SANTEE, S.C.

It’s early morning and the
crowds have long left Coasters
and Spinners, this town’s twin
entertainment venue where
visitors can double their
pleasure on one visit.

At the front of the one storey
complex is Coasters, an
eclectic restaurant whose
interior design is a mixture of
beach party fun and cowboy
brash. At the back of the
building is Spinners, a
gentleman’s club where the
lights are always dim and the
atmosphere always electrifying.
One man oversees this empire
of fun – John Casey, the
athletic-looking man we see
bouncing around the restaurant
area cleaning empty beer
glasses, straightening chairs
and tables and making sure
the place is ready for the daily onslaught of hungry patrons.

“Being the owner only means you work harder,” said the likeable Casey who runs Spinners and Coasters with the help of his attractive wife Kathy.“Mornings are always busy around here – we have a lot to do before the customers arrive,” said Casey, who took a few minutes to talk about his restaurant, which is recognized as the No. 2 dining spot in Santee behind the posh Clark’s, located a few miles down the road.

Coasters is the complete opposite of Clark’s. No white tablecloths here. Coasters is a place that invites its clients to relax amid the blare of country music and its kitschy decor that includes mounted fish and other down home memorabilia hanging from the walls and rafters. It’s the place to be seen in the golf season and the clients are more than willing to wait up to 20 minutes for a table in the 150-seat establishment, which has become a Santee landmark.

Casey attracts golfers with $2 tumblers of ice-cold beer during Happy Hour and large portions of food that stretch your stomach and your dollar.“Those golfers are great people,” said Casey. “They come here (Santee) to have some fun and we supply it.”

Good times and good food are always high on a golfer’s priority list and Coasters and Spinners supply both. The fact the restaurant and club are within walking distance of
many local hotels just adds to their
popularity with the golf set. Coasters’
menu features southern dishes like
fried alligator, seafood gumbo, live
lobster, blackened shrimp, pecan
crusted sea bass, grits, fried seafood
platters and something called the Jack
Daniels steak – the house specialty.
“Come back tonight and have the Jack
Daniels. You won’t be disappointed,”
said a confident Casey as he wiped the
restaurant’s long mahogany bar before
disappearing to the back.

After completing another enjoyable
round at a Santee golf course – this one
charming Lake Marion – we took Casey
up on his suggestion and returned to
Coasters to sample the Jack Daniels –
and the steak. The charming server –
Coasters’ staff are some of the
friendliest in the business – arrived with
the 2-inch cut of prime beef floating in
a Jack Daniels demi glaze that was as
sweet as a southern accent. The meat
was fork-tender and prepared perfectly.

Casey arrived after we downed the last
bit of meat and sponged up the final
specks of delectable sauce with some
bread and asked for our culinary
opinion. My partner and I brought a
wide smile to Casey’s face with our
verdict that this was the finest steak we had ever enjoyed.
“Good,” said Casey over the off-tone tunes coming from the karaoke stage – a popular fixture with golfers who like to entertain each other during the evening hours at Coasters.“Now go to Spinners and enjoy the entertainment,” insisted Casey.

The entrance to Spinners is at the back of the property, where a young beauty named Sabrina welcomed us with open arms. The entertainers at Spinners are beauty-pageant worthy and their charming dispositions make this a fun place to hang out at the bar. Just be careful the entertainers don’t step on you.

Casey’s latest promotion to lure customers is a ‘Coyote Ugly’ bar dance featuring the lovely Kitty, Sagebrush, Dusty and other members of the club who wear cowboy attire as part of the act. Many of the entertainers know the golfers on a first-name basis.
“People like coming back to Santee because everyone remembers you – everyone here treats you like a friend,” said Casey, who arrived in Spinners through a back door that connects it with Coasters.

Sabrina, Kitty, Sagebrush and Dusty agreed the golfers were their most loyal and favorite clients.“The golfers are, for the most part, a fun crowd – very respectful. They enjoy our acts and our conversation. We tell them some things about the area they never knew,” said Kitty, one of the managers at Spinners.

The club features a wheel of fortune near the bar and when customers spin it, they hope it lands on the spot where the girls treat you to a drink in a barber’s chair. Hey, in a place where they let their hair down – not to mention their clothes – what else would you expect?

“Come on,” said Sagebrush and Dusty. “You’ve won a trip to the chair.”
A few seconds later, the chair was placed in the horizontal position, Kitty was sitting on my lap pouring a shot of liquor down my throat and Sagebrush was rubbing the back of my neck. Who needs to win a lottery when you can spin the wheel at Spinners and be treated like a millionaire?

“This is all good, clean fun and the people who come here are just looking for some laughs,” said Casey, whose wife Kathy insisted we take a few souvenir T-shirts home with us. Unfortunately, the entertainers weren’t in them.

Coasters and Spinners are located at 9135 Old No. 6 Highway in Santee. The restaurant is opened from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. but the bar portion of the restaurant stays open longer. Spinners stays open late. Information: 803 854 9955.











_________________________________________________________________________________

GOLF-SOUTH.NET