Always go to Provision on vacation, love their laid back and friendly atmosphere. Great seafood or…read moreif that isn't your thing delicious hamburgers also. It gets busy,go early!

I've been coming here for 20 years -- from my 20s all the way into my 40s -- so I think I've earned…read morethe right to say: what happened? The atmosphere is still great, which is apparently where all the effort now goes, because the food has clearly been left unsupervised. We placed a to-go order because we had our dog with us and were sitting downstairs. Simple enough, right? Not exactly. We spent the next hour and a half playing a fun little game called "Where Is Our Food?" Downstairs told us to check upstairs. Upstairs told us to check downstairs. Very efficient system if the goal is confusion and hunger. When the food finally arrived, we had seafood chowder, onion rings, a hot dog, and hamburgers. The seafood chowder was still good, so congratulations to the chowder for surviving whatever has happened here. The onion rings were cold, the hot dog bun had a green mold spot on it -- always a nice surprise -- and the hamburger was honestly impressive in the worst possible way. I've had better burgers from fast-food chains that at least admit they're serving frozen patties. This used to be a staple. Now it feels like one of those places that got popular enough to stop trying. I won't be back for the food. Maybe drinks, because thankfully no one had to cook those.

Great outside space, although it was too windy when we went. The hostess and server were both…read moreaccommodating and attentive. The food was good. My son and I got the red drum, which I have never had before, and it was delicious. Definitely worth a visit.

Just terrible. From servers to the food, it was so bad & they are unapologetically mediocre. If you…read morewant to spend a lot of money and leave hungry because you can't force it down, this is the place for you!

We tried this place for the first time recently and were pleasantly surprised. From the outside it…read morelooks pretty unassuming, and when you walk in it feels like a classic bar-style restaurant. That said, it was fairly crowded for a Sunday night, especially considering it's the off-season in Oak Island (though it was marathon weekend). Overall, we had a really good experience. Service was a bit slow, and they were out of several menu items -- including wings (they run a Sunday wing special), crab cakes, and fish. Even with those misses, everyone in our group enjoyed their food. I had the fried shrimp basket and it was excellent. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and the fries were great as well. No complaints there. If I had to nitpick, the lighting inside was a little harsh -- the blue walls combined with bright daylight bulbs made the space feel colder than it needs to be. A softer lighting setup would go a long way. A few TVs weren't working, and as mentioned, service was slower than ideal, but nothing that ruined the night. Bottom line: good food, a lively atmosphere, and a place we'd definitely come back to -- especially now that we know what to expect.

Great appetizer! Crab dip, fried pickles and fried mushrooms were excellent! Also $1 wings on…read moreSunday is a winner. Jerk wings were amazing! Must try!

Great food and good service. Portions were ample and very filling. Would recommend to anyone for…read morebreakfast.

Went in for breakfast at a reasonable time with 3 others. We were seated and ignored, we sat there…read morefor over 20 minutes and no one came to take our order or even drinks. We ended up just walking out after feeling like we were quite literally invisible. I do NOT recommend eating here.

Wife and I had a quick trip to Southport. Chose Loco Jo's for our dining experience. It's a nice…read moreplace on the Main Street with its own parking area in a strip mall. Outdoor seating is available. Small tables inside and bar seating that was full. It seems the bar is a big hit. After reviewing the liquor menu, I see why. Some really good ones available. We were seated near the entrance at a small table. The server brought us water and took our orders after a few minutes. We ordered beef dumplings as an appetizer and we both ordered blackened ahi tuna tacos medium rare. The tacos come with chips and salsa. Our appetizer arrived fairly quickly and was great. As we were finishing our appetizer, our tacos arrived. From first glance they looked really good. Then everything kind fell after that. The flour taco shells were cold and looked store bought. The cheese was also similar to the store bought shredded Mexican blend. The sauce tasted like mayonnaise and ketchup mixed together. They use way too much purple cabbage with a nice portion of ahi tuna. The taste was ok. The cold shell and cheese kind of stole the flavor from the tuna. The salsa provided had a strange smoky almost chipotle flavor. I think. It left a strange aftertaste. We wanted to give this place a try. Not sure we'll be back. Our server was good. She was attentive and smiled. We still have her a cash tip that was pretty good. The restaurant has a great vibe and has a lot of regular customers, as evidenced by everyone greeting each other as they entered. Overall, I think three stars is fair. I recommend giving it a try, but not for tacos.

I finally got to eat at Loco Jo's. Three of us had lunch here five days ago…read more It's a small place with several tables and a bar. It's pretty small, so I don't suggest going with a large group of friends. Our waitress, Allison, was friendly and attentive. There's lots to choose from on the menu, including lunch specials. But I ended up ordering the buddha bowl, which had grilled pork. I asked for the Thai peanut dressing on the side. I never know how drenched a dish could be with the dressing. The bowl included rice noodles, cucumbers, other veggies. It also had sliced jalapeno peppers, which added a little kick, but still mild. One friend ordered the dumplings and a Caesar salad, while my other friend ordered the lemongrass curry with chickpeas. She wished she had it with chicken. Everything was delicious and flavorful, although the sliced cucumbers could have been seasoned or pickled. I brought home my leftovers, which I had for dinner. There was plenty of grilled pork, but unfortunately, four pieces were just fat and gristle . The chef needs to trim the pork properly and keep the chunks of fat/gristle out of the dish. That was disappointing. There are other items on the menu I would like to try. Overall, a very good lunch.

After waiting over an hour at another local seafood restaurant only to leave following a rude…read moreinteraction with the owner/manager, our crew of 19 found ourselves unexpectedly looking for dinner at 8:15 p.m.--just 15 minutes before closing. I don't know many restaurants that would happily take a call saying, "Our night just went sideways and we have 19 people to feed." Honestly, I probably would have been a little annoyed myself. But from the moment we arrived at Mermaids Island Grill, we were met with nothing but kindness and hospitality. The young ladies taking our order were friendly and welcoming, the bartenders kept the drinks flowing, and the servers delivered piping hot food with smiles on their faces. Every single person in our group loved their meal. With 19 people ordering from all over the menu--calamari, fried pickles, crab legs, grouper, fried shrimp, hushpuppies, and more--that's no small feat. What stood out most wasn't just the food (which was excellent), but the service. We were never rushed, despite arriving so close to closing, and the staff continued chatting and smiling with us as we left. Mermaids Island Grill completely turned our evening around. 10/10 for both the food and the hospitality. We'll definitely be back.

Let's start 1 New England chowder 6 out of 10…read more Could have had a little bit more meat in it 2 Grouper bites 10 out of 10 Just perfect in every way 3 popcorn shrimp in firecracker sauce 10 out of 10 Fried just right and the right amount of sauce 4 cheeseburger 7 out of 10 Just a med burger but the fries 9 out of 10 Oysters Rockefeller 0 out of 10 They went bad look so good but from the moment they were put on the table we smelled like I took one for the team but had to spit it out right away they did refund me and were very apologetic, I know it's off season and the season is not as fresh as it can be but as a cook you should be able to tell when something is not right but either way we did enjoy everything else

Unpretentious place with great food. Obviously a favorite with locals, as many were greeted by name…read moreas they arrived. Very friendly and attentive staff. Would definitely eat there again. Be aware of their hours; they close before lunch on Mondays as of this review (Jan 2026).

Starting off let me just say my 4 stars are like a lot of people's 5 stars. I try to grade as…read morehonestly as possible. So I'm new to the area here and off the bat there isn't many breakfast spots. My first visit was for breakfast and I ordered the biscuits & gravy with a side of patty sausage. I'm not a huge fan of their biscuits personally but let me just add I am very picky when it comes to biscuits. To most people their biscuits are probably really really good. The gravy was decent white gravy and the patty sausage was to be expected. Service was good. They check on you often and throw in a lil small talk here and there. It was obvious they had normal reoccurring customers in which they staff carried on conversation and joked around a lil with those patrons. I went back another day for lunch. Service was the same. Very nice pleasant staff again. This time I ordered the flounder sandwich and fries. Honestly one of the best fish sandwiches I've had in a long time. Fries were nothing special. Crinkle fries from a freezer bag which hey.... Don't most places? But to keep in the critiquing mind set they were fried perfectly. Place is a lil dated but looks like it's kept clean and in order. Definitely a favored local spot. Many many locals recommended it to me. I would definitely recommend this place to others.

We had a group of around 17 they had reservations and everything went very well. Service was…read moreterrific. Ambience was of course beautiful and the food was outstanding prices could've been a little bit lower of it for the area. It was reasonable. We will return.

Food/service/wonderful water view Just left…read more Great soft shell crabs/ shrimp. Our waitress was the best! Will be back