Windmill

I'd heard about this place for years, but never actually made the trip - it's a destination rather than being on the way somewhere or being a place one just drops in to eat. It's a seafood heavy menu with very good fried offerings. It has other things like hamburger steak on the menu of one would rather avoid the fruit de mer. It also has an an honest to God old school salad bar complete with baby corn and non-pickled beets as well as bacos. They also gave rather decent soups. No alcohol, which us too bad, because most of their fair would go well with beer. Excellent, friendly staff.

Great little place off the beaten path. Visited this gem twice and each time the food was amazing and the service was great. Seafood is some of the best you will find. Definitely will be retuning.

Nov 2025. Sarah, Marjie, James, Normand, and I enjoyed a trip through the autumn evening to finally find and dine at the Windmill. It reminded us of the seafood place we all enjoyed in Meadview Nevada a hundred miles from the ocean.

First restaurant located on Lake keowee in South Carolina is a large two-story building with a lighthouse on the roof My wife and I had fried duck wings when we were there and they were delicious The dining room and our table overlooked the Cabana at the lighthouse restaurant and Lake keowee The view was great The service was good Nice place to eat

All the food I've tried has been good and all the food I've seen others try looked good, fair prices overall. The service has always been excellent and the place is kept clean inside & out. Worth the drive.

This is a great place for some seafood. It is very rustic on the outside and the inside, but the food is wonderful. There is a soup and salad bar and an extensive menu. They have fabulous popcorn shrimp, scallops, flounder, and coleslaw. Their chicken Philly is also really good.

If you're looking for excellent seafood, this is the place! While waiting to be seated, another person told us that the seafood here is just as good if not better than at the beach, and he was right. The prices are very reasonable, and the staff is very prompt, efficient and friendly. We arrived around 7:00 on a Friday night, and it was packed! We had to wait a bit but it was well worth the wait. There was a very busy young man who was doing the seating, cashier and sometimes bussing tables who could have used some help but he was doing an amazing job! Unless you like friendly, comfortable and well-lit, don't go here for the atmosphere. I'm just thankful that the tables were well-spaced so we weren't crammed together! I'd rather have tasty, fresh food at a reasonable price than atmosphere any day!

We Loved our waitress! She was wonderful and efficient and funny. The story stops there. The only food I liked were the onion rings and the crust on the pie. That’s it. The scallops were rubbery and I only ate them to be polite. The room is dated and dark and feels like a cafeteria. I wouldn’t come back. I can’t honestly recommend this place. Oh, and I genuinely think they need a new sign.

This out-of-the way restaurant is one of our favorites for great seafood. Our favorite is the shrimp basket, and they also have a nice, but small salad bar. Just wish it were closer, not an hour away!

I love the wings here. Each time they are cooked perfectly and the wing fries are done to perfection. Service is great and ambiance is country.

Great salad bar with fresh ingredients. Food is always cooked to order. Good wings and pizza and burgers.

Great food, fast and friendly service. Everything on the menu is fresh cooked just right. Clean and plenty of spacious tables.

The Windmill is the one consistent, reliable restaurant in the area. It has been going strong for many years, run by the same family. Never had anything bad here, but they excel with seafood - quality and quantity. If you like fried seafood, you won't be disappointed. Now that you don't have to get it fried, and there are several other good food options! The salad bar is one of my favorites with a great variety of salad options! Been coming here for years... and the service is consistently very good! Recommended!!

If you want to step back in time eat here. Great for grandparents. Old and very rustic. Food was okay.

Great food, big portions and great friendly service!!! Prices, well it's inland seafood and it's going to be pricey.

Enjoyed it! Small but very fresh and clean salad bar! We ordered the seafood platter and shared! Very nice country girls with great attitudes! Will return one day!

Best seafood I've had in a long while. It is our favorite place to eat anytime we are in the area. Always good. The staff are friendly and efficiently.

We went searching for "The Retreat" on Lake Wateree and found it closed for the fall/winter. This was a couple of years ago. So on the way out there we'd passed the Windmill restaurant. We asked a gas station attendant out by The Retreat if he could recommend a place for lunch and he suggested The Windmill. It didn't look like much when we'd passed it but we stopped in to give it a try. It was a Saturday afternoon, slightly after lunchtime, and the place was pretty deserted. I think there may have been one or two more tables being used. They had a buffet that looked great. Their salad bar and burgers were very good and we were quite pleased. Service was good, atmosphere was quaint, quiet and good. We've only gone once but I wouldn't hesitate to go back. Highly recommend it.

My wife and I had our first visit to The Windmill restaurant today. It was a great experience overall. The food was excellent with very reasonable prices and good portion sizes. The staff was friendly and helpful. We highly recommend this restaurant for a great meal any time of day.

Absolutely incredible food no matter what you order it's extremely freshly cooked amazing taste , the most epic seafood platter you have ever ordered very quick service, people are so friendly we have started going every week , breakfast is also delicious

The Windmill has been around since I was a kid. Wonderful community restaurant and convenient to the Fairfield side of Lake Wateree. Great little salad bar with chicken salad and homemade soups. Classic seafood and burger baskets that are always good. The weekend offers breakfast and my personal favorite, the veggie omelet. Good, reliable and friendly!!

Doesn't look like much from outside. Great seafood! Yummy flounder and shrimp, lots of food. Won't break the bank. They have lunch specials M-F. It is clean and the staff is very attentive. Eat there at least once a week.

This is your basic fish camp kinda place. The folks are friendly and the service good. The prices are reasonable and the portions are plenty. I love the soup and salad bar. Especially the catfish stew and the chicken salad. You can't go wrong with that! I've had other offerings and have taken family and friends there and never heard a complaint. It can get busy and they can seem short staffed at times, but they run and do the best they can. I'll go many more times I'm sure. Breakfast there is excellent as well!

This is a very good place to eat. We sat down and placed our order for a family of four. Within 10 mins are food was in front of us. I had the hamburger steak covered in grilled onions with a baked potato. My son and wife ordered hamburgers, and my daughter had French fries and chicken tenders. Everything was really good. My hamburger steak was truly something that I needed in my life. The one thing that messed me up was the table next to me ordered seafood, but I just had something fried for lunch because that plate of seafood looked great! Anyway back to the hamburger steak. The size was decent but I thought it could be just a little bigger because it was so good I just kept wanting to eat more. We live a little over 30 mins away and we will make this one of our places to eat when we want to go out. They do have a little salad bar that is alright, but who are we kidding if you are eating at this place the salad is just to hold you over until the real food arrives. The decor of this place is fitting for a local fish camp. The staff was very nice and there was plenty of parking. It was not that busy when we went Sunday afternoon, but we have drove by during the afternoon and it was packed. This is what made us want to try the place the number of people waiting to eat here. That means one of two things. It is the only place to eat (which it is not) or it is that good. It is that good!

Best country fish camp in the area. Great food. Friendly service. A great place to see friends and enjoy dinner.

This rural restaurant has it's good points and bad, but I keep going back so the positives win. The staff are all as friendly as they can be. The restaurant could use some sprucing up, but it's bright and clean. As for the food? The breakfast's are great and the hamburgers are pretty good. They do make some of the best onion rings I've ever had and some of the worst fried shrimp (they're frozen...what would you expect.). They have a small salad bar but it has almost everything I want in a salad anyway. The salad bar includes a soup...I always get the catfish stew, which isn't the best but I still like it. The hamburger steak is good (and sizeable) but the fish is frozen... unless they have fresh catfish. What I really don't like about the Windmill is they don't have fried chicken?! In this particular restaurant this just isn't right! If I could, I would give this place 3.5 stars...it's not bad, just not a 4-starter.

Had a wonderful first experience today! Great food, wonderful salad bar, smiling faces and great service! Very laid back country feel!