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Lee's
Inlet Kitchen is almost 60 years old! It's unheard of
in this area for a restaurant to be operated by the same
family in the same location for that long. In fact, Lee's
is the only one of the original Murrells Inlet restaurants
still being operated by the original family.
Click
here to view our Photos!
Pearl and Eford Lee, originally from Horry's Cool Springs
area, moved to Murrells Inlet in the 1940's. Pearl worked
at Garden City Grill as a waitress. Eford worked with
the Army Corp of Engineers building the Intercoastal waterway
and taking any odd jobs he could find, often searching
out of state, to support his family of 5 children. The
couple managed Lokey's cafe, later Wayside, then Charlie
White's, before opening Lee's Inlet Kitchen in a converted
country store. The small store had room for only 10 tables,
and Pearl and Alzata Lee were the only 2 waitresses at
opening.
Their son Bill later took over in the 60's and ran the
restaurant until his mother's death in 1983. His oldest
daughter Kelly, and her husband Dexter Dorman, took over
and have been running the restaurant since then. The
restaurant has been enlarged 6 times. |
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We
have been lucky to "inherit" a lot of the staff
that we have now. They are like family, and in fact, many
are family: my great aunt Alzata Lee still works with
us, as well as her daughter and 2 other cousins.
The nicest thing about the restaurant business is the
people you work with and the customers you see year after
year, many of which have been coming to Lee's from the
beginning. We have people tell us all the time that they
sat in a high chair here and now they bring their children
in high chairs!
We know how hard my grandparents worked in the beginning
to build up the business that we're grateful for today.
Alzata tells us they were open every day except Christmas,
and sat here many a night with no customers. A business
card was found in the attic where they lived with their
children before they could afford to build a house, and
the hours on the card were 6am to 11pm! We are proud to
use the same recipes that they did and prepare the seafood
in the traditional Murrells Inlet style that people tell
us they can't find anywhere else.
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