It wasn’t long ago that the name King Kong brought about thoughts of big scary apes to Carolina Forest residents. However, over the past few years, the name has become known around town as one of the top spots for sushi on the Grand Strand.
The restaurant will celebrate its third anniversary Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. with a customer appreciation party that will feature including a wine tasting (5 to 8 p.m), a free pour (10 p.m. to midnight), live music and 33 percent off anything on the newly-revamped menu.
“Myrtle Beach has been really great to us, and it’s because we’ve been lucky to do well enough that we can have a chance to do something like this and give a little back to our customers,” said Mark Godaire, General Manager of the Carolina Forest location.
Godaire says that while business did slow down during the height of the country’s economic woes, King Kong’s growth has been pretty steady.
“We did hit a slow spot about a year and a half ago, but the, the last 7-8 months it’s been constantly rising,” he said.
Godaire feels that it’s nice to be able to take one night a year to celebrate and get back to King Kong’s party roots.
“We used to be a big college bar when we first opened. We had a pretty lengthy late night crowd and did more of this type of thing,” he says. “Now we try to focus on the restaurant and let Broadway be more of the bar and party scene. That’s kinda what we evolved into, where we focus on families and being a place for college students to go before they go out.”
Though the party will kick off in time for happy hour, the entertainment will span into latenight territory as local rock band Willhite performs from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
“They’re great and really popular around Myrtle Beach. Between playing Senor Frogs every weekend and Handley’s almost every Wednesday they’ve got a good following,” said Godaire.
In addition, Might As Well, 3505 S.C. 544 Overpass, Conway, will host an afterparty with popular Coastal Carolina band 3 Weeks Notice playing into the wee hours of Friday morning.
“We teamed up with Eric, the owner, who used to work here at King Kong,” said Godaire. “He gets the college crowd and we get a little of it so we wanted to work together.”
Find King Kong or Might As Well on Facebook.