Meet Darell Ariola, the Creative Behind the Blueberry's Grill Menu

Darell Ariola serves as Culinary Creative Consultant at Blueberry's Grill, shaping the menu direction across all three locations: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Wilmington. He established the scratch-made standards that define the Blueberry's Grill experience, and his vision blends coastal Carolina flavors, Southern comfort, and modern brunch creativity. That's the short version. The longer version is that almost everything you taste here passed through his hands first, from the batter recipes to the way a kitchen line moves on a packed Sunday.

Darell carries two roles at once. Brand-wide, he sets the menu direction and the scratch-made standards, deciding what Blueberry's cooks and how it should be done. Operationally, he serves as Kitchen Lead at all three locations, where his systems tie together kitchen rhythm, team movement, and equipment planning to deliver speed of service without sacrificing precision. In plain terms: he designs the dishes, then he designs the kitchen that can cook them to order for a full dining room without cutting a single corner.

Blueberry's Grill runs one core menu across all three locations, and Darell leads all three kitchens. That structure is unusual for a multi-location restaurant, and it's deliberate. The same person who wrote the standard walks the line that keeps it, whether that line is at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, on the waterfront at Barefoot Landing, or at Lumina Station near Wrightsville Beach. Daily specials change by location. The standard doesn't.

You can taste the approach in the details. The Blueberry Hushpuppies are an original recipe built on blue cornmeal and blueberries. The Blueberry Crème Brûlée French Toast starts with grilled challah and vanilla custard. The Blue Ridge Salmon gets a house-made blueberry maple reduction, and the Crab Cake Benedict is built on a house-made lump crab cake. Every one of them is cooked when you order it, not before. Come taste the standard for yourself. We're open daily for breakfast, brunch, and lunch at all three locations, and the kitchen runs the same way at every single one.

Read next: Sweet, Savory, or Both: How to Order at Blueberry's Grill (https://blueberrysgrill.com/blog/how-to-order-at-blueberrys/) · The Story of the Blueberry Crème Brûlée French Toast (https://blueberrysgrill.com/blog/blueberry-creme-brulee-french-toast/) · Gluten-Friendly and Lactose-Friendly at Blueberry's Grill: How It Works (https://blueberrysgrill.com/blog/gluten-friendly-lactose-friendly-substitutions/)