Pawleys Front Porch

Came to this place at 1245 and the restaurant had a few people. The waitress was very nice, gave us great food choices. The fried pickles were delicious, the chicken tenders were seasoned well and the burger was good. Highly recommend!

Wish I could rate the food, but after an hour and 15 minute wait, we got up and left. They weren't busy. They may or may not have been understaffed. What I can say is that a larger group was seated 15-20 minutes after we were seated. They not only ordered, received, and ate their food, they also had time to consume another round of beer... and we were still waiting for our food to come out. Our waiter apologized several times, ensured that our food was about to be brought out and he stated that he was waiting tables alone. Not entirely true, as the larger group mentioned earlier had a different waiter than the one waiting our table. Disappointing to say the least.

It’s been a few years since we visited Pawley’s, so we decided to go for old times’ sake today. We sat at the porch bar, which was filthy with pollen but understandably so. However, we could not even wait for the food to come out because each of us used the restroom to wash our hands and we were absolutely appalled by the restrooms, inside bar, and dining area. This is the filthiest restaurant I’ve ever been in, and that is not hyperbole. The bathroom was worse than a gas station’s, and it is evident that it hasn’t been touched in weeks. I could absolutely not stomach eating here. We asked the sweet bartender to cancel our order and left. I also reported the restaurant to DHEC because it was THAT bad. Disgusting and shameful. No excuse.

I had to make a quick trip to Columbia for business one Friday afternoon. I asked the Mrs if she wanted to go and we could find somewhere new to get dinner. A couple of the yungins heard "dinner" and invited themselves along. So much for date night. We took a look at a couple online sources and decided on Pawleys Front Porch. It was rated pretty highly. We also saw it was on Diners Drive-ins and Dives. This place is definitely of the dive variety. I don't know what their specialty is, but I know what it isn't. Everything was sticky. The food, the table, the chairs the menus... in fact, the menus all stuck together when stacked. The food was good. Not bad, not great, not special. My chicken paninni was good but was difficult to eat. The chickens constantly fell out of the sandwich. Mamma-n-them liked thier burgers well enough. The high spot was the fries. They were hot and crispy. The young lady who waited on us did I nice job. Did i mention they have a front porch? There are some tables and outside access to the bar. The bar was pretty well attended. We were the only table getting food at 4pm on Friday. It probably picks up later. This place seems like it would attract an evening crowd We have visited many Triple D restraunts around the country. They are fun to try and typically (but not always) a good experience. Unless we missed something, Pawleys is living on past glory. A comment made by the Mrs as we exited to the parking lot sums it up. "Look, Chick Fil A, we should have gone there."

Pawley's Front Porch is one of those restaurants that has a lot of potential, but hasn't quite reached it yet. I went on two (2) occasions, once on a Tuesday night, and once on a Saturday afternoon. On both occasions, the bartenders and servers were nice, but slow and inattentive. Both times I went, I had to flag them down for more drinks and to close out. I got the impression that others were having the same problem, as one patron just asked for a refund rather than their order, and another guest looked annoyed and walked down the bartender to close out their tab. The first night I went, on Tuesday, I enjoyed the outdoor patio, but it was a little dark and felt a little too much like a nightclub. Because of this, it's probably not the type of place I'd go if I wanted to converse or interact with friends. I will say however, that the chicken tenders and fries were very good, and well above average. On Saturday, I sat at the indoor bar, and tried all of the establishment's IPAs. I'd say that two out of the three (2/3) were pretty good, and that they had a nice indoor setup. Again, the bartender seemed like a cool guy, but I feel like my beers were underpoured and I was missing out on a sip or two (2) of my drink. I think they were well understaffed, as there was a line outside the door when I left, but many tables left empty as well. All-in-all, I'd say that Pawley's Front Porch is a high-quality restaurant and bar, but they need to get their staffing problems in check, as well as perfect the little details that go a long way in maximizing the restaurant experience.