By Becky Billingsley

Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, Myrtle Beach – New restaurants, reopened restaurants, forthcoming restaurants, a wine gala and tea time, plus a drop-dead gorgeous server are part of this week’s Myrtle Beach Restaurant News weekend roundup.

Phillips Seafood Reopened

Phillips Seafood was leased out in June and opened with new managers, but it closed within weeks. Now the corporate team has stepped in to reopen the front portion of the restaurant located at 1807 21st Ave. N. in Myrtle Beach.

Phillips will be open until October, from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, serving an abbreviated menu. Dishes include Steamed Shrimp, Maryland Crab or Cream of Crab soups, Steamed Blue Crabs, Crab Cake, Fried Flounder, Shrimp or Chicken Salad, Fried Shrimp and Maryland Fried Chicken. Three wines are offered: Gnarly Head Pinot Noir, Stone Barn Chardonnay and Relax Riesling; and beers include Sam Adams Lager, Corona, Bud Light and Yuengling Lager.

Children have $4-$7 meal choices including Hamburger Slider, Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese Pizza, Hot Dog, Chicken Tenders and Fried Shrimp.

And the Crab Nights are back! From 4-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, locally sourced wild blue crabs are $1.50 each.

Rivertown Java

Leigha Powell has had her new coffee bar and café, Rivertown Java, open for three weeks. Located in the former Berni’s Café (and before that The Haberdashery) at 1028 3^rd Ave. in Conway, Powell is serving dozens of specialty coffees using Caribou Coffee.

Powell also offers cold and hot teas, decadent milkshakes like Caramel Java and White Chocolate Java, and a Java Frappe. Food choices include pastries and baked goodies, breakfast sandwiches, deli sandwiches and wraps.

Her best-selling sandwich, Powell said, is her from-scratch chicken salad on a croissant. She uses fresh local produce in her recipes and sandwiches.

Rivertown Java is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and the number is (843) 488-2130.

Rivertown Grill

Business is booming at the new Rivertown Grill at 2635 Main St. in Conway; that’s the former location of Seafood Express and the Red, White and Blue Roadside Grill.

The owners are Donnie Brown and Greg Agans, and Brown says the secret to their success is their cook, Greg Agans, who has 30 years’ experience.

“Everything is fresh, not frozen,” Brown said on Aug. 2, “and we use Angus beef. Our Triple Cheeseburger weighs one pound.

The menu is full of comfort foods like Wings, Quesadillas, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Burgers, Fried Chicken, Hamburger Steak with Onions, Chicken Salad, Hamburger Salad, Fried Bologna and Barbecue.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, chef Dennis Lowrimore is creating dinner specials. On Thursdays, for $11, it’s Pork Chops or Sirloin Tips with gravy and onions; on Fridays a Ribeye Steak dinner is $16; and on Saturdays Shrimp and Grits is $10.

Rivertown Grill is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and the number is (843) 488-4466.

In the photo to the right, The Triple Cheeseburger is "this big," Brown says.

Second SoHo Almost Ready

The new 7,800 square foot SoHo University at 1300 S.C. 544 has a target opening date of Aug. 15. The interior is shaping up to be spectacular with an 8’x36’ LED wall that will thrum with the beat of music or display messages such as “Happy Birthday,” a non-smoking room separated from the rest of the restaurant by a glass wall, 35 42” televisions over the enormous bar, three additional big screen televisions, a sushi bar and a concrete floor stained ocean blue.

Another Scott’s

Pitmaster Rodney Scott of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway has plans to open a second location in Charleston. RestaurantActivityReport.com says Scott, who was recently announced as one the 10 top pitmasters in the south by Southern Living magazine, has not yet announced the address of the new location.       

Hooters Viewers

She didn’t win the top prize, but Lindsey Lanier, a 21-year-old server at the Hooters at 10133 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, received the 2012 Viewer’s Choice Award in the restaurant’s annual international swimsuit pageant held June 24 in Miami. Lanier, a student at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, competed against 99 other Hooters servers selected from more than 18,000 Hooters Girls working in the 430 worldwide locations. Other winners include Amanda Jemini of Boca Raton, Fla., who was named Miss Hooters International 2012; and Evelise Giorge de Souza of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who was named Miss Hooters World.

Olive Garden Coming to Conway

RestaurantActivityReport.com reports that an Olive Garden will open, tentatively in the spring of 2013, at the intersection of U.S. 501 and Beverly Hills Way in Conway. 

Tea Time

As part of a new exhibit called “Kimono: Art, Fashion, and Society” at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum at 3100 S. Ocean Blvd. in Myrtle Beach, Emiko Suzuki will “demonstrate and illuminate the rituals and traditions” of the Japanese tea ceremony. Reservations are required for this free event scheduled for 2 p.m. on Aug. 8, which can be made by calling the museum at (843) 238-2510.

Wine Gala Tickets

This year the Pawleys Island Wine Gala, which is a keystone fund-raiser for the non-profit Pawleys Island Festival of Music and Art, is going to be held 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 5 at The Reserve Golf Club at 18 Reserve Dr. in Pawleys Island. Tickets are $85 if purchased before Sept. 1; after that date the price is $100. New this year is a $150 Collector’s Circle Private Tasting ticket that includes samples of “rare, unusual, and limited production wines.” Both levels of tickets include appetizers, desserts, life music, a wine glass and valet parking. The event will also have a silent auction.

General admission tickets may be purchased at PawleysMusic.com or by calling the festival office at (843) 626-3911. Tickets for the Collector’s Circle Private Tasting are available only by calling the office.

Longbeard’s Closed Friday

Longbeard’s Bar & Grill at 5040 Carolina Forest Blvd. in Myrtle Beach will be closed today (Friday, Aug. 3) for a private wedding rehearsal party. They’ll be open again Saturday for lunch and dinner service.