Evolving With the Island

Frank’s Restaurant & Bar and Frank’s Outback

by Denise K. James

In the 1940s, Frank Marlow opened a small grocery store and gas station in the seaside resort of Pawleys Island. Marlow’s Supermarket sold the usual assortment of items typical for a grocery store, as well as freshly butchered cuts of meat. Frank’s mother lived in the little house at the back of the store — a hallmark of a family business in those days — and Frank and his wife, Faye, both hard-working business owners, were acquainted with everyone on the island, including a high school student named Salters McClary who cheerfully bagged the groceries. Decades later, this high school employee would become the successful restaurateur of Frank’s and Frank’s Outback, preserving a historic piece of Pawleys Island in a way that keeps longtime fans and newcomers visiting year after year.

Evolving From History

Open since 1988, Frank’s Restaurant and Bar is the result of a conversation between old friends over cold beers. Salters had just married his wife, Elizabeth, and was working in management at the nearby DeBordieu Club. Frank was turning 65 and musing on his retirement. Suddenly, a brilliant plan struck Salters – he would lease the building from his friend and open an upscale restaurant.

According to Elizabeth McClary, her husband didn’t have restaurant experience at that time, though both of them had business sense — degrees in finance and accounting for her and economics for him — and Salters felt confident he could base a successful restaurant upon his own sense of delicious food, great service and inviting atmosphere. “He’d dined at plenty of restaurants, knew what he liked and knew he could build from that,” Elizabeth said.

Sure enough, the original iteration of Frank’s was successful as soon as it opened. It was open for lunch and dinner in the early days, until the McClary family began growing in the 1990s and the busy couple decided that “people came for one meal or the other, and they would rather have them for dinner,” as Elizabeth said. By that point, Frank’s Outback,

an addition to the original Frank’s, had been open since 1992 to offer more accommodations to the ever-growing group of diners who adored the restaurant. Piece by piece, the Mc- Clarys continued adding on to their outdoor seating with deck space – which, of course, beckoned more guests who love the Lowcountry – until 2020, when the most recent “Way Back” bar was added.

I toured the different restaurant areas with the McClarys before supper, and I could immediately see why everyone who visits savors the atmosphere. Twinkling lights, lush vegetation, comfy seating, coverage from the elements, lively bar scenes and a surprisingly low number of creepy-crawlies — y’all, not one mosquito or fly bothered me the entire time – are among the reasons for dining outdoors at Frank’s. Meanwhile, the original building’s interior is elegant and cozy, and the added buildings offer plentiful space, as well as private dining options. Salters McClary himself built much of the establishment – the Outback and Way Back bars, as well as some of the furniture. Old photographs featuring Frank Marlow, his family and the storefront of his supermarket pay homage to the restaurant’s origins and showcase its rich history to guests and employees.

Food to Keep Crowds Coming Back The evening I dined at Frank’s, Salters escorted me to a table, brought me a customized gin and basil cocktail – which was delicious – and regaled me with tales of old Pawleys Island. “In those days, five minutes would go by without a single car on the highway,” he reminisced. “You could almost play baseball in the middle of the street. Now, we no longer have a season. And we’re full every single night.”

I tried my best to concentrate on everything my gracious host was saying, but as the food started arriving, this task became more difficult. First, the colorful Seared Tuna Bowl graced the table, followed soon by their wildly popular Homemade Jalapeno Pimento Cheese – also sold at nearby grocery stores, like Lowes Foods – then the Grilled Trio of Lamb Chops, juicy and tender, and finally (as if I weren’t stuffed) the wood-fired Pizza Alla American, worth making a bit more room for a perfectly crafted slice. “My favorite thing on our menu is the pizza,” Elizabeth McClary admitted. “It’s quick and easy and good!”

“I like the duck,” Salters added. “And the conch, which isn’t on the menu tonight but will be again soon.”

While my own dinner was exceptional, there’s much more to explore on the menus — which is why I’m already plotting my return to Pawleys Island and to Frank’s. Regulars who love Frank’s are apt to order mainstay entrees, such as Grouper, Salters’ favorite Duck Two Ways – served with a pan-roasted breast plus confit — and Oven Roasted New Zealand Rack of Lamb. For grazers, the small plates menu, added to the Frank’s family about a decade ago, offers favorites such as my Lamb Trio, four ounces of Grilled Local Mahi and other modestly portioned dishes.

Frank’s Chop House Menu, introduced about five years ago, is another welcome addition, featuring juicy cuts of beef: a 16-ounce prime New York Strip, a 12-0unce certified angus New York strip, an 8-ounce prime filet and a 20-ounce bone-in Cowboy ribeye. “These are served a la carte so that people can order sides and share,” Elizabeth noted. “It’s been extremely popular.”

The cocktails, wine selections and craft beers change more often than food does, the owners pointed out — guests of Frank’s are eager for new libations but want to pair them with their favorite dishes. Elizabeth and Salters enjoy picking out the restaurant wine list together, often attending wine tastings “blindly” so they aren’t biased on their selections. “We won’t know where it’s from or anything like that so we can decide if we really like it that way,” Salters commented.

A Family Business

Then and Now The whole McClary family is willing to pitch in and keep Frank’s running smoothly, with the three children, now grown and in their 20s, close enough to Pawleys Island to help out with the booming business. Elizabeth reported she and her husband are “there together six days a week, all day long,” while the kids are typically around on weekends, giving attention to their own careers during the workweek. The McClary daughters excel in “almost any position,” according to their proud parents – anything from administrative tasks to social media management to greeting guests in a friendly manner. “All three of our daughters have worked here, and Emory’s boyfriend has even pitched in with working the pizza oven,” Salters shared. “And all three of our daughters are back in the area.”

In fact, the night I visited Frank’s, Elizabeth McClary herself was working in the kitchen. “I get the plates together, put food on the plates, get the plates onto the correct trays and give them to the servers,” she said. “I love this business, although the years since the pandemic have been more challenging,” Salters admitted a moment later. “Last summer, we all stayed here until after midnight washing dishes — me, my wife, my daughter and her boyfriend. It’s a testament to how hard this family works to keep this establishment perfect.”

As my idyllic evening at Frank’s concluded, I watched Salters box up my (very plentiful) leftovers, and I complimented him on performing such a modest task as the owner of the business.

“I believe that showing someone how to do something is better than just telling them,” he replied with a knowing smile. “If you tell someone to do something, be able to show them how to do it yourself.”