We asked, you voted: Your favorite Lake Murray restaurant is this waterfront gem

The anchor may be rusty, but it apparently shines bright for readers of The State.

The Rusty Anchor restaurant, located on the waterfront at 1925 Johnson Marina Road in Chapin, recently emerged victorious in the The State’s 2022 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. Readers were asked to vote for their favorite lakefront eatery among a dozen restaurants selected by the paper’s staff.

Nearly 5,000 votes were cast during the late July poll and, when the smoke cleared, Rusty Anchor came away with a leading 31% of the votes. It outlasted second-place finisher Liberty Tap Room on the Lake, as well as third-place finisher Buffalo Creek Bar and Grill and fourth-place finisher Highway 378 Bar and Grill, among a number of others. Catfish Johnny’s, a separate-but-associated restaurant that is located right next door to Rusty Anchor, finished fifth in the poll.

I’ll make a sheepish confession to you: Until this poll came about, I had never been to the Rusty Anchor. Despite the fact I’ve lived in Lexington County, not far at all from Lake Murray, for nearly a decade, the lake just hasn’t been a big focal point for my family. Oh sure, we’ve done some things at the lake, as most Midlands residents have at one point or other. Watched the fireworks on Fourth of July weekend, gone paddle boarding, walked the Dreher Shoals Dam (I mean, what a view). But we certainly aren’t “lake people,” by any stretch.

After the Rusty Anchor won the paper’s recent poll, my wife and I decided to head out there for dinner on a Friday night, and I’ll admit I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. With a name like Rusty Anchor, my mind wandered to the rough hewn Barnacle bar in the 1985 John Candy classic comedy, “Summer Rental.” (I promise this is the only reference to “Summer Rental” you will read in the Midlands media today.)

What we found, however, was a charming dining experience that easily explained the Rusty Anchor’s victory in the paper’s recent poll.

The restaurant, with its finished wood trimmings, high ceilings and nautical decor, was crowded and buzzing, with an unmistakable Friday night feeling in the air. Music from a live band playing next door at Catfish Johnny’s was the ambient soundtrack for the evening, and at one point they played Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” which all bar bands are seemingly required to do by federal law.

The crowd was a mix of families, retirees, sunburned boaters and date night couples, all looking for a hot meal and some cold libations as they gazed upon the lake.

The Rusty Anchor’s menu is dotted with a solid selection of seafood, steaks, sandwiches, burgers, salads and more. We led things off with an appetizer of jalapeno cheese dip with tortilla chips. I had stepped outside to speak to a friend when the appetizer arrived, and my wife beckoned me back to the table with a text message that said simply “gallon of cheese dip.” It wasn’t actually a gallon, but it was plentiful, spicy and delicious.

For dinner I opted for the steak and shrimp combo, which included a 6-ounce sirloin and seven fried shrimp served with a zesty cocktail sauce, along with loaded mashed potatoes.

Look, I realize shrimp are more of a saltwater coast delicacy, but I think you have to enjoy a bit of seafood when you are eating by the water on a Friday night, even if it is at the lake. Those are just the rules, OK? Either way, the fried shrimp at Rusty Anchor were crispy and flavorful and made a perfect pairing with the sirloin. I washed the whole thing down with an ice cold (almost polar) Miller Lite, and I can promise you it was a good start to the weekend.

While I was very late to the game in dining at the Rusty Anchor, I’m guessing I’ll be charting a course to the waterfront restaurant more often.

The Rusty Anchor is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.