We rarely eat out anymore. There’s the cost, of course, but also the effort with young children. However, we switched things up a bit while on vacation last week and ate at 3 different restaurants in the Atlantic Beach area. All were a hit and we’d recommend.
Sanitary Fish Market
Technically the one spot we visited that wasn’t in Atlantic Beach, the Sanitary Fish Market is across the sound in Morehead City and a spot I remember visiting as a child. It was the perfect rainy day lunch for our entire family. Four of us got our fried shrimp & hush puppy fix while the little one devoured her huge bowl of mac ‘n cheese.
The kids also loved seeing the fishing boats out the window. We’d hoped for a closer look and to take a walk after our lunch, but the first round of Tropical Storm Ten had begun and, while hard to tell from this photo (minus the hood blowing over my son’s face which he thought was hilarious), it was too windy and rainy to walk very far.
Quick travel tip: when you forget to check the weather and therefore forget to pack raincoats for a vacation, the Dollar Tree has ponchos that are easy on the pocket and surprisingly good quality. They were also short enough for our 8 year old.
Amos Mosquito’s
Several friends have mentioned Amos Mosquito’s online in recent years, but we’d never been. One quick look at their online menu and number 1 spot on TripAdvisor – we immediately chose this for our first date night out. It was the perfect choice. The parking lot was nearly full when we arrived at 6:30, but we found a spot and were immediately seated once inside. We had the choice of the dining room or sound side. I chose sound side. It was more casual and gave us a view of sunset across the sound.
The food was amazing. I can see why people rave about this one. We had a hard time choosing so we selected 2 appetizers and 1 entree to split. For the appetizers we requested the Crab Cakes and Warm Cheesy Lobster Dip. I could have eaten that dip by the spoonful. It was hands down my favorite food of the week. So, so good.
Splitting the entree was also a good choice. We still both got a large portion of fried shrimp along with fries and slaw. I barely touched the latter two choosing to finish every last bit of that lobster dip instead.
Channel Marker
Sadly this restaurant has since closed.
Another restaurant I remembered visiting as a child and my mom remembered being “good”, the Channel Marker also ranked pretty high on TripAdvisor so we decided to try it for our second date night. Another winner. We lucked out and got a seat on the deck right at the sound for our late dinner. It was quiet and a bit romantic with the sunset.
Unfortunately, it started to rain so we quickly moved inside to the bar. Not quite the same ambiance, but we still had fun and the food was delicious. Again, we had difficulty choosing so we ordered a little extra and shared – Spinach Crab Dip, Fried Shrimp with a side of macaroni & cheese, and Shrimp Tacos. We also enjoyed a lot of their complimentary hush puppies. They were the best we experienced during the trip.
Do you have a favorite seafood restaurant in Atlantic Beach or somewhere closer to home?
Linking up with Mommy & Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?
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