{"id":945,"date":"2026-06-04T10:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:37:12","slug":"who-came-out-on-top-of-the-states-lake-murray-restaurant-poll-meet-the-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945","title":{"rendered":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Tuna swam to the top.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft, located at 1345 Old Chapin Road in Lexington, recently was crowned the winner of The State\u2019s 2026 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. The unscientific poll ran on the paper\u2019s website from May 21-27, and readers were asked to vote for their favorite restaurant on or near Lake Murray from a list of 16 places selected by The State\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=943\">Who\u2019s running in state House primaries in Richland County &amp; what are their views?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>More than 13,800 votes were cast in the poll, and in the end Big Tuna\u2019s finished first with 52% of the votes. San Jose &amp; Marina, located at 3340 Highway 378 in Leesville, finished second with 38% of the votes, and Irmo\u2019s Tavern on 6 finished third with 6%.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft has been operating at 1345 Old Chapin Road for about six years. Owner Jeff Butler, who has been in the restaurant business for more than four decades, formerly operated Baja Broiler at that same location for a number of years.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Butler said he was thrilled that Big Tuna\u2019s fans logged so many votes in the recent restaurant poll.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat meant a lot to me.,\u201d Butler said. \u201cI could have retired a while back, but I don\u2019t because I love it. To see that (poll victory), in a people\u2019s choice kind of thing, to me that\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The restaurant, which operates not far from the southern shore of Lake Murray, and has a diverse menu featuring twice-cooked Buffalo wings, pan-seared ahi tuna, ribs, Baja-style chicken, burgers, steaks, chicken tenders, tacos, burritos and much more.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When The State stopped in for a recent chat with Butler, he was grilling chicken and steak over lump charcoal on a grill in the restaurant\u2019s kitchen. Butler noted he has long been a disciple of flame grilling over coals.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=941\">\u2018He\u2019s forever 14\u2019: Carmack-Belton\u2019s parents denounce not-guilty verdict<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we cook over that fire, it just gives it a different layer of flavoring that nobody else can compete with,\u201d Butler said with a smile.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Big Tuna\u2019s restaurant name has a family connection for Butler. His son, William, was an athlete and a championship wrestler at River Bluff High School some years ago, and had the nickname \u201cTuna.\u201d Jeff, in turn, picked up the nickname \u201cBig Tuna.\u201d When it came time to name the restaurant, that\u2019s the moniker that stuck.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>As another summer kicks off at Lake Murray, Jeff Butler knows that he\u2019ll see many families, couples and regulars from around the lake coming through the restaurant\u2019s doors, enjoying meals on the patio or grabbing a drink at the bar.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy business is so lake-oriented in terms of the families that come in,\u201d Butler said, noting he often sees folks in the restaurant wearing lake attire after a day spent on the water.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft is open from 4 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=940\">McLeod goes after Johnson, Webster in SC Democratic governor debate. 6 takeaways<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft, located at 1345 Old Chapin Road in Lexington, won The State\u2019s 2026 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. San Jose Marina finished second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft, located at 1345 Old Chapin Road in Lexington, won The State\u2019s 2026 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. San Jose Marina finished second.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"headline\":\"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945\",\"name\":\"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=945#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Moving Experts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts","og_description":"Big Tuna\u2019s Kitchen &amp; Kraft, located at 1345 Old Chapin Road in Lexington, won The State\u2019s 2026 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. San Jose Marina finished second.","og_url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945","og_site_name":"US Moving Experts","article_published_time":"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"headline":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner","datePublished":"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945"},"wordCount":540,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg","articleSection":["Local"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945","name":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner - US Moving Experts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-04T10:37:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/be88250178122ebef30e08bca2943061.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=945#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who came out on top of The State\u2019s Lake Murray Restaurant Poll? Meet the winner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/","name":"US Moving Experts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}