty tiny area, and it is difficult to maneuver around when it is busy.
That aside, the food was awesome. I really thought everything was very, very tasty. The restaurant definitely had a nautical style motif, and our server (Gigi) was very friendly. Literally, I would say about 85% of the dishes on the buffet are seafood dishes. That is awesome.
The only issue we had, other than the thought that the buffet area is overcrowded, is that the hostess who seated us at the door was absolutely miserable. That is what kept me from reviewing this at 5 stars. That is the face to the restaurant, and she was so uninterested in her job, that she would be better off finding somewhere she enjoyed

I wanted some seafood before my family left MB headed back to Atlanta and Capt. Benjamin’s had a reputation for being the oldest and the best. We arrived shortly after they opened. The restaurant looks like a pier on the outside; I thought it was kitschy, but it’s actually functional (more on that later). We walked into the restaurant and we were greeted by a pirate who gave us beads (no flashing required!). Once inside, we passed a few replica cruise ships and we were then greeted by our server, Houston, who was dressed formally, like all of the other servers. He asked if we had coupons and I had one on my phone, but the cashier said that she’d take care of it and I didn’t need to show it. Houston grabbed a tray of hush puppies, showed us the facilities, where the calabash seafood was, where the steamed seafood was, the pasta and dessert bars and reminded us that they serve over 170 selections. He seated us, gave us drinks and condiments up front. He came by occasionally to refill our drinks. Service was great!
Regarding food, our favorites were the broiled salmon, the Cajun crab legs, and the steamed snow crab legs. The price is $ 31.99/adult. This price is about the same that you’d pay at Red Lobster for crab legs and steak. Here, you have many opportunities to get more crab legs and the seafood is fresh. The price is justifiable.
As we ate, we noticed a body of water behind the restaurant. Later we noticed boats zooming through the water. Houston told us there is a pier out back. My family and I sat on the pier and relaxed after a very delicious meal. There is also an arcade and a kids area, but we didn’t get a chance to visit that. This restaurant is highly recommended for service, food, ambiance and price.

Food was good & the service amazing. But the experience was ruined for me when I fell on the steps leaving. It was a new step that had be replaced & had no grips on it & it had rained!

Great food with great service. As long as you aren’t coming for dessert, but why would anyone come for dessert when you can fill up on sweet fresh crab legs?
Our waitress, Jenna, was great! Very sweet and was at the table any time we needed her. Or second time here and surely not our last.

Wow, what a HUGE disappointment! I guess that is what I get for listening to my brother and not checking Unilocal!
He had been there a couple years ago with friends during Bike Week. They all raved about this place, but $ 40 (just water, no soda or beer, includes tip) for this was absolutely crazy!!!
The food was cold and tough. I am not a crab leg kind of guy — my girlfriend is plenty crabby — so I did not try those. The guys at my table did not go for seconds though. So I can not comment on those.
Our server was OK, a bit overwhelmed. It took forever to get things like tartar sauce and knives. Nothing worse than getting a plate of food and just looking at it.
Oh well. Lesson learned.

WOW!!! I cannot tell you what an awesome buffet. The food selection was almost overwhelming, so many choices. The service was spot on, very attentive to customers.
Thank you for making a wonderful evening for our family.
A special thanks to our waitress, Heather!

I travel the east coast regularly and I must say that my initial impression of the place based on the outside was that it must be good! Once inside it matched the same visual impression. That’s where the good ends. The service was unfortunately mediocre at best, and the environment was that of golden corral with an ocean vibe.
Food quality was worse than golden corral, flavorless sides, and the meats were dry. The crab legs were what put it over the top, in the price that is! $ 31 per plate! ??? You couldn’t pay me to come back. I would avoid this place like most avoid the flu, yes, I would get a shot before eating here again. April 4^th. Suggestion to management: improve food quality immediately!

This restaurant has a huge selection. Be careful though as one batch of crab legs was very salty. The server made the best Arnold Palmer I’ve ever had. He was very attentive and was always there for a refill or to empty the discard basket. My only complaint is that I thought the price was a bit too much. I will definitely return here.

I was very disappointed. This was my second time at Benjamin’s and I’m surprised at how bad the food was this time. I participate in an annual golf trip with 30 guys and a large party of us went last night after having had a good experience last year.
Nope.
The crab legs were boiled to the point of being rubbery. And if the restaurant is boiling them in highly salted water just to keep people from eating too much then shame on you.
The rest of the food was either over cooked, poor quality, or heavily sauced and salted. We could have spent that same $ 31 a piece and had a great steak dinner… which we’ll do next time elsewhere.

Totally disappointed. We chose this restaurant because it advertised «fresh, local seafood». The crab legs were good, but everything else tasted frozen and processed. The steamed shrimp was flavorless, and all of the other baked items were either heavily salted or covered in sauce. Calabash style seafood was bland. Like others have mentioned, there was a distinct dirty-​diaper smell throughout the building. We won’t be back.

This is an awful place. The staff is great but clearly not very good with knowing what is really safe. The girl handed me the list especially marked gluten free 2 items that are on there list I know had gluten. Why would they do this. They ruined my sons bday damn them. All the manager said was oh sorry. We will NEVER go back they even cooked me a steak special (that’s where they put seasoning on the steak) this had gluten 15 min later I am still throwing up hard time breathing severe stomach cramps.
Bad!!! Bad !!!

Per Brian Alvarez, I’d give –5 stars if I could.
I understand that buffets generally aren’t the best food or service or even presentation for that matter. But this place is an atrocity.
For charging $ 30+ per head, you’d think they’d at least reinvest some money into the restaurant. The ceiling was leaking in several places, and they had food buckets out to collect the water. No wet floor signs were in place even though the carpeting was soaked. Loose floorboards abound, and there were many places where I worried I might fall through the floor entirely, it felt so flimsy.
We went out to get food, and the crab legs they had out were ice cold, almost as though they’d never been cooked at all. There were no other places for them, no gaps that were perhaps waiting to be filled. The tartar sauce was literally spoiled — it reeked and was miscolored.
When we complained to the manager, he did not care at all about what we had to say. We had only wanted to settle up and leave. We asked what we owed and they still charged us FULL PRICE for this sad excuse for food. We quietly paid and left, never to return.

The food was amazing, but I was seated right under a leaky/​moldy ceiling. The water was dripping onto the floor, which was also moldy, and splashing on to my pants. I pointed it out to the waitress and all she said was, «oh, we stopped seating people in the table behind you because of that». hmmm. Maybe you shouldn’t have seated me at that table either? Better yet, maybe you should get your moldy, leaky ceiling fixed. Has to be a health code violation.
I’m giving this place 2 stars only because the food really was fantastic, but the moldy leak splashing onto me absolutely disgusted me.
I have posted a picture.

Preemptively, it should be said that overall this restaurant can improve as a buffet. Like other reviewers have stated, the buffet itself could expand on a wider variety of fresh dishes that could appeal to the tastes of someone who is not a fried food or crab fan.
I, however, am not that type of someone.
Whenever I’m in MB, my family and I stop at Benjamin’s. Not because we think it’s the best buffet ever, but so we all can eat our weight in crab legs. Their crab is BOSS here, as is their other deliciously fried seafood morsels. The crab legs are cooked perfectly, large in size, and limitless – with the condition that you are served two clusters per plate at a time. Additionally, the servers have always been friendly, attentive, and prompt bringing drinks. They are also swift at clearing shell bowls and dirtied plates.
The restaurant itself is clean, the décor was what you’d expect of a seafood buffet, and the bathrooms weren’t disgusting despite the amount of traffic.
We tend to dine on weekends with the logic that while the buffet will be busier, the food will be fresher due to being switched out and replenished more frequently. This strategy has seemed to hold up nicely for us. We don’t typically have wait issues with being seated like others, but we also don’t go during insane busy seasons and we arrive early. If crowds are problematic for you (and believe me, this buffet gets one hell of a crowd), then it’s best to go at an earlier dining hour. Can’t wait to come back!
Oh and there’s a man making model ships from scratch in the basement – worth a peek!

If you enjoy fried seafood, fairly bland and salty food, you will really enjoy Benjamin’s. The restaurant is well organized, staffed and clean.
The highlight is clearly the many options of calabash style seafood and other items. The prime rib as pre-​cut which was nice. There weren’t as many vegetable options as you would think which was pretty disappointing. The soups were fairly watery and not heated to a proper temperature. To prevent against excessive indulgence, they hand your a portion of the crab legs. The kids enjoyed the large variety and quality of the desserts. Overall there weren’t any items I would call gross which is a good test for a buffet.
This restaurant was crowded every time we have visited it so be prepared to wait a bit for a table.

The wait wasn’t bad and service was mediocre. The food was just ok, not impressive or tasty. It was overpriced compared to other restaurants in the area based in «Overall Quality».
I was very disappointed that many of the food trays were not replenished and left empty with only remnants of food remaining. I agree with prior review that there is a large amount of fried foods.
The facility was overcrowded & cramped in regards to people and traversing from one food bar to the other.
So if your not in a hurry for mediocre service and food and don’t mind a big crowds then this is your place.