Growth coming to Murrells Inlet in spring

As the sun reflected off the water Friday afternoon and lunchtime guests of the Dead Dog Saloon enjoyed the Marshwalk view, Peter Haentjens was hard at work in the kitchen preparing fresh lobster just in from Maine.

While lobster’s not on the menu here, it’s a hint of things to come at the new restaurant planned next door called The Claw House — the first new construction of a restaurant along the Marshwalk in almost two decades. As excitement builds on a new culinary adventure in Murrells Inlet, area leaders know one of the challenges the new restaurant will face is adequate parking.

The seaside town of Murrells Inlet has been a popular seafood destination for years, but has become much more of an attractionwith the addition of the Marshwalk about 16 years ago. Steady streams of visitors now travel here during peak season. The Claw House will become the eighth restaurant to offer waterfront dining.

Renee Williamson directs Murrells Inlet 2020, which promotes economic development, environmental education, and tourism for the area. She attended the recent groundbreaking ceremony for The Claw House and got a chance to sample some of the fresh lobster. She said having a new restaurant on the Marshwalk is exciting and will add diversity to what’s already offered. As Murrells Inlet continues to grow, she did express concerns about parking with the addition of future businesses.

“That issue came up in a community survey earlier this year that will used as a guideline as the group plans for the future,” Williamson said. “In the survey one of the biggest concerns is Business 17 safety, which includes parking issues. We don’t have a current action plan as of yet, but safety issues will be addressed in our new strategic plan.”

That plan will be unveiled in the spring.

“I think if you rewound 10 years ago, even in Myrtle Beach, if you polled people on the street, I’d say maybe only half of them had heard of Murrells Inlet where that has completely changed now. It’s almost a requisite part of a vacation to the Grand Strand is to come to the Marshwalk and check it all out.” John Campbell, co-owner of The Claw House

Georgetown Planning Director Boyd Johnson said his department paid close attention to parking when approving a permit for The Claw House.

“We get many inquiries from residents about parking and we know they’re very concerned about it, and we are, too,” Johnson said. “That’s why when something comes into Murrells Inlet, we double and triple check the parking.”

Johnson said his staff scrutinized the parking issue, making sure the spaces met the number required by county ordinance before construction was approved.

“We scoured their spaces,” Johnson said. “We went into the field to make sure we didn’t double count spaces. We were very, very careful because it is important to us.”

Johnson noted that owners were fortunate to have property available across the street.

“Walking across the street is not an ideal situation, but we are looking at ways to improve,” Johnson said.

If things go as scheduled, The Claw House will open in March. Co-owner John Campbell says they hope to build on the growth and steady business they’ve seen in recent years at the Dead Dog Saloon and Murrells Inlet, as a whole.

The Claw House, being built by the management group at Dead Dog, which includes the Campbell family (Charles, Mike, and John) and Haentjens, will be patterned after lobster houses found in the Northeast.

“I think if you rewound 10 years ago, even in Myrtle Beach, if you polled people on the street, I’d say maybe only half of them had heard of Murrells Inlet where that has completely changed now,” Campbell said. “It’s almost a requisite part of a vacation to the Grand Strand is to come to the Marshwalk and check it all out.”

The Claw House, being built by the management group at Dead Dog, which includes the Campbell family (Charles, Mike, and John) and Haentjens, will be patterned after lobster houses found in the Northeast.

“We think we can put a southern twist on a New England-style lobster joint,” explained Peter Haentjens.

The idea for Murrells Inlet’s newest restaurant came together during a trip up north.

“All of the managing partners of Dead Dog Saloon had taken a trip up to Boston to watch Derek Jeter play his last game for the Yankees,” said Haentjens. They’d been talking about a new “shellfish based restaurant” for a while. “We ate at a bunch of places up there that were kind of similar to what we had in mind along the Marshwalk. So, it was kind of a Eureka moment where we walked into a place and said this is what we’re talking about.”

They plan to offer something different for the Grand Strand.

“There’s really no lobster houses on the entire Grand Strand, for the most part, that are focused primarily on lobster,” Haentjens said. “We think it’ll be a fairly unique concept.”

Business along the Marshwalk has grown so much, Dead Dog no longer closes during the winter months.

“The first years we were open we would close for a month and a half every off-season,” Campbell said. “And that window of closing time has gotten smaller and smaller to the point where starting 4 or 5 years ago, we’re open year-round.”

While Murrells Inlet built much of its reputation on local seafood, The Claw House will feature something not available in the waters off the South Carolina coast.

“Lobster doesn’t come from this part of the country,” acknowledged Haentjens. “So we came up with the idea of buying our own truck and running it twice a week to Boston where we’ll pick up loads of Maine and Northern Atlantic lobster.”

By transporting the lobster by truck, they hope to keep costs down. And in addition to lobster, the restaurant will offer some other Northeast favorites.

“We’ll have clam strips and we’re going to do them exactly the way you’d get them in the Northeast,” Haenjtens said, noting they won’t be the tiny clam strips many are more familiar with in the South.

“Folks that are used to them know exactly what we’re talking about,” added Campbell. “It’s a very coveted item.”

While opening day is still three to four months way, The Claw House is already generating a lot of talk.

Longtime Horry County resident Keith Hucks of Garden City often frequents restaurants in Murrells Inlet where he enjoys the “laid back” atmosphere.

“I am looking forward to the new restaurant,” Hucks said. “I think the more the better for the consumer. It will be a good addition to the Marshwalk.”

Newlyweds Mark and Michele Anderson who recently traveled from Stillwater, Minn., to honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, found Murrells Inlet restaurants so appealing they dined their multiple times during their stay. They’re already looking to forward to a return trip and were happy to hear that next time they’ll be able to get fresh Maine lobster.

“My wife is a Maine lobster fan,” Mark Anderson said. “She has been to the Northeast coast a number of times and the fact the lobster will come from there is appealing.”

After Haentjens prepared that fresh lobster on Friday, Campbell passed out samples to guests at the Dead Dog Saloon. The reaction was all positive.

Most seem to think a Northeast style lobster house will fit quite nicely in a place known as the “Seafood Capital of South Carolina.”

“Absolutely,” Haentjens said. “We’re just going to add to that title.”