The working creek where Mount Pleasant's shrimp boats tie up. The restaurants are on the docks, and one seafood house hides behind them.
The Shem Creek room of Charleston Crab House, a family-owned local seafood group that dates itself to 1991 and also runs rooms on Market Street downtown and on Wappoo Creek on James Island. The group describes this one as a laid-back, no-fuss seafood spot right on the creek.
A fresh seafood market on the bank of Shem Creek, run by the fourth generation of the same family and, by its own account, one of the oldest businesses in the Lowcountry at more than 80 years. It sells local catch over the counter and caters. The Post and Courier reported a structure fire there in 2024 and the family picking up afterwards.
Chef Nico Romo's oyster and seafood room beside Shem Creek, the first of the Nico Romo Hospitality Group rooms that now include Bistronomy by Nico and Laura's. The week runs on rituals: half-price oysters on Monday, an oyster class on Wednesday, Wine & Brine on Saturday afternoon. Its press page lists Charleston City Paper's Best Mount Pleasant Restaurant for 2023 and 2024.
A dockside beer-and-seafood spot on Shem Creek that calls itself 'a friendly spot to enjoy a cold beer & fresh seafood in a laid back setting', with views of the creek's wildlife and the sunset. It lists Best of Charleston wins going back to 2004, including Best Waterfront Bar and Best Outdoor Patio.
A seafood and barbecue house on the Shem Creek docks, opened in 2017 by Wade Boals, Brett Yearout and Joel Olindo. Wade is the son of Ronnie Boals, who opened R.B.'s Seafood Restaurant next door in 1985 and was one of the people who turned the creek into a place to eat; the menu still carries the Boals Family Crab Dip and a coconut cake. The restaurant closed from 5 to 12 January 2026 for its first major renovation, with a food window called The Wagon serving at the Mill Street entrance in the meantime. It has a Gazebo Bar and prints a dog treat menu.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A Shem Creek bar and restaurant pairing Lowcountry classics with sushi, with weekly live music on the water. It stands where Ronnie Boals opened R.B.'s Seafood Restaurant in 1985, according to the history page of Saltwater Cowboys next door. The contact address points to Bottlecap Group. Mount Pleasant Magazine still lists it under its earlier name, Sunsets Waterfront Dining.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A Shem Creek restaurant with an indoor bar and a waterfront dock bar, owned by Andy Palmer and Jeff Condon; the site credits Dianne and Cecil Crowley as co-founders and Denis Crutchfield as executive chef. Live music plays on the creek Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9 pm, and the T&T Room seats up to 32 for private dinners.
Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.
A tavern on Mill Street at Shem Creek. Moultrie News reported ahead of its opening that it would open in July next to Shem Creek Bar and Grill.
Charleston Magazine's dining guide tells readers to find this out-of-the-way dive behind the Shem Creek docks, and says it is named for a ship stranded on the same spot during Hurricane Hugo. The seafood is sourced fresh and the locals' orders are the deviled crab and the fried seafood platter. The restaurant has no private dining room; its outside patio rents to groups of 35 or fewer, and events and buyouts are only booked October through February.
A Shem Creek seafood restaurant on Shrimp Boat Lane with an outdoor bar on the lower level facing the creek. Sunday opens with a brunch buffet from 10 to 2.
