MyrtleBeachRestaurantNews.com

Not-so-Little River

The Little River waterfront is still a beautiful picturesque waterfront haven, despite  business owners there getting ready for the thousands of visitors who will come for this weekend’s annual Blue Crab Festival.

It’s a World Famous festival, according to the signs.

Two new restaurants are getting ready to open at the end of Mineola Avenue, which is ground zero for festival activity. On one corner, under a grand old triple-trunked live oak, is Fisherman’s Hideaway, which was what the restaurant used to be called for 23 years before it became Cockney Cheddar.

It isn’t the same owner as the one who previously owned Fisherman’s Hideaway. That owner was Angelo Mirikus, and he was famous for his seafood-studded breakfasts.

The new owner is a friend of Angelo’s, named John Smith. John says he is also going to have breakfasts with dishes such as Seafood Omelet and Eggs Benedict topped with shrimp or crabcakes. For lunch and dinner the specialties of the house will be fare such as shrimp and oyster sandwiches, and smoked prime rib smoked in a Southern Pride rotisserie.

As for the building, Smith says he spent $1 million refurbishing, restoring and renewing with a completely new kitchen, new floors, new tables, new wiring and a beautiful new mahogany bar. He plans to open the restaurant in about two weeks, after a new waterfront deck is erected.

During the Blue Crab Festival, he is putting up a 20-foot tent out front by the street, and he’ll serve barbecue sandwiches, rib sandwiches, flounder and soft shell crabs. He may not be zoned yet to allow customers inside the restaurant, but the brand-new kitchen is good to go, and he’s going to use it.

John is going to send us his menu, and we’ll pass it along when he does.

Fuzzy Holden looks out an upstairs window of his Little River restaurant at the area where his father used to work at International Paper's wood yard.

Fuzzy bordello

Actually we should say Fuzzy’s bordello, only it isn’t a bordello any more, and printed history doesn’t claim the building as a working girls’ warehouse.

Across the street from Fisherman’s Hideaway is an old two-story building. It was constructed in 1937, and it’s wooden, and it used to be the Riverside Tavern. Downstairs is a big front room with a bar and a side room for diners. Upstairs is a long hallway with many tiny cell-like chambers lining both sides.

One of the building’s owners, Farron “Fuzzy” Holden, would like to know more about this building, and he is asking anyone who owns old pictures of it to please let him scan them.

The target opening date is May 22 for Fuzzy’s restaurant, which will be called Fuzzy’s. He plans for the menu to include Calabash-style seafood, and hot dog with chili like the red hot dogs served at the Icehouse in Georgetown.

“And we’ll have hand-made burgers, and hand cut fries,” he said on Tuesday afternoon. “We’ll have fried cornbread made in an iron skillet, and roasted oysters cooked outside, and the oysters will come from Nance’s oyster beds in Murrells Inlet.”

Fuzzy feels like he has come home. He was away from Little River for more than two decades when he was a long-distance trucker, but he grew up in Little River. When he looks out the window upstairs (in one of the bordello chambers), he can see the spot where his father ran a hoister, lifting wood onto barges at the International Paper wood yard. The barges took the wood to the IP paper mill in Georgetown.

During this weekend’s Blue Crab Festival Fuzzy’s won’t be open to the public, but you can check out the cool new sign due to be delivered today depicting Fuzzy standing in the ocean holding a cup of coffee.

Got chairs?

Fuzzy Holden changed his mind about the chairs he wants in his restaurant, and he is willing to sell a batch he bought for what he has in them. He has 42 brand-new chairs just like the one in the photo, which he will let go for $1,972. Fuzzy can be reached at (910) 620-0845.

The Little River waterfront is busy with boat traffic.

Plenty to eat

Following are just the food vendors that will be at the Blue Crab Festival. Dozens more vendors will sell arts and crafts and other non-edible items.

Food Vendors:

A.J.’s Concessions, Hot Dogs                                                 

B & B Concessions, Cotton Candy

Backfinz Crab House, Steamed Crabs

Bankok House Restaurant, Chinese Food                                           

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Biancos Quality Foods, Subs / Pizza                                        

Chris’ Pizza

Cuppy’s Coffee and More, Coffee / Smoothies

D & D Concessions, Sausage, Hamburgers

D & J Concessions, Soft Serve Ice Cream      

D & M Concessions, Blooming Onions, Curly Fries  

Double R Hotdogs

European Delight, Wraps

G’s Fun Foods, Fries, Fried Banana Pudding, Funnel Cakes           

Jennifer Godsey, Shaved Ice   

Hunt’s Concessions, Seafood  

Illya’s Concessions, Turkey Legs

Java Hut Express, Gourmet Coffee, Fruit Smoothies 

Little Debbie’s Concessions, Gyros, Wraps     

Logans Roadhouse, Ribs, Sandwiches

Marco Enterprises, Italian Sausage, Bratwurst

Miracle Temple Family Fellowship, Ribs

Phillips Seafood Market, Steamed Crabs, Seafood     

Poppin John’s Homemade Ice Cream 

R & J Concessions, Funnel Cakes      

Rocky River Sandwich Company, Sausage, Turkey Legs

Sherri’s Fun Foods, Crabcakes

Shuckers Roasted Corn

Snowball Caboose, Sno Cones

South Beach Grill, Steamed Crabs      

TC’s Amusements, Cotton Candy

Tropical Island Concessions,     Greek Foods, Wraps  

Wagoner’s Roasted Peanuts, Roasted & Boiled Peanuts

West Carteret FFA Alumni, Crabcakes

Windows on the Green, Funnel Cakes

Little River Waterfront Restaurants:

Capt. Juel’s Hurricane Restaurant

Key West Crazy

Crabcatchers

Sharks Tooth