| My Restaurant and Bar Reviews |
Click on a picture for a better view.
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| Buddy's. It's right next to the pier and a great place to watch the surfers. When I say the pier I mean the Surf City Pier which is on Roland and Shore Dr.
It is only a one mile walk on the beach from Seas the Day. My brother and I (and wives) as well as a number of our guests, like to walk down to Buddy's around noon for some excellent exercise and great beach views.
We saunter out to the deck and order oyster shooters, fried corn nuggets or maybe a shrimp po-boy sandwich. We then order Coronas with limes, and shots of tequila to wash it down.
Once the good feeling spreads from our nose to our toes, somehow we walk back to the house, stretch out a towel on the beach, and soak in the rays until done!
Man, vacation doesn't get any better than this.
Then again, I don't go to dinner at Buddy's because, well, all of the menu is fried food other than the oysters. So it's great for lunch or happy hour but a bust for dinner, IMHO.
(910) 328-2573
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| Mollie's is close to Buddy's, on Shore Dr., just north of Roland. It's a bright cheery place. It is cottage-cozy on the inside. It is good for breakfast and has a nice lunch and dinner menu.
(910) 328-0505
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| Daddy Mac's is a new restaurant across from Mollie's near the Surf City Pier. I just ate there and loved it. I had a special - tilapia in a bag, steamed with red peppers in a mango sauce. My wife had mahi-mahi bahamian style with jerk seasoning. The view of the ocean and pier are great. The service was good. The rest of the menu looks good also. Dinners in the $17+ range but there are gourmet burgers in the under $10 range. Seating is upstairs but they have an elevator. They also have a neon "closed" sign when they are closed.
108 N. Shore Dr. Surf City, NC 28445 (910) 328-5577
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| The New York Corner Deli on N. Topsail Dr. and Greensboro (across from the ABC store) is a great oasis for the New Yorker in all of us. It's a great deli.
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| For those of you who don't know Andy's, it's a new chain out of .... Mt. Olive, NC! IT's a delightful 50's style soda shop, with wonderful burgers, thick malts, and shoestring fries. It is on N. Topsail Dr. in the Wings building near Roland. The kids particularly like going there.
You should also consider Island Delights, reviewed here too. Island Delights is also a 50's style soda shop, but it is filled with actual 50's memorabilia.
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| Island Delights is a step back into the days of Archie and Veronica, Ozzie and Harriet, and '57 Chevys. It is a 50's style soda joint with great burgers, malts, and ice cream cones and authentic 50's memorabilia. It's on N. New River Drive close to New Bern Ave.
Click on the pictures to the left to get a closer look.
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| Max's Pizza is located near the Surf City bridge and is a great sit down pizza joint. They also have meatball sandwiches, salads, and a limited selection of pasta. The sweet tea is very refreshing.
This is a good place to take the kids.
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| Quartermaster's is a new restaurant on the main incoming road (50-210) about a mile before the bridge. There is a Radio Shack in the same little strip mall.
I haven't eaten there but the place has been packed every night since it opened! The locals talk about their shrimp and grits - a true southern delight. I think this place is a winner.
Meals are in the $16 - 20 range.
13741 NC Highway 50 Surf City NC 910-328-3100
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| Batt's Grill. This is where the locals eat breakfast. It's on Roland Avenue & Topsail Dr. near the IGA and Bank of America. It looks like an old shack, and your waitress might have a Harley Davidson tattoo on her arm, but you can get 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 4 or 5 pieces of bacon for $3.79. That's right, $3.79! And it is good.
Batt's Grill is housed in one of the oldest buildings on Topsail Island.
By the way, the owners great-great grandfather received all the island and the land back in about a mile (about where US 17 is) in a crown grant from the king of England.
All I know is that this is one of the best breakfast houses I've ever eaten in.
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| The Mainsail is one of the five "top end" restaurants on the island (along with Indigo Marsh, II Beauchaines, Quartermaster, and Daddy Mac's). I've had great sushi tuna there and my wife had an excellent steak.
It's located on Roland Avenue halfway between the bridge and the end of the street at Buddy's
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| Sears Landing - just before the swing bridge in Surf City. You'll love this place. It has a "back porch" that looks over a small marina and the sound. Half of the back porch has tables and chairs and the other half has the old southern rocking chairs.
They have a renown clam chowder made with a sherry sauce and a number of fried fish dishes. They also have Nehi soda in stock. Remember Nehi's orange soda?
You can come by car or by boat and tie up at the dock.
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| There is a new Chinese place here. I haven't tried it yet. Let me know if it is any good.
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| Long Island Pizza - I've never eaten there and I'm not a fan of NY Style pizza, but New Yorkers like the place, so let me know what you think.
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| II Beauchaines - 211 S. Topsail Dr., Surf City (910) 328-1888
This is my wife's favorite restaurant. They have shrimp and grits, scallops, oyster, flash-fried ahi tuna tempura, chicken satay, stuffed
chicken, and steaks. The meals are in the high teens to low twenties but you'll love your dining experience.
We ate there recently and had a herb encrusted sashimi tuna for an appetizer, which was enough to be a main entree. I also had mahi-mahi. I really enjoyed it.
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| The Thai Grille with Thai-American cuisine.
I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!
I had a terrible experience there on May 20th. The story is too long to go into, but it involved the cook (I can't call him a chef), a terrible dish of food, an absentee owner, and the restaurant's refusal to change the dish.
My wife and I were shocked and didn't even want to eat the other food which we had ordered. When I tried to politely talk to the cook/manager about the food problem, he gave me a look that made me think that if I sent anything back to the kitchen, it would be ... well, how do I say this, I wouldn't want to eat it when it came back.
It's up to you, but I suggest eating somewhere else.
It's located in the Surf City Gateway Plaza across from the Food Lion on the road in to the Surf City bridge.
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www.thaigrille.com
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| If you're getting a little stir crazy on the island, try going to Old Town Wilmington, which is better known as the Wilmington Waterfront. There are some great restaurants, bars and music, shops to linger in, and steamboat rides as well as a nice 1/2 mile stroll on a pier like walk along the river.
There are too many good restaurants to name, but Elijah's (on the river near Water and Dunn) has great atmosphere (old English wood grain panel, TV's in the bar, outdoor seating, etc) and a good menu. The Pilot House next door has a great menu! but not as much ambience. The Union Cafe is very good, and the Catalan has been recommended to us. There are fun stores to work through after dinner.
Our favorite was the Proper Gardener across from Elijah's. This was embroidered on a hand towel we saw and liked there:
Please don't tell my parents I'm in real estate! They still think I play piano in a whore house.
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