Two Years Running: The Myrtle Beach Native Behind the Grand Strand's Only Michelin Restaurant

The Michelin Guide released its 2026 American South selections this week, and along 60 miles of Grand Strand coastline there is still exactly one local name in the book: O.A.K. Prime Kitchen and Bar, the Carolina Forest steakhouse at 4210 River Oaks Drive. The restaurant kept its Michelin Recommended designation for the second straight year — the only restaurant in the Myrtle Beach area to hold one.

Making the guide once is an accomplishment. Making it twice says something sturdier: Michelin's anonymous inspectors came back, ate again, and decided the standard held. And the man running that kitchen is not some chef imported from a bigger city. Jerrett "JK" King is a Myrtle Beach native who came up through local kitchens the long way.

A hometown kid, the long way up

King became a father at 15 and went to work bussing tables at The Filling Station. From there he manned the grill at Dirty Don's Oyster Bar, where his brother ran the kitchen. He managed a second Dirty Don's location, moved up to the upscale Fire and Smoke, and later ran the kitchen at its sister restaurant, Cypress Grill. Largely self-taught, he has spent about 15 years cooking on the Grand Strand — learning the trade in the same dining rooms locals have eaten in for years.

That is the part of this story MBU likes best. What Michelin rewarded here was not a celebrity name or an out-of-town concept. It was a hometown cook who started with a bus tub.

How O.A.K. Prime came to be

O.A.K. Prime was not built from scratch. In 2023, King and his two partners — managing partner Chris Roberts and business partner Craig Martin — bought an existing Carolina Forest restaurant, the Cypress Room, and rebuilt it around a fine-dining concept. They enclosed the patio, roughly doubling the seating, enlarged the bar, and trimmed the menu down to what the kitchen could do best. The restaurant reopened under its new name in March 2023.

The name, by the way, has nothing to do with River Oaks Drive. Roberts's wife suggested it, and the letters stand for One of a Kind. The idea behind the place was simple enough: too many locals were driving to Charleston for a serious dinner, and the partners figured the Grand Strand ought to have one of its own.

What's on the plate

This is a chef-driven steakhouse — prime steaks, fresh fish nightly, and a kitchen that runs without a single freezer. The menu changes weekly, built around what is fresh. Michelin's own inspectors pointed to the heavily charred, Pittsburgh-style crust on the Angus beef, a ribeye finished with smoked tomato and Madeira butter, wild mushroom bruschetta with aged balsamic, and a blueberry bread pudding baked to order. The local best seller is the pan-seared Chilean sea bass, which King reworks every week — one week it might carry poached lobster, another week shrimp or jumbo lump crab.

King has also carried the Grand Strand flag beyond the county line: the area's tourism folks took him to New York to cook his shrimp and grits for a room full of national food editors. Not bad for a kid who started out clearing tables.

What "Recommended" actually means

A little honesty, because the word Michelin gets thrown around loosely. Recommended is a real honor, but it is not a star. Michelin's tiers run from Recommended up through the Bib Gourmand to one, two, and three stars, and Recommended is the entry tier — it means inspectors found cooking built on quality ingredients and held to a high standard, worth a trip in its own right. O.A.K. Prime is the Grand Strand's only listing at any tier, and the partners have said plainly that a star is the goal they are chasing. Two straight years in the book says the chase is a serious one.

If you go

O.A.K. Prime Kitchen and Bar, 4210 River Oaks Drive, Carolina Forest. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 PM. Reservations are the smart play — business has reportedly doubled since the first Michelin listing, and tables have gotten harder to come by. Call (843) 960-3492 or book through their website, www.oakprimekitchenandbar.com. One fair warning: Michelin puts the restaurant in its top price range, so treat it as the special-occasion spot it is — anniversaries, birthdays, and the night you want to show somebody what this town can do.

The bottom line

A Myrtle Beach kid who started bussing tables now runs the only Michelin-listed kitchen on the Grand Strand — two years running. Charleston can keep its stars for now. The Strand has a serious dining room of its own, and it was built by one of our own.

Planning a night out around it? MBU's full restaurant directory lives at www.myrtlebeachunlocked.com/restaurants

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