The Blue Nite Cafe   

6 Target Road
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
843-842-6683

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If eclectic music and half-slabs of ribs are what you're after, check out The Blue Nite Cafe. The name is misleading because the place doesn't serve lattes or espressos, but you'll have a chance to hear rock, R&B, funk, jazz and shag depending on what night you show up. During Monday night jam sessions, the bar's own four- piece band, Johnny B. and the Blue Nite Band, invites local and out-of-town musicians onstage to jam with them. Payne Stewart, the pro golfer who died in a plane crash in 1999, played the harmonica one Monday night, and Michael Jordan jumped on stage and danced around during another jam session. Tuesday nights are reserved for reggae, hosted by the Ras Bonghi Reggae Allstars. Also on Tuesday nights, Elgee Stover sets up his barbecue rig on the 1,000-square-foot deck behind the club. He cooks up Jamaican jerk chicken, burgers, half- chickens and ribs, and their intoxicating aroma permeates the club until the whole place smells like Memphis. Stover makes his own sauce and uses a huge open pit on wheels. Although he's out there some other nights of the week, if you're hankering for barbecue you should know that Tuesday is the only night you're guaranteed to find him. The Blue Nite closes on Wednesdays unless it books a national act. Sundays are especially popular. They're called F&B Sundays and geared toward the large food-and- beverage staff on the island in hopes that they'll recommend the club to their customers. The Blue Nite tries to lure this 20-something crowd with drink specials and edgy alternative bands such as Tonic, Fighting Gravity and Jimmie's Chicken Shack. --Lauren Kafka