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Plates of roasted fish and oysters.
A table full of seafood favorites at Seabird.
Baxter Miller

18 Essential Restaurants in Wilmington, North Carolina

From seafood towers to fried mahi bites

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A table full of seafood favorites at Seabird.
| Baxter Miller

North Carolina’s eighth largest city, Wilmington, is also one of the state’s most visited. Sure the big draw might be the surrounding shores of Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach, but Wilmington packs in its fair share of visitors who visit the Battleship North Carolina, stroll the boardwalk along the Cape Fear River, and check out the historic homes downtown.

One thing visitors to the Port City and its surroundings have in common is an appetite for good food. Seafood might be the logical choice for an oceanside nibble, and there is no shortage of options that run the gamut from old-timey to high-brow and everything in between. Diners in the mood for some Southeast Asian cuisine might find themselves eating in one of the state’s most photogenic restaurants, while those with a sweet tooth can join the line for piping hot doughnuts straight off the boardwalk. Whatever the mood the food in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, and Carolina Beach is as much a reason to visit as are the beaches.

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Chef Keith Rhodes’s ode to the seafood of the Cape Fear Coast has been one of Wilmington’s most lauded restaurants since opening in 2006. The menu is certainly seafood focused, with dishes like Cajun-crusted North Carolina oysters, seared ahi tuna (with coconut-saffron risotto, baby spinach, oyster mushrooms, and a sesame buerre blanc), and a fried seafood platter that comes with the catch of the day plus jumbo shrimp and local oysters. The fish-averse can choose from the “Land Offerings” (steak, duck, and ribs), although the shrimp and grits with Benton’s bacon might be hard to turn down.

Lobster, shrimp, and mussels.
Seafood at Catch.
Catch Restaurant

Genki Japanese & Sushi Restaurant

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Genki offers a classic sushi experience with both traditional and more modern nigiri and rolls. A smaller lunch menu reads like a choose-your-own-adventure book, allowing you to combine smaller sushi portions with like a Japanese-style omelet, bluefin tuna tartare, and housemade kimchi. Dinner sees many of the same sushi offerings added to a more extensive menu of appetizers and entrees. Unique menu items include an kimo (monkfish liver with ponzu sauce), hiya yakko (chilled tofu with bonito flakes), and a number of Japanese curries.

Eternal Sunshine Cafe

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Eternal Sunshine Cafe takes breakfast classics like pancakes, French toast, and Benedicts and turns the volume way, way up. There’s the bananas Foster French toast or blueberry Danish French toast, “Dippy” pancakes (with candied pecans, candied bacon, and peach puree), a hot honey chicken biscuit, and duck and waffles (confit duck with sweet and sour orange duck sauce on a ginger waffle with sunny side up duck egg and scallions). There are more than half a dozen different Benedict offerings, and the daily/weekly specials are always worth a look.

Indochine Restaurant

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Enter through Indochine’s front door into a moody, wood-filled bar and transition to the bright and colorful dining room before being transported to the practically jungle-like backyard, where tables are tucked into corners or perched underneath giant tropical palms. Dining at Indochine is nothing if not an experience. The lush setting is complemented by a Southeast Asian menu focused on Thai and Vietnamese staples like chicken satay, Thai curries, and pho. Other options include bun bo hue, Cambodian-style steamed mussels, and a braised Vietnamese-style catfish. Sushi, sweets like mango sticky rice and key lime mousse, and cocktails that lean tropical are also available.

Savorez

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Wilmington native Sam Cahoon’s downtown restaurant offers what the website calls “local fare with Latin flair.” Formerly the executive chef at Ceviche’s, Cahoon’s menu includes an entire section dedicated to salsas, appetizers like BLT arepas and chicken tinga empanadas, and entrees like the caliente tuna, a blackened tuna filet served with cilantro-lime quinoa, pineapple salsa, oven-dried tomatoes, balsamic glaze, avocado, and pickled shallots. The lunch menu is heavy on tacos and tostadas, and the Sunday brunch is one of the most popular in town.

Manna sets the bar for new American cuisine in Wilmington, and it sets it high. The menu changes so constantly that it’s almost futile to list dishes (who knows how long the Swine Spectator, a hickory-smoked pork shoulder done Eastern NC barbecue style, will last?), but rest assured that executive chef Carson Jewell is always serving something tasty. The abbreviated cocktail menu and beer and wine list is as creative as the dinner menu.

Roko Italian Cuisine

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A Croatian and a Serb move to North Carolina and open an Italian restaurant. That’s not the start of a joke, but rather the origin story of Roko Italian Cuisine. Chef Jadran and his wife Vojka run the small restaurant as if it were an extension of their own home, with Vojka moving from table to table to greet regulars and Jadran regularly popping out of the kitchen to say hello. The menu is heavy on Italian classics like piccata (chicken or veal), linguine with clam sauce, and penne rustica. The shrimp a la Roko is their play on a shrimp scampi and is a secret recipe they’ve developed over the years. An international wine list features both new and old world offerings, and the restaurant is known for its martinis, so much so that they’re $3 off every Monday.

Seabird

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After taking flight in spring 2021, Seabird has quickly soared to the top of Wilmington’s restaurant scene. The creation of local fixtures Lydia Clopton and Dean Neff, the restaurant is now open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A nautically-inspired interior is the setting for Neff’s creative menu that is heavy on seafood, like the swordfish schnitzel, a seasonal seafood tower, and a smoked catfish and oyster pie. The cozy bar transforms into a counter-service coffee, breakfast, and lunch scene each morning with sandwiches, soups, pastries, and more.

Caprice Bistro

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For more than two decades, Caprice has been the go-to for classic French bistro fare in downtown Wilmington. Chef Thierry Moty runs the kitchen, turning out the greatest hits like steak frites, escargot, and lamb shank cassoulet. In a nod to his wife Patricia’s background (she was born near Belgium) there’s also waterzooi on the menu, a Flemish soup of seafood in an herby, creamy broth. A wine menu chock full of French favorites and the intimate setting with a pressed-tin ceiling complete the bistro vibes.

True Blue Butcher and Table

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Looking for thick-cut pork chops, dry-aged steaks, or pecan-smoked chicken? But also, Szechuan eggplant, beef satay with crispy Brussels sprouts, and a bowl of Tonkotsu-style ramen big enough for two people? Toss in a high-end butcher counter and a small selection of gourmet grocery items, and True Blue Butcher and Table suddenly transcends the idea of a simple steakhouse. The Military Cutoff location is the original, but there is also True Blue Butcher & Barrel (a more relaxed menu with a whiskey bar concept) in the South Front Street District and True Blue Butcher & Baker in Hampstead (a full-service butcher shop and bakery). Both the Table and Barrel locations also serve lunch and brunch.

Nippy's Soul Food Restaurant

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Brother and sister duo William and Marsha Boudreaux offer classic Southern coastal soul food a few minutes east of downtown Wilmington. Inspired by the home cooking of their mother, Carrie, the menu at Nippy’s features dishes like crab rice, butter beans and okra, turkey wings, barbecue ribs, ox tails, and fish and grits. All dinners come with two sides and optional rice and gravy, although for that true home cooked meal feeling the rice and gravy is never really optional.

The Green House Restaurant

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The Green House is Wilmington’s first, and so far only, restaurant dedicated to high-end vegan cuisine. The seasonally-changing menu highlights the region’s plant-based bounty with dishes like braised cabbage with Calabrian chili oil, chickpea merguez with Sea Island red peas and braised fennel, and Carolina Gold risotto with mushrooms and shallots. Weekend brunch features an abbreviated menu of classic dishes like the BLT and biscuit sandwich reimagined as vegan options.

Ceviche's

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Ceviche’s serves up Panamanian staples in a rambling, beach-shack-esque spot just north of the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge. As the name implies there are a variety of different ceviches to choose from including langoustine de coco (langoustine tails in a citrus and coconut milk marinade with ginger, red bell pepper, red onion, avocado, and cilantro) and the mango mahi (with jalapeno, red onion, red bell pepper, cilantro, and housemade hot sauce). A variety of tapas and empanadas are ideal for sharing, and larger plates like grilled sea bass, ropa vieja, and Panamanian paella are available alongside daily specials, cocktails, beer, and wine.

Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn

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Opened in 2000 by owners Amy and Jay Muxworthy, Flaming Amy’s is as well-known for its burritos as it is for the nearly-ubiquitous “Eat At Flaming Amy’s” bumper stickers. There are chips and queso and nacho platters, but the unique burritos are the real draw. The Bayou comes with spicy Creole jambalaya sauce, rice, beans, cheese, and a choice of grilled filling seasoned with Cajun spices, while the Philly “Phatboy” has grilled steak, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, diced tomato, sour cream, and cheese. Heat lovers should stick with the original Flaming Amy burrito, packed with chipotle peppers, fresh jalapeños, mild green chiles, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, rice, beans, “Flaming Hot” salsa, and a choice of grilled filling. There is a second location in Carolina Beach for those not wanting to make the trek into town.

Casey’s Buffet

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“EAT PIG FEET AT CASEYS BBQ” reads hundreds, if not thousands of bumper stickers around town (and maybe around the country), and indeed, the barbecued pig feet are always on the menu at Casey’s. If that sounds a bit too adventurous, stick with the classics like pulled pork, fried chicken, catfish, chitlin’s, and more. With rotating daily specials like barbecued pork chops (Wednesdays), squash casserole (Thursdays), and deviled crab (Fridays and Saturdays between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. only), it’s hard to find a more traditionally Southern meal in Wilmington.

A buffet of Southern food.
Food at Casey’s.
Casey’s Buffet

Tower 7 Baja Mexican Grill

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The folks behind the Live Eat Surf restaurant group operate five Baja-Cali-Mexican-style restaurants in the area, but Tower 7 is easily the most iconic. Located just steps from the sand in Wrightsville Beach, the restaurant offers a range of tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more. Customers can try the San Felipe tacos, filled with Dos Equis-battered fried cod and topped with salsa fresca, shaved cabbage, avocado, cotija cheese, and Ranch, or opt for the Tower 7 burrito, stuffed with black beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, salsa fresca, cheese, sour cream, and cilantro along with a choice of a variety of meats or veggies. Wash everything down with one of its many margarita varieties and head back out to the beach.

Tacos and burritos.
Tacos and burritos at Tower 7.
Tower 7

Trolly Stop

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Since 1976, beachgoers and locals have lined up at Trolly Stop in Wrightsville Beach for one (or more) of its iconic hotdogs. Customers pick a style of dog, the beef and pork Traditional Southern Dog, the all-beef Northern Dog, the smoked turkey dog, the veggie dog, or smoked pork sausage, before deciding on toppings. The Surfer Dog comes topped with mustard, cheese, and bacon bits, while the Mexican Dog has salsa, cheese, onions, jalapenos, and two strips of bacon. Out-of-staters should probably go for the true North Carolina experience and order the Carolina Dog with deli mustard, chili, and coleslaw.

Salt Fish Restaurant and Tiki Bar

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Coastal Carolina meets Polynesia at Salt Fish, where a seafood-heavy menu has kept it a Carolina Beach favorite for years. Shareable small plates include tuna poke, smoked fish dip, clam strips, and fried mahi bites. For mains, there is a pineapple stuffed with shrimp fried rice, Chinese sausage, and edamame; a Pinot Noir-braised pork with coconut collards, black beans, and rice; and a crab-stuffed portabella mushroom with curry marinara. The cocktail list is dominated by tiki classics like a Zombie, Mai Tai, or a Painkiller.

Catch

Chef Keith Rhodes’s ode to the seafood of the Cape Fear Coast has been one of Wilmington’s most lauded restaurants since opening in 2006. The menu is certainly seafood focused, with dishes like Cajun-crusted North Carolina oysters, seared ahi tuna (with coconut-saffron risotto, baby spinach, oyster mushrooms, and a sesame buerre blanc), and a fried seafood platter that comes with the catch of the day plus jumbo shrimp and local oysters. The fish-averse can choose from the “Land Offerings” (steak, duck, and ribs), although the shrimp and grits with Benton’s bacon might be hard to turn down.

Lobster, shrimp, and mussels.
Seafood at Catch.
Catch Restaurant

Genki Japanese & Sushi Restaurant

Genki offers a classic sushi experience with both traditional and more modern nigiri and rolls. A smaller lunch menu reads like a choose-your-own-adventure book, allowing you to combine smaller sushi portions with like a Japanese-style omelet, bluefin tuna tartare, and housemade kimchi. Dinner sees many of the same sushi offerings added to a more extensive menu of appetizers and entrees. Unique menu items include an kimo (monkfish liver with ponzu sauce), hiya yakko (chilled tofu with bonito flakes), and a number of Japanese curries.

Eternal Sunshine Cafe

Eternal Sunshine Cafe takes breakfast classics like pancakes, French toast, and Benedicts and turns the volume way, way up. There’s the bananas Foster French toast or blueberry Danish French toast, “Dippy” pancakes (with candied pecans, candied bacon, and peach puree), a hot honey chicken biscuit, and duck and waffles (confit duck with sweet and sour orange duck sauce on a ginger waffle with sunny side up duck egg and scallions). There are more than half a dozen different Benedict offerings, and the daily/weekly specials are always worth a look.

Indochine Restaurant

Enter through Indochine’s front door into a moody, wood-filled bar and transition to the bright and colorful dining room before being transported to the practically jungle-like backyard, where tables are tucked into corners or perched underneath giant tropical palms. Dining at Indochine is nothing if not an experience. The lush setting is complemented by a Southeast Asian menu focused on Thai and Vietnamese staples like chicken satay, Thai curries, and pho. Other options include bun bo hue, Cambodian-style steamed mussels, and a braised Vietnamese-style catfish. Sushi, sweets like mango sticky rice and key lime mousse, and cocktails that lean tropical are also available.

Savorez

Wilmington native Sam Cahoon’s downtown restaurant offers what the website calls “local fare with Latin flair.” Formerly the executive chef at Ceviche’s, Cahoon’s menu includes an entire section dedicated to salsas, appetizers like BLT arepas and chicken tinga empanadas, and entrees like the caliente tuna, a blackened tuna filet served with cilantro-lime quinoa, pineapple salsa, oven-dried tomatoes, balsamic glaze, avocado, and pickled shallots. The lunch menu is heavy on tacos and tostadas, and the Sunday brunch is one of the most popular in town.

Manna

Manna sets the bar for new American cuisine in Wilmington, and it sets it high. The menu changes so constantly that it’s almost futile to list dishes (who knows how long the Swine Spectator, a hickory-smoked pork shoulder done Eastern NC barbecue style, will last?), but rest assured that executive chef Carson Jewell is always serving something tasty. The abbreviated cocktail menu and beer and wine list is as creative as the dinner menu.

Roko Italian Cuisine

A Croatian and a Serb move to North Carolina and open an Italian restaurant. That’s not the start of a joke, but rather the origin story of Roko Italian Cuisine. Chef Jadran and his wife Vojka run the small restaurant as if it were an extension of their own home, with Vojka moving from table to table to greet regulars and Jadran regularly popping out of the kitchen to say hello. The menu is heavy on Italian classics like piccata (chicken or veal), linguine with clam sauce, and penne rustica. The shrimp a la Roko is their play on a shrimp scampi and is a secret recipe they’ve developed over the years. An international wine list features both new and old world offerings, and the restaurant is known for its martinis, so much so that they’re $3 off every Monday.

Seabird

After taking flight in spring 2021, Seabird has quickly soared to the top of Wilmington’s restaurant scene. The creation of local fixtures Lydia Clopton and Dean Neff, the restaurant is now open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A nautically-inspired interior is the setting for Neff’s creative menu that is heavy on seafood, like the swordfish schnitzel, a seasonal seafood tower, and a smoked catfish and oyster pie. The cozy bar transforms into a counter-service coffee, breakfast, and lunch scene each morning with sandwiches, soups, pastries, and more.

Caprice Bistro

For more than two decades, Caprice has been the go-to for classic French bistro fare in downtown Wilmington. Chef Thierry Moty runs the kitchen, turning out the greatest hits like steak frites, escargot, and lamb shank cassoulet. In a nod to his wife Patricia’s background (she was born near Belgium) there’s also waterzooi on the menu, a Flemish soup of seafood in an herby, creamy broth. A wine menu chock full of French favorites and the intimate setting with a pressed-tin ceiling complete the bistro vibes.

True Blue Butcher and Table

Looking for thick-cut pork chops, dry-aged steaks, or pecan-smoked chicken? But also, Szechuan eggplant, beef satay with crispy Brussels sprouts, and a bowl of Tonkotsu-style ramen big enough for two people? Toss in a high-end butcher counter and a small selection of gourmet grocery items, and True Blue Butcher and Table suddenly transcends the idea of a simple steakhouse. The Military Cutoff location is the original, but there is also True Blue Butcher & Barrel (a more relaxed menu with a whiskey bar concept) in the South Front Street District and True Blue Butcher & Baker in Hampstead (a full-service butcher shop and bakery). Both the Table and Barrel locations also serve lunch and brunch.

Nippy's Soul Food Restaurant

Brother and sister duo William and Marsha Boudreaux offer classic Southern coastal soul food a few minutes east of downtown Wilmington. Inspired by the home cooking of their mother, Carrie, the menu at Nippy’s features dishes like crab rice, butter beans and okra, turkey wings, barbecue ribs, ox tails, and fish and grits. All dinners come with two sides and optional rice and gravy, although for that true home cooked meal feeling the rice and gravy is never really optional.

The Green House Restaurant

The Green House is Wilmington’s first, and so far only, restaurant dedicated to high-end vegan cuisine. The seasonally-changing menu highlights the region’s plant-based bounty with dishes like braised cabbage with Calabrian chili oil, chickpea merguez with Sea Island red peas and braised fennel, and Carolina Gold risotto with mushrooms and shallots. Weekend brunch features an abbreviated menu of classic dishes like the BLT and biscuit sandwich reimagined as vegan options.

Ceviche's

Ceviche’s serves up Panamanian staples in a rambling, beach-shack-esque spot just north of the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge. As the name implies there are a variety of different ceviches to choose from including langoustine de coco (langoustine tails in a citrus and coconut milk marinade with ginger, red bell pepper, red onion, avocado, and cilantro) and the mango mahi (with jalapeno, red onion, red bell pepper, cilantro, and housemade hot sauce). A variety of tapas and empanadas are ideal for sharing, and larger plates like grilled sea bass, ropa vieja, and Panamanian paella are available alongside daily specials, cocktails, beer, and wine.

Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn

Opened in 2000 by owners Amy and Jay Muxworthy, Flaming Amy’s is as well-known for its burritos as it is for the nearly-ubiquitous “Eat At Flaming Amy’s” bumper stickers. There are chips and queso and nacho platters, but the unique burritos are the real draw. The Bayou comes with spicy Creole jambalaya sauce, rice, beans, cheese, and a choice of grilled filling seasoned with Cajun spices, while the Philly “Phatboy” has grilled steak, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, diced tomato, sour cream, and cheese. Heat lovers should stick with the original Flaming Amy burrito, packed with chipotle peppers, fresh jalapeños, mild green chiles, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, rice, beans, “Flaming Hot” salsa, and a choice of grilled filling. There is a second location in Carolina Beach for those not wanting to make the trek into town.

Casey’s Buffet

“EAT PIG FEET AT CASEYS BBQ” reads hundreds, if not thousands of bumper stickers around town (and maybe around the country), and indeed, the barbecued pig feet are always on the menu at Casey’s. If that sounds a bit too adventurous, stick with the classics like pulled pork, fried chicken, catfish, chitlin’s, and more. With rotating daily specials like barbecued pork chops (Wednesdays), squash casserole (Thursdays), and deviled crab (Fridays and Saturdays between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. only), it’s hard to find a more traditionally Southern meal in Wilmington.

A buffet of Southern food.
Food at Casey’s.
Casey’s Buffet

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Tower 7 Baja Mexican Grill

The folks behind the Live Eat Surf restaurant group operate five Baja-Cali-Mexican-style restaurants in the area, but Tower 7 is easily the most iconic. Located just steps from the sand in Wrightsville Beach, the restaurant offers a range of tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more. Customers can try the San Felipe tacos, filled with Dos Equis-battered fried cod and topped with salsa fresca, shaved cabbage, avocado, cotija cheese, and Ranch, or opt for the Tower 7 burrito, stuffed with black beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, salsa fresca, cheese, sour cream, and cilantro along with a choice of a variety of meats or veggies. Wash everything down with one of its many margarita varieties and head back out to the beach.

Tacos and burritos.
Tacos and burritos at Tower 7.
Tower 7

Trolly Stop

Since 1976, beachgoers and locals have lined up at Trolly Stop in Wrightsville Beach for one (or more) of its iconic hotdogs. Customers pick a style of dog, the beef and pork Traditional Southern Dog, the all-beef Northern Dog, the smoked turkey dog, the veggie dog, or smoked pork sausage, before deciding on toppings. The Surfer Dog comes topped with mustard, cheese, and bacon bits, while the Mexican Dog has salsa, cheese, onions, jalapenos, and two strips of bacon. Out-of-staters should probably go for the true North Carolina experience and order the Carolina Dog with deli mustard, chili, and coleslaw.

Salt Fish Restaurant and Tiki Bar

Coastal Carolina meets Polynesia at Salt Fish, where a seafood-heavy menu has kept it a Carolina Beach favorite for years. Shareable small plates include tuna poke, smoked fish dip, clam strips, and fried mahi bites. For mains, there is a pineapple stuffed with shrimp fried rice, Chinese sausage, and edamame; a Pinot Noir-braised pork with coconut collards, black beans, and rice; and a crab-stuffed portabella mushroom with curry marinara. The cocktail list is dominated by tiki classics like a Zombie, Mai Tai, or a Painkiller.

Related Maps