ELA'S On the Water

The short ribs were supposed to have red eye gravy and it did. It. Still good , yet dry . Service was excellent and atmosphere is always special .

All 6 meals were poorly cooked. We sent 2 of them back and they made no accommodation. An Awful Easter Brunch. What a shame a beautiful location but poor food and service.

Just a great restaurant. Great location, service, ambiance, and outstanding food!
Lobster, an diver scallops outstanding.

Everything was excellent. Salmon and short rib dishes were perfectly prepared. Our server was very knowledgeable. After our meal, we stayed for live music at the bar. A wonderful start to our first vacation in HH.

Very good but pricey.

The food & drinks were absolutely delicious! Beautiful view and excellent service. The lobster was everything. Will definitely be back next time we visit for sure!!!

Good: great water views and very nice location.

Not so good : food was below average especially given the price. Service was perfunctory at best.

Would not recommend.

Soft shell crab was the star of dinner

Beautiful day on the covered deck. View of the boats. Far to reach if you park near Shelter Cove entrance. Go way left to park and save yourself the hike. Salmon sandwich is delicious.

A mix of quaintness and modern. Good for a romantic date. Delicious food

We’ve always enjoyed coming here—especially for Sunday brunch. The view is wonderful, with outside seating options, lovely piano bar and good food and service— in the past. I had read some negative reviews before going and had hoped their issues had been addressed. While we were there the place was virtually empty. Should’ve been my first clue. We not only had poor service for the most part, and the food was just awful. Everything I ordered was way over cooked and too salty. Waiter did not return until end of the meal (and we had to get his attention) and by then we just wanted out of there. I’ve since heard they’ve opened a couple of other restaurants in other locations, so maybe they just spread themselves too thin. I’ve seen this happen with other restaurants. Too bad. Great location. Marking it off our list. Too many other wonderful restaurants in Hilton Head to settle for less.

Excellent view and ambience but the service staff was a little gruff which left us cold. Food was good but not as spectacular as it has been in the past. Plantings on outside entrance were dead and dried out. Appears that less attention is being paid to details than on prior occasions we have visited. Perhaps this is why they were less busy than on our prior visits

Service & experience were terrible... long wait for everything, despite having made reservations. Table, apps, drinks, main course all had very long lulls in between. Staff was very inattentive and apathetic. Few GF options. Food itself was expensive and not great. View was nice, but not worth the price. We went for my husband’s birthday and the celebration was not great. Would not go back again!

Great restaurant!

Loved our server, Lilly! She was attentive, welcoming & knowledgeable. That made for a lovely evening!

Grouper was hard, overcooked and needed a knife to eat Staff did nothing but offer a replacement entree. Management did not contact our table. This was our fourth here and we were very pleased previously; now we will likely not return.

Paul Lang

We were treated to one of the most amazing dinners we have ever had. We started with a very nice Sancerre, that complimented the most delicious calamari. We both had fish dishes ( Grouper and the Flounder special) and both were outstanding. We finished with Key Lime pie.
A wonderful view along with a wonderful meal!!!

We always enjoy the dinner experience

I don't think that they know what they are doing. Service was terrible, main dishes were under average. It is definitely not a fine dining

Beautiful location with very attentive staff and great food!

A little expensive but a treat for special occasions due to the excellent food and service

Would not go back. Wait staff and other personnel were snobbish. Only place in Hilton Head that was not welcoming and certainly not representative of southern hospitality. The food was very good, but not good enough to have us return and be treated by a group looking down their noses at us. Silly.

Wonderful food,ambience and service in a beautiful setting

This was a very mixed experience. Nice place to be sure. The food was very good. The service left a lot to be desired. We were seated and served and then ignored. The food (appetizer and meal) was very slow in coming. I think they got a lot busier than they were prepared for - which isn't saying much -- we sat outside and did not notice an unusually high influx of people inside. They need practice. Given what we paid for the meal -- in the context of service, this was not a good value.

Very nice and excellent food, however the server was more like a drill sargent- very direct and to the point. It detracted from our overall experience.

Great food, great service, and great location!! I highly recommend!!

This was a very disappointing trip to ELA’S after many great meals. We sat outside and the weather was just perfect. We both ordered the caprese salad or their version of it. It was not good....hardly any mozzarella cheese, hardly any balsamic, and the tomatoes were just ok. Very bland. I ordered the tuna two ways. The tuna was not good grade, very fatty, and the seared tuna was served cold and very overdone. My husband got the blackened red fish and it was very charred, dry, and a very small portion for the price...$36! Our waitress was lovely and kind, so we didn’t tip her according to the meal as it was not her fault. We won’t eat there again because there are far too many fabulous restaurants on Hilton Head.

This was our “last night out” which we choose at random, following an afternoon of golf. As the $ were only 2, we figured golf clothes wouldn’t be too bad....it was much nice than that, although the prices were reasonable and -thank goodness! -because most everyone else is on vacation as well- we didn’t feel out of place. We loved our food choices, the ambience, the wait staff (who were very prompt, but not pushy). All in all, we place this restaurant on our ‘to return to’ list. Thanks!!

Very good once we were seated in the right place. The hostess tried to put my husband and and myself in a dark corner with no view. I said no, then she took us to a table with a beautiful view of the water.
I don't get it. I won't go back

Ambiance great. Usually food is great. We waited nearly an hour from ordering for entree
To arrive. As did tables around us. May have been an off nite (Thurs)

If you have money to burn and time to waste you will be happy..

Very disappointed in our dinner.. the service was poor and SO slow. When we complained we were greeted with a defensive and condescending manager. The only reason I gave one star was that the food WAS very good (except for the steak that came out raw and was sent back).
The service is what left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I really wish I had taken the time to read the other reviews that echoed my sentiments,prior to eating here tonight.

Excellent menu with a variety of options for every taste. Food well prepared and presented. Service was outstanding. Wine list was quite complete and priced as expected. View of Shelter Cove Marina completed a wonderful visual setting for our dinner.

We were there for our Anniversary and treated to a glass of Prosecco each. Had a wonderful view of Broad Creek where we could watch the kayakers. The food was wonderful. Highly recommend the Pan Seared Diver Scallops and the Seafood Scampi Bucatini. The service was excellent, Lily checked a few times to see if everything was okay, but not too often as to be annoying. Would definitely recommend to anyone for a wonderful evening meal.

Great views, service was perfect and food was great!

Our last night on Hilton Head until next year. Everything was great from the ease of making reservations on Open Table to the venue, our waiter and the food. See you next spring! I have already put a hurray in TripAdvisor

Had a nice meal at Ela’s. Our first time here. Food was excellent. Ambience was nice. A little pricey but not terrible for HHI. We’d definitely come back and look to sit outside, it was a little too chilly the night we were there.

Delicious and relaxing atmosphere. Service was excellent

The service was awful - we were not greeted for over 10 minutes upon arrival. We then ordered an appetizer and entrees. Two entrees were delivered but my husband did not receive his food and our appetizer never arrived. It took over 15 minutes for the third entree and at that point everyone’s food was cold. I also asked about the appetizer and there was no explanation or apology. Skip this as we have great restaurants on the Island and you do not gave to tolerate poor service.

Sat inside at a window overlooking the marina. Very nice. Food service was slow. Some meals had overcooked veggies others very under cooked. In general food okay but expensive.

Beautiful place, gorgeous views, cozy dining and fantastic food. Dress casual.