friendly service, and great burgers and wings what's not to love! The vibe was also super cool!

The Reel Rooftop is awesome, just don't expect a place to sit! Cool place. Why? We all need a place to park. read more

Me and my friends came from out of town to eat here vibes were cool but service sucked place wasn't busy and food took an hour and 30 nachos is what I got they forgot the beans guac tasted expired and had a lot of grease at the bottom read more

Reel Cafe - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

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I would say this is the best party bar in Wilmington. They did have a $5 cash only cover but the 3 floors made it worth it. The bar downstairs was low key, the middle bar was a piano bar and then the top floor was the rooftop which was fun. read more

Shockingly bad service. Waited over an hour for burgers in a mostly empty restaurant. For what it's worth, food was good but 2/3 of the orders were just wrong (no modifications or anything to our orders). Kept being told the "bar was backed up" when we could see the bar. Not one customer actually at the bar. Bar tenders just talking and relaxing. It's weird to get service this blatantly disengaged. Listen I know I'm not at the Ritz Carlton but I'm paying and felt borderline respectful. We were waiting on items (that we paid for) and just left because after multiple reminders it was just taking too long. read more

First time visiting the Reel. For a Friday night it was not busy. Maybe it gets busier later on. The waitress was new and Sadie a very nice job getting our orders done correctly. The place could use some upgrades especially in the bathrooms. The food was good except the Fish N Chips were not the best. They were not crispy and more on the soggy side. The other meals were good. read more

So much potential but very disappointed. We went around 4:30-5:00 on Mother's Day Sunday and we were the only patrons. We sat at the bar as we were just looking for a drink after wandering around. Quite a few seats at the bar were unusable because there was some kind of leak from the ceiling dripping all over the seats and the bar top. We let the bartender know just in case, but she just discarded it, obviously aware of it, but didn't offer an explanation or wipe anything up. We sat there for one drink and didn't see another worker except for 3 employees that were sitting at a booth in the corner just chit chatting the whole time we were there. The hostesses were nice on our way in and out. We paid our tab and left. read more

Good food, definitely given a lot for the price. Place is a little dirty but the servers are nice and attentive. Def a most taste when in the area read more

Reel Cafe - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

We stopped here on a walk around down town. Absolutely dead - but it was a pretty hot day (90+). Service was ok, drinks were cold and the view was awesome. Probably a really cool place to come at night or in cooler temps. Bartender said it evenings are rocking. read more

Reel Cafe - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Are you kidding me??? We were passing through here for the night and our dinner plans got thrown off when we caught up with family that night. Well, we really didn't have dinner plans since we didn't know what we'd be doing except meeting family. So we wound up stuck for a late dinner on a Sunday night. Our choices were limited due to that combination. A quick scan revealed the Reel Café as an option. I figured we'd stop in for a late nite beer and a sandwich. Burger for the wife and a buffalo chicken sandwich, a fav, for me. Wife's burger was a run of the mill bar burger. I took a bit of my chicken sandwich. Overcooked and tough as an 80's action hero. I started to pick at it to see if I could discard the thin overcooked portion. Wait - What the hell is this? This isn't a chicken sandwich, it's an overcooked chicken nugget on a bun! Either that or this is the chicken breast from the smallest chicken in the world. Who would serve this?? I politely asked the waitress to just take it off the check, and mentioned the kitchen should be embarrassed. The waitress was super nice and a bit cynical at the place, being very apologetic. I hold off giving this place one star only for the waitress. Looking at the other reviews, how the hell is this place still open? tl;dr: find another late night place for a snack, read more

Reel Cafe - "chicken sandwich" they said .. chicken nugget sandwich, tomato slice for scale. - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

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Went there today with family visiting from.out of town, waitress was very unattentive,forgetful! Food was mediocre at best. They were out of carrots and celery for one of the appetizers. Bathrooms require a 2 flight walk up in heat! Elevator is only for employees?? It was a terribly disappointing experience and we will never return! The poor service, bad food and way overpriced parking made it a miserable experience! read more

Went here for dinner, we just ordered 2 appetizers. The nachos were huge and a lot. Was not a fan of the nacho cheese sauce, it was really thick. The calamari was alright, I enjoyed the sweet chili sauce. Our server was super nice and attentive! It's a big place with lots of seating, it wasn't very busy but as we were wrapping up more groups were arriving. Went here solely for the filming purposes of DC and OTH, so wasn't expecting much to begin with. read more

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I should learn to avoid Yelp 3-stars. It only earned 3 from me bc service was good, otherwise I'd have gone with a 2. 'Cafe' is a misnomer - this is a bar, with bar quality food. We had salads and a po' boy, and they were ... OK. Again, this is a bar, so it looks like a bar inside. There is outdoor dining, which is probably a better choice. The bathrooms were disgusting - not just dirty but missing stall doors and generally looking like years of neglect. I was sorry we stopped here. Go somewhere else unless you just want to sit down and have a beer. read more

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Waitress was sweet. Food was unfortunately not good. 8 of us and no one enjoyed it. Also needs a good cleaning.

Nice setting in downtown Wilmington. Place is in a historic building. Inside and outside seating. This is primarily a bar setting with a decent food menu selection. Service was great. Food is decent. Food is typical American bar food flare. There are three different bars in this place, that I counted. One on the rooftop, one outside on Front Street, and the main one inside on the first level. Great place to get a drink. read more

Service was good. Bartender was covering the entire place, but it was 2pm on a Thursday so that's to be expected. I ordered the wings and I'm reasonably sure they were freezer burnt and the taste was off. My wife had the burger, which she enjoyed. I had a bite as well and it was pretty good. It appears this is more of a college hangout than a restaurant. Don't go in expecting anything more than bar food or a very clean establishment. Again, the young lady tending the bar and waiting on us was great. read more

Hadn't even started drinking for the evening and the bouncers wouldn't let me in. They said I looked drunk. Will never go to this place again or recommend it to anyone. read more

this place use to be a good spot, but there are better options. food/service just not that good.

I have no complaints about the food. The food was pretty good. Me and my husband shared the chicken nachos as an appetizer. The chicken on the nachos were really flavorful and juicy. The nachos were great. I had the mahi flatbread. The fish were really flavorful and fresh. The fries that came with my meal was pretty good. My husband had a the cheeseburger and it was your standard burger. What kind of disappointed me was the speed of service and the bathrooms. Our waiter was friendly but it took awhile for him to get to us and there weren't many people dining.. He brought us water but walked away before we could give a drink order. The bathrooms were absolutely disgusting. There were several toilets that were clogged. After visiting the bathroom, I lost my appetite. I do plan on giving this place another try because the food was good. Hopefully the service will be better. read more

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We stopped here for lunch on a whim yesterday. It was an unplanned visit and we just needed to eat cause we were very hungry. We are outside and our server was really sweet. The menu is not huge but does give enough choices. I had a 1/2 pound of peel and eat shrimp. I thought they were really good. Especially for only $9.00. I also had a side salad with their homemade ranch which I could have drank!! My friend had the Greek salad with ahi tuna and it was huge. We shared the hummus appetizer. The hummus was good but the pita bread needed some work. All in all I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. read more

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they took 2 hours to get us our food the place is definitely very over rated terrible service

Bar staff are awesome!!!! The security staff not so much.... Their biased point of view gives you a feeling of no security at all. I will not endorse a business with a security team that are lacking in morals to secure their guests, but only their personal friends. read more

Landon is super friendly & able to multitask well! He makes sure everybody at his bar gets what they ask for - and takes his job seriously! This guy is an asset to your bar. Give him a raise!!!! read more

**This review is for the nightlife scene** Terrible. The bouncers seem to be on a power trip here. You can pay a $5 cover for the "exclusive" rooftop party on the third floor. If you do not want to start a tab you will need to spend over $10 to avoid a 50 cent fee. If you do start a tab be ready to give the bartenders your ID and card to hold (I would expect to show your ID when you close out instead). One of the bathroom stalls was missing a door. On our way out via the elevator, a bouncer ran over to block it. I am not able to walk down multiple flights of stairs currently so he should have asked why instead. It's too bad because the music was fun and the drinks were cheap. After this experience, I would not return for the food or nightlife. read more

On Friday evening, my friend, Chris Nash, was performing live at the Reel Cafe and he invited us out to hear him play. Who was I to say no to an amazing man with a good heart and possesses serious talent on the guitar? So my Mrs. and I made a date night of it and decided to go for a full experience. FOOD: Pulled Pork Nachos; Reuben with fries; tequila sunrise and Edward Teach - Teach's Peaches × 3. Teach's Peaches is my top local brew in the area so you get 5 Stars on that piece, just for offering it :) The tequila sunrises were made well with adequate spirit-mixer ratio and served with a nice presentation in the glass. As for the food? Beginning with the Reuben sandwich and fries...it wasn't bad but nothing great about it either. Pros: Great taste, nice thousand island dressing, adequate portion size and very good fries. Cons: Corned beef was on the drier and tougher side, rye bread was moist and semi-wilted. The sandwich was ok but will be forgotten in less than a week. The nachos with pulled pork were very good and I found myself sharing these with my wife, as my Reuben was put into timeout. The fresh jalapenos, moist & flavorful pulled pork with the queso cheese and toppings were very nice. The chips tasted fresh and were the perfect size for getting a scoop of all ingredients. But the attention to detail with the fresh (not pickled or jarred) jalapenos is what made me a believer. Not one single jalapeno disc had more than 1 seed. For anyone who may not know jalapenos...fresh jalapenos carry the most heat, compared to pickled. The majority of that risky heat dwells within those seeds. Where am I going with this? Reel Cafe de-seeds their jalapenos for the most part, thus, allowing you the opportunity to enjoy a jalapeno's freshness without sacrificing your tastebuds. Honestly...these nachos were damn good. SCORE: 4.2 STARS!! SERVICE: Here is where it gets a little mixed, but ends on a very positive note. After parking in a pay lot directly across the street, we walked inside around 7p to secure a table outside in the courtyard. The young lady at the stand seemed to be a bit overwhlmed and distraught for whatever reason (I believe she may have been new and / or just arrived to work after surfing waves throughout the day) but did her best to draw up a waitlist sheet since we were the first people to arrive without an open, available table outside. She politely took our name and number to text and stated it would be about 10 mins. 29 mins later, we received a text. We were then seated outside by the same young lady at a great table and location to watch live entertainment. The bar included one bartender and it seemed that Reel Cafe was being faced with the same challenge as others...staffing. We waited 15 minutes for service, finally just caving in by going to the bar to place our order. There, I interacted with Eli. After placing my order with Eli, everything improved drastically. He was apologetic for the lack of service, took control of the situation and made sure our date night ended on a positive note. He was attentive, intuitive and just a damn good dude. You could see it in his eyes...he wanted to make right by the shortcomings earlier. If I had to score just Eli, himself, that's a no-brainer 5 Stars. But...factoring in the mishaps in the beginning, they can't be ignored. Scoring heavier due to everything ending peachy bc of Eli...SCORE: 4.2 STARS!! OVERALL SCORE: Eli kicked ass and took names once order was restored. Food was great and meh at the same time. Entertainment selection with Chris Nash was excellent but....please keep an eye out for the extremely obnoxiously loud and over-intoxicated fools. Know when to cut them off. There were young children present everywhere with families and you had 2 drunk goons yelling and screaming with profanities...consistently...for over an hour. It was annoying the hell out me and every single customer you had out there...at 8pm. This visit was just a mixed bag of everything but made for a very interesting evening. SCORE: 4.2 STARS!! read more

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We ate at Reel Cafe on Saturday around lunch time. As always the food is perfect and delicious! My go to are the chicken nachos, my husband got the steak and my daughter got the kids chicken tenders. Everything was fast, cooked perfectly and tasted amazing. We kind of had two different servers as we sat in the downstairs bar area but we have to give a shout out to Tay as she was the BEST waitress. Very attentive and took time to make my daughter feel special after they bonded over shark teeth hunting. We will ask for Tay every time we dine in! read more

Reel Cafe - Special note from waitress - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Sitting here with my wife and 6yr old, inside, and there is someone vaping while speaking with the bartender, the other staff is saying nothing and puffs of this garbage is going into into the air. Will never come to the place again. Despicable. Update: it's Danny the manager vaping at the bar and it's legal ( per Danny) I asked for the manager, young lady asks if she can help, I ask if it's legal to vape indoors at a restaurant in NC, she answers she doesn't know but sees it all over. I ask if it's the manager vaping at the bar, "Yes" ... me: ok don't give him a heads up in the vape question just send him over. She heads over and speaks to him, the woman next to him immediately takes the vape off the table and pockets it. Food sucks but looks cool inside. However this place is hot garbage. read more

The food was marginal. The fried oysters were not fresh and tasted overly fishy. Fried fish flat bread was just ok. My son liked his nachos (pub standard) and shrimp and grits were ok. I think if you go here stick to pub standards and go to have a number of drinks at night. Don't go looking for gastronomic delight. read more

Who doesn't love a good patio in 70 degree October weather???? This place is perfect for that! I got the hummus wrap add chicken and cheese with fries and my husband got the wings. Other guests in our party with with brunch, eggs Benedict and we all really enjoyed our food. The service was 5 and the drinks were reasonably priced. They were able to accommodate our party of 7 which was an added bonus!! The location is perfect. read more

Reel Cafe - Hummus wrap add chicken and cheese - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

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Skip this place and splurge for somewhere better. The atmosphere is dirty. The bathroom was up 2 flights of stairs for some reason and not well kept at all. The food (at least what I ordered) was not good. I ordered the shrimp which I thought would come with a side of potatoes and corn but they just brought out a plate of steamed shrimp that you had to peel and devein yourself. I ordered a side of coleslaw to go with my meal, but I instantly regretted it after seeing it was finely minced to mush instead of shredded vegetables. The slaw was very bland and the texture itself was undesirable. I had about 2 bites of the slaw and maybe 3 shrimp and I lost my appetite. I won't be going back. read more

Reel Cafe - Un-deveined shrimp - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Hanging out with a local walking around downtown we ended up in here. She seemed to suggest this just on the fly and I was eager to get something in my stomach so I just said yes. It felt a bit off walking in so we perused the menu a bit first. Saw that it had a good variety of stuff and sat down to eat. We ordered the longboard nachos to start. I actually ordered them because the other nachos mentioned jalapenos and these mentioned pulled pork and "pimento queso". However, I was incredibly confused when they came out. I asked the waitress if she was sure these were right but even she looked confused. There was a line of jalapenos on top and the cheese appeared more queso-y than pimento-y to me. Nonetheless, they tasted great and were quite filling. We ordered a plate of linguine with broccoli and the shrimp and grits. I didn't do the pasta but my cousin seemed to like it. I stole a few bites of broccoli and they were good. The shrimp in my shrimp and grits were great but one of the ingredients - may have been the corn or the mushrooms - in there was chewy and hard. Like it had been freeze dried and not reconstituted for long enough. The prices were a bit high considering the quality and the fact that the server was basically just kinda going through the motions. It wasn't quality service or experience. Next time I'm in town I will try someplace different for sure. read more

We came in and ate supper! Food and service was great! Young man waiting on us was very attentive! Then we had a drink at the outside bar while we waited for the 2nd floor to open .. 9pm went up for karaoke! At first I was skeptical because the place was empty! A crowd developed quickly and everyone was there to have a good time.. definitely worth going to see! read more

Our second trip. My wife had her first Shrimp and Grits ever here. This has been what she is comparing all others to, so we are coming back to confirm what makes these the best she has ever had! A good assortment of beers and wines, plus the specialty cocktails based on movies shit in and around Wilmington. We have only been here mid-afternoon, so there are no crowds. If you have some time to relax, this is a great spot! read more

Reel Cafe - Specialty drinks based on movies filmed in Wilmington! - American Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Yikes! Service was awful as the young lady bartender Friday night 4/28 outside was so rude. It seemed as if she didn't want to be there or make money. I went in today to get something that I had left and she was there again and refused to look up from her phone so I had to say "excuse me-did I leave my bag?" She doesn't say a word and hands it to me and loudly yells "your welcome" while patrons were at the bar. It was pretty shocking. The bathrooms are in complete disarray and everything felt dirty. I used to love this spot many years ago. read more

Had the steak and my husband had the tuna. Service was good. Food was good. The price was very fair! Will go again!

I ordered the pimento cheese sandwich and they literally brought me what looked like a block of cream cheese resting on bread. I was so disgusted. I took a small bite and it sent me to dark places. I ate none of it. However, the sweet potato fries were divine. read more

Reel Cafe? More like Reel Disappointing. Two members of my party attempted to order the Steamed Seafood Platter and were told the kitchen was out of clams. They refused to allow them to substitute another item that was already included on the platter for the clams. They decided to get a Shrimp Platter instead, which was a sad looking plate of luke warm, barely seasoned shrimp. I've had better shrimp from the clearance section at Kmart. Another member of my party's meal was completely forgotten. She had to wait an additional 15 minutes for her meal to be brought to the table after everyone else was already served. When it was finally brought out, the platter was missing several items. She waited an additional 10 minutes for the missing items to be brought to the table. And it STILL wasn't right. In all honesty, I wish my meal was completely forgotten because the food was exceptionally below average. I'm waiting for the food poisoning to set in. Try Long John Silver's. It's better. read more

Fun spot to hang out in late nights, karaoke is fun though I wish they had newer music and drinks are pretty strong. All the negative comments are usually from old people that expected a 5 star dining experience. Never bothered trying the food, the vibes carry read more

First time to Wilmington, and first time to Reel Cafe! The Ruben sandwich is a favorite for a reason....it's delicious!!!! As amazing as the food is, the service is just as too notch! Thank you to Terry for his great service!! read more

Reel's definitely a typical sports bar, just with added seafood. The food and drinks are average - they don't try very hard but hey, if you're here just to watch a game or grab a beer with friends - it doesn't matter so much what the food is like. I came here with a party of about 10 and the service was pretty attentive to our needs, which was nice considering how loud and boozy my friends can be. We were seated quickly and drinks arrived shortly after. We ordered various dishes ranging from steamed seafood to shrimp and grits to crab cakes. Everything was okay, nothing too impeccable. The shrimp and grits and nachos were probably the best. The pasta was definitely the worst (wet noodles and salty clams). Overall, a decent option for downtown Wilmington. You could certainly find better but it's not bad at all. read more

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