Parson’s Table unique restaurant with terrific food and plenty of history

Parson's Table in Little River, S.C., is located in a former church built in the 1850's. (Larry Vaught Photos)

Finding a terrific spot to eat in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is not a hard thing to do. There are so many good choices in all price ranges. However, it’s still possible to find a new and unique place. This time it was Parson’s Table in Little River, S.C. — about a 30-minute drive from Myrtle Beach

What’s most intriguing about Parson’s Table is the history of the restaurant. The main dining room was the first Little River Methodist Church and was built in 1885. Most of the original wood is still in the building and the flooring in the main dining room was improved with siding sourced from a farmhouse built in the 1850’s also.

The building was moved about two blocks to the current location in 1978 and converted into the restaurant — it had been converted from a church to a community center in 1952. Stained and beveled glass collected by the owner was used in the restaurant redesign along with glass from various other old churches in the south collected by the previous owners. There’s even an old Tiffany lamp in the main room.

The large antique doors at the entrance are over 150 years old according to what our waiter told us.

The restaurant is so popular that even reservations were needed at this time of year to assure seating.

The menu has plenty of seafood — I chose the shrimp and grits — along with other specialities like Wiener Schnitzel, spinach/wild mushroom ravioli, steaks, and pan-seared duck breast. All entrees come with salad with a house vinaigrette that was tangy and tasty, choice of vegetable and cornbread like my grandmother and father used to make

If you are a wine drinker, there’s an extensive choice of wines.

It’s a much quieter, more peaceful setting than most restaurants in the area and a nice change. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would say it is a 4 on the price range but the food, service, and history more than made it worthwhile. And the best recommendation is how many local residents were there on a Monday night and told me all the different reasons it was one of their favorite restaurants in the Myrtle Beach area.