Flying Fish Cafe & Wine Bar

Had the surf & turf and my beautiful wife had the cioppino. Everything was cooked perfectly; Just amazing. I lean toward a red wine that’s not going to cause serious heartburn, and the Parker Station Pinot noir was smooth and oaky (perfect). My wife (a bit of a wine connoisseur) went on and on about the Chasing Venus Sauvignon Blanc and how it may be her favorite wine to date. Had the rum cake for dessert and it did not disappoint. Service was quick, informed, and attentive. 5 out of 5 hands down.

Not The best Outer Banks has to offer save your money go to Basnights go to Owens for a special occasion if you’re just going out to eat it’s fine paper over the linen tablecloths great cocktails not great food too salty

I’ve eaten at Flying Fish a dozen or so so time over the years. The food is consistently good and so is the service. It’s a little pricey, but generally worth it. The bar has a good selection of cocktails.

Had a great late dinner here. Had an awesome seafood dish here. Be prepared to pay premium prices.

Beyond delicious and so happy we visited this place! Stared the meal off with their seasonal house salad– the feta dressing is to die for! I ordered the filet minion which came with mashed potatoes and asparagus– it was exceptional. My husband ordered the shrimp and grits and did not leave any left in the bowl!
Though it says that it’s «casual» attire and ambience, I felt that it was a little classier and dressier than that. Perfect for our anniversary dinner.
The staff was super friendly and attentive. They do take reservations, and I highly recommend calling ahead and making one– the place got quite busy towards 730pm.
If you plan on ordering two entrées, sign up for their email club to get the coupons before you go! We will definitely be back!

Everything on the menu sounded fantastic. We had a hard time choosing between the snapper, the grouper, and the scallops with soft shell crab. We decided that the snapper with strawberry vinaigrette would be appropriate for our kids to share, so we got to try all 3!
The wait staff was very accommodating for our two toddlers — crayons for the table paper, kid cups with lids, sharing plates… and frequently refilling our wine! They made us feel very comfortable despite this being much higher brow than what I would typically consider a family restaurant. Great meal and great environment made our night out very enjoyable.
Definitely give this a try while visiting OBX!

YUM. Amazing fresh fish in a not-​so-​amazing environment, but who cares. Fresh tuna, scallops, etc. served by a knowing, friendly wait staff. Do not order the thai crab spread appetizer, too much mayonnaise. DO order the scallops, surf & turf, cioppino &/​or anything tuna. Outer banks: why not serve the best seafood with a view? Its ok, we forgive you.

Fantastic service! The wine list is amazing. The Caesar salad was fantastic! I had the crab cake and it was full of crab, hardly any filler. They take reservations. The steamed clams and mussels appetizer was amazing! A wonderful place for date night. Go!

Good little place for dinner with out the kids, not to say you couldn’t take them. We just went there as our night out with out them while on vacation. Everything was very good, and our server was excellent. He was on top of everything at the table and quick to return with anything we needed.
We had the calamari as our app, and it was cooked perfectly and very good. For dinner my wife had the filet and it was again cooked perfectly and the potatoes were extremely good. I had the cioppino and I should have went another direction, while it was good and nice portion of seafood, it still doesn’t compare to the cioppino I’ve had on the west coast. It needed a little more flavor overall for my liking, and a nice piece of toasted garlic bread would have topped it off nicely to sop up some of the broth at the end.
We were not hungry for desert but the menu looked good. Overall we would probably go back, and I would recommend it to others.

Flying Fish is one of the few places in the OBX that takes reservations, and they use OpenTable which makes it super convenient!
I’ve been here a couple of times, always with a large group of people. And Flying FIsh does an excellent job of taking care of us. I came a couple of weekends ago with a group of 11, and our waiter was calm and had no problems with making sure we were all happy. Our food came out at the same time which always impresses me when there are a lot of people at a table.
They run out of specials/​catches of the day towards the end of the day, but if they have a couple left, they’ll let you know when you sit down so they can tell the kitchen to save it for you. The food is delicious. Fairly priced for a seafood restaurant in the Outer Banks. The crab cakes are delicious. The corn pudding that came along with it was good, a little sweet, but still good. The one thing I will say is the food is way too salty sometimes. The she crab soup is good, but REALLY salty. The calamari was way too salty as well. I’m not sure if it was from the sauce of the seasoning of the calamari. But I mean, we still ate all of it…
I’m always too full for dessert. But they have the famous OBX rum cake. Next time I’m back at OBX, I will definitely be back to try the rum cake.

There were six of us and the food was excellent. We started off with excellent cocktails and appetizers. The mussels and clams were very nice. We all had fabulous seafood.
Atmosphere was good but the wait staff needs training.

I got the surf and turf my wife got a seafood dish and we loved it the waiter was great we would go back

Cocktails; great,
Food; excellent,
Atmosphere; very nice
Server; not so good.
This is one of the best restaurants we’ve found on the outer banks, and we visit many of the very good ones, everything that came through the kitchen door was delicious!
However the waiter was less than friendly, just shy of curt. I’m not looking for a new BFF but at least a congenial attitude would be nice and I saw it in many of the other waiters at other tables. In my book there is a difference between «eating out» and «dining». As I see it, eating out is a quick service experience, dining is a relaxing dinner experience. The waiter was operating as eating out and looking for our entire meal order with the cocktail order and kept pushing the point. Actually we enjoyed our cocktails so much a second round was being considered but we felt we got pushed past that option. It was my impression that he very much wanted to rush us through to turn the table.
Interesting to me is that after the orders were extracted from us the waiter went MIA. Empty cocktail glasses and appetizer dishes soon decorated the table (really, what’s sadder than an empty cocktail glass?) Sure enough the entrees were being served and we shuffled the dirty dishes to accommodate them. I asked that they be removed and was advised that he would do so after the course serving. Thankfully a nearby waited pitched in to clear our table. Of course while MIA he was working on his congeniality award with fellow waiters and the wine we wanted with dinner could not be ordered until the entrée service. The wine arrived half way through the course.
Please accept this as constructive criticism, you’ve got a really great little establishment and we will surely return but I believe you may want to address this waiter matter, he is your ambassador and my escort to navigate me through the best you have to offer. He did us both a disservice.
PS we sat at the far north table Saturday evening.

Excellent crab cakes and super friendly service. Highly recommend. We came in about twenty minutes before closing and they were very gracious and asked us to take our time. The corn pudding was out of this world!

We liked this restaurant so much we visited 3 times so far! Outstanding food and service. Very professional staff. Fine dining!

The Flying Fish is a smaller, more intimate location in the OBX.
I have to say I generally love shellfish of any kind and I used so I want to make sure the following words carry the correct weight.
GO HERE AND HAVE THE STEAMED CLAMS AND MUSSELS APPETIZER.
If you have to have dinner somewhere else, that’s your loss but HAVE THE STEAMED MUSSELS AND CLAMS. The sauce was amazing. I had to stop myself from drinking from the bowl when the clams were gone.
For my entrée I had the Blackened Cobia over wild rice with salsa and Avocado sauce. The dish was very well done and beautifully plated. The salsa had a great citrus taste that complemented the blackened fish well. The only criticism I have is that I wish there was more avocado sauce.
My girlfriend had the shrimp and grits. She was very happy with her dish as well.
Overall a great experience with delicious food and a tasteful intimate atmosphere.
Again: TRY THE STEAMED SHELLFISH APPETIZER!

Came here for my sisters birthday. The place was pretty quaint. We had a big party and they were super accommodating! Really nice ambience and the food was divine. I’d have to say way better than Ruth’s Chris. I had the surf and turf and that crab cake was AWESOME! The steak was absolutely perfect! My friend had lamb chops and they were absolutely divine!

I was expecting a lot more from the reviews I read.
I was unimpressed by the wine list. They had a lot of amazing bottles in the $ 90+ region but nothing more affordable that I couldn’t get at the food lion down the street for half the price
Service was great. Our server Kevin was wonderful knowledgeable about the food menu
Surf and turf was delicious filet was melt in your mouth delicious
Why the 2 stars because it costs 9 dollars to add a few pieces of chicken to a 8 dollar Cesare salad. That’s right it costs more to add meat to the salad then the salad it self.
In their defense the prices are listed on the menu accurately but when I was ordering quickly I looked this over.
I looked for an email on their website to ask their management about how the add on could cost more then their entrée but I couldn’t find anything.
Management if you bread this please please please hit me up so you can explain this to me

Super delicious! No pictures for this one, was too busy eating. I had the calamari, the seared ahi tuna, and the filet with grilled shrimp.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
The filet was perfectly cooked and just melted in my mouth. The garlic mashed potatoes were legit, and the asparagus was perfectly cooked.
Everything here was just phenomenal and the waiter was fantastic!
Make sure to get reservations it’s a small restaurant.

If it was possible to give 6 stars, I would… WOW. This place can’t be passed up!
After having several average meals in OBX, we read reviews of Flying Fish Café and decided to give it a try. We went on Father’s Day/​Sunday around 8:30pm and were the only people in the dining room– very surprised! I was a little nervous, but that was quickly changed by the friendly manager that greeted us and sat us at a comfy booth. He was very accommodating of my 2-​month old niece.
Our server was absolutely perfect! She had a great European accent and knew so much about their dishes. She advised us that their dressings and sauces are what make the dish even better, and told us a few of her favorites. She made my sister a perfect piña colada, and I had a Sam Adams Summer Ale. Their bread was suuuuper fresh & tasty, and the greens salad with feta dressing was on point!
I had the gorgonzola-​butter topped hand-​cut filet mignon with a wine-​reduction demi-​glacé, and that was by far the most delicious steak I’ve eaten at a restaurant in a LONG time. WHOA. It was served with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, which were seasoned perfectly. My sister had sun-​dried tomato basil sea scallops over a bed of wild rice with a lemon sauce, and that was out of this WORLD! I’m not even a seafood fan, and those scallops were cooked wonderfully and tasted YUMMY.
We arrived hoping for a good experience, and Flying Fish Café exceeded our expectations by far. The prices were fair for the quality of the dishes, and the service was amazing. I can’t wait to go back!!! :)