Fisherman’s Wharf

Just made a detour to go to this restaurant as it is a favorite of everyone I know who goes to the outer banks. However we were sadly disappointed when we got there and found it closed for the season! ( Unilocal, you let us down as you listed it as opened!)
Well, it is what it is but man this was big disappointment. But let me share why it is so good. First, family owned for decades, very friendly and they know how to cook seafood. Second, the fish here is so fresh you have to slap it! When the fishing boats come in with their catch, they bring right into the processing plant down stairs from restaurant. It just doesn’t come any fresher than that nor any better from anyones kitchen.
Too bad for us but it will be a while before we can venture back to the Outer Banks, but when we do, this will be our first stop!

Came her for dinner on recommendation from a local. Loved the location right on the water, and our food was good, although I had not expected my broiled seafood (the Captain’s trio — shrimp, scallops, crab) to be SWIMMING in butter. I did like the fact that ‘veggie of the day’ was a definite step above what many restaurants serve — the squash had been sauteed with some onions and red peppers and wine — yum! Service was also friendly and prompt.

This restaurant was recommended to us on an OBX vacation.
The She Crab soup was delicious. The waitress was friendly and efficient.
Those are the good parts. The bad parts were as follows:
This is a Dry Restaurant, operated by Fundamentalist Christians.
The piped in music is all Christian Hymns.
Ok, that said, how about the rest of the meal?
Over cooked fish and Shrimp on the broiled platter. No hint of herbs or spices.
The overall quality was sub Red Lobster. But not at a Red Lobster price.
Save your money, you can get the same quality in a chain restaurant.

Awesome, The seafood could not have been fresher. This is why we went to the outer banks.

The best! Can’t beat the view of the old fishing harbor. Food is fresh and good. Service is very friendly. Avoid coming during busy hours as they get slammed and there will be a wait. Skip the fried foods and stick to the specials — feta and spinach stuffed flounder was excellent! They are off the beaten path and are authentic — this is an all around experience with the views and the drive out to Wanchese.

Sometimes I wonder what types of people rate certain restaurants when I refer to Unilocal and see 80% positive reviews on certain places, hence, a few I’ve tried out based on the many positive reviews. I am now going straight to the negative reviews and go from there! Even so they may be 10−20−30% of reviews, TRUST ME that they mean more than ALL the positives put together! As they seem to reflect the truth and proved so in all of the places I tried and had the worst experiences. I have proven this by eating there and finding what the real deal is.
When I eat at the same place others reviewed I often am left in wonder about how and why I got a very mediocre or bad meal and being charged much money for it. Off nights in the kitchen i don’t believe in much, I do believe in consistency and I am no snob but I simply know quality. To me that is obvious and in a few ways, basic fundamentals that affect end result. I use basic 3 criteria: Taste, quality of product used in a dish and portion sizes, price is after all that. You may pay more for a «good meal» out. I don’t even use presentation since a dish can taste better it looks…
That being said, this place here is an insult in every way can be possible. Tourist trap in an assuming location in Wanchese, a place where fish and shrimping boats do much of their business in OBX! Here you’d just expect fresh off the boat and quality and size of shrimp NOT to be as small as they were in our dishes! We came for the shrimp and literally they were quite «shrimpy» in size. Shrimp SO small it was like a joke being played on you or finding Candid Camera behind the waitress station. Smallest little shrimp I’ve seen ever and for an area filled with nothing but shrimp boats and seafood markets right outside the restaurant window view, how the heck can this be?!! And the place packs the tourists in, yes! So «fresh shrimp» can be deceitful depending on where you go and eat. Plus the taste of meal nothing to ever write home about, and portions so small and prices so high for mediocre meal and quality. I wonder how anyone thinks this place is as good as some say? Where who what? Did we eat at the same restaurant? Perhaps it’s that my brain and palette knows better than some people’s do. DO NOT EAT HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO FEEL DISAPPOINTED, well, that’s only if you know what makes up a good meal and good food… Very unfulfiiling and severely overpriced.
Good luck if you do! and we ordered this:
INSULT– Stuffed Shrimp — 6 SMALL shrimp stuffed with a SMALL dollup of crab stuffing is a crime for 21.00 good in any way! baked potato was old and hard as well. Are you serious? There was a broiled shrimp (6) and tiny popcorn scallops 21.99??? SAY WHA? Smallest portions and as was the shrimp in there too!

The local shrimp was terrific, that was the good part. But their Unilocal page says they take reservations and they don’t. When we called a day in advance they said it was call — ahead but took our name down anyways. Then when we showed up, they had no idea what we were talking about. While we waited (since we didn’t call ahead) two ladies discovered things on their seating chart that were wrong i.e. empty tables that were actually full. Very much the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Also, skip the calamari appetizer. It’s very slimy, a turn off for a seafood restaurant with a fishing captain as a Co owner. And, for what it’s worth, they don’t sell any alcohol.

Came here for the first time today after hearing about it through the grapevine and was not disappointed! I love these little hidden gems-​the staff was attentive and friendly, the tea was sweet, and the food and view were great. I ordered the Shrimp Trawler and my boyfriend got the Fried Flounder, both wonderful and about as fresh as it gets and not hard on the wallet. They also make their own pies– get the Key Lime. Seriously.

Came down here for a week for vacation… Tried many different places this place was by far the best both food wise and service !!!

The light and fluffy hush puppies are obviously fried in rendered unicorn fat and the she-​crab soup is made of equal parts cream, sherry, and satisfaction. Outstanding meal, 10/​10, will eat again!

Came here with my girlfriend and her family one night. We were a pretty big group, so I got to try a few different things.
First, make sure you get the hush puppies. They are out of this world. Crispy, sweet, and very very tasty. They’re more corny than most and that makes them even better.
My girlfriend and I split a bowl of she crab soup which she really liked, but I thought was only okay. Seemed a little overly creamy to me and didn’t have as many chunks of crab meat as I would have liked.
We also split an order of fried shrimp which was a ton of food. When they say a pound, it’s a POUND of shrimp. They were also quite tasty. Well cooked and the perfect amount of breading. I also enjoyed the cocktail sauce a lot. Sides were fine. We got applesauce and veggies.
I also tried a few things other people got. Their home made chips are nice and big, but more cooked than I like (I prefer homemade chips to be slightly underdone). The Mahi mahi was good. Soft and light and the pineapple salsa with it was solid. Another person at the table ordered tuna which was two large tuna steaks. It was good although they were ordered medium rare and came out with barely any pink.
Overall, a great place to eat if you are in the mood for a lot of food. Not 5 star cuisine, but a fantastic place to go of you are in the mood for some tasty outer banks comfort food.

Mom & pop/​family owned restaurant in the heart of a fishing village and atop a fishing warehouse.
FW serves no alcohol.
Excellent views.
Tasty hush puppies.
FRESH seafood (obviously) with a diverse menu of seafood options.
Our portions were huge (too big, no one at our table was able to finished their meal) and approx $ 20 – 25 a dinner plate.

We had an excellent meal this week and each time we go over the years. The food is always good and the seafood is the freshest ever ! The boats are bringing them in right in front of you! The last dinner I had was grilled mahi and it was excellent. The service is friendly and fast and pleasant. We’ve had fried dishes in the past that were delicious, lightly breaded and fried just right. The best view on the coast as you are surrounded by water and boats coming and going.

Truly delicious, with fast service and tasty dishes at a very reasonable price. No frills décor, but it gets the job done with fantastic views of the water and boats coming in to the marina. Be aware that this establishment serves no alcohol, just FYI. I guess the only downside to a local family restaurant is that your server can get really distracted by folks just back in town that she hasn’t seen for a while. Less than attentive (had to flag her down a couple of times) and very late on a drink refill, but she saved the situation with a to-​go cup. :) Great place!

It is worth a drive to come down to the wharf to eat. The seafood is amazing and fresh. The Coconut shrimp with a sweet sauce was the best I have had. It hit all the right notes. The sweetened coconut and panko battered shrimp were amazing, and the sauce just pulled everything together nicely. The sides were not the start of the show; however, the seafood makes up for it. And the view from dinner was spectacular as we watched boats entering from their fishing trip.

Fisherman’s Wharf does an excellent job at what they do. It is not fine dining, it is simple fresh seafood prepared in traditional ways, and that product gets no better than this. Only the hush puppies were at all disappointing. The restaurant is exceedingly rustic in appearance, in a genuine fishing village on the opposite end of Roanoke Island from the trendy Manteo, far from the beaten path. With the quality of the food, I wonder if they could not have remarkable success if they served alcohol and advertised in the beach areas, but then it would be a very different place. Other reviewers have commented on watching the fishing boats go by, but we saw at least six dolphin appearances, which was a kick.

The hush puppies: I can’t even begin to describe these balls of deliciousness because I will just drool uncontrollably until I get my next fix.
The prices: $ 6.99 for a fresh catch special with two sides? Insane.
The view: situated on the second floor with panoramic views of an actual fisherman’s wharf confirms the freshness of the seafood served here.
Just these three points will keep me coming back year after year even though this place is tucked away in Wanchese. We had five adults and a toddler at our table. The must try is the scallop chowder. It was so delicious it’s got the baby dancing after every spoonful! No joke, this baby got his groove on with the scallops. We also had Spanish mackerel, seafood basket, beer battered flounder, steamed spiced shrimp, fried oysters and scallop cake. Nothing was left on the table at the end of our meal. So yeah, it was THAT good.

Haven’t been here for years, which is way too long. Friendly service, great food, fair prices, and lots of entertainment watching the boats go in and out of Wanchese Harbor.
I got the 1 lb steamed shrimp for lunch and brought about half of them home in a doggie bag. They were delicious! Had a couple of their hush puppies, straight out of the deep fat fryer — God bless America — cole slaw and iced tea. I overheard the waitress tell another table that they had key lime pie and coconut chess pie for dessert, so we ordered a couple to go.
I think I may have died and gone to Southern fried heaven.

I took the family here around 3pm today. Normally we don’t eat at this time but today we decided to eat «Lupper» which is Lunch/​Supper. :)
Any restaurant ABOVE a real seafood warehouse must have fresh food right? Well that is true for Fisherman’s Wharf!
Hush puppies are traditional southern style. Yes no onions or other taste destroying filler in the hush puppies here! My wife and I smiled at the wonderful flavor and how it brought back memories when this was the norm.
The service and food was fantastic. Everyone was very nice. The food was cooked just right for all our meals. We got two appetizers the Shrimp Dip and the Buffalo Shrimp. The Shrimp Dip was unique with a taste of horse radish which was a surprise. The buffalo sauce was sweet and spicy which with fresh properly fried shrimp worked well together. We ordered the soft crab sandwich, 2x seafood basket and the 1lbs Steamed Shrimp. The flounder, shrimp, scallops and soft-​shell crabs were very well made, VERY fresh and tasty.
One nice plus is it appears most if not all the tables have a view over the water. We could watch the charter boats coming and going which to me was fun. :)

Scallop chowder is a must. Seriously. If I could install a pipeline from the kitchen at Fisherman’s Wharf to Northern Virginia, I would. I have always been a die hard New England clam chowder gal, but I have changed my tune. The creamy soup and tender scallops provide the perfect synergy of seafood flavor and richness without the grit that usually accompanies clam chowder.
For my meal, I ordered fried shrimp. It was good, but I would have gladly traded it for another bowl of chowder. If you’re staying near the beach, it’s worth the trip across the Manteo bridge to enjoy this simple no-​frills seafood joint. The kids loved the water tank outside where they touch different sea creatures after our meal.
On a side note: If you like to enjoy a cold beer with your seafood, don’t expect to find it here. Only soda and tea.