The Cockeyed Clam was a mixed bag of good and bad menu items. The fried clam strips were chewy as well as having the batter being burnt. Had the platter with fish of the day, shrimp, crab cakes, mashed potatoes, and broccolini. The fish with the Parmesan encrusted top was delicious, adding a strong flavor that complemented the fish. However, the underside of the fish didn't have any of that flavor and was under salted as well as being a tad overcooked. The broccolini was cooked well enough but ended up being flavorless due to no seasoning or salt added. The shrimp were okay, not super well seasoned but not super lacking. The crab cake was fairly loosely packed, little char on top. Not super flavorful. Mashed potatoes were good, well seasoned and creamy. The fried seafood items had a nice light batter and wasn't too oily. The hush puppies were a highlight of the meal. They were dense with a hard exterior but not too dry on the inside. The cornbread flavor held strong in the hush puppy and wasn't too greasy. The French fries were abysmal. No salt, no crispness, and terrible texture. Pickled beets added a nice sweetness to the meal. The main highlights were the desserts. The chocolate pecan pie a la mode was delicious as well as the key lime pie. Our server was great and sweet. While most of the food is not terrible, it's not going to impress much either. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Platter - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

Special of the day was Blue crab ravioli with sun-dried tomato Alfredo was fantastic! Bloody Mary was good, all other food was good. Really love the garlic, mashed potatoes. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Seaford platter with crabcake, shrimp, and mahi-mahi - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food at this place but the service was just a little bit on the odd side. Our waiter was really good at reciting what the menu was for the evening however, he did not know the specific details, the dishes and specials. The lobster cargot was to die for! read more

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This is a unique resturant with a very warm atmospheric appeal. The food quality was top of the mark although a littly pricey. Be that as it may, if you are looking quality and great taste, this palce is hard to beat. Honestly, the shrimp alfredo was one of the best I've ever had. My wife loves shrimp and grits commenting it was better than any we had in Charleston or Savannah. Just to mention, meatloaf isn't something I typically get at a resturant, but my brother did, so I have to try it. OMG.... it was so tender and full of flavor. All and All... the Cockeyed Clam gets 2 thumbs up from me. read more

Service great, ambiance was okay, decor dated. What was pictured on Facebook was not what we got. Tuna was over cooked and there was no sauce on it. Kinda bland with no seasoning. Broccolini was also burnt and also undercooked (if that is even possible). read more

Cockeyed Clam - This is what was pictured on Facebook. - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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First time eating here, they were closed by now last year. What a delicious , fresh, meal. Excellent fried oysters, fish was fresh, cooked perfectly. Philipe was awesome. Those cocktails! Wowza!! read more

Old school cool interior! Food was amazing service was amazing it's back in the area would definitely go there again!

Ugh major swing and a miss. We came in for dinner after a long travel day, hoping for some good local seafood. We ordered drinks and oysters and the lobster special to start. My drink, the Hatteras Sunset, was nice and a little different. The starters were BAD. The oysters had no flavor and didn't taste fresh. they were edible and we ate them but honestly not worth it. The lobster was inedible, it was overcooked and did not taste fresh at all. I ate maybe a bite and couldn't eat it. For my main, I ordered the catch of the day, broiled. It came out fried. I sent it back and it came back overcooked and nasty, basically took a bite and couldn't eat it. The only good parts of my meal, aside from my drink, were the fries and cucumber salad. The fries were perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The cucumber salad was refreshing and tangy. The service was not great. It took a long time for the server to take our order after we placed our drinks and the appetizers and mains did not come out very quickly. We did explain the issues with the appetizers and my main and they did agree to take some of it off the bill, which was much appreciated. read more

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You know that song by Katy Perry? No. The other one. You're hot, then you're cold, lalalala. I got that feeling here. Some of the food was OMG THAT'S GOOD. And some was, "I hope that's not gonna be on the cheque." I started with the cantaloupe Martini. It was one of the better drinks I've ever had. Sweet, cantaloupe-y, and good. Loved it. Then, we moved onto oysters and a lobster claw special. The oysters were... okay? Edible. But bland, and occasionally with that "we got these early this week" kinda off taste. I ate them, and just resolved not to get anymore oysters in NC. I rather chalked it up to being an oyster snob. :) Then came the lobster claws. These were. Yea. I took a bite. Overcooked to rubber, and with a strong smell of ammonia. They were inedible. Red Lobster does it better, and that's like saying McD's makes better burgers. Okay, okay, not a great start. The main is still to come! I ordered a Trio, which is shrimp over Mahi with a crab cake. The shrimp were cold in the inside. The Mahi was so good that, had my experience been different, I might be complaining the portion was too small! The crabcake... look, I'm a maryland bay boy, and I'll say, that was one of the best crabcakes I've had. Then the veggies ... ice cold in the middle. I've never had such an experience. It was seriously either great beyond belief, or utterly inedible. read more

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Busy little spot, I suggest getting here early for a seat inside. We were able to hang out outside, however. I tried the crab ravioli, which was just fine. A side Caesar salad rounded out my meal. It's a mediocre experience, but one of the only options during off-season in Buxton. read more

This was a wooden styled establishment with a spacious bar and outdoor seating. The service was very friendly and accommodating. The menu was somewhat limited but offered plenty of specials. I split a shrimp Greek salad ($19) and the wild caught mahi ($27). The salad contained grilled shrimp, roasted red peppers, onion, tomato, Kalamata olives, croutons, feta cheese, and romaine lettuce. This was a lackluster salad based on the way it looked. There were 5 small pieces of shrimp present. It was tasty, but not much to it. The mahi was grilled with a green herb sauce, vegetables, and potatoes. Again, this was uninspiring, but still not bad. The herb sauce seemed to be some type of dill. I also tried the grilled vegetable and mozzarella salad over jasmine rice. This was not bad, just a little plain so hot sauce needed to be added. I also tried a bacon wrapped scallop that came with a sweet Thai chili sauce. This was the probably best item I tried as the bacon was crispy and sauce had a nice sweet and spicy balance. Will I go back? Probably. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Wild Caught Mahi - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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Best Restaurant in Buxton. Drinks and food are perfect. Sit at the bar for perfect service read more

Cockeyed Clam - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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Absolutely delightful. The pickled beets and cucumber salad were a perfect complement to my fried black drum. Plus hush puppies!! The service was fantastic. We'll definitely be back again. read more

The entree that I had was fantastic. The fish was cooked to perfection with an excellent portion size as well as a generous amount of crab. I will certainly visit again and would recommend their broiled/grilled/blackened options vs the fried alternatives. I notched a star due to pricing - a bit pricier than it needs to be in my opinion. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Entrance - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

We ate here for dinner and it was very good. I had the Mahi Mahi with a green sauce and double vegetables which happened to be green beans. I also had a wedge salad. The wedge salad was good. However they did not bring it until the end of dinner. The server said she did not know how the back botched the order and was very apologetic. The salad did taste good and had very chunky blue cheese dressing which is how I like it. It ended up being a sort of palette cleansing desert. We made the best of it. They did comp the salad without us asking which made the situation a little better. The server was very nice. The fish was good and the sauce added to the taste without overwhelming it. It was light, white, and not at all fishy which is how I like my fish. The beans were a surprise as I usually do not like green beans as a vegetable. These were fresh not canned. They were also cooked and seasoned well. The bottom line is we will eat here again when we visit Buxton. However we will emphasize when we order that we want the salad prior to the main course. The experience was very good otherwise. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Wedge salad - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

The food and services is amazing here!! Their lemon drop martinis are to die for. We sat at the bar which had a good vibe. The bartender was very friendly and filled us in on all the local knowledge. read more

Normally I would give the Cockeyed Clam 4 stars. The extra star is for service and dedication. It is not easy to run a restaurant on an island. It requires twice the work and sacrifice. This restaurant is among the best dining places in the Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras area. In terms of food, I recommend the Shrimp Scallops Crab Over Penne With Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, my favorite. It is usually very tasty and filled with different flavors. They usually have some IPAs from local breweries, especially from Ocracoke Island. If you plan on having dinner here, my advice is to plan for an early arrival, between 6.30 and 7.00 PM. The restaurant gets quite busy after 7.00PM, especially between June and August. Sometimes they run out of food before closing, and are unable to serve some of their most popular dishes. The ambiance is very nice, but it can get noisy at times. The restaurant has a large bar area, with dining tables all around it. Parking is very accessible and plentiful. I have a deep appreciation for the people who work here, especially the owner and her daughter. They pour their hearts and souls into this restaurant. read more

My husband and I had dinner twice during our trip to the outer banks. The food as well as the drinks were exceptional! The staff is friendly and there is a large list of daily specials. My husband had fried oysters both nights. He says they were the best he has ever had. The pickled beets were also excellent. Save room for dessert. read more

Amazing and full of wonderful people! We came here after the wait at another restaurant was 30-40 minutes. I called and the lovely owner said we could be seated right away. Awesome! Always hungry and thirsty, we greedily order appetizers and cocktails. Great way to start of the meal. It's a sultry summer day but the breeze on the outside porch is just right and my lavender martini makes it perfect. I got the shrimp and thankfully it wasn't too heavy for being fried. At $18 a plate, they're a little pricey but worth it. No wait, good service is always worth it. We'll be back soon! read more

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Food is excellent. This is not a fancy restaurant but, knocks it out of the park of fine dining food. Been coming here for years when visiting. This is a place that the locals eat so you know it's good. Open all year. I have eat here in the middle of Jan and the food and service was excellent. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Seared Large scallops, Huge coconut shrimp, in a red curry sauce, rice and vegetables. - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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Happy to see a restaurant come in to this space with positive reviews. We came in on a weeknight, and the restaurant was very busy. There is a large wrap around porch with outside seating, but I will say that the bugs were pretty intense when the sun went down. Our waitress was very nice, but we did feel sort of forgotten about out on the side porch. We started with the oysters, which were harvested in the sound. I love that they were locally harvested, but the oysters themselves were not very good. They were served a bit warm for my liking. My husband ordered the scallop and shrimp special, which was a very small portion of seafood, and an even smaller, less flavorful side of vegetables (two potato's, and two broccoli florets to be exact) I ordered the double crab cakes, and although they were large - they had no flavor what so ever, not even any sort of sauce or garnish for the top. My sides were almost the same, roasted corn, potato and broccoli with no flavor - I actually had to request some sort of dressing to eat them with. When we sat down our waitress raved about the key lime pie, and I was so excited to try it. When we went to order, they had sold out. I think three stars is a generous review, but I understand restaurants are struggling right now because they are short staffed. read more

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If you are in Buxton or the surrounding area please do yourself a favor and go to Cockeyed Clam. It is our favorite place to eat in the Outer Banks. It is not a huge place so either get there early, sit at the bar, or get a drink and hang out on the porch until your table is ready. It seems the same waitstaff and bar tender are here every year. Bartender especially since she is the owners daughter. She is so awesome. Wait staff was very helpful and friendly. We got the fish chunks with jalapeno dipping sauce. The sauce is a little spicey. The fish chunks are real fish chunks. Not some frozen stuff. So fresh and good. The special appetizer was a blue crab stuffed ravioli with a mixture of red and Alfredo sauce. So so good. I should have got that for my dinner. I literally tried to lick the plate. That should be on their menu all the time or even as an entree. Wife got the ribeye steak which was delicious. How do I know. I snuck a couple of pieces when she was distracted. My brother got the special Pomona fish which was a whole fish fried with the bones in. He raved about it but I couldn't sneak a bite. I had a fish I never had before, black drum. It came blacked which I love. It had a sweeter taste than the red drum fish I've had but was still very good. Again best place in the Outer Banks. If I could give ten stars I would. read more

The food was great, service was great and the ambiance of the restaurant was good! First time eating here and when we come back to the outer banks we will definitely eat here again! read more

Cockeyed Clam - Shrimp and Scallops Al Grecco Frita - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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Delicious cocktail menu and the food was amazing. Jordan was our server and he was excellent. Very knowledgeable about the menu and super pleasant. read more

We visited here during our vacation and it was average. I had Tuscan chicken and the mahi mahi on separate nights. It was nothing special, but just average. read more

Stopped in for early dinner, exhausted from shelling all afternoon. Very friendly, clean environment, waitress came right away and told us of the specials. It was starting to fill up, and everyone working was busy. I ordered the house salad and fried shrimp with coleslaw and cucumber salad. The salad had house dressing and it was really delicious, the fried shrimp were large, cooked perfectly and had a light batter that didn't distract from the flavor!! The cucumber salad was disappointing it was warm, but coleslaw was good, hush puppies were scrumptious too! My friends both enjoyed they're meals, fried clams and beet salad! Very good, will definitely recommend and return next time in the area. read more

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I had the most enjoyable dining experience last night at the Cockeyed Clam. I arrived shortly after opening and sat at the bar. Quickly greeted and given water by the lovely bartender Molly. I proceeded to have a pound of peel and eat shrimp that were delicious! Then we had the Mahi and the crab cakes, both were good but I wouldn't say memorable. Overall it was a great experience with a lovely staff. I would recommend this place for casual dining with good food and excellent service. read more

Cockeyed Clam - Peel and eat! - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

A relatively new establishment in Buxton, the Cockeyed Clam is a friendly, cozy and enticing place to have a Hatteras Island meal! Servers and host were personable and helpful. When we arrive we were told it would be 20 or 25 minutes for a table. But after we grabbed a couple drinks at the bar-- Cosmopolitan and a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand--we barely had time to find a seat outside before our table was ready. The bacon wrapped scallops were a yummy beginning. We also had the fried fish (Red Drum) and shrimp as well as the Wedge salad. Fish and shrimp were delivered pipping hot and were outstanding. Our second round consisted of 1718 Kolsch (local brewery in Okracoke) and a Lavender Lemon Martini. Superlative experience all the way around. First-rate give the Cockeyed Clam a try! read more

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Everything was great. The food and service were top notch, so good we went back the next night. Small place, but not cramped. Will be back on our next visit. read more

Very good spot!!! Maggie was our server and she was awesome. We had the oysters to start which weren't great oysters, but I wasn't really sure what to expect for oysters off the NC coast. However, the rest of the meal made up for it. The seafood pasta (with just crab) was so good and filling. The portion was huge and could easily be split. The fish & scallops were good. The sunset lemonade was SO good!! I would definitely come back here for dinner. read more

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Our waitress was a wonderful person...she belted out the daily specials with a smile...we covered the menu with our table of four..fried oysters, peel-n-eat, crab cakes, and specials of the day; crab ravioli , and a black drum filet meal...all were delicious, well portioned, fresh tasting, good. Did learn I prefer black drum over red drum lolol ! We had a couple pieces of key lime pie, great, but as key lime pie lovers know...every place is different lol! Bottom line is this place is open year round, meaning the locals love it too, which is even a more important testimony.... read more

Wonderful food and incredible desserts. Staff is friendly and pretty fast service even when busy. I highly recommend the clams and Buffalo shrimp appetizer. Crème brûlée is the best, in my opinion, on the island. read more

Very nice experience. After enjoying a nice local beer, we started with half a dozen oysters. We could have eaten a dozen more, they were that good. My entree was a seafood medley on pasta. I totally enjoyed the fresh taste of the local seafood. read more

Cockeyed Clam - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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I was pretty happy with my food but my wife was disappointed and felt the menu was pretty limited. Mostly fried items with not many grilled options. read more

Decent food, horrible service As a native marylander, the seafood was no where near my standards, which admittedly are pretty high, but being in North Carolina it should be much better. Nearly all restaurants in this area are SO much better. On top of that, the service was beyond the worst. It took the waiter over 45 minutes to get us any of our food, even the starters. Additionally, I can count on five fingers how many words she said to us after taking our order. Overall, we would never go there again, and please for God's sake go to the other, much MUCH better seafood restaurants around here. read more

Forgot to take picture but the place was awesome. My family and I came to OBX for a family vacation and we took professional family pictures near the light house. This restaurant was recommended and we loved it. Barb and Denise were great. Food was good and service was amazing. We were all so hungry and I forgot to take a picture of my crab cake salad. The chocolate/mocha? cake was amazing!! its a must when you are here. Can't wait to come back next year! read more

Great food .great service. Great atmosphere. Love the seafood pasta big portion . We will be back read more

Other than our absolute sweetheart of a waitress, things were just kind of ok. The wedge salad was very good, but everything else was below average. Most of the menu is either fried or pasta-derived, so you're not in the mood for either of those, you don't have much to choose from. Oddly, the only way you can get scallops is deep fried. so I ended up getting fried shrimp platter. I had seen other reviews that said their fried food was extremely over battered, so I asked the waitress to ask the kitchen for light breading... even that came out way over-battered, and the shrimp was stringy. The platter came with french fries and cucumber salad. The french fries were good and hand cut, but were lukewarm. The cucumber salad was completely without flavor, and swimming in water. Isn't this stuff supposed to be made with vinegar? My wife's salad with shrimp came with very little shrimp, and was absolutely drenched in heavy heavy dressing. So much dressing that the greens were shrinking. She did not finish it. The hush puppies were very good though. The place is deceivingly small inside, and mostly exposed wood and very loud. Won't be returning. read more

My husband and I ordered carry out from here and got the bacon wrapped scallops appetizer and the chicken parm entree and great day in the morning if that wasn't the best food we ate all week! The bacon wrapped scallops were so flavorful and absolutely delicious- only complaint is that there weren't more (4 scallops for $15). The chicken parm entree came with a salad and bread, two large pieces of chicken and spaghetti and it was more than enough to fill both of us up! I definitely want to come back before we leave! read more

We visit the area a couple of times a year and find the food, service, and drinks consistently good and worth the visit. An easygoing, professional staff and relaxed atmosphere, have always been our experience. read more

Cockeyed Clam - This banana pudding was different than most we've had - thick, creamy, and ours was full of vanilla wafer and banana cream. Delicious! - American Near Me - Buxton, North Carolina

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