For such small towns, Southern Shores and Duck, NC, restaurants have some pretty sophisticated dining options.
Whether you want pizza delivery or upscale cuisine matched with a Wine Spectator award-winning wine list, you’ll find what you’re looking for. Most Duck, NC, restaurants, like so many of the Outer Banks restaurants, stick to American fare, with an emphasis on seafood. That doesn’t mean there aren’t creative chefs in Duck, NC; you’ll find some very innovative preparations of seafood, meats, fresh produce and traditional ingredients. Southern Shores restaurants include a couple of chains (ever heard of a little place called Starbucks?), a great pizza place and a wonderful gourmet foods market/cafe.
Duck, NC, restaurants can boast of three of the top food and wine destinations on the Outer Banks. You can sip coffee in a front porch rocker, have a romantic dinner with a sound view, savor wine under a canopy of live oaks, eat al fresco while listening to jazz, catch sports on a bar TV, grab a slice of pizza, lick ice cream while feeding ducks or take the whole family out for a seafood dinner.
Visiting Duck, NC, Restaurants
In the summer, when there are way more people than there are seats at Duck, NC, restaurants, you may want to eat out early or late or make a reservation (where possible). The least crowded nights at the restaurants in Duck and Southern Shores are, maybe surprisingly, Friday and Saturday nights. That’s because of scheduled arrivals and departures at the vacation rental companies. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are typically the busiest nights in the summer, local restaurateurs say. In the off-season, eating out in Duck, NC, is much more relaxed and accessible. Some restaurants close in the dead of winter, but there is always something open. Several Southern Shores and Duck, NC, restaurants are now staying open year round. Both towns have full ABC permits, so you can order beer, wine or liquor at restaurants that have those options.
Duck Restaurants by Location or Category
Outer Bean is more than just a coffee shop serving both local and fair trade varieties of java. They are a one-stop shop...read more
The Pizza Stop bakes fresh, hand-tossed, authentic New York-style pizzas in their own stone ovens. All dough, sauces and...read more
In a charming 1930s cottage right along N.C. Highway 12, The Roadside is a Duck institution. You can dine al fresco on the...read more
Shun Xing is one of only a few Chinese restaurants on the Outer Banks. They offer the full range of Chinese specialties for taking out or eating in. You’ll...read more
Run by the same folks who started Corolla Pizza in 1989, Southern Shores Pizza opened in 2015 so that the people of Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk...read more
We think you know what you’ll find here. Starbucks offers coffee and espresso-based drinks, chai, tea and pastries, snacks, coffee accessories for sale and...read more
A local favorite, Steamers has been dishing up fresh and gourmet cuisine to beachgoers since 1994. Their dine-in/take-out restaurant serves high-quality...read more
This restaurant comes by its name honestly. It’s on the Currituck Sound, perfectly oriented to those nightly sunset shows. To better enjoy the setting sun,...read more
Sweet T’s Coffee Beer & Wine in Duck is the perfect casual spot to hang out. As a full-service coffee shop it offers many of the coffee and espresso...read more
Swells’a Brewing, the popular brewery in Kill Devil Hills, has a second location in Duck. They serve all the Swells’a brews plus wine by the glass or...read more
Tap Shack is the backyard bar at Coastal Cravings in Duck. They have live music every evening in season as well as special events like Beer Yoga and Sunday...read more
