By Lynn & Cele Seldon

When it comes to Isle of Palms dining, we know from personal experience that there are many tasty options. For instance, Long Island Café—and sister restaurant IOP Raw—make for a perfect Isle of Palms pairing on Palm Boule- vard any time of year, but especially in the middle of oyster season in the fall and winter, when our minds and mouths turn even more to all things briny.

These two long-time island hotspots share the same kitchen, as well as a lot of friendly veteran staff. IOP Raw is essentially an extended dining room for Long Island Café but with a separate menu and a different vibe. However, you can get items from either menu in both dining rooms (like those aforemen- tioned oysters!), which we’ve always felt was a really cool concept for two distinct restaurants.

According to Sallie Long, partner and Director of Marketing of Hickory-based owners Imagine One Hospitality, Buddy and Patty Thomas originally opened Long Island Café back in 1986. Over the course of its decades-long history, this hidden gem of a restaurant set somewhat inconspicuously within a strip mall on Isle of Palms, has been an island staple for both loyal locals and tourists alike.

In 2012, Long Island Café underwent a revitalization with new ownership (Ravi Sher, Christiana Harsch, and Michael Proetto) and added IOP Raw in 2019. In 2023, both restaurants were purchased by Imagine One Hospitality, long-time friends and loyal patrons of the restaurant (including the extended Lackey family and Sallie Long).

Long Island Café’s menu has evolved over the years, though many classic dishes remain. The offerings continue to focus heavily on seafood, emphasizing the freshest local ingredi- ents. Several new dishes and specials have been introduced since the Imagine One purchase, like Chef Wes Long’s popular almond-encrusted brie salad topped with local blueberries and shrimp, as well as many creative pasta features. The specials change regularly to keep things fresh and exciting for the kitchen, servers, and patrons.

This latest version of the island classic has been a continued success story, with Long Island Café thriving while support- ing local food producers. Their menu features seafood, pasta, American cuisine, and an array of desserts (and, as mentioned, the entire IOP Raw menu is available as well).

Long Island Café’s “vision” was expanded in 2019 when IOP Raw opened next door. Specializing in East Coast and local oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, lobster tails, and more, guests are greeted by a laid-back yet upscale raw bar with a menu that features fresh, local ingredients, and a modern twist on seafood classics.

The reimagined beverage menu includes a variety of draft beers and an extensive cocktail list, crafted with fresh ingredients and designed to suit all tastes—from sweet to spicy, classic to clean, zero-proof, and more.

With oyster season upon us, we thought we’d start with IOP Raw for our overview of the varied menus at both restaurants. The IOP Raw menu is short, but oh so sweet (and salty, as in briny). It’s divided into chilled/salads, small/apps, entrées, and seafood plates.

Chilled possibilities include peel-and-eat local shrimp (half-pound or pound), lobster tails (one, two, or
even three for the hearty New Englander types), and tuna tartare, served with addictively crispy wontons, seaweed salad, tobiko (roe), and sweet soy sauce. The small/apps list includes a chopped salad (with add-ons like fried, pan-seared, or blackened shrimp, salmon, or that dreaded chicken breast), fried grouper bites (also addictive), and ever-changing East Coast and local oysters (we love their house-made mignon- ette, by the way).

They source up and down the east coast, but South Carolina “wilds” remain their most popular. Their house oysters are sourced from Lowcountry Oyster Company and they are farmed locally year-round so they always have South Carolina oysters on the menu.

IOP Raw’s entrée options include: a popular tuna burger that features fresh-ground tuna on a toasted brioche bun, served with Asian slaw, wasabi mayo, and house-cut fries; their Spanish-style “paella,”
with Carolina Gold rice, shrimp, clams, lobster, and andouille sausage; and local littleneck clams that are skillet roasted with chorizo, crushed tomatoes, and fresh basil.

Their “Seafood Plates” are meant for sharing, with
the Shellfish Platter including a half-pound of peel- and-eat shrimp, tuna tartare, and a lobster tail; and the Shellfish Tower topping the scales with a dozen oysters, a pound of peel-and-eat shrimp, tuna tartare, and two lobster tails.

Next door at Long Island Café, popular appetizers include traditional creamy she-crab soup (served with sherry, of course); “best in the biz” (we agree) clam chowder; jumbo lump crab cakes; classic shrimp and grits; “simply fried” seafood with perfectly pickled vegetables, and crispy fried Rhode Island calamari served with buttermilk ranch and marinara dipping sauces.

Large salad choices include baby spinach, Caesar, and baby lettuce mix, with a variety of dressings (we like the warm bacon vinaigrette). They can all be topped with fried shrimp, peppered salmon, fried oysters, a crab cake, or, God forbid, a grilled chicken breast.

The list of mouthwatering sandwiches includes: a salmon BLT with basil mayo; their crab melt on an open-faced English muffin; crab “burger” on a toasted brioche bun; grilled fresh tuna; a fried flounder sandwich; a classic shrimp or oyster po boy on an Amoroso roll (of Philly fame); a grilled black angus half-pound cheeseburger and more.

Fresh seafood lunch choices are either cracker meal-breaded and lightly fried or broiled, including local flounder, wild East Coast shrimp, East Coast oysters, New Bedford sea scallops or a combination platter of two, three, or all four). “Small” servings come with a choice of one side and the “Large” order comes with two chosen sides.

The dinner menu at Long Island Café is thankfully similar to the alluring lunch menu. Their sesame-crusted tuna is a welcome app addition and it’s served perfectly rare, with soy and siracha citrus sauce as a nice foil to the tuna. The fresh seafood options are similar to lunch and served with two sides.

We love their dinner entrées, which also feature seafood, like pan-fried flounder; crab meat-crusted grouper; jumbo lump crab cakes; crab-stuffed shrimp; parmesan-crusted salmon, and more.

Meat lovers will love their eight-ounce filet mignon and the aforementioned half- pound cheeseburger, which is served with one side (all other entrées come with a choice of two sides).

There’s an anytime kid’s menu that features fried choices (think chicken fingers to var- ied seafood), sandwiches, and grilled chicken breast or salmon—all for just ten bucks each. The dessert list for kids includes a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a kid’s sundae.

Oh, and did we mention their bounteous brunch menu, which is served from 11 am to 2 pm on Sundays? Along with their great apps, salads, and sides from the lunch and dinner menus, they add a variety of egg dishes, like shrimp or lump crab meat omelets, and various creative benedicts that feature fried oysters or flounder, grilled salmon, and lump crab cakes. They also feature their fresh seafood choices from the lunch and dinner menus.

On the desserts front for both places, there are several tasty options. Peanut butter pie is a perennial favorite, but we also love their signature coconut cake and the tasty mud pie.

It’s obvious that Long Island Café and IOP Raw are owned and operated by experi- enced restauranteurs. Should you ever visit the Tarheel State, Hickory-based owner/ operator Imagine One Hospitality has a successful list of varied offerings to check out: Cafe Rule & Wine Bar, Mas Amor Cantina, Vintage House Restaurant, Cowa-Saké, and Frothy Rooster (all in Hickory), plus Peppervine in SouthPark Charlotte.

But for those living or visiting IOP, a perfect pairing awaits at Imagine One Hospitali- ty’s sister restaurants on Palm Blvd.