Outer Banks Restaurants

Get ready to kick back and relax at Bonzer Shack. With their creative take on Southern and island comfort food in a surf hangout atmosphere, there’s always something on the menu that’s sure to tempt you. The menu offers sandwiches, fresh seafood specials, steaks, burgers and the mouthwatering smoked Gouda grit cakes. Local favorites also include delicious apps like the Hippie Dip and wings roasted in-house daily plus their excellent specialty cocktails. From June through September stop by for live outdoor musical entertainment from daily (weather permitting) or enjoy the spacious yard for drinks and yard games like Ping Pong, cornhole and many more. The Shack is open for lunch and dinner year round. 

If it’s Southern chicken, then it’d better be fried. At least, that’s what they believe at The Cookshak Fried Chicken. Their small menu lets them focus on preparing fried chicken and its fixings right, crafting each meal to feel like you’re sitting down to a big chicken dinner at Grandma’s country farmhouse. The restaurant serves food in family-size servings, and you can order half or whole birds and pair them with sides of fries, mac and cheese or coleslaw available by the pint or quart. Be sure to check out their daily lunch specials, too, for deals on single-serving meals. Cookshak's Duck location is take-out only, and their Nags Head location offers takeout or dine-in options. They also deliver for free. 

Country Deli has been an Outer Banks tradition and locals' favorite for more than 30 years. Guests can dine in, enjoy the pet-friendly outside patio or take their food to go with convenient online ordering. Country Deli prides itself on its over-stuffed sandwiches with more than 50 delicious menu items. Sandwiches are made with Thumann's meats and local produce, and there are also locally made desserts. They have a big selection of old-fashioned glass bottle sodas. Country Deli is open Tuesdays through Saturdays and is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Darrell’s is a family-style seafood restaurant that’s a locals' favorite and has been operated by the Daniels family for more than five decades. It dates back to 1960 when Darrell Daniels started the Polar Bear Drive-In. When the second generation came on board in 1972, the family changed the focus to a seafood restaurant and renamed it Darrell's Seafood Restaurant. Now the third generation is working here. Seafood is still the specialty, and locals know that Darrell’s does seafood right. The fried oysters, served with the traditional fixings of coleslaw, French fries and hush puppies, are widely touted as the best anywhere. The blackened tuna over black beans and rice is both healthy and delicious. Land food, children’s fare and light dishes are also available. Darrell's also has a wood-fired grill for barbecue. Helpings are heaping, and the desserts are delicious, if you have room. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served Monday through Saturday. 

Dunes Restaurant has been a breakfast and dinner favorite among Outer Banks locals and visitors for more than four decades. Breakfast here is a certifiable Nags Head tradition. Their hearty meals and platters are a huge draw, and their breakfast menu is one of the biggest on the beach, with choices like shrimp and grits, creamed chipped beef, N.C. country ham, a crab and shrimp omelet and a waffle platter. At dinnertime, the Dunes is known for its Outer Banks-style seafood – shrimp, scallops, oysters and fish served lightly breaded and golden fried or lightly seasoned and broiled, with all the favorite sides. Other favorites include crab cakes, steaks, burgers and their famous fried chicken. Just be careful not to fill up on the piping hot hush puppies with honey butter that are served before your meal (trust us, they’re irresistible!). Family-owned and -operated, the Dunes welcomes children and large groups to their casually and comfortably elegant restaurant and R-Bar, serving specialty cocktails, wine and beer. And yes, you can eat in or take out – whichever you want. A retail area in the front of the store, Roxie's Retail, tempts with children’s toys, women’s accessories, jewelry, scarves, original paintings, photographs, Outer Banks memorabilia and much more.