Beach Blog Restaurant Spotlight: River Room Restaurant
By Christina Lee Knauss
For 25 years, the River Room Restaurant on Front Street in Georgetown has been the home of excellent food served in an atmosphere of down-home comfort.
"When we first got into business, the goal was to create a restaurant where anybody would feel comfortable," said Sally Swineford, co-owner of the restaurant with husband Sid Swineford. "Sid wanted it to be casual, for the décor to be rustic and reflect the history of the building itself."
The River Room's first location was a 48-seat venue down the block from 1984-88. Then, the Swinefords were able to buy the two buildings at their current location, renovate and combine them to create the River Room of today.
The current building used to be Cottingham's Shoe Store, and before that was a dry goods and grocery store dating back to the 19th century.
The Swinefords have turned this historic building into a warm, casually elegant venue that has instant appeal for everyone from vacationing couples to young families and large groups. The interior is done in warm, rich wooden paneling, and the building's original heart pine floors and intricate, period ceilings are incorporated into the décor.
Sid Swineford points out framed newspapers located along the walls in the restaurant's front passage. The papers - found in the building's attic during renovation - include old issues of the New York Times which picture sailing regattas, yacht races and other events in 19th-century and early 20th-century Georgetown.
Diners sit at wooden tables polished to a high shine - some of them crafted by Sid Swineford himself. The River Room takes full advantage of its unimpeded view along the Sampit River with a row of large picture windows that face out directly onto the river, and offer diners a view of both boat and pedestrian traffic.
"We wanted to maximize our location right here in the historic district," Sally Swineford said.
Chef Joe O'Hara has been offering up delicious, Southern-style cuisine with a distinct coastal flair at the River Room since 1989. The restaurant is perhaps best known for its shrimp and grits, served on a toasted English muffin with smoked sausage and tasso ham ($7.95). Other popular dishes include shrimp creole on white rice ($6.95), fried oyster or fried shrimp sandwiches (served on a sesame seed hoagie, $8.95), and the pecan chicken salad, served with apples and grapes ($7.95).
The menu features a wide variety of other salads, sandwiches, entrees and seafood dishes. Local seafood is used as much as possible, with locally caught grouper and tuna being some of the most popular dishes.
For the young ones, children's portions of fried shrimp, fish or chicken fingers are available.
The restaurant also uses as many other local products as possible, including stone-ground yellow grits from Johnsonville.
Popular desserts include the New Orleans bread pudding with bourbon cream sauce, sautéed pound cake and an assortment of pies including peanut butter, mud and key lime.
The River Room offers a full bar and strong wine list that includes many domestic wines as well as offerings from Austria, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. The Swinefords taste new wines nearly every week and are always adding new ones to the list.
Sally Swineford said that one of the best things about being a fixture along the Georgetown waterfront is the diversity of the River Room's clientele. Diners include everyone from locals to day-trippers from around the Carolinas, tour groups and boaters who tie up at the nearby public docks.
"We get a lot of repeat customers who come here year after year," she said. "We've been here so long that now we're seeing children of our original bus boys who have grown up and are coming in to sit at the bar."
To learn more, visit www.riverroomgeorgetown.com.
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