Best Burger Spots in South Carolina — and Why Tidal Creek Earns the Top Spot
South Carolina takes its food seriously.
From the Lowcountry rice tables of the Gullah-Geechee coast to the barbecue pits of the Midlands to the chef-driven dining rooms that have put Charleston on national food maps — this is a state that has always known how to cook. Visitors expect shrimp. The biscuits. The slow-smoked pork shoulder pulled from a pit that hasn’t stopped burning in decades.
What they sometimes overlook is the burger.
And they really shouldn’t.
The Burger Scene Nobody’s Talking About Enough
South Carolina’s burger scene doesn’t get the same press as its barbecue or its seafood, but it’s worth paying attention to. Across the state — from the Upstate cities tucked into the Blue Ridge foothills to the stretch of coast we call the Grand Strand — you can find a remarkable range of ways to do a burger right.
In the Upstate, around Greenville and Spartanburg, you have places with real character and loyal followings. Spots like The Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg — open since 1946 — aren’t precisely “burger destinations” in the modern craft sense, but they’re proof that this corner of the state has always had a serious appetite for honest food served with personality. Greenville’s downtown dining scene has grown considerably over the last decade, and with it has come a genuine appreciation for the well-made, unfussy burger done right.
Through the Midlands — Columbia and its surrounding communities — you’ll find a comfortable blend of college-town energy and Southern grill culture. The burger scene there leans toward the reliable and familiar: real beef, good char, fresh toppings, and the kind of neighborhood spot that becomes a Friday night habit without you even noticing. There’s something genuinely right about that.
Down in the Lowcountry and around Charleston, things trend more inventive. Charleston’s food culture has a well-earned reputation for pushing standards, and that sensibility has made its way into the city’s burger spots, too — heritage beef, house-made condiments, serious attention to the bun. The bar is high, and the city’s kitchens have risen to meet it.
And then you work your way up the coast to the Grand Strand.
Why the Coast Gets It Right
Myrtle Beach has a reputation as a vacation town — which it absolutely is — but it’s also home to a growing, year-round community of people who live here by choice and expect their food to reflect that. The dining scene on the Grand Strand has matured right along with the population, and the food has followed.
Here’s what makes a great coastal pub burger different from what you’d find at a fine-dining spot or a trendy smash-burger counter: simplicity with intention. Good beef. Real heat. A bun that holds up to the whole thing without falling apart in your hands. Toppings that add something instead of competing for attention. And then — critically — something worth drinking alongside it.
That last part is where a craft brewery with a serious kitchen starts to make every bit of sense.
Tidal Creek’s Craft Kitchen: Built for This
Tidal Creek Brewhouse isn’t just a taproom with a pretzel on the menu. It’s a full-service Craft Kitchen running from morning through evening, seven days a week — weekday breakfast starting at 8am, weekend brunch from 8 to 3, lunch through the afternoon, and dinner every single night until 9. Executive Chef Josh Ashley runs a kitchen built to anchor a full day, not just a happy hour.
The burger lineup is where that intention really shows.
Every beef burger on the menu starts with the same foundation: a short rib and sirloin blend, grilled to order. That’s not an accident — short rib brings richness and depth, sirloin brings structure and a clean beefy flavor, and together they give a patty considerably more character than standard ground chuck. It’s the kind of detail that separates a kitchen that’s thought seriously about what it’s doing.
From that foundation, the lineup goes four directions.
The Classic is exactly what it sounds like: cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle on a toasted bun, every element doing its job and nothing extra getting in the way. Sometimes the best version of a thing is the one that doesn’t overthink it.
The Mushroom Swiss layers sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions with swiss cheese — one of those flavor combinations that’s been right for decades and doesn’t need improving. The earthiness of the mushroom, the sweetness of the onion, the mild tang of the Swiss: it works every time.
The Black & Bleu takes a different route: a blackened patty, blue cheese crumbles, spring mix, and tomato. Bold, a little edgy, built for people who want more going on. The blackening spice against the funkiness of the blue cheese is its own kind of pairing.
And then there’s the Brewmaster — which is the one to order if you want to understand what a brewery kitchen can really do. Pimento cheese, pickle, pulled pork (smoked in house), and a house-made tomato jam on a toasted bun. Four toppings working in four different directions: creamy, briny, smoky, bright. The fact that it holds together is the whole point, and it does.
There’s also a Black Bean burger for the vegetarians in your group — lettuce, tomato, and onion, with cheese available as an add-on. And every week, the kitchen runs a weekly burger special that rotates with the season and whatever’s inspiring the kitchen that particular week. It’s worth asking about when you sit down.
The Pairing Is the Point
Here’s where having a working brewery on the same property changes the equation entirely.
Every burger on the Tidal Creek menu comes with a Brewmaster’s choice pairing — a specific recommendation from Patrick Gibson’s rotating tap list, matched to what’s actually on the plate. These aren’t suggestions pulled from thin air. They’re the result of the kitchen and the brewery working together, which is exactly how it should be.
The Classic and Brewmaster burgers are paired with Coastlines IPA — where the hop bitterness cuts through the richness of that short rib blend and brings each bite back into focus. The Black & Bleu and Mushroom Swiss are matched with Backwater Brown Ale, where the malt’s toasty character meets the earthiness of mushroom and the sharpness of blue cheese and makes both things more interesting. The Black Bean burger gets Beam Reach IPA, where the brightness of the hops plays off the heartiness of the bean patty in a way that keeps things light and lively.
You can follow the recommendations or go your own way — the tap list is long enough that there’s room to explore. But the fact that someone thought this through for you, that the kitchen and the brewery are speaking the same language, is what makes the experience genuinely different from eating a burger somewhere that just happens to serve beer.
The Best Burger in South Carolina?
Okay, we’re biased. That’s fair.
But here’s the honest argument: the best burger you can eat in South Carolina is the one you’re eating where everything around it belongs. Where the kitchen is serious, the beef blend is intentional, the beer is brewed on-site, and the space has enough room for a whole afternoon to unfold without anyone rushing you along. Where the setting — a covered patio, an outdoor beer garden, firepits and hammocks and the sound of live music drifting in from the lawn — makes the meal feel more like a meal.
That kind of place is rare. And it happens to be at 3421 Knoles Street.
Come hungry. Come with your pup — the K-9 Korral is open. Bring the kids, bring the whole crew. Pull up a chair and let us pour you something fresh off the tank while Chef Josh and the kitchen do their thing.
Come Find Out for Yourself
Whether you’re a burger traditionalist, a craft beer enthusiast, or just someone looking for a genuinely good evening in The Market Common, there’s a table here with your name on it.
Tidal Creek Brewhouse is open seven days a week at 3421 Knoles Street in The Market Common District, Myrtle Beach, SC. See what’s on tap, check the full Craft Kitchen menu, and plan your visit at tidalcreekbrewhouse.com.