• HOME
  • BEST OF PARTY PHOTOS
  • FEATURES
    • Best Of Cover Shoot
    • Pet Owner’s Stories
    • People
    • Places
    • Issues
    • Remembering
    • Things
    • To Do
  • DEPARTMENTS
    • Finance / Real Estate
      • Financial Articles
      • Real Estate
        • Real Estate Experts
        • Top 10 Most Expensive Homes Sold
        • Articles
    • Around Town
    • Business
      • Belle Hall Shopping Center
      • Lowcountry Women in Business
      • MP Business
    • Dwellings
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food & Drink
    • Giving Back
    • Health & Wellness
    • Love & Marriage
    • Pets
    • Relax & Retire
    • Sports & Fitness
  • Read Magazine
  • MORE MAGS
    • Charleston Women 👩‍🏫🏢
    • Lowcountry Cuisine 🧀🍷
    • Best of Mt Pleasant Mag 🏆🏆
    • MP Business Mag 🏢
    • MP Pets 🐶🐱
    • Charleston Independent School Directory 🏫
    • MP Senior Living 👴👵
    • More Mags
      • IOP Mag
      • SI Mag
      • MP Town Hall Magazine
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Attorney Directory
    • 2025 Charleston Wedding Venues
    • Pool Builders/Services Directory
    • Financial Planners
    • Mount Pleasant Area Hotel Directory
    • East Cooper Worship Guide
    • East Cooper Fitness Directory
    • Senior Living Directory
    • 2023 Local CPA Tax Directory
    • Mount Pleasant Apartment Directory
  • SUBSCRIBE

Mount Pleasant Magazine

Mount Pleasant Magazine is the premier lifestyle magazine for Mount Pleasant, SC. Read about local news, events, businesses, people, and more. Subscribe today or read our digital magazine online.

  • Best of Mount Pleasant
    • 2025 Best of Mount Pleasant Including Previous Years
    • Best of Mount Pleasant Winner Articles
    • Best Of Party Photos
  • Podcasts
    • Mount Pleasant Podcast
    • Carolina Real Estate Podcast
    • Georgetown the Podcast
    • Coastal Home Podcast Video Tour
    • Best of Mount Pleasant Podcast
    • Hammock Coast Podcast
    • More Podcasts
      • Charleston Women Podcast
      • Isle of Palms Podcast
      • Charleston Pet Podcast
      • Charleston Wedding Podcast
  • Top Ten Homes Sold
  • Advertise
    • Advertise With Us
    • Media Kit
    • Video Testimonials
  • About Our Team
  • MORE
    • Real Estate Experts
    • MP Town Hall
    • Attorney Directory
    • News
    • MP Neighborhoods
    • East Cooper Online Network
    • Contact

Mount Pleasant – Shem Creek – Lowcountry – Charleston – Seafood – vendors

Posted by MPM 3 Comments

Shem Creek is the ideal place to buy fresh seafood in Mount Pleasant. Geechie Seafood and C.A. Magwood & Sons both are family-owned, and both have been selling their catch at the creek for decades.

One of the luxuries of living on the coast is that you have access to an abundance of local seafood. We Southerners are passionate about our food, and having fresh ingredients at our fingertips is just one of the advantages of residing in the Lowcountry.

It should come as no surprise that seafood abounds on the menus of most Mount Pleasant restaurants. In many cases, the fare is local because of its superior taste and quality. Some of the distinctive dishes include:

Shrimp and Grits – This Lowcountry staple is perhaps the most popular seafood entrée of them all. Restaurants compete to have their signature dish voted best in the city. The standard shrimp and grits recipe contains shrimp, grits, andouille sausage and tasso gravy. Variations may include bacon, peppers, cheese, hot sauce or sugar, although many locals prefer them served simply with hot butter.

She Crab Soup – Best served on a chilly day, this soup is a cross between a bisque and chowder. Its name comes from its key ingredients: female crabs and their roe. The base is a roux of butter and flour with plenty of heavy cream and milk for a perfect silky consistency, with a small amount of sherry for extra flavor. Vegetables may include onions, carrots or celery.

Crab Cakes – Crab cakes are another traditional Southern staple. The ingredients – crabmeat, bread crumbs, milk, mayonnaise, onions and seasonings – are formed into patties and fried, baked or grilled. Crab cakes are served as a main dish, atop a salad, as an appetizer accompanied by fried green tomatoes or even as a sandwich. They are typically served with a remoulade, tartar sauce, mustard or ketchup.

Frogmore Stew – Named after a South Carolina community, you won’t find the meat of web-footed amphibians in this dish. It is a boil of shrimp, crab, sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob. The ingredients are added to seafood stock with seasonings. Because it is rather messy, Frogmore stew often is served over a large, newspaper-covered picnic table. It’s usually eaten without utensils; napkins are optional but recommended.

Seafood Pilau – Don’t recognize the name? Maybe you know it as perloo, perlow, perlau or pilaf. Regardless of how it is spelled or pronounced, the dish contains dry, fluffy rice with seafood and vegetables as a base.

If you aren’t hungry, perhaps a beverage will satiate your seafood craving. An oyster shooter is a shot of vodka with spicy cocktail sauce and a raw oyster at the bottom of the glass.

Another option for getting your hands on fresh seafood is at a local event such as the Lowcountry Oyster Festival, held at the end of January at picturesque Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant. There are other oyster festivals and fundraisers, shrimp boils and fish fries throughout the year.

If you’re in search of fresh seafood to cook at home, look no further than Shem Creek. Several businesses on the creek sell both wholesale and retail, including Geechie Seafood, a family-run operation that has been around since the 1970s.

Bubba Rector and his sons and grandsons strive to provide local residents and restaurants with fresh shrimp, swordfish, tuna, grouper, clams and oysters. Bubba began shrimping when he and his wife, Pam, got married right after high school. He, his brother and cousin-in-law went shrimping on their trawler, “Anna Grace,” for a few decades until she sank about three years ago.

Claiming “I have to shrimp,” Bubba did not give up. He found a “piece of junk” boat off of Kiawah, fixed it up and named it after his father, Warren H. Rector. During shrimping season, locals watch the family unload their days’ catch to sell just a few feet away. Geechie Seafood currently supplies Butcher & Bee, Gilligan’s Seafood, Husk, Red’s Icehouse, Roper St. Francis Hospital and The Wreck of The Richard and Charlene, among others.

A second option is C.A. Magwood & Sons, another family-run business located on the east side of Shem Creek. Around for more than 40 years, Magwood’s offers shrimp, oysters, claims, crabs and fish. During the season, shrimp sell out almost every day; in the winter, they carry frozen local shrimp seven days a week. Local restaurants that purchase seafood from Magwood’s include Art’s Bar & Grill, Bacco, Finz Bar & Grill and Marina Variety Store.

If you are in the mood for fresh seafood but don’t feel like cooking, check out one of Mount Pleasant’s restaurants. Ask the hostess or your server where the seafood comes from. To enjoy one of the best parts about living in the Lowcountry, you’ll want to eat sustainable fresh or fresh-frozen local seafood.

To find out when local seafood is at its peak of freshness and for a list of local restaurants committed to serving sustainable seafood from local fishermen,
shrimpers and crabbers, visit the Eating Well Department at www.MountPleasantMagazine.com.

Story By Christina Orso

Photography By Lance and Pam Rector

Sharing is Caring

Possibly Related:

No related posts.

Filed Under: Food

Advertisement

Comments

  1. Nancy says

    October 3, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    Been there once, so please take my review in that context. The shrimp was fresh and tasty, but I was disappointed that “large” shrimp for them, at $12/pound, had more than 30/pound.

    Reply
    • Nancy says

      October 4, 2013 at 1:10 am

      Meant to add: Geechie Seafood is the company I was referring to. What they advertised versus what I received was notably different, the latter being the disappointment in size for the price.

      Reply
  2. Aisha Greene says

    March 14, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    I`m looking to purchase one to two bushels of crabs.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Nancy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search The Site

We're on Facebook We're on X (formerly Twitter) Mount Pleasant Magazine Youtube Channel We're on Pinterest Mount Pleasant Magazine Facebook Community We're on Instagram
Ad: South Carolina Federal Credit Union, enjoy life banking on the best.
Ad: Visit Woof Gang today!
Mount Pleasant Magazine Sep/Oct 2023 magazine coverREAD DIGITALLY
Read the digital magazine
now.
GRAB A COPY
Where can I pick up a copy of Mount Pleasant Magazine?
SUBSCRIBE
Get Mount Pleasant Magazine Delivered.
Ad: Premier Health and Wellness in Mount Pleasant, SC. Let’s Redesign Your Health & Wellness.
Read about the History of the Bridge Run
Visit Palmetto Christian Academy.org
Ad: 1st Choice AC, Heating, Plumbing and Gas, for the best AC Service for your home in Mount Pleasant, SC.
Pleasant Family Dentistry in Mount Pleasant, SC. Experience the BEST, and find out why we've been awarded 7 times in the BEST of MOUNT PLEASANT!
Ad: Visit Front Beach IOP and SHOP, DINE and DRINK in the SUNSHINE.
Ad: Get Carried Away - Real Food, Real Southern, Really Good!
Click for Stores & Services
on Coleman Boulevard
Coleman Blvd Merchant Alliance
Best of Mount Pleasant logo is a registered trademark
Ad: Every Day is a Good Dog Day at Michael's Barkery

Most Recent Posts

Palmetto Christian Academy Mount Pleasant’s #1 Private School 11 Years Running!

Emily Faile, Academic Counselor with Palmetto Christian Academy, sat down for a chat with host Brian Cleary. Their opening discussion revolves around why she believes the Academy was named Best … Continue Reading

Georgetown’s New Gem: The Making of The George Hotel

Get the inside story on The George Hotel, Georgetown's exciting new addition! Host Bill Macchio sits down for a compelling conversation with Christy Whitlock, a Realtor and developer with The … Continue Reading

Georgetown, SC Rising: A Look at the City’s Dramatic Growth & Downtown Revival

Join host Scott Richards and Main Street Director Al Joseph for an insightful look into the remarkable transformation sweeping across Georgetown, SC. This video dives deep into the revitalization of … Continue Reading

Front Street Georgetown

Opening Batch: Georgetown Crafts First Brewery

A craft beer fan and teacher from Cincinnati, Chase Runyan started brewing in his house by tinkering with kits and learning how to bottle the beer after fermentation. After making five or six batches … Continue Reading

Revolutionized: Georgetown’s Downtown Makeover

When the port city of Georgetown was laid out in 1729, merchant-oriented businesses and homes lined the land side of Front Street, originally called Bay Street, overlooking the sparkling Sampit River, … Continue Reading

Gold Standard: Georgetown’s Own Crowned Olympic Champion

When 23-year-old Nike athlete and Georgetown native Melissa Jefferson arrived at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June, she was determined to secure her … Continue Reading

More Front Street Georgetown

SEARCH

Get Our Free Newsletter!
Mount Pleasant Apartments
Pleasant Family Dentistry
Water's Edge Dentistry
34 Waterway Island Drive

Copyright © 2025 · Mount Pleasant Magazine, All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy

▲