Best restaurants near Beaufort, NC

Note: This list will be updated as we visit more restaurants during our time on the coast, as I attend the Duke Marine Lab during summer of 2013.

Woody's - This American cafe offers hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, grilled cheeses, and seafood. The staff is always quick, courteous, and personable. The food is served hot off the grill. It's a good place for a cheap ($5-7 per meal with drinks) and filling lunch or dinner. Our favorites are the grilled chicken sandwiches and grilled cheeses. They have Diet Mountain Dew.

Bojangles - Bojangles seem to be hit or miss with their quality, but when they're hit, they're great, and the Bojangles in Morehead is one of the best I've been to. The service is always friendly and helpful, and the food is always fresh, and they have Diet Mountain Dew.

Molly's - Located behind a Doubletree hotel and featuring a seating area on a pier extending a short ways toward the ocean, Molly's Beer & Burgers is a good place to wind down after a day at the beach. If you choose to eat on the pier, beware of overly-aggressive seagulls and a strong breeze that might try to blow your food away. Eric said his shrimp ($18 for a pound) were the best he's had in the area (my professor said the vast majority of shrimp in Beaufort is imported), and paired them with a Sam Adams. Our friend Steven had no complaints about his BBQ chicken tenders (of which I indulged a few) and enjoyed the chips (I thought they were a bit stale). I was pleased with my Nathan's beef hotdog.

Captain's Table - Located in Morehead, this is your typical breakfast diner in the style of Waffle House, but with seafood. It offers a decent meal with average taste and average prices. It's otherwise unremarkable.

Roland's BBQ - We found the food bland and unsatisfying, although our bias against Eastern North Carolina "BBQ" might be to blame. Their hush puppies are decent. They offer Diet Mountain Dew.

Clawson's - Located on Main Street, Clawson's period-style decorations make for a nice atmosphere. Their flagship offering is their dirigibles, which are large potatoes stuffed with fillings (like cheese and meat) of your choice. Their clam chowder, which is made using local clams, is reputed to be delicious by my classmates, although I've never had it. My turkey club with chips was above average compared to similar restaurants. Expect to pay upwards of $10-15 per person.

Blackbeard's - Blackbeard's is a good place to grab oysters. Their other offerings are average or above-average for similar-caliber restaurants. I had their ham and cheese, and Eric had their bleu cheese burger.

Sanitary Seafood Market - While Sanitary has a good view and an interesting history, we can't really recommend their food. Eric said his popcorn shrimp were on par with those from the Walmart freezer aisle. Their chicken tenders come in awful seafood breading and are hardly edible, all the worse because they don't have honey mustard to disguise the flavor. I really liked their hush puppies in butter, though.

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