OUR RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONS
Duck Donuts - You have to try it!
In with Food Lion, Duck Donuts makes your donut to your order. Imagine everything you might want on a cake donut. First they fry your donut. Then they add a coating, say, Maple sauce. Then they add a topping, say shredded coconut. Then they add a drizzle, say raspberry. No, really, 384 combinations, I think. The order form is HERE. You probably ought to consider what you want BEFORE you go. There website, a bit too artsy-fartsy for me, is HERE.
NINO'S Pizza - click for menu
Nino's is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET and just a hair south. But ... wait for it ... they deliver for free! I dream about their deluxe calzone. It is my first order on arrival and probably the last before I leave. Their pizza is also fantastic. Their menu isn't really on-line so I've scanned it here. The scan might be a bit old. Check on-line for a newer version.
gidget's pizza and pasta - click for menu
Along with Nino's above, the best pizza on the Outer Banks includes Gidget's. Great pasta, too. They deliver in Avon, right to the condo. Unlike most others, you aren't paying $40.00 for a delivery pizza. Highly recommended. Even if Gidget's isn't delivering at that particular time, I'd recommended a short drive south to the Food Lion shopping center.
BURGER BURGEr - click for their facebook page
Burger Burger is north a bit on the west side of 12. It used to be a fairly standard burger shack. During the pandemic they started doing special items. They'd announce a special once a day on their Facebook page. Sundays they have more involved specials with a desert. Things like a meatloaf or pot roast dinner with a vegetable, mashed potatoes and a drink. Like them on Facebook and you'll get sold a lunch or dinner you didn't know you wanted.
Bros sandwich shack - click for menu
Located in the Food Lion shopping center, these are gourmet burgers and sandwiches. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Take out or eat in. These people grind their own burgers on site. Check the link on the button above for a current menu. A copy of their menu is here.
La fogata Mexican - click for Facebook page
If you like Mexican, LaFogata is a great sit-down in the same shopping center as the Food Lion, just a minute or two south.
Walk north and you'll find Pangea Tavern, with really good food. Their Tavern Reuben is fantastic, albeit a bit messy. Might have been my enthusiasm for the sandwich.
You've probably seen that I'm not really a fish person. But if you want a really great mushroom swiss burger, Oceanas is the place! Again, right up the street.
This is in Buxton a few minutes south of Avon. Good comfort food. Again they say the fish is good but I'm not a fish person.
Orange Blossom Bakery and Cafe
The
picture shows an "Apple Ugly" on a condo dinner
plate. An Apple Ugly is kind of like a
cinnamon roll but about three times bigger.
Instead of cinnamon it has fresh apple pie
filling. Like a cinnamon roll, it is
glazed ... but with much more glaze. Make
the short drive south into Buxton. You
need an Apple Ugly. You need milk or
coffee. You probably won't need lunch.
Chinatown is also in the Food Lion plaza. Dine in or take out. While there are a lot of tables, it is not at all upscale. Styrofoam plates and cheap plastic utensils are the rule. But the food is freshly made and really hits the spot. Chinatown has no website so the link above is to a copy of their menu.
But every restaurant is fantastic!
You are probably expecting our recommendations. We recommend every restaurant on the Island! While we have our favorites the reality of it is that with so many to chose from, every restaurant has to be really good to survive.
a list of restaurants (start with hatteras island restaurants)
off seasoN
IGNORE THE WEB -- CHECK FACEBOOK for hours
A surprising number of restaurants are open all season. If you are here in the winter, going out to eat is a two-step process. First, check the hours on the list below. Second, call to see if the list is current. In the winter the shops sometimes vary their hours without notice. It is perfectly acceptable to tape a piece of paper to the door reporting that fishing has called them away for the day. It's an Island thing.
That being said, the hours change depending on a number of factors. If the fishing is particularly good the hours are cut back. If the weather is bad they may be open longer. The web pages don't normally have what is actually happening. Check their web pages.