The Kill Devil Grill

You know it’s good food when the locals eat there. Staff is helpful in suggesting what to eat. Crowded so we ate at the bar next to a local which made our experience that much more enjoyable. Started with the Cheese Steak Eggrolls (excellent), then had Wahoo with a Pineapple salsa & wife had the fried Shrimp — both dishes were top notch & highly recommended, finished the meal with key lime pie … Holy $&#% … What a way to finish a meal … Get the key lime pie & visit KDG

How much do I love this place! Let me count the ways!!!
1. Fran — the best server. I’ve been lucky enough to be sat at her tables regularly over the past 6 years and she is always smiles and stellar service!
2. The bar — quick bartenders, great mixed drinks, yummy shots!
3. The desserts — holy crap! Always fresh, made in house, to die for delicious selection. Did the apple crumble last time and almost passed out it was so good.
4. The food — consistent good specials. Great prices, fresh seafood. Everything is made in house. Regular menu items that are always so good. Even when the place is packed it’s never a long wait before your steaming hot plates are being delivered to the table.
5. Atmosphere– it looks like a tiny diner from the front, but there is tons of space inside. It’s charming like a funky 50’s style diner without any of the cheesy gimmicks.

So I made a trip down to the Outer Banks with this specific restaurant in mind. Someone suggested hitting them up if I ever was down there-​I had nothing better to do on a beautiful Saturday, so what was the harm in taking a field trip to the beach?
When you pull up it has a divey diner feel to it, but that quickly fades when you see the actual dining area down below.
All their specials and rotating fare is written on a chalk board, different specials for lunch and dinner-​and the pricing difference is huge too.
Luckily I got in on that lunch pricing for fresh local caught Mahi in a tomato sauce, roasted veggies and cheese grits. It was phenomenal. And only $ 12. I had a couple margaritas as well and they were very reasonably priced-​and strong.
There is no reason you should not visit if ever in the area.
Period.
Go here. Now.

Fabulous restaurant! We sat at the bar before being seated and sipped on blackberry cocktails while chatting with friendly locals. Enjoyed the wings, cheesesteak egg rolls and spinach dip as appetizers. The soft shell crab was great as well as the chicken salad. Service was exceptional! Will definitely be back!

One of my absolute favorite places to go in the outer bank. My family owns a house in nags head and we go to kill devil grill every time we visit. You have to get the steak egg rolls and the white pizza!!!

Good experience except for the wait (an hour on a Wednesday in July). There is room out front on the restaurant lawn to stand/​sit and there is a bar where you can kill time.
My party tried the shrimp pasta, mahi special and shrimp & grits– all were excellent and our plates were cleaned.
My order, the shrimp and grits was thick, creamy and had a spicy twist. Dinner meal prices were reasonable ~$ 15 – 20.
Our waitress took great care of us and we left happy with our restaurant and meal choices.

After being away from OBX for almost a year, going to Kill Devil Gril was so good. Last year i tried the fried chicken this year i tried the citrus pork plate and it was not what i expected it was much more. The creamy citrus sauce with the moist pulled pork on a toritalla was phenomal. And dont forget the strawberry shortcake to go or the warm delicious treat called apple crisp.

I’m not a five star dude by any means! But this place, Good God! From the cold Ipa to the key lime pie to finish the meal! Deliciouso! The service was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. The food from philly egg roll starters to shrimp and grits was Devine! If you go anywhere for dinner while in the OBX make it here or you have no one to blame but yourself!

One word — DELICIOUS! Checked the Unilocal reviews for a good place for lunch today and chose this place based on the outstanding reviews. I chose one of the lunch specials today… blackened wahoo with Yukon mashed potatoes and pineapple salsa. Also added a salad. Oh sooooo good!!! Truly the best meal I’ve had all week. Wonderfully fresh salad with just a touch of vinaigrette dressing. Fish cooked correctly (moist and flaky) and pineapple salsa that was out of this world. Outstanding service from our server Anna. Could not have asked for a better lunch experience.

Ummm. If you come to the obx and don’t eat here… Your crazy. Affordable, delicious, and just flat out great. Don’t pass this place up.

A local recommended Kill Devil Grill as her favorite place for dinner, so we decided to check it out. The interior is definitely unique! I felt like I was dining in a retro metal bus. We ended up with only a 5-​minute wait in line since it was just the 2 of us. The place was already really crowded by 5:30pm on a weeknight.
I ordered the Fried Shrimp plate which came with fries and slaw. There were a LOT of fries, too many to finish by the end of our meal. My fried shrimp was delicious, but there were only about 7 shrimp total… not enough to justify the $ 18 price tag… My husband’s Big Kahuna Burger ($ 10) came with bacon, cheddar, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato. It also came with… more fries. We were kind of done with fries for a couple of days! If the fries were a little thinner/​stringier I think I would have been able to finish more of them.
Overall, we had great service and it’s a fun place to grab seafood and fries, but a little pricey.

3.5 stars
Service was fast and super friendly
Drinks were good and not strong but not weak
Chicken wings were a little too spicy and burnt for me but the hubby liked them a lot
Had the cheesesteak egg rolls, pretty good and unique
Finished with the apple crisp a la mode; also good
*very* loud
Parking lot was super busy but only a 10-​minute wait
I’d probably go back

Don’t miss out on this place. Amazing food and atmosphere

Wow this place is awesome. Food was top notch. Wings and egg rolls are where it’s at. Make sure you get them if you come here.
But what makes this place an absolute 5 star is the service. Jen was our server and she was the best. 4 adults and 2 young ones and she gave a lot of attention to both kids which is so cool and super rare. You can have great food but it’s the people that create the experience and make you want to come back. Thanks for an awesome time Jen.

We just had an amazing meal at the Kill Devil Grill! Started with a very good ½ priced bottle of Cab (Wednesday night special); split entrée specials with my wife-​grilled tuna over roasted poblano and smoked Gouda grits with a tomatillo and grilled pineapple salsa-​melted in your mouth with such light flavor; also cornmeal crusted lightly fried flounder with Yukon gold mashed potatoes and delicious braised kale (actually with an abundance of flavor!). We finished with the amazing key lime pie-​enough for two to three persons!
Excellent waitress in training/​waitress. Doubt there is any better restaurant on the OBX!

Great little restaurant just across from the beach on Highway 12! On the outside, it’s an unassuming, retro-​style silver diner. Inside, you’ll find 50s style meets modern… Both with the décor and the menu.
In the front of the restaurant is a full-​service bar, well-​staffed with witty, attentive bartenders. Toward the back of the restaurant is a dining area filled with lots of booths. That’s always a plus for me… I prefer sitting at a booth.
Once seated, our server promptly took our drink orders and described the long list of the day’s specials, which sounded pretty awesome. I was impressed by her memory and her attention to detail. Service was on point all throughout our service!
I ended up ordering a southwestern chicken salad, featuring corn, black beans, tomatoes and grilled chicken. I was excited to see that the corn was fresh… right off the cob. It was such a simple salad, but it was so delicious. I don’t know what they did to it for it to pack so much flavor with such simple ingredients. Salad magic.
Everyone else at the table said they really enjoyed their dishes as well. My friend has been coming to this restaurant for years and always orders a chicken pasta dish. She says it’s ridiculously good.
Best of all, the prices were very reasonable. During my recent visit, we went to 4 different restaurants. Prices were the lowest here, and the food quality was exceptionally good.
Overall, Kill Devil Grill offers a charming, laidback dining experience, delicious food and, best of all, great value for your money.

I’ll withhold a little praise as compared to Jon T, but only because I’ve only been here once. If i went back, I suspect I would upgrade.
Kill Devil Grill seems like a little more creative place than some of the standard fried shrimp joints. Not to say there’s anything wrong with those, but there’s a little more thought going in to the entrees here, and they also have some «turf» items to go along with all the surf. That said, I went with seafood, because… well, I was flying to Dallas the next day, and no way was I getting a steak on an island when I had that in front of me.
My rockfish was served blackened on a bed of really delicious creamy parmesan cheese grits — I would have eaten just these if I’m honest, but the fish was also excellent, blackened flavor without being burnt, very firm texture, moist and not overdone. All around very very good. Others did go with the turf option, and had a pork tenderloin dish in some kind of apple vinegar sauce that was very good. So it’s not just the seafood here that’s worth having.
As Jon mentions though, there’s a wait even during the shoulder season, so in the summer this place is likely a complete madhouse. I’m imagining just a mob scene with people fighting over the tiniest scraps of food. Glad I managed to make it in the «spring» before it got too crazy.

It is hard to overstate how much we like KDG. We have been there seven times now, including a mix of lunches and dinner. Beyond minor items, we have never had something we did not love.
On a recent visit with Aunt Annie and Andrew T we had great meals around the table. Unless you get there about 5:00pm for dinner, you will likely see one or more «Sold Out» signs on the daily menu board. It is just part of the deal at KDG, it is that popular. I cannot even imagine trying to get in on a weekend evening in the summer.
Ms T and Andrew both ordered the Blackened Rockfish special, served on delicious creamy parmesan cheese grits with a black bean and corn salsa. The fish was blackened well but not burned bitter. The grits carried the salt for the dish. This is typical of the great specials offered here.
Aunt Annie could not resist the Grilled Pork Tenderloin. I have had this before as a different treatment and almost ordered this one to try. The pork was delicious, not overdone or dried out and well-​seasoned with great sear on the outside. It was accompanied by sliced Brussels sprouts that had been sautéed with some onion. They were also well toasted and were excellent.
I went a different direction, surprising myself, ordering Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diablo. It was billed as spicy 6 on a 1 – 10 scale. It was pleasant heat, but not overdone for most people. The sauce was a light tomato version made freshly, not from heavy paste or canned sauce. It was filled with plenty of large, fresh and delicious shrimp. The flavors were full and well rounded.
A week or so later we managed to be there early enough on Fried Chicken Friday to get one of the 20 servings of fried chicken that they are famous for. That was also worth the wait, at least one time. The chicken (a full half bird) was very good with a little more batter breading on it than I prefer. It was crisp and flavorful and the chicken was very juicy. We noted it was not served very hot, so they have this all fried before people are let in and then it is all sold very quickly. While Ms T ate chicken (I stole a wing), I enjoyed a flounder sandwich. I order them without the garlicky sauce they make I house, just using some plain mayo. I also ordered slaw and in one of their rare misses, this slaw was limp. Ms T felt it was OK but I am the slaw expert and this was not freshly shredded and dressed.
Kill Devil Hills is worth a wait at least in the off season.

When I can see the ocean from the restaurant, I lean towards ordering fish. Usually something local, but every now and then I get the urge to try something a little different. At the Kill Devil Grill I opted for a Mahi-​mahi special of the day. Hey, I’m from California. I like my mahi mahi. Especially when it has an East Coast take on salsa and guacamole dolloped on a bed of grits. Kind of an East Coast meets West Coast kind of thing. The fish was perfectly cooked, tasted incredibly fresh, and left me wanting more. My wife had braised short ribs over a bed of sweet potato mash. I liked that dish almost as much as my own, but what can I say, I’m a sucker for great fish. We finished our meal off with a (massive) slice of Key lime pie that was absolutely to die for.
To go along with the superb food, all of staff at the Kill Devil Grill were wonderful folks. From the bartender who greeted us when we walked in through the cool Airstream-​esq front door – at least I think it was the front door. To our server and all of the other servers who came by to refill our drinks or take our plates away. They were all incredibly friendly and very attentive. High marks for service and high marks for the quality of the food from a restaurant we visited on a whim. Next time we return to the Outer Banks, we’re definitely making a pilgrimage back here.

Bottom Line: At this road side diner gourmet cuisine is served by exceptional staff.
From the «beach road,» Kill Devil Grill might just look like a little diner serving meatloaf and greasy burgers, but the plates here are gourmet and the staff here is top notch. Given the awesome reviews on Unilocal I knew I had to check out Kill Devil Grill so my «up for anything» mother and I headed over for a casual lunch.
Kill Devil Grill opens their doors at 11:30am (Tuesday through Saturday only, closed Sunday and Monday) and when we arrived about that time there was already a line forming. We were able to get seated soon after the door opened and we were immediately greeted by our friendly waitress. The regular menu is fairly short but I appreciate that because I know Kill Devil Grill is focusing on doing a few things very well. In addition to the regular menu, they also have some «blue plate» specials but these blue plates aren’t the blue plates of the 1950s. Rather they are fresh and refined dishes like Grilled Blackened Corvina (fish) over Grits, Fresh Caught Tuna Salad and Quinoa and Tabouli salads. Equally appealing as the dishes’ descriptions are their presentation.
I ordered the corvina over grits but much to my surprise and my waitress’s surprise it was actually served over mashed potatoes. I let the waitress know just so she could keep an eye out as others ordered the dish. She offered to get me a side of grits and I said I was fine with the potatoes as they were tasty. Come to find out, the kitchen was out of grits anyway so a very cute, sincere and apologetic Nicole insisted that the restaurant provide me with a complimentary dessert. So I said I would love a piece of the award winning Key Lime Pie to go and I enjoyed every piece of that (lucky for my father I split it with him and he too said it was delish). Sweeter than the pie was Nicole’s dedication to providing excellent customer service. I applaud the management of Kill Devil Hills for hiring and training a refined staff that could wait tables in the fanciest of restaurants.