It's Summertime and the Beach is calling. When the time comes food follows right behind. Let's get to it...Fresh and Fresh---This place does it right from oysters to French fries. Most of all the generous portion sizes and great customer service measure out a place to be at the beach... We all had different seafood platters which had a varying food display with a health portion of fresh fried food. The Grouper, excellent texture and taste unmatched. The Fried clam strips were more than a mouthful, more than a handful...Let's Try a wheel barrel full. The bisque was creamy and smooth with chunks of seafood. It is crazy...How much can fit on 1 plate. Don't fall asleep on the couch after the beach...Get your shower, put your after sun lotion on and get to Arthur's. PS- the only less than measure was the tartar sauce- the consistency was too thin and needed more pickle. Oh and yes They Have BEER. Have a great memorial day. read more

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Small space but good service, waits can be long but lounge upstairs provides beverages. Food was very good if looking for seafood, that was all we consumed. read more

Yum and noticeable cheaper oysters than we had the night before. Cute place loved the oyster ceiling lights. Great service, our waitress politely explained the oyster crabs which none of us had heard of. We didn't eat them even though they're lucky cause they were like squirming. My burger was well done with high is slightly over cooked for me, but the backfin crab on top was so good. Fries nice and crisp. If u get seafood we liked the non fried much more than the fried. read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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It's a very beachy feel inside. Everyone that works there knows their stuff. If you go, everyone in your party must be there or you won't be seated. Togo orders, 15% gratuity is added. The food was great and the fish kids meal was a great. Clams were good but they put a ton of bacon on it. I know you're thinking you can never have enough bacon, but you can't. read more

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The #1 place you need to stop at when down in the OBX. My family and I come here every year, and every year it does not disappoint. This place is very small, but we went earlier in the day for dinner and we sat right away. The drinks are great, hushpuppies are to die for, and the seafood platters are so delicious. The service we get is always top-tier as well. Truly a one of a kind spot, please stop here if you are looking for good food. The fried shrimp dinner is my personal favorite! read more

Stephanie was the best bartender/waitress we had the entire week above all the other nice restaurants we visited. Anticipated our needs before we knew them, knowledgeable, attentive and very friendly. I told the manager on our way out not to lose her. She made you want to stay and spend more money with her upbeat attitude!! read more

This is best restaurant in OBX.the food is fantastic and nothing was even close to being a left over.I recommend anyone in the area to come.Dont even have a complaint about the service,the waiters are so kind and welcoming.And last but not least the spot and the aura of this place is amazing.right next to the Avalon pier!The thing that amazed me was the oyster lamps!! I WILL BE COMING BACK!!!!!!! read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

Very busy place. Went to restaurant around 6 and were told 90 minute wait. We put our name in and walked over to the shop and the pier. From there, we went up to the lounge. Future advice, bring some cards and head up to lounge to wait. We ended up waiting only 60 minutes before being called. After being seated, waitress was to us right away. After this, we only saw her a few times again. Maybe give it a pass because of how busy they were??? But could have used a drink or two. Don't get the water! Read this in a few other reviews as well. Not sure what it is but the water tastes horrible. Food was good and felt like portion size was just about perfect. read more

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First time eating here with my husband's family! Can't wait y til we come back. Super great service and authentic. We had some baked oysters. So good. And the grouper sandwich was super yummy! My husband loved his Mahi mahi sandwich. My father in law loved his crab lobster bisque soup. And my mother in law got the crab cake sandwich We sat at the bar. And we got some bloody Mary's and martinis and beer. A super great way to end our little vaca read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Bar - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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Some of the freshest Oysters Arthur on the half shell,Clams Casino,Barracuda Bites,Delicious Burgers and Sandwiches.Everything was amazing! read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Oysters Arthur - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

Truly awful! We waited for over 2 hours and were told repeatedly that there was only 1 party ahead of us to be seated, only to watch multiple parties be seated ahead of us. We were then told that "as soon as this table leaves we can seat you", stated very loudly right next to that table. We finally just left without eating. I will also note that we had tween children with us...it felt as though they were discriminating against us because we had children in our party. read more

Grilled grouper was just ok. Did not have any taste to it. Wife's fried grouper sandwich was better! We don't like the automatic 4% add on for using a credit card. Seems like all are jumping on this bandwagon. As they were paying this before making the customer pay all it's doing is increasing their bottom line. It should be considered a cost of doing business. Also they are unilaterally adding a15% "tip" to all take out orders. A "tip" should be up to the customer not forced on them. Not sure what the "tip" is used for except to again increase the bottom line. Probably won't go back. read more

The raw oysters were great, prefer that over their raw clams. I think it's one of the best value oysters for $1.5/each. The seafood steamer #2 is a lot of food, sweet briney shrimp and the crab legs were fresh, though the steamed oysters were just ok, prefer that raw instead. The crabmeat and shrimp platter was very yummy, lots of crabs and again really fresh shrimps. Try to get here by 445pm for dinner or else you'll wait for 2 hours on peak season. The upstairs bar waiting area got a good view of the water. read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Raw clams - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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Local restaraunt but is a chain.....fresh seafood...recommend the raw oysters....incredible! We followed that by getting their burgers, I believe they are the best burgers in the OBX. Cooked perfectly and flavor like i have not had in a very long time. Service was very good, they recommended dishes and they were in too of everything. You would never know this was a restaraunt chain....everyone that worked their made you feel welcome and asked how everything was. They followed up with "see yo next time"....and they will see us next time...can't wait! read more

The food is great. No complaints there. My main issue is the receipt math was wrong for everyone at my table. $0.02 was added to everyone's final cost with no real explanation. I pointed it out to the waitress, who then got the manager. The manager tried to tell me that they round everything up to not deal in pennies. That is not true but even if it was adding random cost on to everyone's final bill without notifying the customer seems shady. As I noted that was not a true statement though because my mothers cash total with the additional $0.02 added came to $36.24. I understand that $0.02 is not a big deal and had it just been my receipt I would have let it go but once I realized everyone at my table had the same issue I started thinking probably everyone in the restaurant also has the same issue. As busy as this restaurant stays $0.02 from every customer that pays is alot of money and no one could explain why. I'm sure there is a reason this is happening but I do believe in clarity and when no one from the restaurant could explain it to me I asked for it back. I am posting this in hope that since my trip someone from the restaurant has figured out why this is happening and can just explain it to me because the food is amazing and I would love to visit again on my next trip as long as there is some transparency into the charges. read more

Very good food! It's a must go to place to eat if you're in the outer banks!! I got the crab cakes and they were delish!!

They have 3 soups listed on the menu. I ordered the N.E. clam chowder. Got a bowl of tomato based crab soup. Sent it back. Received a bowl of crab and lobster bisque. Gave up trying to get what I wanted and fiddled with the bisque. Is it truly so hard to produce one of the only three items listed in the menu? I don't know if the fault was with the kitchen or with the server, but some one needs to be retrained! read more

Came here for lunch with family during our day out. The restaurant is really neat with a big bar and nice ocean decor. The light chandeliers are made of oyster shells which is really fun. Our waitress was kind and helpful telling us promptly about the specials and catches of the day. I got some really nice crab and lobster bisque which was thick and delicious. I got a seafood platter for my meal with clam strips, fried oysters, and one of the catches of the day fried flounder. It was all really delicious they used good breading and didn't get anything to greasy. I really enjoyed my meal. read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Interior - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

The atmosphere is great and the food was good. On the other hand, the service is an absolute disaster. My husband and I were on our honeymoon, I didn't have my wallet on me, so obviously I didn't order a drink. He on the other hand, ordered a Diet Coke and a shot of whiskey. He added HIS shot to HIS coke, and took a sip. The blonde hag of a bartender rushed over, took his drink and sipped it. She then YELLED and cursed at him, accused him of ordering alcohol for somebody under the age of 21, then took his drink. The person "under 21" was me. I am now married and 24, but regardless, I didn't plan on ordering a drink because I didn't have my ID. We were then charged for the drink that she took from him. This was an absolutely humiliating and infuriating experience. read more

Staff wasn't very friendly and service was super slow. Steam platter was ok (crab legs and shrimp) crab legs were delicious but the shrimp weren't deveined *gross* for the price you pay you think they would be cleaned. read more

This was one of the best meals my family had while visiting the Outer Banks. There is a bar and lounge area upstairs where you can get drinks while you wait. I got a frozen pina colada which was pretty tasty! They originally told us 1 hr 30 min - 1 hr 45 min for the wait, but it ended up being closer to 50 minutes. I got the clam strips with fries and hush puppies for my sides. The clam strips were delicious! They're different from most other places with a unique seasoning and breading. The hush puppies were nice and big. They were crunchy on the outside but a little sweet inside. Some of the best we had all trip. The fries were also good. Nice and crispy but still soft on the inside. I would definitely come back here! read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Clam strips with hush puppies and fries - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

i wanted to rate it higher but couldn't based on the dismissive ness of the waitress Prime rib doneness Update: I ordered medium rare. So part of my annoyance is I felt very dismissed by the waitress. Me: this is overdone Her: oh, what is it medium (she's looking at it) Me: I ordered medium rare. She looks again: that's our med rare. I wanted to say medium rare us med rare...maybe I did, not sure. It's too bad because I could tell it would have been good if cooked right. She did then say she could take it back and 'see if he would make me a new one' like that would be doing me a favor and not what is the right thing to do. I said never mind because then I was just annoyed by the interaction. I did say that's not med rare where I am from. Bad enough my food is wrong but gaslighting me is so wrong. I don't like confrontation so to even mention it to her is hard for me. So to be so dismissive, not good. She's lucky I wasn't the one tipping. My husband had the broiled flounder and it was excellent. I don't recommend the prime rib Ps: I have my usual sat night prime rib at Dutchs Daughter in Frederick, Md where the prime rib is twice as much but never once have I been questioned when I said I didn't like the doneness. They just bring out a new one. With an apology. I will stick to getting my prime rib there! read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Prime rib - med rare? - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

my steak was raw my food was cold they made me a new steak and it was more raw then the one I had before. the waitress was a complete rude ignorant employee read more

FANTASTIC food. great service! went for a late lunch and got the last large group table, so plan on a wait. we got extra food with everything! ordered 6 oysters, got 7, etc! local spot that made you feel welcome. only spot we did in a restaurant in OBX and it did. not. disappoint! read more

Great food and service! Two nights in a row! Old stomping grounds in my youth! Very expensive! Oysters is what they do best! Fried grouper was perfect! Local feel! read more

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I've eaten at Awful Arthur's many times and the food is usually good, so I'll chalk up this bad meal to an off day for the fry cook. Ordered the steamed shrimp and they were great! The grouper basket with fries and hush puppies was another story. Had yo be sent back for being well UNDERCOOKED. Both the fish and hushpuppies. They were still not cooked through and I couldn't eat them. My wife's shrimp salad was a bunch of OVERCOOKED rubbery shrimp on a few pieces of lettuce. Awful's does not promote itself as a fancy place and like many places , it has its off days, but I doubt we'll be back. The Waitress we had was good and cheery but wouldn't admit that the fish still wasn't cooked the second time around. I think the fry batter was so thick that it was done but the meat inside was not. But what do I know? read more

Good food--great special that we enjoyed--grouper po' boy & fries $12.99. Nice atmosphere--friendly staff!

This has been always stellar food. It is my go to at OBX whenever I come to visit. Best seafood around. read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Combo #1 - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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Wonderful place. My son and I make this our first stop for oysters and crab every year and every visit to beautiful Corolla, NC.

Went two days ago and the food was great. Went to lunch today and got the shrimp dinner. What a mistake. The shrimp were the size of a dime. I have never seen shrimp this small. Cook should be more concerned about cooking a quality dish. Shrimp was rubbery and lacked any seasoning. read more

Great bites with a large variety of appetizers, seafood and traditional dishes. We sat at the bar for 3 hours and ate half the appetizer menu. The bartender was attentive. The building has two levels. A very nautical look with a seafood house feel. read more

Great service and food. Large menu... long wait but worth it. Love the upstairs bar area

We had a party of 9, and were seated in about 1 hour, which was excellent how busy the restaurant was. The raw bar items were a big hit. Everyone ordered something different; the food was well prepared and excellent. Our server, Holly, was very professional and friendly. read more

After spending the whole day on the beach in KDH, we decided to give Awful Arthurs a try which is located right across the street from Avalon Pier. This restaurant was very busy, and we had to wait a little bit before being seated. We walked over to the pier, which is a pretty cool spot to explore at night. We started off with some frozen cocktails (I got the strawberry daiquiri and my boyfriend got a hurricane). Both of our drinks were super yummy We ordered the oysters and hushpuppies to start, which were both delicious! I got the the crab cake sandwich, and my boyfriend got the garlic shrimp & crab. I have to say, I loved the garlic shrimp & crab and ended up stealing more than a few bites of his food. We ate everything that we got (we were hungry from a full day at the beach). Overall, this place deserves a higher rating on here, it was one of our favorite meals in the Outer Banks! read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Oyster and Strawberry Daiquiri - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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If Dante had written a tenth circle of hell, it would be called Awful Arthur's. I came in with a stomach, and left with trust issues. I don't know who Arthur is, but he should issue a formal apology to food itself. The decor screamed "I gave up," and the smell? Imagine if seafood went through a breakup and took up vaping in a moldy basement. The menu offered things I'm fairly certain were illegal in at least seven states, and I'm 90% sure my "crab cake" was just wet drywall in a crust of despair. The service was impressively bad -- like performance art. I ordered water and got a cup of melted ice with a straw that had clearly been chewed on by a possum. Our server disappeared for 45 minutes, which I later realized was probably a blessing. By the end of the meal, I wasn't sure if I had eaten or had been pranked by the universe. I left with a stomachache, a moral crisis, and a vow to never trust anything with "Awful" in the name again. In summary: if you want to pay real money to emotionally and physically suffer, Awful Arthur's is your spot. Otherwise, eat a shoe. It'll probably taste better. read more

Service was outstanding and food was fast and steaming! Portions are super large even for lunch. Everything was delicious - read more

Absolutely FANTASTIC service! Our waitress, Ashley went above and beyond to help us with recommendations as well as what to try next time. I cannot rave about her enough, she was the best! In addition to the amazing service, the food was PHENOMENAL. We recommend the crab dip. Very good stuff! Drinks were great too! Overall an excellent experience and a MUST STOP on your trip! read more

Delicious. Good environment. It has an upstairs with windows for a great view during the day or night. read more

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar - Catch of the day, grilled Mahi Mahi - Seafood Near Me - Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

We looked at Awful Arthur's website, read some Yelp reviews and decided to give it a try tonight. We ordered the Crab Cake dinner($32.99) and 1/2 lb of steamed shrimp. In less than 5 minutes our crab cake meal arrived. The crab cakes were slightly burned, full of filler with very little crab. The coleslaw was sugary and basically grocery store cheap quality. The red potatoes were a small dice mush and the hush puppy was also slightly burned and bland. Their website is catchy; their food is really disappointing. We won't make that mistake again when we return to the Outer Banks. read more

The server was attentive and the food was great. We enjoyed the rodeo burger and fried shrimp.