BLU Beach Bar & Grill

This is a beach side restaurant with a nice oceanfront view. Upon arrival we had to wait to be seated by the hostess who was talking to another employee & even when she saw us, she continued her conversation. Once seated it took about 5 minutes to get water & another 5 minutes to get menus. It took us forever to get our food but it was really good & still hot upon arrival. The salsa for the chips was terrible & the server didn’t even bother to check on us until we were almost done with our meals. The best part of this experience was the guy who was cleaning the tables. He was really friendly & kept us entertained. The food is overpriced too considering the limited menu options.

The salmon dinner with spinach and rice was good kind of bland but it was good. The dry Cajun chicken also a plus taste more of the dry rub seasoning on it. The outside bar area felt great enjoying the weather. I ordered water so I didn’t really bother the server. The food came out to about $62 .. tacos - 17 Chicken- 16 Salmon dinner - 27

I love this place! For starters it's inside the hotel The Tides. The staff is always super friendly. The food here is always better than you would expect, actually better than most stand alone restaurants period. I would visit just to go eat here. If you sit outside you are next to the pier looking out over the beach and the ocean. I'm always impressed by the quality of the food here. And not to forget the prices are actually pretty good. I definitely recommend. I will be back for sure, even if it's just a day trip for the food and the scenery.

My first restaurant in South Carolina after moving here from the west coast. I was pleasantly surprised the soup of the day was delicious with a little spice and he crab dill sandwich, view of the beach (restaurant was right on the sand) friendly staff! Came back again for dinner with my wife when she arrived in SC. Second time did not disappoint.

First Experience - 4 stars Absolutely lovely, all the way around. Beautiful view, great location (parking is a little tough), good service, and delicious, simple, fresh food. The trio of guacamole, salsa and queso was very nice. The roasted cauliflower appetizer was a real standout! Fish and seafood was fresh and very good and the fried chicken sandwich was a good sized portion and flavorful. Steak was excellent. Wines were pretty well chosen and the key lime pie was very good (and very tiny). Definitely a great place to go, relax, enjoy the ocean view and the food. UPDATE: This place has plummeted to 2 stars as of 3/24/23. 2nd experience here was awful. From the barely noticeable service to the very long wait time for food in a half empty restaurant to the food being undercooked (some of it raw when not supposed to be) and flavorless. Sadly we can no longer recommend this restaurant. Don't know what happened, but it's a pity.

We love Brittni!! Great food, great atmosphere. She was very attentive and personable. She cared about allergies and our needs!

My husband and I came on a Friday in June and we had a wonderful experience! The hostess was Rachel and our waitress was Brittany and they were fantastic! We both had the beef tenderloin with gnocchi and it was one of the best dishes we ever had. The beef was so tender and the sauce was delicious. Would definitely recommend. For dessert we had some chocolate dessert and it was amazing.

Ate here for dinner our first night and it was delicious and hit the spot after our long drive. Came back for breakfast each day as well as a couple lunches and each time it was on point. No issues with the food and the staff stayed on top of everything and were tremendously helpful. Had room service one night, and it was super quick and helped with our overly dramatic "starving" child who ate just two hours prior but was soooo hungry 😆 thanks for all you do!

Beautiful beach/pier view. We enjoyed the unique Island bliss salad and coconut shrimp. Service was quick and attentive right from the start.

Blu is a convenient spot for lunch when visiting Folly Beach. Love the nice, casual vibes here with a view of the beach and live music. Enjoyed a frozen aperol spritz with my crab cake sandwich. I loved that the crab cake was flakey and fresh. It wasn't dry and the remoulade adds a nice touch and kick to the sandwich.

This is a restaurant in a good location , right on the busy Folly Beach, but it was basically empty. And for a good reason: the food. We had the coconut shrimp which were fried just fine but we can tell they were frozen! Imagine all the fresh shrimp here in Charleston and they use frozen shrimp. The catch of the day, grilled Mahi Mahi was as chewy as leather and cold inside. I'm almost certain that the fish was caught today all right. -Right out of the freezer. The grilled shrimp on the salad were also cold and the dressing tasted out of a bottle; not homemade. My favorite item for dinner: my beer. Very disappointed . This is a restaurant that is apparently changing its name to Pinkies.. The hotel needs to do more than that!; It's time to change the chef as well!

Blu Beach Bar & Grill is a cute and convenient stop when you're at Folly Beach. It's connected to the hotel and has a lovely view being right on the beach. There's an outdoor bar which is nice. We got lunch here and it was pretty good. We got the burrata salad with grilled chicken & the salmon and avocado salad. They were very tasty and filling. The aperol spritzes were refreshing too. I would come back. It's a great location.

I had lunch at Blu beach bar today, which is located inside the Tides hotel, right on Folly Beach. I had the crab cake sandwich with fries. Food was very good, fries were wonderful. Service excellent! You cant beat the view of the ocean and all that white sand just a few yards away. I would make one suggestion: more selections. The menu only offers a few items and entrees. Really a wonderful place for lunch or dinner!

The salmon dinner with spinach and rice was good kind of bland but it was good. The dry Cajun chicken also a plus taste more of the dry rub seasoning on it. The outside bar area felt great enjoying the weather. I ordered water so I didn't really bother the server. The food came out to about $62 .. tacos - 17 Chicken- 16 Salmon dinner - 27

Once again I have left a Charleston restaurant hungry, disappointed, and poor. Ordered a salad with dressing on the side, dressing came on the salad, server said that it was the fourth time tonight that something like that happened. The salmon was bland and flavorless, too. Girlfriend's medium rare steak was very rare. She said it was tasty but still, not cooked as expected. $97 for a steak, 2 drinks, and a salad, and none of the food was prepared properly? "Seafood" restaurant with only three seafood dishes, very limited menu. Outside was a nice place after some time at the beach, at least, and my server was good, those were the highlights. J.Ja

Came here for lunch today. Menu was small but everything we ordered was fabulous. I highly recommend the coconut shrimp for appetizer and I loved the salmon Cobb salad. One of the best salads I have had in a long time! Service was great also and we had a friendly server. Ambiance was nice as well in doors.

The menu isn't really very big. Not many choices. Service was also not good. We were waiting after each course in the dinner. (Sat down, took forever to get drinks, then forever to take our order etc. also we had to flag down waitress for our bill) nice ambiance.

Wonderful for oceanfront dining. delicious food and friendly service. We had roasted red pepper soup, shrimp taco, grilled chicken sandwich. Also had the aperol spritz. The beachside atmosphere is relaxing.

Nice water/beach views but drinks are not great. They definitely don't know how to make a Mai tai. Food is not great & over priced for sure

We've been going to BLU since...forever. We even remember the brunch buffet from yesteryear where you could make your own BLT! Ahhh, heavy sigh. You know exactly what you're getting at BLU. Great view (you're literally ON the beach), decent bar food, a fully stocked beachside bar, and peppy service. We understand BLU's need to separate the food/boozy side once the afternoon gets going. Hey, some people/families just want to eat away from the party. We had the wings, steak tacos, and chicken sandwich(es). All three of us were happy with our choices. The steak tacos were packed with flavor and the peppers were cooked perfectly. The chicken sandwich is made Popeye's style and has just the right amount of sauce so you can actually enjoy the chicken. Our main menu feedback would be to have just a few "easy" breakfast options from 11-1. For example, an egg/cheese/bacon sandwich or bagel will help smooth over the gap where it's still a little too early to jump right into a heavy lunch. Hey, Folly is a party beach and sometimes you just want some eggs the morning after your late night shenanigans. We look forward to our next BLU visit, cool breeze, and great service!

Cute little beach side restaurant with a limited menu but tasty. It's a wonderful setting for lunch! I enjoyed people watching as well!

The drink menu was the best thing! Calamari was decent and server was attentive. The steak was not the best and I wouldn't order it again. The fries were AMAZING and the burger was good. We came on a rainy day, but the outside looked fun for when it is nicer.

This is an oceanfront restaurant where the inside is all glass and the patio is open to the salt air with cooling assisted by the ocean breeze and five ceiling fans over you. It was a bit hot so we decided to stay on the inside. It is inside the Tide Hotel which years gone by was a Holiday Inn, but the prior owner sold the establishment and the new owners upgraded it quite a bit. If you're looking for it you can find it as you go down Center Street of Folly Beach and it dead ends into that hotel. Out of all the things I could have ordered, which were more seafood like, I for some reason ordered steak tacos. When those two steak tacos for $12 arrived with the good side of fries, I thought it looked like the two steak tacos were a bit underwhelming for the price; however the excellent, grilled steak strips were tasty beyond belief. All steak without fat or gristle, so no extra chewing. Laid on top was some lightly grilled mozzarella cheese. You really cannot miss by ordering this. My wife had salmon (her favorite) and it was better than the salmon meal she had had at another place on Folly beach. I remarked that the other place had a thicker piece of salmon would she said that the other place had not cooked it as well and it did not have the wonderful flavor that this had at Blu. Our waitress Caitlin was always there at the right time, such that she could teach waitresses at a number of places that I have been. Yes, that good.

Great coconut shrimp and painkillers. Beautiful view and nice atmosphere. Service was a bit slow but servers were very friendly!

The outdoor beach bar is really cute and accessible from the beach, even if you're not staying at the hotel. The bartenders were friendly. We ended up having lunch inside, and the food was pretty good for an average hotel restaurant. Our waitress was sweet and kept our drinks full. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but if you're staying at this hotel (which I would NOT recommend), it's a decent place for lunch. One thing that would make this better would be if you could order food and drinks at the pool; since we weren't able to, we just walked over to the restaurant.

Things have changed since last year... The outdoor "beach eating area" now does not have servers. You are seated at a table then place your order at the bar. This could be/is fine when it's not slammed with people at the bar getting drinks. And it was ! After waiting in line it was easy to place an order and everything came out just as ordered. Had I known "to go" was an option that would have likely been better for our needs. The bar staff is a excellent, no complaints there. Just didn't realize the "new" process since last summer.

Wow, what a great all around experience. Walked in to hotel lobby smelled amazing like a spa. Hostess greeted us and we were seated on the patio overlooking the ocean. We started with a couple of their signature cocktails. Delicious. We ordered the calamari fries with the comeback sauce for an appetizer. Definitely recommend. I ordered the grilled salmon salad. OMG loved it the dressing was so good. My wife got the crab melt sand which also fantastic. I have to believe everything on the menu is great. Our server was also wonderful. Very reasonably priced for what you get here compared to other nearby options.

Very beautiful indoors and outdoors. The food was some of the best shrimp I have ever had and it was our favorite meal while visiting Charleston. The ladies working were all amazing and were not shy to show their pretty personalities. It was a great experience being able to enjoy great food and a great beach day all in one place! I wish to go back one day :)

Food was well overpriced for the quantity included. Appears to be a higher end restaurant but was average in food and below average in attentive staff. Expectations were significantly higher than the service provided sadly. However, the views of the ocean were beautiful!

Very nice beach place with amazing view, nice staff and tasty food. We came here for brunch and had steak tacos and salmon salad. We also got guac. Guac was ok, I definitely had better before but wasn't bad. Mains were good. We didn't like the fact that seating outdoors had no shade, no cover, Sun was going straight to eyes. I don't know how they manage to have this place in the summer. Decent place on the beach!

Two of us walked in on a Saturday evening and got seated right away outside overlooking the beach. We ordered non-alcoholic frozen drink, ribeyes and salad. The service and the food was very good. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful. The ribeye steak was perfectly cooked the way that I ordered it. It's expensive but was so delicious.

My group and I really wanted to find a bar on the water to get drinks and food but unfortunately we did not enjoy our experience here at all. Our waitress Brittni was extremely rude and as a group of 6 of more they add a 22% gratuity which I find absolutely ridiculous especially since they have liquor tax, hospitality tax and a tech fee on top of the gratuity and sales tax. There's definitely way better options in folly so don't waste your time or money!

Second time coming here yet with my sister and we both LOVED it!! We had some delicious appetizers and entrees!! We sat outdoors which was a beautiful, sunny weather! :)

The calamari is now breaded, deep fried and salty! Such a disappointment as used to be the only reason we'd go to Blu. The French fries are long slices of potato- what's that all about? Ugh ugh ugh. The service was terrible, the hostess was completely disinterested, didn't listen, got our details incorrect. Imho Avoid at this stage until they get their act together.

The scallops were cooked perfectly, and the calamari app was amazing. Service was a little slow given the surprisingly empty restaurant. You can't beat the views being right on the beach with live music

Had reservations on a Saturday for a friends birthday. We were seated outside and started off with the truffle potatoes and burrata appetizers. Both were good and gone quickly with 5 hungry ladies. We asked for more bread since there was some burrata left, we had to asked twice for it before it finally came out. I ordered a shrimp salad (salmon salad sub shrimp) the avocado was sooo hard, I could barely cut it. It was ok, nothing special. Soo, we asked for our checks. We waited and we asked again and she said someone was helping her spilt it. So we waited 10 more minutes nothing. So we all just went in and just said forget it and do one check. We were ready for drinks and to get on with celebrating our friends birthday. That's when the hostess said she was newer waitress. So I guess the manager was then helping in the back. However, no manager came out or compt anything for us. We waited for 30 mins to get this figured out, with no drinks offered or anything in the meantime. If she was new that should have been stated when we were sat. I only saw her have one other table besides ours. Our ordering was pretty cut and dry everyone had their entrée and we had a bottle so overall just pretty disappointed in on how all this was handled. Food was just OK nothing special.

I was pleasantly surprised at how great the food quality was. For a hotel restaurant in Folly it could have really been hit or miss. I loved my grilled cheese and tomato soup. It sounds so simple but the soup was thick and tasty with the grilled cheese perfectly crunchy and toasted. My friend also loved her meal as well. We did go New Years day and there was only 2 servers in our area. The service was unbelievably slow and there were maybe 3 other tables like us. Eventually it was just us and it was still terrible. So slow in fact we almost left after waiting at our table without even being greeted by our waiter (yes we were seated by a hostess as well). It was also uncomfortable as the hotel had a live band playing just outside. It was crazy loud, we had to almost yell to each other. This is a fluke thing but really killed our experience here. I cant imagine staying here and having that noise in your room New Years day. Yikes.

Service was great, food was great! only thing about this visit was the annoying ass birds in the background but amazing place to go eat with a wonderful view!

Great beach side bar and restaurant at Folly. Grabbed some grub for the Polar Plunge. Pulled pork sliders and chicken quesadillas. Awesome service and good food and drinks.

I had such a disappointing experience here. Food - decent but I feel like they get away with it being just okay by it being on the beach and having a great view. I wouldn't go again for food but may be nice for cocktails at sunset or something. Cocktails - strong!!!! Service - not great. We were a party of 10 on a Sunday night who requested outdoor dining. When seated it reeked of cigarettes from the bar next door so we requested another table outside as it was near empty. The staff was cagey and said they didn't have anything available outside despite there being one table occupied there. They sat us inside and ignored us most of the night. It was all just bizarre and rubbed us the wrong way.

For a bachelorette weekend away, we came here for dinner after spending the day at Folley Beach. The restaurant is located inside a hotel, if you can't figure out where to find it. It was indoor and outdoor seating. But because it is on a beach the outdoor seating is accompanied by local birds. We had a large-ish party and that seemed to bother the service. She wasn't very friendly and had little knowledge of her menu. We asked for actual menus because our phones were dying from being on the beach all day and she didn't even know where to find them. She couldn't answer any questions we had on the food. Food, overall, looked and tasted fine. Not over the top impressed. Some room for improvement but not bad for a quick bite.

I recently stayed in Folly Beach with a bachelorette party, and we decided to eat at BLU after our dinner plans in Charleston were derailed due to thunderstorms. The moment we entered, we were notified that their kitchen was unable to make modifications to our food because of some issue with their staff or kitchen appliances (it wasn't very clear why). So we were given a limited menu, which was fine with us as there were still plenty of options that sounded appetizing. PROS: - We were seated quickly and our orders were taken right away. We never had to wait long for anything to come out - The queso was delicious, and we wished the servings were larger! We were able to ask for refills though free of charge - The hummus was nice and creamy - The drinks were tasty and boozy - We were given a $120 discount because of the issues mentioned below. Very much appreciated! CONS: Unfortunately we had several issues with our food. - A few of us ordered the tomato bisque, and what we got was a cold soup that wasn't even what we ordered. When we asked about this, we were told they had run out of the tomato bisque so they brought out the gazpacho instead. They didn't even tell us about this change until we asked about it, after which we immediately returned our soups. - There was hair in the burrata - For one of the burger orders, a crumpled up napkin was found in the coleslaw - The burgers were very dry - as mentioned before, no modifications were able to be made so they might have been cooked a long time ago and just reheated - There was a very brown, inedible avocado with one of the smoked salmon avocado salads - The bride-to-be and 2 others asked for espresso martinis without Bailey's, and they were all brought espresso martinis that clearly had Bailey's I understand that there were issues in the kitchen with items running out and no modifications able to be made to anything on the menu. I get that this was likely NOT a great representation of the usual customer experience at Blu. But maybe they should have simply closed early that day if the quality of their food and service was going to suffer so much. I wouldn't say to steer away completely, but I'd suggest going at a time when the kitchen is functional, they have a full menu, and the ocean views are unhindered by thunderclouds.

Went here during our beach day for drinks and a quick bite. Great view of the beach, quick service, good food, and strong drinks! Was the perfect stop with live music for our day at the beach.

Cool beach front hang out attached to the hotel. We are here twice during our visit. The cocktails were really good and the food was too. I would've given it 5 stars but..... THE BIRDS.. OMG... the birds

Food was not typical of the food in Charleston. The steak was not seasoned or prepared as requested. The waitstaff were attentive and professional.

Enjoyed the view, food, and service. I ordered the strawberry frozen margarita which was decent. For my entree, I enjoyed the scallops. Cooked perfectly and appreciated the mushrooms being placed on the side as I'm not a huge fan. I'm excited to visit again and stay at the hotel this time.

The views and service was outstanding. We stayed at the tides Hotel, which is where the restaurant is located. The staff was super helpful and the drinks were created and tasty. You were literally overlooking the beach on the patio or bar area, and can enjoy a meal while watching the waves. The food quality was just OK. We got fried rice, a burger, and the steak kebab. The rice was bland and kinda dry, the burger was a bit overcooked and bland and the kebabs had wayyy too much fish sauce on them and made it taste... well like fish sauce. From my experience, the convenience of eating at the hotel is still worth it, but there is some room for improvement.

I've stayed at Tides many times over the years and we finally decided to give the hotel restaurant a try. At least we tried, but I can say that there are much better places to eat in FB and probably won't be back. We had a dining credit, so I didn't feel so bad about wasting money on this very average food. The fish tacos barely had any fish, and was mostly dry cabbage. The tomato soup was ok, but came with bread with what looked to be a Kraft single thrown in the middle of it. The crispy cauliflower was soggy and very spicy. At the time, there were only four other tables and this was prime lunch time. They should have told me something! The waitress was nice, but never came to check on us or refill water or drinks. Walk across to Rita's for much better food and service!

Came here for dinner with our bachelorette party, the covered patio has beautiful ocean views and our waitress Beth was incredible! Would recommend if you're in the area

Food was very good and the staff was AMAZINGLY SWEET! Me and a few friends were visiting for a day trip from Tennessee and right when were we leaving we got rear- ended and had to get the car towed. Our ride was 6 1/5 hours away so we walked to a near by restaurant (BLU) and the staff asked us what was going on. We explained our situation and how our phones were all about to die as well and they were so hospital! They gave us free chips and salsa and a free delicious dessert (chocolate bomb) and even charged our phones for us. We sat outside and the view from the restaurant was impeccable. The restaurant was set to close at 10pm and the hotel the restaurant was in was set to close at 12am and our ride wasn't expected to pick us up until 12:30am, but they told us we could stay as long as we needed so we weren't stranded outside alone at night. Love the staff and am forever grateful to them for making an unfortunate experience so much better!

I had the shrimp tacos and they were so good! It was the perfect mixture of crunchy from the slaw veggies in it but also the jalapeño crema sauce made it so tasty with a nice kick of spice. Their French fries tasted beer battered and were really crispy. I've been here a few times now and I can always count on the food being fresh and tasty.

We went here for dinner recently. The food was really disappointing. It was all just mediocre quality. The cocktails were much better thankfully and the view of the beach from the outside patio was very nice too. I recommend just going for cocktails and the view.

We had the beef gnocchi and scallops over risotto with pecan pie and fresh cream for dessert. Friendly service. Not crowded. Fancy food.

Restaurant has potential to be great, but the service is HORRIFIC! My group had Beth as our server, and we only were able to get her attention to order our food. We had to ask other servers and staff for additional service such as filing our waters, ordering more drinks, and fixing our orders that came out wrong. On top of that, our appetizer came out at the same time as our meals, and it was cold - as if it had been sitting out for a while. It was quite frustrating not being able to get our servers attention especially when our order came out made wrong. Again, this restaurant has great potential to be great, but it seems as if there are management/service issue.

Get the shellfish Mac and Cheese!!! Soooooo good!! The atmosphere and the food were so good. Ask for a spoon to eat the Mac and cheese with. The service was a little blah.

Started a couple of Captains Crave frozen drinks. Capt Morgan, Malibu Strawberry rum , banana and strawberry daiquiri. These were really good. The avocado drip and chips was just so so. The dip was good, but there was much of it. We got shrimp tacos and fries. The fries were good, but the tacos were again just so so. 3 shrimp per taco, little slaw and sauce. The shrimp were blacken. The shrimp a good taste, the slaw and sauce just were not that great. Felt like something from a cheap fast food place. It was nice to set outside and look at the beach. Server was good and friendly. Get something else to eat and order more drinks.

This place makes it seem like you're going to get a somewhat decent meal... but don't be disappointed when you order "skewers" and you get a skewer. Oh and don't eat inside if you get hot easily... there is no air circulation in this place. This place is an absolute disaster and needs new management asap. The manger didn't try to talk to us when we were served terribly. We have been blu balled by this place.