Of all the people I know and have spoken to about food on Hilton Head Island, Margaret Crenshaw makes navigating the food scene easy. Any chat with her is an encyclopedia of knowledge. I think she keeps all menus filed away in her head sorted by categories and cocktails. I don’t like the word “foodie” anymore, but the term fits.
I’ve been wanting to share her story with our readers here for some time. I believe it is equal parts fascinating and mouthwatering. Margaret knows the food scene. Now she is going to share her view with you. Here’s my chat with Maggie, edited for clarity and brevity, because we talked for nearly 45 minutes:
Jesse Blanco: Were you born in this area?
Margaret Crenshaw: We are from Alabama, but we moved here in 1973.
JB: What are your earliest memories of the island?
MC: Oh gosh … no traffic lights. Roaming wild and free and barefoot. Fishing.
JB: I’m sure you’ve traveled up and down the Lowcountry coast. What is out there now that compares to what Hilton Head Island was when you moved here?
MC: Nothing. Hilton Head in the ’70s was a unicorn. I could more easily describe to you property in Panama or Costa Rica from the time I lived there in the ’90s. But that’s not a good comparison because a lot of people have not even been to Costa Rica. The “tropicalness” is more there than it is here, but that feeling of being isolated in the middle of nowhere. I believe about 3,000 people lived here when we moved to Hilton Head.
We lived in Tuskegee, Alabama. There was a lot of racial tension. My father’s drugstore kept getting broken into. My mother slept with a shotgun under her bed in Alabama. When we moved here, my dad said she had to get rid of her shotgun. My kindergarten teacher had a condo here, and we came to visit. We moved here three months later and never looked back. At the time, the second pharmacy on the island was opening and they needed a pharmacist, so my dad had a job.
I graduated from Sea Pines Academy (in 1985); the next year it changed to Hilton Head Prep.
JB: When do you recall the island beginning to evolve?
MC: I grew up around the Fraser family, so I saw what the plans were and the ideas for development. The building boom came in the ’70s and early ’80s. That’s when we experienced an influx of visitors and second-home owners. But we weren’t at max capacity. In the wintertime, we weren’t busy. There were years when things were not great. They felt like they went backwards. The south end of the island and the infrastructure has been the same since the ’90s. It has been such a gradual progression. What has changed is Bluffton. When we moved here, it was nothing—literally a speed trap.
There were so many milestones over the years that it has been hard to break it down.
JB: When do you remember good food starting to pop up?
MC: I remember going out to eat in the ’70s was a special occasion, not because we needed to eat. Our go-to restaurant was the Hofbräuhaus—a German restaurant owned by Peter Kenneweg, who is now with the Reilley’s restaurant group [Coastal Restaurants and Bars–CRAB]. That was the benchmark for a little girl coming from Alabama who only knew Southern fare. It was on Pope Avenue. It was decorated like a little street in Germany with make-believe windows.
JB: Okay, let’s talk food and make our way through the food scene. First question: You’re tired. You don’t want to cook. Where are you going?
MC: I’m going to San Miguel’s. I either get the San Miguel salad or the Chimichanga de Pollo (chicken). It’s a 40-year favorite. Fast service, delicious food. I could eat Mexican three meals a day, seven days a week.
JB: Someone is coming to visit. Where are you taking them?
MC: I’m going to take them to Hudson’s for a true salty taste of the island. Hudson’s has been here since the dawn of man. Hudson’s has three things. It has the history. It’s on the docks and they pull in their own shrimp. And three, it’s delicious seafood. Why come the coast if you don’t have seafood? I usually try to keep it healthy with some grilled fish, but I love their fried shrimp and hushpuppies.
JB: You are celebrating your bestie’s birthday. Where is everyone going to want to go?
MC: Alfred’s. Alfred’s has the European appeal—not just German dishes, but others. It lends itself to intimacy among a special group of friends. It’s a special place where you can choose several courses and wines to go with it. It’s an experience.
JB: Is there a dish (or two) on the island you crave—a dish you think about for a week or two until you get there and eat it?
MC: Yes. That would be the grouper from Santa Fe Café. It’s got a chipotle mayo and parmesan. They throw it under the broiler; it gets all puffy and delicious. It’s my favorite dish on the island. Yes, absolutely. Or the cobb salad at Charlie’s.
JB: Do you have a sweet tooth?
MC: I don’t have a sweet tooth, but the Watermelon Chip at Hilton Head Ice Cream is my absolute favorite. Where else in the world are you going to get watermelon chip ice cream? I just think that’s so original to Hilton Head.
JB: Name a go-to cocktail you enjoy on the island.
MC: I love the martinis at Charlie’s.
JB: Do you have a favorite Margarita?
MC: The Cadillac Margarita at San Miguel’s—the best margarita on the island.
JB: Finally, what are your go-tos on the island—your stable of restaurants you love?
MC: Oh, wow. Do you realize how political this answer could be? I know everyone here, but if I had to name just a handful, I would say Santa Fe Café, Sage Room, Charlie’s, Sunset Grille, and Pomodori.
