Old Town Bluffton restaurant updates its menu to include more dishes from this area

The Cottage Cafe, Bakery and Tea Room recently revamped its menu with more of a focus on fresh and local ingredients.

About 15 new dishes have been added to the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus for the Old Town restaurant, said owner Leslie Rohland.

"I think it is important to keep it interesting and stay up with the trends," she said. "I wanted to utilize the May River and all the cool stuff we get from it, including the red fish, crab and oysters."

Rohland goes a little further than just adding fresh seafood to the menu. She has started working with local farms to use seasonal ingredients.

"I am already using a lot of local, but I wanted to make more of a presence," Rohland said.

New menu items include an Island Scramble with shrimp, avocado, tomato and mozzarella and a Rainbow Salad with chicken breast, tomato, carrots, corn, avocado, blueberry, radish, walnuts and a raspberry vinaigrette.

The lunch menu ranges in price from $12.95 for a Corned Beef and Swiss sandwich to $22.95 for Cajun the May with blackened shrimp, oysters and crab over cheese grits with cornbread.

The dinner menu will be completely wiped clean in a few weeks, Rohland said.

It will revolve based on what is fresh.

"It is going to be full of ingredients from the area," she said. "I have some heirloom recipes that I am working with right now."

Some staples have been left on the menu for loyal fans of the restaurant, Rohland said. This includes shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and gumbo.

The restaurant is at 38 Calhoun St.

It is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Early bird dinners are from 5 to 5:45 p.m. and dinner is from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, call 843-757-0508.

This story was originally published May 10, 2018 at 8:40 AM with the headline "Old Town Bluffton restaurant updates its menu to include more dishes from this area."