Raising Cane's Is Coming, Chick-fil-A Is Moving & a Few Goodbyes: Grand Strand Restaurant News

The Grand Strand restaurant map is shuffling again. The City of Myrtle Beach confirmed this week that two chicken giants are making moves — one arriving for the first time, one packing up for a new home across town — and they land on top of a fall that's already seen a few longtime favorites serve their last meals. Here's what's coming, what just opened, and what's gone.

Coming soon

Raising Cane's — first Myrtle Beach location, 960 Jason Blvd. The Louisiana chicken-finger chain is building its first restaurant in Myrtle Beach at 960 Jason Boulevard, near where US 17 meets Mr. Joe White Avenue. Construction was already underway in September, when the city's Community Appearance Board signed off on the outdoor lighting plan, so this one is real and rising — not a rumor. No opening date has been announced yet. Until it opens, the nearest Cane's for Strand diners is down in Mount Pleasant, so plenty of folks have been making that drive. Soon they won't have to.

Logo: Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers — via Wikimedia Commons

Chick-fil-A — moving to 29th Ave N & Robert Grissom Pkwy. The Chick-fil-A on Mr. Joe White Avenue (1940 Mr. Joe White Ave) plans to relocate about two miles away to a brand-new building where Robert Grissom Parkway crosses 29th Avenue North. No opening date for the new building — or a closing date for the current one — has been announced yet. MBU will pass both along the minute they're public.

Logo: Chick-fil-A — via Wikimedia Commons

Smoothie King — North Myrtle Beach in December, Carolina Forest next. Franchisees Brian and Keri Leachman are opening a new Smoothie King this December in North Myrtle Beach, taking over the former 45th Ave Crab House & Bar spot at 4515 Highway 17 South — with a drive-thru, which the folks who've been driving down from the north end have been asking for. It'll be the Leachmans' third shop in the Myrtle Beach area. And they're not stopping there: they're planning another Smoothie King for Carolina Forest next, targeted for early 2027. No Carolina Forest address or firm date yet — MBU will pass both along when they're public.

Just opened

Big Fish — Broadway at the Beach. Big Fish opened September 18 at Broadway at the Beach (1321 Celebrity Circle), in the former Liberty Brewery & Grill building — 21,000 square feet with a covered deck over Lake Broadway and an oyster bar. A big new seafood room in the middle of the Strand's busiest entertainment district is always worth knowing about.

Logo: Big Fish — bigfishmb.com

Guy Fieri's Downtown Flavortown — downtown Myrtle Beach. Flavortown cut its ribbon in mid-September, bringing Guy Fieri's name — and a whole lot of flavor branding — to downtown Myrtle Beach.

Photo: Greater Myrtle Beach Collaborative — source article

Closed — saying goodbye

Greg Norman's Australian Grille — closed for good October 1. The Murrells Inlet waterfront institution served its final day on Thursday, October 1, closing permanently after years as one of the Inlet's special-occasion spots. Its website now states it is permanently closed.

Photo: North Myrtle Beach Vacations — source article

Magnolia's at 26th — closed after 20 years. The Myrtle Beach breakfast-and-lunch staple at 26th Avenue North has closed after two decades, as reported by WMBF. Twenty years of feeding this town breakfast earns a proper goodbye.

Burro Loco — closed, making way for Cane's. The Mexican restaurant that sat at 960 Jason Boulevard has closed for good — its lot is exactly where Raising Cane's is now going up. One local favorite's ending is a chain's beginning, which is about as Myrtle Beach as it gets.

Piggly Wiggly — Myrtle Beach store closed October 11. The Pig shut its Myrtle Beach doors on October 11, per WMBF — one less grocery stop on the south end of town.

Photo: MyrtleBeachHotels.com — source article

The bottom line

Two chicken moves, two September openings, and four goodbyes — that's the fall so far. When the Cane's opening date and the Chick-fil-A move dates land, MBU will update this post and shout it from the Page. Until then, the full, current lay of the land lives in MBU's restaurant directory: www.myrtlebeachunlocked.com/restaurants

Know about an opening or closing MBU missed? Send it in — tips from readers are how half of these get caught.