Excellent all around. Delicious food and wonderful service. We really enjoyed our meals - and lemon drop martinis! Will visit next time we are in town read more

I had the Mermaids delight. The seafood was so fresh! The garlic cream sauce was perfect and rich. Pasta cooked just right. I have not had such a great meal in a long time. Compliments to the chef. read more

We lived on the island for a year before we gave Swains a try and it quickly became a favorite. Service is always excellent in this laid back restaurant with upscale food . We have never had a bad meal but standout favorites include the always fresh seafood , the well seasoned airline chicken and the best Hush Puppies in NC served with a spicy pepper jelly. Look forward to going every time . read more

We were there on a busy Saturday night. Waitress was great! We had to wait a little bit on the food but it was worth it. We'll definitely be back! read more

Based on the high ratings on Yelp for this place we were very disappointed. The service was outstanding, but the food was not to our liking. We did enjoy the chips they bring to the table. My hubby ordered a $42 filet; it was fairly chewy and not very flavorful. We both got baked potatoes which were so tough we could barely cut them. It was late on Saturday night (7:30 pm) right before closing so not sure if that was a factor. read more

I love everything about this place, from the homemade potato chips brought to the table, to the perfectly cooked chargrilled steaks, to the amazing desserts. The sides are delicious. And the price for glasses of wine is very reasonable. I love the coconut cake. It might be the best cake I've ever had. The heath bar cake and mudslide cake are fantastic too. If you're full after dinner, they have dessert ready to go. Take a few - you will not regret it. read more

Swains or now Swain's cut is our favorite on Oak Island. Good seafood and steak. Friendly staff. Make reservations.

Food was amazing! Our waitress was fabulous!! I love that the restaurant is NOT kid friendly!! When you want to enjoy a nice meal with no screaming kids, this is definitely the place to go! The only thing that bothers me is that we didn't make a reservation; which we will next time, but when the hostess asked the manager if we could be seated, she acted like it was a huge hassle. As I mentioned above, if it hadn't been for our awesome waitress I would have felt like I was a burden. I would like to point out we visited during the off season since we live here on the island and made sure they were not busy. read more

Went here for our anniversary on the recommendation of friends. The chips they give you when you are seated are good! I had the filet with a salad and broccoli. My husband had the sea bass special. His was really good. Mine was cooked correctly, but it was cold. Our server did not come back for a long time, so I ate it anyway. Tasted good, just would have been better warm. It was a crowded Saturday night, so I am sure things happen! Watching other food come out, next time I think I would opt for the seafood. Swain's old location was always one of our favorite lunch spots, so I am sure we will be back. If you are looking for a casual spot for a good dinner, it is worth a try. read more

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Most favorite Seafood restaurant on Oak Island. Staff and Towhee are super friendly, courteous, and make you feel like family. Fresh catch is one of favorites. I typically get it blackened and for the side they have best grilled squash and zucchini any where around. The desserts are to die for and are homemade fresh by Towhee! Would recommend always calling for a reservation because this place gets packed! read more

Swain's Cut - Dinner with family and friends at Swains! - Italian Near Me - Oak Island, North Carolina

I have ordered a to go order twice and neither time it was correct. Worse coleslaw I've ever tried to eat. Won't be going back!

Locally owned spot. Lots of the restaurants on OKI come and go this one is a stable. Good service good food. They did some remodeling this winter will see how that changes things. The service and food were very good. Got the grouper special hot fresh excellent. read more

We had take out for two last week. We were so pleasantly surprised at how much food we received. The food was so good, we had baked ziti, French Garlic bread and two salads all for one price of $20. We had so much ziti leftover for another meal. The food was fresh, delicious and plentiful. We ordered Coconut cream pie for dessert, it was amazing! This pie did NOT disappoint. I can't wait until the restaurant is open for full service. If you want take out, they have this down to an art!! We will see you again soon Swaim's Cut. Thank you for surprising us! read more

From the moment we walked in on a busy 4th of July week they were amazing. Courtney was the best. Attentive and knew all about the menu. Food was the best we have had on oak island. We got the combination plate island platter. Food was so fresh and delicious. Clam chowder was amazing. We will definitely be back read more

Me and the family ate here a couple of weeks ago. The food was amazing and the service was excellent. Our server was super busy and took great care of us. She caught mom on the side to see if little man could have a refill on his sprite. Will definitely be back again if we're in the area. read more

Pretty disappointed in Swains Cut. As you can see from my reviews from their old place we used to go to their old location and this was the first time trying the new location. As far as the food goes, the clam strips were soggy and my fried shrimp had no real taste. It's pretty pricey too. Our server was really nice and she did a great job but the hostess did not seem to be in a very good mood. I understand it's hard to have a restaurant especially during these times, but if we are going to spend a lot of money here then you can act nice to your customers. The awesome desserts and the free homemade chips are what got me to give them 2 stars. read more

Another great meal on Oak Island was at Swain's. We ordered take out which consisted of the Mermaid Delight, Lobster Ravioli, and the Mixed Grille which was that night's special, Key Lime Pie and the Carrot Cake with Cheesecake in the middle of the layers. I am basing the 5 stars on the 1st two meals which were superior. The Mermaid's Delight was crazy delicious and plentiful. The shrimp, crab and scallops were all of large sizes, (not bay scallops and large shrimp). It was sooo good as was the Lobster Ravioli in the decadent cream sauce. The desserts were amazing!! The only thing I was disappointed in was the nightly special of the Mixed Grille. It consisted of lamb, filet and chicken sausage. I asked for the meat to be medium and the lamb porterhouse and the filet were both raw-not rare-raw. Also, the filet meat did not smell too good like it had gone bad. Had I been dining in the restaurant it would have been sent back. Based on the other 2 dishes and the dessert I still give it 5 stars. read more

We had curbside service from this restaurant. I had the salad with blackened shrimp and it was delicious. The shrimp had a nice spicy taste to them. They were busy. It did take over an hour for our order to be ready But we didn't call it in until 7 o'clock. Calling earlier would probably reduce your wait time. read more

Just finished dinner there tonight Service was great and the food was delicious. My wife had the ribeye and I had the NY strip both were excellent. read more

Swains is our new go to in OKI . Salads with blue cheese were outstanding . I had the clam chowder and it was the best in Oki . My wife had the ribeye and it was outstanding . I had the seafood pasta which was loaded with shrimp and scallops .enough for two meals . read more

Swains is an amazing family run restaurant! You can not go wrong with any meal you order. The HEATH CAKE is a must have. This place is a must try if you visit Oak Island. read more

My wife and I had dinner at Swain's Cut last night. I had the seafood pasta special which was linguini with fish, calamari, shrimp, claims, and scallops. This was excellent, plenty of food that tasted great. My wife had trigger fish piccata and she loved it. We both opted for the salad bar as our side but the trigger fish came with two sides so she got the grits and said they were very good too. We had a carafe of the house merlot which was very good for the price. The final cost was a little higher than some other OKI restaurants but not that much more and we both felt like what we got was reasonably priced considering the quality. We will definitely be back. read more

On a busy Saturday evening, the only place we could get last minute reservations was Swain's Cut. So off we went. Overall, the service was friendly and the food was OK. Not good or great. Just OK. What really surprised me were the prices. A rack of lamb for $55. A ribeye for $37. I'm not against these prices but I expect a whole lot more if a restaurant is going to price themselves in this range. Case in point; the salad. A bit of iceberg lettuce chopped with some packaged carrot slivers, a little cucumber, cheddar cheese, and diced tomato is something I expect at a pizza joint. As to entrees, I did like the scallops but they, along with the shrimp in my seafood combo, were over seasoned. Most menu items were listed as fried. I'm not hating on fried food but at the prices charged, it surprised me. Lastly, the decor was a mishmash of stuff. Complete with paper table cloths. A concession to COVID perhaps? I'll give the owners the benefit of the doubt there. But my overall impression was if they were 30% to 40% lower in their prices, it'd be a nice little venue. As it stands though, we won't be going back. read more

My wife and I just finished a fabulous dinner at Swain's. Katie, our waitress, was excellent the food was stellar. We had the Mermaids Delight and the triple seafood combination with scallops, shrimp and oysters. Our orders were cooked to perfection and couldn't have been better! The desserts are to die for. Highly recommend Swain's. We are looking forward to going back! read more

My family and I used to go to Swain's old location every time we came to Oak Island and had a fantastic experience, but when we went to the newest location the food and service weren't the same. They used to have a meatball sub that tasted amazing now it's only on the to-go menu. When i asked them if they could make it for me our waitress said that they wouldn't, I don't understand why they couldn't but meatballs in-between two pieces of bread and serve it to me. The food was soggy and the hostess didn't pass the vibe check. The ceiling vents were dripping on us and our table. They made one of us stand on the chair and clean it ourselves. 10/10 wouldn't come back sorry not sorry. read more

We were at Swains tonight for the first time as part of the "Race for Life" fundraiser. We read reviews prior as we do with most restaurants and honestly did not expect much in either direction positive/negative as there was a pretty good mix of both for reviews. We experienced none of what we read as negatives. Swains is a quaint beach place, not a white linen stuffy place and not pretentious. If you are looking for that, go elsewhere BUT if you are looking for outstanding service, and food......you should go!!! Marissa was our server and was on point. She never missed a beat and was attentive, friendly and not overbearing. The food was outstanding. We had a basket of homemade chips to start that they give to each table. They were crispy, not greasy and the salt was at a minimum. Salads were crisp and fresh and right sized. The entrees (wife went with fried flounder/oysters, I had blackened tile fish (outstanding) and scallops. Both were fresh and well portioned, with leftovers for two additional meals. Swains is a home run! I would highly recommend it and look forward to our next visit! Thanks again read more