Surf House

They’ve got the winning combination of great casual dining experience, super-​friendly staff, and the freshest, most local food of any restaurant on Pleasure Island.

Food was amazing. Me and 2 of my friends went there and all ordered different things. Mahi, Wahoo, and Beef Briscuit. I tried all of them and all were amazing but I was glad I got the mahi, by far my favorite. I strongly recommend the oyster back shots, they are delicious and $ 4 for an oyster and a shot of whiskey is a good deal. With drinks (2 oyster backs and a beer) and food i got out of there for right at $ 30 and the service is fantastic. I am going back for lunch tomorrow before I leave.

Husbands birthday and we always pick Surf House as it’s our favorite in the area (FishBites and CapeFear Seafood are next). Best cocktails in town. He gets the scallops 70% of the time, I went with the pecan catfish. Delicious. Rice pudding a bit undercooked last night, we were immediately offered a substitute– service is always really good. Would love to keep this little treasure for ourselves, but if you’ve never been — try it.

What a great Sunday breakfast! I’d drive out of my way to do it again. Had the caramelized banana waffles and the crab eggs Benedict I think it was. A1 with a friendly wait staff. Farm to table for sure.

surf house is our favorite restaurant in town. my husband and i travel a lot for work and he and i lived in charleston for a year trying a ton of restaurants down there and surf house is better than almost any charleston restaurant. the seafood is always fresh and the produce is sourced locally. i love the concept and the look of the restaurant as well. oh, and greg the bartender serves up some of the best craft cocktails in town. if you go, you have to try the burrata and brussel sprouts, the scallop entrée is perfectly cooked, and go for burger night on wednesdays is a steal. also, they serve an incredible brunch.

Tonight the chefs special is nc grouper with fennel, mushrooms, roared potatoes and a chili ginger aioli and it is delicious!
How lucky we are to have such a great place here in Carolina Beach, NC.
No wait. Walked right in

Catfish was super yummy! I wish they’d just charge a few more dollars and include a side of sautéed spinach or something and maybe a piece of cornbread. The plate is slightly skimpy and one more flavor would hit a home run. Besides every dinner needs a green veggie. Great combo of flavors though. I’ll be back. Would have liked to have seen a couple more choices on the menu…

Didn’t go for a burger but glad I had one, amazing! (Wed. burger night, who knew?!) We had Jarrett Bay raw oysters, pickled veggies, beers and then the burgers with fries. Excellent service, atmosphere, & price. Don’t miss this place. #farmtotable

The service we received here was so/​so in my opinion, not bad by any means but not above and beyond or even great either but the food more than made up for anything else going on. There were some different food combinations than typical (especially on the dessert menu) but they were all delicious. All of the 7 adults in our group loved their food and plates were scraped clean! It was a prefect place to go for a classier night out. I would go back for sure!

I normally don’t post 5 stars on the first review but the food was most excellent. Our scallops and catfish dishes checked all the boxes in terms of quality, presentation, taste, quantity, accompanying sides, and more. The only negative was the deserts because they did not live up to the greatness of the main course.

I wanted to try some fresh food with a little more sophistication than being steamed like most seafood place. I was not disappointed by the snapper, it was good and tasty.
The price are a little upscale for dinner which leads me to explain why I removed one star: beers. $ 7 for a beer in a can, just no. And the owners probably know it’s wrong. They don’t show you what you get until you order and then grab a can of beer, open it and give it to you. Too late to say no. At least if it was glass bottles, that would almost be ok, but a can, nope.
This was a shame as the food always taste a little worst when you feel you have been cheated.

What a great find. Went here on a Friday night at prime dinner time & they a couple of spots at the bar. Tables were booked for 30 minutes or more, so we ate at the bar.
The service from the bar tender was really good even though he was real busy tending the bar. We never felt ignored.
The ambiance of the place is comfortable but a little on the Spartan side but obviously that’s a matter of taste.
The star of the show is the food, I had the burnt ends app, not the type of thing you’d expect in a mostly seafood restaurant but they were really moist & served in a pimento cheese sauce, yum.
For an entrée she had the catfish & im not a big fan but had a bite & it was lightly breaded & tasted great.
I had the local special which was a yellow fin tuna, awesome!
Only minor complaint was a small wine list. I had their Pinot which was ok but they only had one Pinot offered.
They had a good craft beer list & looked like a good selection of bourbons.
The best part was their prices are totally reasonable.
Gotta try this place.

Can’t say enough good things about this place. Let’s start with my favorite, the food. This place nailed Sunday brunch. My son had some beautiful waffles with berries and yogurt, my wife had a breakfast sandwich, I had the biscuits and gravy with some over medium eggs. Everything was perfect tasting. Fresh, expertly prepared and definitely made by someone who knows food. I make my own biscuits and gravy because I’m usually disappointed… I can honestly say these are the best B&G I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Not to mention that the service was wonderful and the décor was great. The vibe was super relaxed and every bit a surf house. We’ll be back for sure.

Holy freaking moly. Those three words sum up this meal. What a great meal.
The Server/​Service ¹⁰⁄₁₀ she was attentive, informative, thorough, personable and fun.
The Bar ¹⁰⁄₁₀ great cocktails served w pride by the bar tender.
The Food ¹⁰⁄₁₀ sooooo gooooood. From the delicious oysters, to the appetizers, to the entrée (get the scallops). Damn it that was a great meal.
Desert ¹⁰⁄₁₀ you’d be a fooooool not to order dessert. We ordered two to share and had to bring some (a lot) home :-)
Small menus, local farm to table, local seafood and killer cocktails, all served with love.
EAT HERE!

Really great, a touch of real class in Carolina Beach!
Saw reviews on Unilocal and had to give it a try… food is gourmet-​type (consider that this is Carolina Beach… as close to real gourmet as you can get around here) at reasonable prices! We had Shrimp & Grits (again, gourmet style!) and it was mouthwatering (the sauce was almost Thai style with a base of coconut milk, but not too spicy). Had NC Trout with lentils & lemon horseradish sauce… really fab, the lentils with mascarpone ham could be a delicious side dish all on its own.
Bartender (for a youngster!) knew his alcohol (micro brews & whiskey in particular) and knew quality vs. the bullshit a lot of other places pretend to know. All the staff is young, which usually equates to so-​so service in my experience (less knowledgeable about foods & pairings, or what quality food really is) but these kids were all on point, knew what they were serving. We felt welcomed and very well taken care of!
As a side note, next to us a gent ordered a hamburger and it looked ah-​mazing (I think it was around $ 13?). The menu said it was all-​natural grass fed, no hormone beef I think. It looked great!
Dessert was fab too, a rich chocolate ‘bar’ (like rich homemade fudge) with in house-​made salted caramel ice cream (again, rich like a gelato).
This is one of only 3 restaurants for a 10-​mile stretch we would go back to in a heartbeat! (Fishbites & Nikki’s Sushi being the other 2 great experiences).

Hands down the best food around Carolina /​Kure beach. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the items on the menu.
Must eat on your next beach trip!

Congratulations to The Surf House for celebrating their 6^th year in business. That being said, as locals, there is No reason it should have taken us this long to eat here. It was my family and boyfriends first time eating here and we will certainly be back. Chris was a great waiter and accommodated all of our requests in a timely fashion.
Delicious food. Great prices. Unique and fun atmosphere. Support Locals who Support Locals!
(I only reserve 5stars for restaurants I would return to myself and recommend to all my friends)

Best oyster shooters ever. And everything is good. Really. You can’t go wrong with the menu.
Our dinner was spectacular. Trout and Duck. Our drinks were wonderful. And a special shout out to the bar man, who provided exceptional service.
Only downer was the hostess girl (the one with the overdrawn eyeliner)? While not the sharpest tool in the shed, I’d hope she has some manners. Apparently not. The website says they keep 12 – 16 seats open for dinner walk ins. Either the hostess did not know this policy, or she’s a straight up idiot. So since she refused to seat us (at 5:30 mind you with about 7 guests in the entire place including 3 at the bar), We had to make our own seating. Good thing the bartender was an absolute star. He more than made up for her obtuse behavior.

Amazing dinner. We had the skirt steak and scallops.
The bark starter and a great bourbon drink called the Cackalacky and a NC LOCAL ginger beer.
Great service and laid back atmosphere.

Wow what a find. Staying down on Carolina Beach and was on Unilocal trying to find somewhere that wasn’t fried food for lunch, came across this place. Suffice to say that it was so good at lunch that we booked a for dinner that evening whilst we were still there!
Us — Family of four, kids 10 & 12 but pretty adventurous eaters
Food — locally sourced, a creative menu and exceptionally executed. Over two visits we had Dozen Oysters, Catfish Banh Mi, Pulled Pork taco, Shrimp BLT (lunch) and Pesto Clams, Veggie Grits, Shrimp & Grits and Scallops, with assorted starters (dinner). I tried a bit of everyone’s and without exception they were amazing. I cannot commend the chefs enough for both creativity and a sure touch in terms of taste, seasoning, sizing and taste combinations.
Ambiance — chic surfer bistro. Casual but v tastefully decorated. Fairly small, around 35 – 40 covers plus bar space. Was quiet at lunch but very busy for dinner, reservations are a must.
Service — Surfer dudes & dudettes. Casual, friendly and helpful. Occasionally a little forgetful but not so it affected our enjoyment and was part of the charm in some ways.
Cost — Pretty reasonable. We went all out with apps, oysters, entrees, desserts and drinks. For the standard of food it was incredible value.
Summary — Fantastic food served in a very cool setting for very reasonable prices. I cannot recommend highly enough.