As customers sip their Guatemalan cold brew, they are also taking a glimpse five years into the Myrtle Beach culinary future, where (hopefully) eclecticism reigns over tradition, and people give a damn if the coffee is sourced from local roasters, and baristas take pride in their latte foam art. The place is always full of hipsters rummaging through the bin of vinyl records, buying merch to take back with them, and getting their fill of blueberry scones and sandwiches with bacon, egg and cheese on everything bagels.

The croque madame at Croissants could very well be the reason chef Heidi Vukov was appointed as the 2018 South Carolina Chef Ambassador. Dining alfresco under the striped awning at a sidewalk table gives customers the feeling that they are dining at some cafe on the Rue Jean Baptiste Pigalle in Paris — not Robert Grissom Parkway. Croissant is so successful that it opened up a second location beside sister restaurant Hook & Barrel.

Myrtle Beach and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, go back and forth holding the title of having the most independently-owned pancake houses per person in the country. There’s a lot here: Harry’s, Olympic Flame, Hot Stacks; the list goes on and on. But it’s hard not to stop at Donald’s Pancake house when the words “FISH AND GRITS” flash onto the restaurant’s jumbotron. The fish is grouper filet; the grits are creamy; and all of it comes together with a mushroom and scallion gravy. And of course it is a pancake house so there are hundreds of other menu items that customers can butter up and pour syrup on.

Any morning driver pass by this converted Pizza Hut (the signature roof is the giveaway ) There’s a throng of people, standing, sitting on the curb, and salivating while waiting their turn to get inside Johnny D’s for country-fried steak and eggs. In the land of pancakes, chef Jamie Daskalis took another route focusing on red velvet and funfetti to be different and it has paid off tremendously.

One of the few places in the state of South Carolina where khachapuri is a staple on the menu. The traditional Georgian meal of cheese-filled, boat-shaped bread with a fresh egg is a nod to the owner’s heritage. While the khachapuri is always tempting, there’s also crepes galore — selections with salmon or Nutella, and even one with bacon-wrapped shrimp. It sounds over the top but so what? This is Myrtle Beach, and it’s insanely delicious.