Anthony Ludovici-DeBrigida knew he wanted to open his own pizzeria. His family had run one, and he’d been in the business for years.
Ludovici-DeBrigida contacted a real estate professional to help him and his wife find a location in the Myrtle Beach area, and the realtor found a spot in downtown Conway. The location previously housed the Pickled Cucumber restaurant that opened in 2018. However, Ludovici-DeBrigida said the owners wanted to retire, and the restaurant closed in late June 2024.
At 1129 3rd Ave, the location is in the heart of downtown Conway, and Ludovici-DeBrigida opened Anto’s Pizza Romana & Italian Market in October 2024.
“I just kind of fell in love with the location,” he added.
Ludovici-DeBrigida wasn’t the only one who became infatuated with Conway. Several new restaurants of all varieties have opened in the area recently.
In addition to Anto’s opening in October 2024, the healthy foods restaurant Bowled also opened a second location in Conway. The self-serve beer restaurant Palmetto Taps began serving drinks in downtown Conway in August 2024. The owners of River City Cafe plan to start a new restaurant in Conway, and the Myrtle Beach-based wing place Kluck It announced plans to expand into Conway.
The prevalence of restaurants in Conway represents a change from how the area looked, particularly in the downtown area. Hillary Howard is the executive director of the Conway Downtown Alliance, which tries to generate economic activity in downtown areas. Howard said that when she started in 2009, downtown had 50 empty storefronts, and the downtown alliance had to create illusion-like activities to bring life to the area.
“We did a whole campaign where we put posters of residents in all the empty storefronts to at least try to bring some activation to those storefronts,” Howard said.
At the time, Conway was more focused on bringing in tourists, which Howard said didn’t serve the area. Locals can visit daily, whereas tourists usually visit for a couple of hours one day out of their vacation. Howard said that 2017 the strategy change was more focused on locals.
Howard said three things helped bring Conway residents downtown to eat. Hurricane Florence in 2018 spurred locals to hurt eateries impacted by the storm. Construction on the Main Street Bridge in 2019 deterred locals from traveling past the Intracoastal Waterway to eat and instead dine in Conway.
Then, during the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants transitioned to curbside pick-up, and Howell said these things helped spur Conway’s burgeoning reputation as a place to eat. Now, more than 20 restaurants in the downtown area draw in patrons.
“Coming out of the pandemic, the restaurants have just not slowed down at all,” She added.
Howell claimed that the number of people dining in Conway has nearly doubled since 2021. Part of this new profile also includes events. The City of Conway hosts events year-round, with peak season during the holidays.
The goal is to have people attend an event downtown, then walk around the city and eat in one of the restaurants. This is partially achieved by limiting the number of food trucks and similar vendors who would take competition away from area restaurants.
“A lot of folks don’t realize that our entire core downtown fits in the same footprint of a Walmart,” Howard added. “If you’re willing to park at Walmart, I walk to the back and get your milk; you’re not walking any further than you are in downtown.”
The restaurants also help local businesses by drawing people to dine and then perusing downtown shops. Russell Fowler co-owns The Haberdashery Gentlemen’s Clothiers, Her Dashery and Black Water Market in Conway.
Fowler is a Conway native who’s been in operation for 36 years and said the downtown’s rebranding as a dining destination for locals helped invigorate the area after shopping malls and other large retail outlets drew businesses and locals away.
He added that locals visit restaurants before walking to one of the storefronts afterward to shop.
“There’s a lot of synergy in Conway because even though there are a lot of different types of food, we’re all kind of on the same page as far as the clientele that we’re reaching out for,” Fowler added. “Four or five friends will come over here and spend the day in Conway, shopping, eating, and just enjoying the ambiance of the downtown. That’s just the type of person that we gear to.”
And more restaurants could open in Conway to draw more diners in. Howell said that the area could use a seafood restaurant. She added a small plate, and a bourbon restaurant and steakhouse might also be nearby.
Howell added that the area’s restaurant industry will continue to expand as long as Conway’s gets bigger.
“Right now, population, growth, I mean, it’s through the roof,” Howell said. “Until we see that plateau, we’re still going to see the introduction of restaurants that we all really would like.”
The Sun News
Ben Morse is the Retail and Leisure Reporter for The Sun News. Morse covers local business and Coastal Carolina University football and was awarded third place in the 2023 South Carolina Press Association News Contest for sports beat reporting and second place for sports video in the all-daily division. Morse previously worked for The Island Packet, covering local government. Morse graduated from American University in 2023 with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism and economics and is originally from Prospect, Kentucky.