Home of the Crab Leg & Lobster Buffet for 26! years! Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet is a great stop for an all you can eat affordable dinner extravaganza. The buffet offers over 100 different items. It even serves Jumbo Alaskan crab legs and Jumbo steamed shrimp, something you will not find on any other buffet in the OBX. The buffet offers a variety of seafood and non seafood options. Try some of Jimmy’s seafood options and load your plate with blackened tuna, Louisiana crawfish, steamed scallops and mussels, fried oysters and deviled crabs. Not in the mood for seafood? Fill your plate with steak, pineapple glazed ham, fried chicken, BBQ ribs, and fettuccini Alfredo to name a few. The buffet also offers a kid section. Let your kids load their plates with chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and corn dog nuggets. Don’t forget dessert! The buffet also offers soft serve ice cream and a plethora of baked goods. It’s been 25 years since Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet opened its doors for the first time. Since that inaugural summer, the goal has remained the same: provide customers with a tasty, fresh array of seafood full of Caribbean flavor. Elizabeth Dowless and her husband Jerry had always worked in restaurants in the Outer Banks, so when the opportunity to open Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet with a couple of friends arose, it was an easy yes. The Dowlesses bought out the business in 2003, excited to turn Jimmy’s into an Outer Banks staple. When Jerry passed away later that year, Dowless knew she wanted to continue pursuing their dream on her own. Dowless went all in on the concept of a fresh, flavorful seafood buffet and her hard work paid off. Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet is a beloved fixture of Outer Banks dining, with customers returning year after year for the fresh fare. “Customers keep in contact with me throughout the winter. I get people every day asking me when we’re opening for the season, and customers book their vacations around our opening,” Dowless says. “I absolutely love getting to see familiar faces come back to see us each year. I love seeing them lose their minds over the buffet! Their excitement is what I love most about my job.”
Black Pelican oceanfront restaurant is one of the Outer Banks’ premier restaurants serving lunch and dinner daily. Black Pelican is where you can enjoy fresh seafood, steaks, vegetarian dishes, sandwiches and some of the barrier island’s best wood-fired pizzas complete with a beautiful ocean view from the dining rooms and outdoor deck. The restaurant is big enough to handle large parties, but the setting is intimate enough for a cozy date.
Spanky’s Grille is the perfect spot to grab some good food at cheap prices. In fact, its slogan is “Cheap eats.” Don’t let the low prices fool you, Spanky’s Grille has won Top 10 Burger Joints in NC the past four years in a row and Top 5 Hot dog stands five years in a row. Spanky’s is the local favorite you must check out.
High Cotton BBQ is now open for the 2025 season! Our dining room is open with full table service. Any trip to North Carolina isn’t complete without North Carolina barbecue. The unique flavor of eastern Carolina style barbecue can be experienced at its very best at High Cotton. Once you walk in High Cotton BBQ, you’ll work up an appetite. The restaurant is filled with the aroma of slow cooked barbecue. High Cotton BBQ uses Hickory coals to slowly smoke the barbecue, producing a sweet, tender meat that’s pink on the inside and brown on the outside. Nobody Does North Carolina BBQ Like This NC Native No stranger to the Outer Banks restaurant business, Will Thorp moved to the Outer Banks in 1984. After years spent learning the ropes in culinary school, he began his restaurant career working at Kelly’s and other famous restaurants up and down the beach. In 1989 he opened Tortuga’s Lie and in 1993 he started the Rundown Cafe. A native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Thorp has always had a love and appreciation of real southern food. So in 2002, he found his calling, and decided it was time to open an authentic, Eastern North Carolina Barbeque restaurant right here on the Outer Banks. Nearly 20 years later and the rest is history. High Cotton Barbeque is loved by locals and has become one of the “must visit” establishments for any Outer Banks vacation.
-
Avon Farmers Market
June 24th, 2025 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM -
Mustang Mornings at the Farm
June 25th, 2025 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM -
Beach Apparatus Drill
June 26th, 2025 2:00 PM
Stay, Play and Eat- Donuts, Ice Cream & Coffee Treats! Located on the Duck Boardwalk, behind Dockside Seafood, this breakfast & Dessert-Shop features treats you've never tasted before! Try the hot, made to order, donutz on a stick with more than 35 toppings! They'll melt in your mouth! Or try the Gluten-Free Donuts; limited quantities, daily. Plus, try any or all of the 9 flavors of homemade tastefully twisted soft serve. Frozen yogurt, sorbets, sherbet, hand dipped and homemade ice cream flavors. Unique coffees, sodas and espresso that will satisfy the whole family. Mix-and-match nostalgic candies and much more. Bring the carnival to your mouth and eat it like nobody’s watchin’! Donutz-On-A-Stick- where visual stimulation meets taste bud overload! Carnival Treats at the Beach—With Flavorful Creations and Allergy-Friendly Options, Donutz on a Stick Serves Up Sweet Treats for Everyone David and Stephanie were not always in the business of carnival confections. In fact, Stephanie was a fitness instructor and David worked in the computer field. But he loved donuts and she loved ice cream, and when they saw an opportunity to bring their favorite treats to beachgoers, they jumped on it. In 2014, the couple opened their first Donutz on a Stick—a family-run, family-friendly dessert shop on the boardwalk. They quickly realized that in order to serve everyone, they would need to get creative. “We had a family who would come in, and one of the little boys would have to wait by the door because of his gluten allergy,” David says. “That didn’t sit well with us. We wanted everyone to come under the same roof no matter what kind of allergies they had. And we continue to work towards that goal.” The Williams’ daughter Desireé spent six weeks experimenting until she created a gluten-free donut that was totally safe and delicious. Gluten-free donuts are now a huge part of the business, with more than 1,000 being served each day, just out of the Duck location. But you will want to call or stop by to reserve them in advance. The Williams’ other three children, David, Justin and Christian, have all invented menu items as well, such as Christian’s donut milkshake, which features hot and fresh cooked donuts blended into a milkshake with another donut on top making it picture perfect. While all the Williams have created menu items, the most popular pick—the donut sundae—was actually a happy accident. “We were being featured in a local magazine and we could only have one photo for the article,” David says. Since both ice cream and donuts were equally popular, “we built the donut sundae for the photo and we discovered after the photoshoot that it tasted amazing. It was completely serendipitous.” The Williams family is constantly creating and improving upon their recipes. At the heart of it all is a desire to see everyone come in and enjoy an experience together. They want to bring the carnival to your mouth. “No matter how busy we are—even if there’s a line down the boardwalk—every customer gets that engagement and service from us,” they say. The family has since opened a second location in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area.
