Where Locals Eat on Hilton Head Island
Visitors have plenty of choices when deciding where to eat on Hilton Head Island
If you’re looking for a local Hilton Head restaurant where a great bagel, a classic bacon, egg, and cheese, hand-sliced pastrami, or a bowl of matzo ball soup feels right at home, pull up a chair.
Gruby’s New York Deli has been a familiar part of the Hilton Head Island restaurant scene for decades, serving authentic New York-style breakfast and lunch in a casual neighborhood deli setting. Locals stop in for their usual. Seasonal residents return when they’re back on the island. Visitors often discover Gruby’s while searching for something beyond the typical resort or vacation dining experience.
A Hilton Head Deli With New York Roots
Gruby’s brings the feel and flavors of a classic New York deli to Hilton Head Island.
That means breakfast doesn’t need to be complicated. A fresh bagel with cream cheese and a hot cup of coffee can do the trick. A bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll makes a pretty good start to the morning, too.
Lunch is where the deli counter really gets to work. Corned beef, pastrami, Reubens, homemade soups, traditional deli favorites, and generously stacked sandwiches have made Gruby’s a regular lunch stop for people who appreciate the real thing. It’s familiar food served without a lot of fuss, and that’s a big part of the appeal.
Breakfast Like a Hilton Head Local
Some mornings call for a leisurely breakfast. Others call for something hot, filling, and fast enough to get you out the door and on with your day. Gruby’s serves both.
The Hilton Head breakfast menu includes fresh bagels, egg sandwiches, omelets, pancakes, French toast, smoked fish selections, and plenty of New York deli favorites. One of the classics is the BEC, New York shorthand for bacon, egg, and cheese. Order it on a Kaiser roll, bagel, or toast, and you’ve got the kind of straightforward breakfast that has fueled New Yorkers for generations.
Looking for something more substantial? Try a deli-style omelet, bagels with smoked salmon, or one of Gruby’s hearty breakfast combinations. For more ideas, take a look at our guide to finding the best breakfast on Hilton Head Island.
A Real New York Deli Lunch on Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head may be surrounded by water, but lunch doesn’t always have to mean seafood. Sometimes you want pastrami.
Gruby’s Hilton Head lunch menu is built around the New York deli classics that are increasingly difficult to find outside the city. Think hot pastrami and corned beef, Reubens, turkey, roast beef, chopped liver, potato pancakes, knishes, homemade soups, and sandwiches stacked the way a deli sandwich should be.
Then there’s the matzo ball soup. For longtime deli fans, many of these dishes need no introduction. For everyone else, Gruby’s is a good place to find out why generations of New Yorkers have been so particular about their delis.
What Do the Regulars Order?
Ask a table of Gruby’s regulars what to order, and you probably won’t get the same answer twice. Some come in knowing exactly which bagel they want. Others have their breakfast sandwich order down to the details. At lunchtime, loyalties might be divided between corned beef, pastrami, a Reuben, chopped liver, or a favorite specialty sandwich.
That variety is part of what makes a neighborhood deli different from a typical breakfast or lunch restaurant. You can stop in several times a week without having to eat the same thing twice. Of course, plenty of regulars do exactly that. Once you find your order, changing it can be surprisingly difficult.
The Kind of Place You Find Once and Keep Coming Back To
Gruby’s isn’t about creating a special-occasion dining experience. It’s about being the kind of place you can come back to again and again. That matters on Hilton Head Island.
Year-round residents have their favorite local restaurants. Second-home owners settle back into familiar routines when they return. Snowbirds spending the winter on Hilton Head Island start finding their own regular stops. Even vacationers staying for a week often want to get away from the tourist trail and find the places island residents actually know.
Gruby’s fits comfortably into all of those routines. Come in after your morning walk, stop by before golf, meet someone for lunch, or grab sandwiches to go. No special occasion required.
Looking for Where Locals Eat on Hilton Head? Start With Gruby’s
Gruby’s New York Deli is conveniently located at 890 William Hilton Parkway in the Fresh Market Shoppes on the south end of Hilton Head Island.
There are plenty of great places to eat on Hilton Head Island, and part of the fun of being here is finding your favorites. If you’re searching for a casual Hilton Head breakfast or lunch spot with authentic New York deli roots, Gruby’s is worth adding to your list.
Come for a fresh bagel and coffee. Try the BEC. Order the pastrami or corned beef. Get the matzo ball soup everyone keeps telling you about. Then come back and order your favorite again!