The Outer Banks gets a lot of Northern visitors, and for many, a stop at Lighthouse for the New York- and New Jersey-style bagels is a must for a little taste of home while at the beach. Breakfast includes a classic BEC (Bacon, Egg, & Cheese), Taylor pork roll with egg and cheese (for the New Jersey folks), and the Southern Gentleman (deli ham, egg, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and the special Magic Mustard). Lunch items include an Italian sub, a tuna melt, and a BLT.

One of the premier fine dining restaurants in the Outer Banks, the Blue Point is a longtime institution that was recently taken over by siblings Ryan, Leigh, and Jamie. Split between small and large plates, the menus skews fancy Southern. The famous Carolina she-crab soup is a mainstay, and other recent menu items include slow-cooked ribs in a Cheerwine sauce, pan-friend local crab cakes, and a cornmeal-crusted fried Virginia catfish. Craft cocktails and an extensive wine list created by Jamie (a sommelier) are also available. The more relaxed Back Bar offers beer, wine, cocktails, and some small bites to pair with the sunsets.

Just down the boardwalk from the Blue Point, Eventide is also owned by the Raskin siblings. Sommelier Jamie Raskin’s list really shines and is paired with a menu of sandwiches, snacks, and charcuterie for a dockside wine bar experience that feels transported from Cape Cod or coastal Maine. The pimento grilled cheese with country ham and a side of hot honey for dipping will remind you that you are, in fact, in North Carolina. The wine list offers both familiar varietals as well as some more “big city” pours like (recently) a Northern Italian sparkling pignoletto or pet nat and orange wine selections from cult favorite Field Recordings.

Wake up early and get in line if you want a chance to enjoy one of the Outer Banks most beloved breakfast joints. Pancakes like the Island Delight (coconut, chocolate chips, bananas, pecans), the Blue Monkey (blueberries and bananas), and the Very Berry (blueberries and strawberries) are only some of the namesake offerings. The “So Forth” side of the menu includes egg dishes, waffles, and even crab cakes. Lunch sees more traditional deli and grill offerings like a Reuben, Philly cheesesteak, and chicken gyro.

Swells’a is a brewery, yes, but it’s also a community space, a fundraising venue, and the Outer Banks’s living room. Open year-round, go to Swells’a on any given evening there will be longtime neighbors mingling with tourists. Perhaps there will be live music, perhaps there will be a small market of local artisans, or perhaps (like on a recent summer evening) there will be a talk about surf safety featuring some of the sport’s most accomplished athletes. Oh, and the beer is great too — heavy on easy-sipping ales, lagers, and IPAs that are perfect for the beach.

Yes, you read the name correctly. You probably also saw the bumper stickers on cars all over the Outer Banks. A classic Southern gas station with a grill inside, the biscuits are the draw here. Get there early and be prepared for a line (it moves fast), but when it’s your turn, you can choose from an array of breakfast sandwiches served on massive, freshly baked biscuits. If the restaurant has sold out of biscuits, the fried chicken is a pretty good consolation prize. And yes, there is a rack of nudie mags.

Head to Single Fin when the family is craving fresh seafood but tired of the Calabash-style fried platters. The full sushi menu of traditional and specialty rolls is served along a menu of Thai classics like papaya salad, pad thai, pork dumplings, and green curry. There are other Asian mainstays such as sesame chicken and Japanese-style soba noodles, as well as a full bar and kids menu.

Tortugas Lie is a quintessential beach town joint — big on flavors and portions; skimpy on pretension. Snack on nachos, Creole crawdads, or a grilled fish burrito while watching volleyball in the pits out back. Head inside for dinner, where the menu continues with sandwiches, salads, pastas, and entrees such as pork Antonio (jerk-rubbed pork chops in a habanero-currant jam). For first-timers, a cup of Hatteras-style clam chowder is a must.

Lines form early for the fresh pastries and donuts at Buxton’s Orange Blossom Bakery & Cafe. The menu changes but often includes cheese Danishes, spice raisin bread, walnut sticky buns, and cinnamon rolls. The real draw here, though, is the “uglies,” in particular the apple uglies — pastry dough and spiced apples are twisted into knots, baked, and glazed in enormous quantities.

Kat’s Deli serves classic deli sandwiches with a few twists. There’s egg salad, chicken salad, an Italian, and ham and Swiss. There’s also the Virginian with turkey, Swiss, banana peppers, and pesto on sourdough or the Sweet Home Avocado which comes with diced chicken, tomato, bacon, cheddar, and avocado ranch and served in a wrap. A rotating selection of hand-rolled bagels is overnighted from New York, and there are salads for the carb-avoidant and grilled cheeses for the kids.

The Wreck sits at the very end of Hatteras Island, right by the ferry to Ocracoke. It’s classic bar food meets the tropics, like their Smoked Fish Dip, Boatload of Nachos, Cuban Sandwich, and a variety of quesadillas. The real draw here, though, are the tiki drinks. It’s no wonder you might hear a local talking about “Getting Wreck’d”, because the drinks come fast and strong. There are Mai Tais, Painkillers, and the Hatteras Halekulani (with three types of juice and Maker’s Mark), to name a few. Hard liquor isn’t allowed outside, but if the sunset is calling opt for a beer or one of the wine-based cocktails.

Dajio is the spot for elevated dining on Ocracoke. Serving lunch and dinner, the kitchen leans into French techniques with Southern inspiration, as found in dishes like the pork roulade with a fig balsamic reduction (figs are everywhere on the island), a deconstructed chicken cordon bleu, and pimento cheese terrine. Seafood is well represented with oysters (chargrilled or po’ boy), plenty of shrimp, and the Dajio Blue Plate, the fish of the day fried, grilled, or blackened.

Google the highest-rated restaurant on Ocracoke and most lists will have Eduardo’s as number one. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner out of a small red trailer just off the main road, and it draws crowds during the busy summer season. Specialties include the cheesy grilled shrimp mango tacos, the cheesy pork tacos, and the cheesy sirloin tacos (notice a theme?), but it also has breakfast burritos, fresh grilled seafood tacos, and possibly the most popular guacamole on the island.