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    The Cove Restaurant

    3.9 (115 reviews)
    Closed Closed

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    THE COVE RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Dogs allowed
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - The Cove Restaurant

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    A cup serving of Homemade Crab Soup (July 2025).
    Chip R.

    Bottom line: I liked my first visit to The Cove Restaurant near Holden Beach. Their Fish & Chips was satisfying and just what I needed that night. Service was good as well. This farm-to-table restaurant supporting local farmers and fishermen is worth a try if in the area with a little something for everyone on their menu. The Deets: A friend of mine drove down from Wilmington while I was vacationing in Holden Beach recently and we decided to get dinner to catch up. Looking at options on the trusty Yelp app, we decided upon trying The Cove Restaurant for dining. It is located just a bit out from Holden Beach, along Hwy 130 going towards Shallotte. It has pretty good parking that was almost full when we arrived. When we went in to place our name on the waiting list, we were told it would be about 30 minutes wait (we were actually seated around 15-20 minutes) and so we used the table and chairs outside the door to relax and talk. When seated at a booth inside, we perused their menu and they have plenty of different selections (not just limited to seafood). The cover of the menu describes The Cove as a restaurant "...featuring all natural ingredients supporting local farmers and fishermen." This farm-to-table format is good to know going in and I'm glad they share that on the menu. We were given bread service to start with (loved the bread!) and my friend got their Homemade Crab Soup to start with, and he liked it a lot. I went for Fish & Chips for my dinner entree while my friend opted for their Chicken Marsala for his meal. I was satisfied with my meal, the beer battered deep fried cod fish tasted great here. I sampled my friend's Chicken Marsala and it was good but was hoping for more flavor to come through on the Marsala sauce. Service was acceptable from the host desk to our server, all went well. I enjoyed the first visit to The Cove Restaurant and would like to revisit them on future trips to the area.

    The Special of the day: Grouper Trio with shrimp, scallops and choice of potato- excellent!
    Ali R.

    My husband and I are new homeowners on Holden Beach. One of the first things we wanted to discover was a local place with great seafood. We were thrilled to find this place! My husband ordered the special Trio: grouper (blackened) with shrimp (fried) and scallops (blackened). It was served with mashed potatoes. The portion was huge! He said it was the best mashed potatoes he's ever had. I ordered the seafood linguini, scampi style - it was delicious with a generous amount of mussels, clams, shrimp, and scallops. There was an option to have the dish "fra diavolo" (spicy red sauce) which I may try next time. My husband shared his giant side-salad with me. It was an extra $2 for the salad that could have been a meal for me. Complimentary bread is served with olive oil and freshly cracked pepper and with single serving pats of butter. For dessert, we shared the housemade brownie with ice cream. It was recommended by our wonderful server, Bailey! It was a great first meal for us in Holden Beach as locals and no longer just visitors!

    Snow Crab Legs
    Jim T.

    Service was great! Food was good. Why 1 star you ask? They sell crab legs as 1lb for nearly $50. They sent out two of the tiniest clusters I've ever seen. I've weighed them at home many many times. This was 1/3 of a pound. Literally $3 to $4 of crab that they sold for $46.48. I don't generally leave negative reviews, but this wasn't cool. Do better.

    Appetizer menu
    Arthur L.

    We ate there for dinner at 7:30 last Saturday night March 2, 2024. We had a reservation and waited less than ten minutes to be seated. While waiting, we perused the feline rescue display and enjoyed the photos of the cute kitties. It was loud. The bar area was crowded and a basketball game on the TVs promoted the noise. When we were seated, our server promptly appeared to take drink orders and returned quickly with the drinks and took out food orderes. We decided to split an order of one-pound of crab legs, a coconut shrimp appetizer, and a bowl of french onion soup. The coconut shrimp was crispy on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside. And the dipping sauce was a great complement to the shrimp. The crab legs were firm and flavourful and the sautéed zucchini and yellow squash perfectly seasoned. The French onion soup was just so-so and I wouldn't order it again. A young boy/man rolling the set ups and clearing tables seemed to go out of his way to make as much obnoxious noise as possible, slamming plates on the table, smacking the broom against the dust pan, etc. He was either very poorly trained, inadequately supervised, or just didn't care how his antics negatively impacted the guests. In any case, it was very annoying. The Holden Sunset cocktail was excellent and highly recommended. Overall, almost all of the food was quite good, food and bar service excellent, ambience okay, and support staff needs training, supervision, or replacement. All in all, I would recommend The Cove.

    Last nights special. Blackened flounder, scallops and shrimp.

    Excellent service and excellent food. Tonight's special was grouper, scallops, shrimp, sautéed squash and a baked potato.It was so delicious. We were very happy!

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    6 months ago

    Have eaten here 5 or 6 times. Always great food at a reasonable price. Both steaks and seafood are exceptional.

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    7 months ago

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    10 months ago

    Very good food, attentive staff, bar that makes a very good drink. Overall a really good experience.

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    1 year ago

    Food and service nicely done. Fishman's platter was tasty and perfectly cooked. Place was crowded but only had a 10 minute wait.

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    Relaxed atmosphere, combined with friendly and great service, good prices, and very tasty meals. Family friendly.

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    The Cove Restaurant - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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