Yana’s Ye Olde Restaurant

This was the best 50’s restaurant we have ever been to. The service was outstanding. They were friendly and social, making you feel like old friends. The atmosphere took you back to a time when people conversed more with passerbyers. The fresh fruit fritters were irresistible – try the strawberry ones! Our picky eater ate 5; they are fruit balls deep fried and coated in powdered sugar with a side of whipped cream and topped with cherries. The homemade chocolate shakes were delicious. My husband recommends the grilled chicken sandwich – just the right ratio of chicken to lettuce & tomatoes on a toasted bun. Our son devoured his dinosaur-​shaped pancake.

The BEST! One NOT to miss on the Crystal Coast. Don’t leave without trying their fritters. We go here every time we come to Emerald Isle! The atmosphere is loud, but fun!

We had cheeseburgers and fries. The buns could have been softer and the beef was a little dry but it was still tasty.
It was also very pricey. I couldn’t believe that they charge $ 1.00 extra for lettuce and tomato. I think that if I’m already paying nearly $ 8 for a cheeseburger that it should come with lettuce and tomato.

Wife and I had lunch here for the first time. It’s a very interesting/​quirky restaurant in Swansboro. It’s surrounded by other restaurants and old businesses.
We arrived after the breakfast/​lunch rush and were told to sit anywhere we would like. No wait! The waitress immediately took our drink orders, and our meal orders as soon as she returned with our drinks.
The wait for food was relatively short. We ordered the strawberry fritters as an app. We are happy we tried the fritters that we heard so much about. They were delicious! My omelette and wife’s shrimp burger were pretty good. The highlight was the fritters.
It is a unique establishment as far as décor goes, but a good experience none the less. We decided we would try this place again sometime.

Good, greasy food! Get a shake and tip well as these friendly people work their tails off!

Food was excellent and waitress was very helpful with the menu. All in all we were very happy with our experience here.

Super 50’s style retro diner in downtown Swansboro that makes you feel like you’re back in Elvis’ days! Seating is very tight. Once you sit down, you better be prepared to stay put. That aside, food is great and the waitresses I recall were very sweet and welcoming, and work hard to make sure you’re experience is super. I recommend the french toast, and anything they have that is sweet for that fact. The home fries are good too.

…Fritters=heaven. I had the peach fritters and they were delicious. Can’t wait to go back for more.
Also had the hamburger, it left a little to be desired in the flavor department, but wasn’t bad.
The fritters are the showstopper. Yum.

We love Yana’s. It’s a family vacation regular stop for us! We’ve learned to go earlier in the week for shorter wait times. Customer service is great and we love sitting at the bar for a different experience. And yes, you have to get the fritters!

The reviews are dead on here. The cheeseburger was perhaps one of the top 5 burgers I’ve had… did it with slaw, ketchup, mustard, and onions. Onion rings were a little overdone but wonderful. The real treat was something you may never order if you didn’t see it in a review, fruit fritters. Fried dough with fresh fruit inside and powdered sugar on top?. Shut the front door! Great find in Swansboro.

This is really 3.5 stars. I think most of the time this place is probably more to my liking, but it’s really hard to say. I’ve been there twice, and they were wildly different experiences.
SUMMARY:
1) Don’t go when it is packed. If the line is out the door and it’s during the «seasonal» months, know that it will likely be more stressful than you’re hoping — especially with kids.
2) If it’s not hot and packed, it’s a cute little diner with a fun theme. I recommend it probably anytime from October through April. Outside those months, it’s probably not my cup of tea on the weekends, but I have yet to go during a weekday morning.
3) If you like hash browns… !!! I loved it. That is all. I’d probably fatten myself up on that delicious unhealthiness every day if given the chance. (Good thing I’m not!)
FULL REVIEW:
1^st Time
The first time it was really busy and hot — there doesn’t appear to be any air conditioning on site. There were plenty of ceiling fans, but that doesn’t really cut it in coastal NC. It wasn’t horrible, but not really comfortable either.
The place was packed! We could hardly maneuver between tables, and it seemed like you could take one big table out of the middle and give everyone else a few more inches. I get why they’d want more people in there, but it certainly weighs in on whether or not I’d go. If I’m looking for a relaxing brunch, this isn’t the place to go.
The next complication came with our order. My girlfriend has celiac disease. That means any form of gluten EVEN COMING IN CONTACT with her food can mean serious illness. When we ordered, that was communicated to the server. However, when a different server came with our food, there was toast sitting right on top of my girlfriend’s food.
We told her about the celiac issue and the server made a clear effort to let us know she would have them remake it — BIG points for her! Sometimes people think it’s ok to just remove the bread and serve the food, but that kind of cross-​contamination can have serious consequences. And believe me, she’ll know!
I don’t remember the names… The less attentive server was a younger woman and the more attentive one was a middle-​aged woman. I remember whispering to my girlfriend that I want THAT woman to get our tip.
I had their potatoes — these cubed little hash brown-​type things… They were delicious! I love potatoes in general, and these were perfect if you’re looking for hash browns!
2^nd Time
The second time I went was with my two young boys. It was in the fall or winter months, so it was much cooler than summer.
This was kind of your «typical» diner experience, I would say.
The place was about ¹⁄₃ capacity, and everyone seemed to be familiar with each other. I was the only person to bring in kids during our visit, but my younger son really liked the «man» outside the restaurant. Yana’s has an almost life-​sized figure of Elvis out front, and he’s holding a guitar. I believe that was the first time he’s ever heard of Elvis, so he was curious and we were all hungry :)
The walls are packed with pictures from the icons of the post WWII years. Elvis Presley, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe and others are all over the walls. It’s really a fun kind of place if you can look at the walls or enjoy a meal without sharing sweaty bodily contact with your neighbors.

This place is delicious but I always leave feeling STUFFED! guess that says a lot about the GREAT food here. The fritters are a must. Don’t leave without trying them. You’ll be sorry you didn’t.

Great food!!! Great service!!! Breakfast AMAZING!!! Lunch AMAZING!!! Girls trip to the beach and Yana’s made this trip great! Beach was fun but Yanamamma and her team are great! Thanks for making us feel like family!

This place was a fabulous gem! My husband and I stumbled upon it and sat at the counter for breakfast. The fritters and food are amazing! We will come back every time we are in town!

Yana’s is exactly what you want it to be. It is a small town diner/​restaurant with a ton of character and charm serving up some great diner style food. My girlfriend had been here multiple times and would drive into Swansboro whenever she was in Emerald Isle. She insisted that we go out of our way on the trip back from Wilmington just to grab a little lunch at Yana’s, and I’m sure glad that we did.
Yana’s has been in Swansboro forever and it almost seems like the town has built itself up around it. It is the quintessential little southern restaurant and there is charm everywhere you look. The walls are covered with remnants of the past with a specific emphasis on Elvis, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe. Even the Men’s bathroom is covered in Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia, including a life size cut out of her.
We were in the mood for a good burger and that’s exactly what we got. I decided to just get it with everything that they would pile on there and the result was a monstrosity. This isn’t one of those gourmet burgers that you get at a newer restaurant with avocados, eggs, and all kinds of other fancy fixings (not a shot against those). This is just a good old fashioned greasy burger that will seriously knock your socks off. The meat is tender, juicy, and flavorful. We also got a side order of onion rings to share. The onion rings were perfect. They had a nice thin, crunchy batter. You could bite right through the rings without pulling the whole onion out. They didn’t even need any dipping sauce. We washed all of this down with some very sweet tea.
All of the staff here is extremely friendly and they go out of their way to make you feel like your at home. The owner of the place comes out and mingles with customers, which is great to see from a small business owner.
If you are in Swansboro or anywhere near the southern part of the North Carolina coast it is worth a visit. It’s worth driving into Swansboro just to experience Yana’s. They have some great food served up by a friendly staff in a charming atmosphere. Great staple in this little coastal town.

If you want to eat breakfast here… I suggest you arrive before 8:30AM because after that be prepared to wait. The place is good and the locals and others love it… but its small so it can only accommodate so many people at a time.
I’ve grown up going here for breakfast and lunch but it wasn’t until recently that I saw the fruit fritters… amazing! The great thing is that they serve their full menu all day long so if you have non breakfast loving people (like myself) they don’t have to commit to breakfast food. I have to warn you that they pan grill their shrimp burger and serve plain on a bun (no ketchup or slaw unless you request), so it may not be what the typical person expects for a shrimp burger. The people I have dined with say their grits are some of the best they have had and their breakfasts meats are spot on.
Pretty much, stop here, try it out, but come early.

The wait time is always too long and the food is not great! If they didn’t have fritters, I don’t even know… The omelets are awful. The potatoes are boring. The place is so crowded, cramped and loud.
Their only palatable dish would be the fritters which aren’t even worth the wait or hassle.
My solution has been to just make a nice breakfast at home and then go place an order for fritters to take home or to enjoy down by the water.

Two words: apple fritters.
Yana’s is one of a kind, especially in this region of Eastern N.C. It is reminiscent of a diner, but with a retro spin to it. The walls are lavishly decorated with posters of 50s musicians and movie stars, and there is even a functioning jukebox. On the way in, you can say hello to Elvis, who sits eternally, hand prepared to strum away the opening riff of «Hound Dog.»
Now, let’s talk the grub – it’s great diner-​type food. Both the breakfast and lunch menus are expansive for such a tiny joint. I ordered an omelet with home fries and a buttery biscuit, and everything was a treat in and of itself.
The apple fritters, though? The first time I had one of these freshly fried pieces of wonder, I questioned what I had been doing with my life until then. While certainly an unhealthy spin on a healthy fruit, Yana’s does it in such a delicious way that no amount of calories would keep me from devouring a half dozen of them.
Now, there are a few things about Yana’s to keep in mind. First, it is a small little place. If you go when it is busy (which it most certainly will be any day during the summer) there will be a decent wait, as with most breakfast places along the coast. Also, there is very little parking available, so it is likely you may need to find parking on the narrow streets or park a couple blocks away. But hey, Swansboro is a pretty little town to stroll through. Second, the place is like a diner in every way apart from the hours it keeps. The place is open during a very narrow breakfast-​lunch window each day, not the typical round-​the-​clock hours of diners. Third, the price is a bit more expensive than similar places nearby, such as Mike’s in Emerald Isle.
However, none of these reasons will keep me from heading on over to Yana’s for a good breakfast and powdered sugar-​covered fritters!

This place is a bee-​hive and only open until 2pm.
The fritters are A-​M-​A-​Z-​I-​N-​G. Almost worth the drive from Pittsburgh, PA to Swanboro, NC by themselves.
The omlettes are large, unique and utterly packed with flavor.
There is more atmosphere in this small narrow restaurant than you will find anywhere — an old juke box plays 45’s continuously. Elvis and Marilyn are watching your every move. There is a bar that runs the length of the establishment.
The people that work there are happy. Happy and Friendly and Efficient.
Ye need to get your Olde self some Yana’s!

Cool, quirky, unexpected spot in Swansboro, but hugely popular for breakfast. Still, we were seated pretty quickly. Looking at the other tables we decided we had to get the fritters. The order of 5 fritters was twice as much as we could eat. Next time I will order them without the whipped topping which was overkill and actually distracted from the yummy taste of the fritters.
Service was very attentive for how busy they were. Will definitely go back next time we are in town.