Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries in Hilton Head Island from the En Primeur Club guide.
Accolades in Hilton Head Island
These rooms lead with cellar depth, and the Wine Spectator winners in our guide sit on different parts of the island.
A French-American seafood bistro in Hilton Head Island with an exceptional wine program, Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, and a Star Wine List. The daily handwritten menu features Lowcountry seafood prepared with French-American techniques.
A Regional Italian restaurant on New Orleans Road with a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and an exceptional wine program. House-made pastas, veal, and an extensive wine list are served in a casually elegant atmosphere.
A seafood and steaks restaurant with Lowcountry influences in Palmetto Dunes, with an exceptional wine program and Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence since 2001. The on-site wine shop offers over 1,000 bottles.
Chophouse 119 in Shelter Cove Towne Centre and WiseGuys on Main Street are steakhouses with exceptional wine programs and extensive wine lists. CQ's in Harbour Town serves contemporary American cuisine with French influences and an extensive wine list of over 400 selections.
A modern steakhouse in Shelter Cove Towne Centre with an exceptional wine program, an extensive wine list, and craft cocktails. It follows the original New York steakhouse, with nostalgic glamour and bold twists on American classics. The menu is a la carte.
A contemporary American restaurant with French influences in Harbour Town, with an exceptional wine program. CQ's has been in Harbour Town since 1973 and has an extensive wine list of over 400 selections.
A modern American steakhouse on Main Street with an exceptional wine program, an extensive wine list, and an a la carte menu with small plates. USDA Prime and Wagyu steaks are dry-aged in house for 28 days.
New Orleans Road, Palmetto Dunes, and Hilton Head Island include Wine Spectator restaurants in our guide. Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana is on New Orleans Road, Red Fish Restaurant is in Palmetto Dunes, and Charlie's l Etoile Verte is in Hilton Head Island.
Hilton Head Island has no Michelin-starred restaurants in our guide. The island has 10 exceptional wine programs in our guide. Charlie's l Etoile Verte holds Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, and Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.
Charlie's l Etoile Verte, Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana, and Red Fish Restaurant hold Wine Spectator awards in our guide. They cover French-American seafood, Regional Italian cooking, and seafood with steaks, so the award holders are spread across different restaurant styles.
No tasting menus appear in our guide. Chophouse 119 in Shelter Cove Towne Centre and WiseGuys on Main Street are a la carte steakhouses with exceptional wine programs and extensive wine lists. CQ's in Harbour Town is a la carte, with contemporary American cuisine, French influences, and an extensive wine list of over 400 selections.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
Best of Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island
Selected entries from the current guide for Hilton Head Island.
Hilton Head Island, United States
A long-standing presence on Hilton Head Island's restaurant scene, Charlie's l'Etoile Verte earned a White Star recognition from Star Wine List in 2022, signaling a wine program serious enough to place it above the island's resort-casual baseline. Located on New Orleans Road, it occupies the narrower tier of the island's dining options where wine depth and kitchen intent carry more weight than beachfront spectacle.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana on New Orleans Road brings Italian-American dining to Hilton Head Island's mid-island corridor, where coastal resort dining tends toward seafood and Southern comfort. The restaurant occupies a distinct position in the local scene as a dedicated Italian kitchen in a market where that genre is underrepresented. Visitors looking for pasta-forward cooking on the island will find it here.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Alfred's Restaurant on William Hilton Pkwy occupies a quieter register in Hilton Head Island's dining scene, where the prevailing logic runs toward waterfront seafood and resort-anchored menus. As the island's sourcing-conscious restaurant options grow, Alfred's positions itself in that conversation. For visitors mapping a deliberate meal in Hilton Head, it merits a place on the shortlist alongside the area's coastal and continental alternatives.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Positioned at Palmetto Bay Marina on Hilton Head Island's southern shore, Black Marlin Bayside Grill occupies one of the island's most waterfront-oriented dining settings. The marina address places it within a cluster of casual-to-mid-range coastal options that define Hilton Head's everyday dining character, with water views and proximity to the dock shaping the experience as much as the menu.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Celeste Coastal Cuisine sits on Hilton Head Island's northern end, operating within a dining scene where locally sourced seafood and Lowcountry traditions anchor the strongest kitchens. The address at 20 Hatton Place positions it away from the resort-strip crowd, serving a clientele that comes with an appetite for coastal fare over spectacle. For context on where Celeste fits among Hilton Head's broader restaurant options, the EP Club's full island guide is the place to start.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Chophouse 119 sits at 28 Shelter Cove Lane, placing it within one of Hilton Head Island's most active waterfront commercial corridors. The name signals a steakhouse format, and its Shelter Cove address puts it alongside marina-facing dining options that serve both resort visitors and year-round island residents. For those working through Hilton Head's dining options, it occupies the mid-to-upper tier of the island's chophouse category.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Coastal Capri Ristorante on William Hilton Parkway brings Italian coastal cooking to Hilton Head Island's mid-island dining corridor. The menu draws on Mediterranean seafood traditions in a market where most competitors lean toward local Low Country preparation. For visitors working through the island's restaurant options, it occupies a distinct niche between casual waterfront grills and the more formal continental options further along the strip.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse brings the churrascaria format to Hilton Head Island's William Hilton Parkway corridor, pairing the continuous tableside service of a rodízio with the island's established appetite for meat-forward dining. For visitors moving between the coast's seafood-heavy dining scene and something more carnivore-focused, it occupies a distinct niche on the island's restaurant map.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Where Hilton Head's Lighthouse Road Meets the Table The address alone places CQ's in a particular register of Hilton Head Island dining. Lighthouse Road anchors the southern tip of the island, where the density of the resort corridors gives way...
Hilton Head Island, United States
Frankie Bones sits on Main Street in Hilton Head Island's northern reaches, occupying a position in the island's casual-to-mid dining tier that draws on American comfort traditions with a coastal South Carolina lean. The room runs warm and familiar, the kind of address locals return to without needing a special occasion as its reason.
Hilton Head Island, United States
HH Prime occupies a prime address on Ocean Lane in Hilton Head Island, positioning itself within the island's steakhouse and coastal dining tier. The restaurant draws on the region's proximity to Atlantic seafood and Southern agricultural sources, making ingredient provenance a practical advantage rather than a marketing point. For visitors working through the island's dining options, it represents a dressier, protein-focused alternative to the casual waterfront majority.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Kind Of Blue occupies a quiet alley address in Hilton Head Island's historic district, positioning it at a remove from the island's louder waterfront corridor. The name's jazz reference signals something about pacing and mood before you arrive. On an island where most dining defaults to the broad and accessible, this address makes a quieter case for itself.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Lulu Kitchen sits on William Hilton Parkway in the heart of Hilton Head Island, positioning itself within a dining scene that has grown steadily more ambitious over the past decade. The restaurant draws from the coastal Carolina tradition of fresh, locally sourced ingredients, offering a meal that progresses with intention from first bite to last. For visitors mapping the island's better tables, it belongs on the shortlist.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Madre & Mercado occupies a strip-mall suite on William Hilton Pkwy, which tells you little about what happens inside. On Hilton Head Island, where the dining scene tilts heavily toward seafood institutions and steakhouse formats, a market-and-dining hybrid format occupies a distinct niche. The name alone signals a dual register: the maternal warmth of a home kitchen alongside the abundance logic of a market counter.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Nectar sits along William Hilton Parkway, operating within a dining scene on Hilton Head Island where the gap between resort-circuit crowds and genuinely considered cooking is narrower than most visitors expect. The venue occupies a middle register between casual coastal fare and the island's more formal dinner formats, making it a reference point for visitors calibrating where Hilton Head's restaurant culture actually sits in 2024.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Olive & Fig Mediterranean Kitchen brings the pantry of the eastern Mediterranean to Hilton Head Island's Bluffton corridor, working local Lowcountry ingredients through techniques more often associated with coastal Turkey, Greece, and the Levant. It occupies a specific niche in a dining scene that leans heavily toward Atlantic seafood and steakhouse formats, offering a counterpoint built around olive oil, legumes, and wood-fired preparation.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Ombra Cucina Italiana brings Italian dining to Hilton Head Island's William Hilton Pkwy corridor, operating within a resort-market dining scene that spans coastal seafood, steakhouses, and Continental formats. For travelers calibrating where Italian fits in the island's restaurant mix, it sits alongside a compact tier of cuisine-specific independents rather than the broader casual waterfront category.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Pomodori brings Italian-inflected dining to Hilton Head Island's New Orleans Road corridor, drawing a loyal local following that returns for the consistency and familiar rhythms the spot reliably delivers. Set within the island's mid-island dining cluster, it occupies the kind of role that sustains a community's restaurant culture rather than chasing seasonal tourist traffic. A reliable address for those who prefer a known quantity over novelty.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Poseidon occupies a waterfront suite at Shelter Cove Harbour, positioning itself within Hilton Head Island's more composed end of the dining spectrum. The address places it squarely in a marina setting where the water does much of the atmospheric work, making it a reference point among the island's seafood-forward options rather than a footnote in the resort corridor.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Red Fish Restaurant is a Hilton Head Island dining room for a slower evening than the island’s busiest waterfront stretch. It is a useful reservation when you want a composed meal rather than a high-volume tourist stop.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Ruby Lee's on Old Wild Horse Road occupies a quieter corner of Hilton Head Island's dining scene, away from the waterfront clusters that define the island's more trafficked restaurant corridors.
Hilton Head Island, United States
Santa Fe Cafe sits along the William Hilton Parkway corridor that defines Hilton Head Island's mid-island dining strip, bringing Southwestern and New Mexican flavor traditions to a coastal South Carolina setting. The cafe occupies a practical but distinct niche in a market otherwise dominated by seafood houses and steakhouses. For visitors looking beyond the island's default coastal mode, it represents a deliberate left turn.
Hilton Head Island
Selected entries from the current guide for Hilton Head Island.
No venues found.
Hilton Head Island
Selected entries from the current guide for Hilton Head Island.
No venues found.
Hilton Head Island
Selected entries from the current guide for Hilton Head Island.
No venues found.
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