For generations of North Carolina travelers, Myrtle Beach has meant summer — packed beach bags, hot afternoons, family vacations and those favorite restaurants that somehow become part of the tradition. But there’s another side of the Grand Strand that emerges when summer winds down, temperatures ease and the crowds thin. And this October, there’s an especially delicious reason to make the drive.
Grand Strand Chef’s Table, set for October 16 on the grounds of the International Culinary Institute of Myrtle Beach, is bringing together more than a dozen chefs for an evening designed to showcase just how much the area’s culinary scene has grown. Add live music, wine, craft beer, spirits and the opportunity to interact directly with the people creating the food, and suddenly a fall trip to Myrtle Beach looks a little different from the beach vacations many of us grew up taking.
“The summer crowds have died down and the weather is nearly perfect — warm enough for the beach, cool enough to actually enjoy being outside,” organizers shared. “The Grand Strand Chef’s Table gives travelers a compelling reason to make that trip and experience Myrtle Beach in a completely different light.”
And different is exactly the idea. Instead of sitting down at one restaurant and ordering from one menu, guests will move through more than a dozen chef stations at their own pace, tasting dishes and talking with the chefs who created them while enjoying drinks and live music along the way. “It’s social and delicious!”
That interaction between chef and guest is one of the things that sets the evening apart. “A dinner reservation gives you a table, a menu and a server, but the Grand Strand Chef’s Table connects you to the chef. When you walk up to a chef’s station, you’re meeting the person who created the dish, who sourced the ingredients and who has a story you want to hear.”
Those stories will represent a broad spectrum of South Carolina cooking. Guests can expect everything from fresh seafood and Lowcountry rice traditions to Gullah Geechee cuisine and Carolina pitmasters. Headliner Chef BJ Dennis brings particular significance to the evening as one of the country’s prominent voices in preserving and celebrating Gullah Geechee foodways.
But Chef’s Table isn’t simply about bringing well-known culinary talent to Myrtle Beach. It’s also about putting that talent alongside the people already cooking there and giving visitors an opportunity to see what is happening within the Grand Strand’s own restaurant community.
Visit Myrtle Beach President Stuart Butler has described the region’s chefs, students and restaurateurs as doing “incredible work,” combining fresh ideas with local traditions while introducing visitors to flavors from around the world. Chef’s Table puts those different culinary voices side by side. “When a local Myrtle Beach chef is cooking next to a James Beard nominee or winner, it elevates everyone.”
Perhaps nowhere is that spirit more evident than in the involvement of students from the International Culinary Institute of Myrtle Beach. They won’t simply be watching established chefs work; they’ll be working alongside them, helping execute an event for a large and engaged audience and getting a firsthand look at the profession they hope to enter.
“They are watching how an experienced chef carries themselves, asks questions, handles logistics, engages with guests — not to mention cooking, which is a passion they have in common with the featured chefs. We’re incredibly proud of that component.”
Food may be at the center of the night, but organizers wanted Chef’s Table to feel like an experience rather than simply a tasting. Wine, spirits and craft beer will be poured throughout the evening, while live music, demonstrations and other activations add to the atmosphere. General Admission tickets are $130 and include unlimited tastings from the featured chefs, curated beverage pours and access to the experiences throughout the grounds. The $185 VIP ticket adds priority early access, an exclusive VIP lounge with a dedicated full bar and a curated take-home gift bag.
For Franklin County travelers, the timing also makes Chef’s Table an easy excuse to turn one evening into a fall weekend at the coast. The event runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on October 16, leaving plenty of opportunity to explore Myrtle Beach before heading home.
The organizers have a suggestion: arrive in time for Chef’s Table, spend the following day enjoying Myrtle Beach and then make dinner reservations at the restaurant responsible for one of your favorite bites from the night. Before heading home, squeeze in one more local bakery or pancake-house breakfast. It’s a simple itinerary, but one that allows food to become the thread running through an entire weekend.
And for visitors who have been coming to Myrtle Beach for years and think they already know its restaurants, there may be some surprises waiting. The area’s culinary community has been attracting increasing recognition, including a MICHELIN Recommended designation for O.A.K. Prime Kitchen and Bar and the selection of Lekker Eats’ Jordan Heyd as a 2026 South Carolina Chef Ambassador.
“I hope the Grand Strand Chef’s Table shatters whatever ceiling returning visitors have in their minds about what Myrtle Beach can offer at the table.”
There’s also a larger purpose behind the evening. A portion of event profits benefits the James Beard Foundation and its work supporting the culinary community. As organizers put it, buying a ticket means “you’re not just investing in a great evening — you’re contributing to the long-term vitality of the independent restaurant industry that makes events like this possible in the first place.”
So why should someone from Franklin County make the drive? The answer ultimately comes down to the chefs, the timing and the opportunity to experience a side of Myrtle Beach that might be unfamiliar even to longtime visitors. October brings beautiful coastal weather without the height-of-summer crowds, while Chef’s Table brings some of South Carolina’s culinary talent together in one place for one night.
“There are events you attend and events you remember. The Grand Strand Chef’s Table is the kind of evening that stays with you.”
And maybe that’s the best reason of all to head back to a place we North Carolinians have visited countless times — and taste something we haven’t experienced before.