Established in 1985
It was a hot July day in the summer of 1953 when 14-year-old Cornelius Stapleton got dropped off on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach by way of Tennessee. On that day he had a choice to make; go back to Tennessee with his parents or strike out on his own to start his life at the beach. As you can probably guess he chose the latter and unknowingly set himself on the path to one day open one of the weirdest most iconic honky tonks on the Grand Strand. He spent his formative years during the 1950's as a rack boy in Myrtle Beach pool halls and saloons where he got tough in a hurry, fell in love with old country music and learned the art of BS. This all prepared him for the road that lay ahead. When the time came Neal was drafted and went to serve his country fighting in Vietnam. He served bravely and admirably and was sure ready to get back home to the beach after his tour of duty.
Sadly, Lee Bell passed away only a couple of short years later. That's when Neal enlisted the help of his sweet wife Pam and daughter Aimee and the iconic “Neal and Pam’s Bar and Grill” was officially born. The three spent the next 25 years laying the groundwork for the bustling hotspot that ya'll know today. Being music enthusiasts, they were the first to build a real stage in Surfside and bring authentic honky tonk music to this stretch of beach. The stage has been graced by national acts such as Faron Young and Little Anthony and the Imperials but prides itself on being a launching pad for many of the popular area bands of the last 4 decades. The stage has also been graced by YOU! Karaoke has always been a time-honored tradition for locals and tourists alike on Neal’s stage. Neal was also a fiery dedicated Gamecock fan; a tradition that carries on to this day. Over the years the bar became known as the social epicenter of Surfside. Many legendary and infamous characters have enjoyed happy hours while listening to Neal tell jokes and lies.
If you've never had a fried bologna egg sandwich with a Pabst Blue Ribbon and breakfast hangover shot while listening to live music on Sunday morning on the deck you haven't truly lived. Speaking of the deck; that's new. Zach had plans to expand the deck for years and finally got it done. The grand opening of the deck was on St. Patrick’s Day 2020. It was an epic party that was abruptly shut down by covid for the next 45 days. While quarantine was boring it wasn’t a total loss. It was during this time that Zach had a stroke of inspiration and created the “South Carolina Day Drinkers Society." I bet you can guess what he was doing when he thought of it. Since then, SCDDS has launched an expansive retail line and hosts multiple gatherings that always turn out to be momentous occasions. When the governor began permitting restaurants to sell take-out, instead of sulking at the unemployment teat the staff got back to work immediately taking to-go orders for marginal wages.
Of course, once he got home he returned to what he loved and immersed himself in the bar business. He spent the years between Vietnam and 1985 running multiple juke joints all up and down the beach. Meanwhile at 20 South Ocean Boulevard in Surfside there were two businesses operating out of the same building. One was a beach wear store and the other was a hotdog shop/beer joint called Sam's Place. Sam’s Place was being run by a nice gentleman named Rembert Baker (remember that) and his wife Lee Ann. In January 1985 Rembert and Lee Ann had a son and decided they needed to move to Greenville to be closer to family. Luckily, they found Neal Stapleton and Lee Bell to buy the business and moved to the upstate where they put down roots and raised their newborn son, Zach. The selling of “Sam's Place” and the demolition of a wall between Sam's Place and a newly vacant beach wear store gave way to the birth of Neal and Lee's Bar and Grill in the winter of 1985.
The Stapletons also prioritized giving back. They started a complimentary Thanksgiving dinner that will hopefully enjoy the 38th installment this year. It would take a novel to tell all the stories of Neal. He put twenty-five years into building a business whose impact persists to this day. In 2011 after a lifetime of hard work and good times he decided it was time to retire. That’s when he sold the business to Zach (remember the newborn from the beginning of the story?) On January 11, 2011, at the ripe old age of 25 years old, Zach took over Neal and Pam’s with no intention of making drastic changes but instead honoring tradition while making incremental improvements. Neal never really sold much food to speak of. Zach aimed to change that and began selling food...LOTS OF IT. The kitchen and bar are open from 8am-1am and feature traditional yet creative southern breakfast, lunch, and dinner. His mantra is that food doesn't have to be pretentious to be delicious and that it's more fun to eat in a bar than drink in a restaurant.
That turned out to be the right decision because when the state eased covid restrictions to allow on site dining business took off like a rocket ship to the moon. It turns out that people didn’t realize how much they missed Neal and Pam’s until they couldn’t have it anymore. The crew spent the next two years working tirelessly at developing a reputation for being the most efficient and fun team on the beach. Those efforts were awarded in 2022 when Neal and Pam’s was voted “best beach bar” by the viewers of WMBF and “best bar/tavern” on the entire grand strand by readers of the Sun News. They're still the Surfside Live Music/Karaoke and Grand Strand Gamecock Headquarters. They still host fun memorable events like the First Friday Concert series and Second Sunday Brunch. They still give back to the community, consistently remaining one of the area’s largest “toys for tots” depots, host of the annual polar plunge for rescue animals, and countless other community charitable efforts. More importantly, they're still the social epicenter of Surfside.
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YEAR ESTABLISHED
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DAYS A WEEK
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DAYS A YEARA Message from Zach
Since 1985 Neal and Pam's has only closed for Christmas Day and the occasional hurricane. That all changed when we suffered a damaging fire on the morning of July 22, 2022. We are working diligently on our rebuild and hope to get back to the business of creating joyous experiences and memories in the coming months. We would like to thank everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that has reached out with words of support and offers of assistance during this time. We take comfort in knowing that we have an entire community of local and out of town regulars behind us. We love and miss you. Never fear! The party will resume shortly!