Cafe Pamlico

We just had our Wedding Reception and Dinner at Café Pamlico and it was a fabulous experience!!! 5 Stars

Ask for a reservation outside about 30 minutes before sunset, you won’t regret it. The mosquitoes will come out after the sun goes down, you may want to move inside at that point.

The location is lovely & the service is good but the food was very disappointing. As far as appetizers: the ceviche was okay nothing special, the crab & avocado was more interesting. For main courses: The blackened mahi mahi was good but the shrimp & grits is not recommended. It should have been called cheesy grits w shrimp. The few shrimp were tiny and the dish was way over-​priced. When I complained the waiter did nothing so we skipped desert.

My husband and I had a lovely dinner there tonight to celebrate our anniversary. Service and food were top notch. Hubby had the shrimp and grits and tuna ceviche appetizer. I had the grilled fish with coconut rice– so, so good! The drinks were very reasonably priced and the food was in line with what we’d expect for quality seafood. Ambiance was cozy and romantic. There was live music outside with good views of the sound but it did start to get buggy outdoors so we were glad we ate inside. Definitely recommend.

Probably the finest dining on Hatteras Island. Will, the chef meticulously plans and prepares the meals. They come out looking beautiful and tasting even better. The seafood is stellar, and my husband says the steak is the best he’s ever had. The duck is also great. We’ve eaten in the restaurant and had them cater our wedding, and both experiences were fantastic. I would definitely recommend hiring them to cater and also visiting for a meal. I can’t speak to their breakfast yet, but I know I want to try it! A lovely atmosphere right on the sound, and the servers treat you like royalty.

My dinner at The Inn on Pamlico Sound was one of the best dining experiences of my life. I was incredibly impressed with the food, atmosphere, service and view. I truly couldn’t think of a single negative point if I tried.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a girl named Shelby, who was quite possibly one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met. We wanted a seat where we could watch the sunset, but the restaurant was pretty busy. She took us to a beautiful room that was previously closed off and told us we could sit in there. We had the whole room overlooking the sunset to ourselves! The view of the beach was beautiful. Our server’s name was Donnie and he was equally kind and accommodating. He made some great recommendations for our meal:
We started with the fresh Tuna Ceviche as an appetizer. It was refreshing and delicious! The tuna was locally caught and very fresh. As my entrée, I ordered the Mahi Mahi over coconut rice. I ordered the Mahi grilled, but Donnie recommended that I switch to blackened. I was very happy with my choice. The blackened Mahi was seasoned perfectly. it contrasted perfectly with the creamy coconut rice– which was one of the most exquisite things I’ve ever tasted in my life. I literally wanted to bring five pounds of the rice home with me! As our dessert, we ordered the Crème Brulee of the day, which was Thyme and Blueberry.
On top of the great food and service, this restaurant is absolutely beautiful. As I mentioned before, the view of the beach is breathtaking, especially during the sunset. The restaurant is also beautifully decorated. I really loved the strings of lights on the outdoor patio.
Although everything contributed to this perfect experience, I would have to say that the coconut rice and Shelby and Donnie’s exceptional service set this restaurant apart from the others for me. I would recommend that anybody traveling in the Outer Banks put this at the top of their to-​do list.

This place was AMAZING!!! Every single thing was better than the last. I had a pineapple upside down cake martini — actually I had 2! Then we had the parsnip onion soup which was unreal. The next app was barrata with tomato pesto that was unreal. My entrée was short rib with a red wine glaze that had some kind of butternut squash lasagna that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever had. It is on the pricier side as far as restaurants in OBX but worth every single penny. I’m mad that we’ve made 4 other trips to OBX and never went here!

My family had a party of 10. Our server Dallas treated us great! The service was wonderful and friendly. The food was fantastic especially the fresh baked bread. I ordered the crab cakes, they were delicious: filled with meat and a little spicy. Desserts were great too. We had such a great time we didn’t want to leave!

Very disappointing meal. We’d been here a year ago, and came again to celebrate my 60^th birthday, but wish we’d gone for pizza at Gidgets instead. The appetizers were pretty good, but the entrees were both mediocre, and dessert very disappointing. Beautiful sunset, but we get that from our house in Avon!

Simply amazing experience! The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was idyllic. I had the beef fillet with a peppercorn sauce, vegetables and horseradish mashed potatoes — I highly recommend it. Truly a special place to celebrate my 50^th birthday!

Came here for dinner on recommendation on a Monday night. We were the only table ordering food waited over an hour to receive our food and then half of the food was cold, but we didn’t bother to say anything due to the already excessive wait. Don’t get my wrong, the food was delicious. The service was lacking. And our waters sat empty for quite some time.

My husband and I went for our wedding anniversary and sat where we could overlook the sound. Beautiful setting, immaculate food, and very welcoming staff. I had the special of the day, the Wahu and my husband had the catch of the day, the Swordfish. Every bite I was craving more, my cold appetizer soup included which our wonderful waiter sold me on. My only minuscule compliant would be that my Grey Goose Cosmo was not clear enough but that’s coming from a very particular bartender.

Living here you rarely get to experience fine dining. The food and service were amazing I had the duck and my friend had the rockfish. I also had the tuna appetizer over seaweed salad. Defiantly deserves 5 stars. I suggest reservations and $$

I’ve been coming to Hatteras for 30 years. I come for the relaxing, timeless Beach and local seafood. This place if you’re looking for something simple or special is the best place on the Island. Food is incredible. Shrimp and Grits is all I have to say. I’m southern and they are the best I’ve ever had! After our beautiful sunset dinner last night, my fiancé proposed on the Hatteras beach. What a gift. Love this place and hope it will be my 2015 wedding venue! Love the Inn on a Pamlico Sound!

This little restaurant is a pleasant and relaxing way to end a day. All options on the menu are more expensive and refined, but in my opinion, it was worth it. As an appetizer I got tuna ceviche, and it was very fresh and delicious. As an entrée, the duck with a honey glaze and red wine reduction, also delicious; it was a very nicely composed dish. I got chocolate cake for dessert, and it was tasty but nothing incredible in my opinion. We sat outside and as the rain cleared we had a great view of the water, and our waiter was friendly and attentive. I had a great overall experience and would return in the future.

The reviews mentioned slow service, so I was prepared. Yes, it was slow, but not obnoxiously so. You’re out to a nice meal… they don’t want to rush you.
The food was amazing. We had a tuna sashimi and artichoke, mushroom bruschetta to start. Both we’re spot on, especially the tuna. For entrees we had the catch (mahi) and the scallop carbonara.
Note: This review is from October 2013, but somehow it saved instead of posted, so, I’m posting it late.

Before reading this know that I have 9 years of restaurant experience from sports bars to upscale fine dining and my sister who was dining with me is a culinary school graduate and sous chef in training at an upscale restaurant with a similar food concept… so we are more than understanding of how bad experiences happen and how to resolve them. This was the second time coming here in 3 years and unfortunately we will likely not be coming back. The girl who sat us started taking our drink order and filled our waters, then 10 minutes later another girl came over and introduced herself and said that she would be our server and took the rest of the drink order. 10 minutes later our drinks came, which was okay because we needed extra time to decide what to order. Nothing on the menu seemed local, innovative, or exciting and it was extremely small, only offering one salad under appetizers. As we were ordering, another party sat down next to us. After waiting 35 minutes, that table next was served their dinner. Maybe 10 minutes after the other table was enjoying their food, our server must have been able to tell we were starving/​annoyed because she came over and let us know that they were plating out food right away. Another 10 minutes later we were finally served our food: two flavorless, dry, overlooked grilled Mahi Mahi fillets (it looked like canned tuna, the grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich at Hooters is delicious in comparison), two cold fillet mignon’s, and a pale, colorless Ahi Tuna which I was hesitant for my dad to eat because I’ve only seen fresh raw tuna to be bright, vibrant pinkish red. Yikes. Unfortunately, it gets worse from there. We politely let our server know how disappointed we were and she said she’d send the manager right over. Another 10 minutes later a lady comes over and apologizes for the bad experience and let’s us know she’ll do her best to make it right. At this point we just want to pay and leave, our reservation was at 5:30 and it was almost 7:00. Our server politely let us know that our food would be discounted 50% (reasonable) and they would like to offer us free desserts (also reasonable), so we agreed to take the desserts to go. It was another 15 minutes before we were able to pay and leave with our desserts, only to come home and find dried out, bland, week old chocolate bundt cake with fermented berries on top. How embarrassed the server must have been serving those old disgusting cakes after our terrible food experience. I was embarrassed for the whole place, so much potential but lack of leadership and management truly shows. Epic fail :-(

My wife and I celebrated our 20^th anniversary there. We ate outside on the deck overlooking Pamlico Sound. Mojo Collins played guitar and sang in the corner. Our server was excellent, neither hovering or ignoring us.
We had drinks and Asian beef skewers for appetizer. My wife had the duck and I ate the filet. The duck was delicious and tender. The filet was probably the best steak I’ve had in my life — so tender I had trouble keeping it on the fork as if fell apart on the way to my mouth. Everything was made on site, there was no hint of frozen or food service reheats. They run a quality kitchen.
They offered us a complimentary dessert and we chose the chocolate cake. It was great. In all we spent a luxurious two hours listening to music, watching the Sound and enjoying some amazing food. When the check came, our server (who knew it was our anniversary, of course) said «Can I get you anything else?» I shook my head no. «Did we do it?» I shook my head yes.
We had an appetizer, two entrees, two glasses of wine, a beer and a soda. With tip it came to about $ 121.

This place is phenomenal! It’s attached to an Inn, which is pretty great too. But anyway, we came here for vacation and anniversary dinner. We both got the grilled romaine spears, which is basically Caesar salad grilled, but the croutons and dressing were magnificent, and the grilled romaine… It was unbelievable. Best Caesar salad ever! For our entrée, we both got filet with red wine Demi glaze and fingerling potatoes. The filet was cooked perfectly and the potatoes were roasted. It came with grilled squash and zucchini too. We couldn’t have had a more perfect anniversary dinner. Ashley, our waitress, was lovely. The owner came and introduced himself, and shook our hands. And to top it off, we sat next to the window with a water view. We will definitely come here again!

If I wrote everything that I liked about this place then I’d be here typing for about four hours. Everything about it was good: the food was delicious, and staff was friendly and attentive, and the location was perfect!
For about five years now my family has been making The Inn on Pamlico Sound our last stop for dinner at the end of our vacation week. I think that it has only gotten better. We go on a Friday night because it is easy to get a reservation: most people who leave the island on Saturday mornings are home packing and eating leftovers. Sit outside if you can because the view of the sunset is excellent. The salads are very fresh, especially the house salad. We had an appetizer of roasted red peppers served on crackers with goat cheese that was delicious. We all had steaks, which were cooked perfectly. The servers were always present but never intrusive, and our glasses were always full.
If you’re looking for a more upscale place for dinner on Hatteras Island, this is it. The ambiance is great due to the location, and the food is sure to please.