Eat and Stay in Style in Wilmington, NC and Island Beaches
Photo by Wilmington and Beaches
Imagine: You’ve just arrived in Wilmington and checked into the houseboat you’ll be calling home for a few days. You’re reluctant to leave your cozy digs, but you’re hungry, and tales of the monumental seafood tower at Seabird energize you.
Ready to kick off your Wilmington escape, you stroll through the downtown Historic District, stopping to snap photos of the sunset over the Cape Fear River before arriving for pre-dinner drinks at Concorde Espresso Bar. As soon as the cocktails arrive at your intimate firepit table, you raise yours in a toast — to the bites and sips ahead, to the beaches nearby, and to a stylish getaway where Wilmington shows you its very best.
Wilmington’s food scene is no longer a locals-only secret. The word has spread, and foodies are flocking to this North Carolina coastal town to see what’s cooking. From acclaimed chefs and lauded restaurants to up-and-comers representing flavors from around the globe, Wilmington has what you’re craving, starting with more than its fair share of culinary virtuosos.
Seek out award-worthy meals…
Chef Keith Rhodes, a Top Chef alum and multi-year James Beard Award nominee and semifinalist, brings his singular perspective to the plate at Catch. The fried seafood platter with jerk collards is Southern soul food at its finest, while the crispy skin salmon filet with stir-fried noodles showcases a dramatic flair. At Seabird, Chef Dean Neff, a James Beard Award finalist for “Outstanding Chef” nationwide and semifinalist for “Best Chef Southeast,” keeps his focus on seafood with a monumental tower featuring smoked tuna, pickled shrimp, oysters on the half shell, deviled eggs topped with caviar, and more. But don’t fill up too quickly — the whole menu, with dishes like swordfish schnitzel and crispy smoked catfish, will leave you dizzy.
Nearby, manna ave. 123 keeps it as local as possible while leveraging relationships with farmers and producers across the state to deliver meals that have earned it an AAA Four-Diamond Award every year since 2015. Pair the fresh catch with seasonal veggies or the steak and duck fat fries with a cocktail or bottle of wine from the award-winning cellar. Meanwhile, Chef Sunny Gerhart — yet another James Beard Award semifinalist — presents New Orleans-inspired fare at Olivero Kitchen + Cocktails, drawing on Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and contemporary Southern traditions to create dishes like lasagna with octopus Bolognese and harissa-spiced pork cheeks.
…trust your gut…
If you have dietary restrictions or preferences to consider, no problem. Wilmington truly has something for everyone. Vegans and vegetarians should make a reservation at The Green House for high-end plant-based dining. For a more casual (but no less delicious) meal, stop by Sealevel City Vegan Diner, where the music is fun and the tempeh kimchi Reuben always pleases.
For a little taste of everything, mark your calendar for a spring visit to Wilmington. Food festivals come to town in March, with the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival and Feast Wilmington, which some consider the city’s premier culinary event. Feast features a weekend full of gastronomic goodness, from evening parties on the pier to the grand tasting and closing brunch. If you can only catch one Feast event, make it Craft + Cuisine, which partners more than a dozen local breweries with chefs to produce delicious results.
Adventuring offshore? Let your culinary exploits whisk you away to a nearby uninhabited island with Epic Excursions. One of the most popular dining excursions begins with a private cruise and culminates in a seafood boil — either a casual standing affair or proper seated meal, depending on your mood. You can also book a steak dinner, organize a sunset cruise with cocktails, or boat to a tasting and tour at the Middle Sound Mariculture farm, where the world is quite literally your freshly shucked oyster.
…or go for the views.
Of course, no culinary tour of Wilmington is complete without at least one meal enjoyed waterside. In Wrightsville Beach, grab a table over the sand and waves at Oceanic Restaurant if the weather’s right, or take a seat with big seaside views. Wherever you’re stationed, the menu here pleases with seafood classics and fresh bites on every plate. You can also keep it casual at Dockside Restaurant, where a beer and a burger or seafood taco served with a heaping side of Intracoastal Waterway views is the norm.
In Carolina Beach, Ocean Grill & Tiki Bar has coastal views, great food, and fun live music. Nearby, Stoked Restaurant serves local oysters steamed and on the half shell, grouper fingers, and peel-and-eat shrimp from a marina-side dining room that’s a haven for boat watching. If you’re craving something extra casual, grab a bite at The Tropical, a Miami-inspired spot on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk serving bowls, oversized egg rolls, and a hearty selection of vegan fare with ocean views on its rooftop patio.
One of the many joys of the Riverwalk is that downtown Wilmington has great waterfront dining, too. Snag a table on the sprawling porch at Elijah’s Oyster & Fish Camp or a spot on the terrace of The Pilot House for the classic alfresco experience — plus two delicious takes on a fried seafood platter. On Floriana’s beloved balcony, keep the views but swap the cuisine for mouthwatering Northern Italian bites like black gnocchi with lobster cream and rock shrimp. Or head south of the Riverwalk to see what the Cape Fear looks like from a different angle at Smoke on the Water, where you’ll love kicking back on the patio with a jalapeño-cucumber margarita and keeping the fried pickles coming.
Those not lucky enough to call Wilmington home will need a place to stay while in town. Fortunately, there’s a whole host of accommodation options both downtown and at the nearby beaches. Some are so quaint or trendy they’ll have you thinking, “Wait, this is in Wilmington?”
From one waterfront to the next…
With plenty of restaurants and entertainment nearby, The Cove Riverwalk Villas is a tempting place to base in Wilmington. The neighborhood of houseboats floats in the Port City Marina on a custom dock, and each two-bedroom unit is roomy enough for friends to gather for a pre-dinner snack and sip. Located right on the Riverwalk, you’ll be an easy stroll from downtown’s hot spots.
At Wrightsville Beach, Trailborn Surf & Sound (formerly Blockade Runner Beach Resort) oozes charm from its oceanfront location. Trendy rooms, excellent dining, and plenty of activities — from SUP yoga to scenic boat rides — make it a choice spot for a getaway. Plus, the folks at the hotel are happy to help arrange just about any local outing you can imagine, so take advantage.
…and everything in between.
For peak charm, C.W. Worth House Bed & Breakfast — a winner of USA Today’s 10Best Bed & Breakfasts in America in 2023 and 2024 — offers a super stylish stay in an 1893 Queen Anne home. The building retains its antiquarian charm, while guest rooms are modern and welcoming.
Boutique hotels are another option, blending style, convenient locations, and cozy rooms. Try The Hive, an innovative property with self check-in, luxurious linens, and pet-friendly rooms in downtown Wilmington. Also downtown, DREAMERS by DW has taken over a gorgeous historic home and transformed it into a five-room inn with Insta-worthy rooms, suites, balconies, and porches near central concert venues, comedy clubs, nightlife, and restaurants.
If you’re coming to Wilmington with the whole crew — pets included — you can also go grand with an oceanfront vacation rental, be it a sound-side stay with a hot tub or a cozy coastal cottage.
While you’re in town, make time to wade into Wilmington’s cultural scene. Switch between museum days and gallery nights, then get outside with everything from open-air concerts to strolls through Wilmington’s most cinematic neighborhoods.
Find out which celebs are performing…
Wilmington is home to a pair of fantastic outdoor concert venues: Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park, which seats 7,300 and draws major artists from Phish to Jelly Roll and every genre in between, and Greenfield Lake Amphitheater, where acts like The Flaming Lips, Molly Tuttle, Steep Canyon Rangers, and other regional favorites perform to a crowd of only 1,200.
Big-name comedians also stop by Live Oak Bank Pavilion, while you can find up-and-coming acts like Nikki Glaser onstage at The Wilson Center. Meanwhile, the Dead Crow Comedy Room is a go-to for fantastic comics of all exposure levels. Add to that the long list of restaurants and bars in Wilmington that feature live music from local and regional acts, comedy shows, and open mics, and you have a town with a deep roster of live entertainment.
…and which ones filmed here.
You may find yourself recognizing places around Wilmington as you explore town. That’s because the city, nearby beach towns, and the surrounding area have appeared in hundreds of TV shows and movies, including Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, The Summer I Turned Pretty, films from the Halloween and Scream franchises, Iron Man 3, and more.
Take the Wilmywood Movie & TV Location Walk and snap a few pics in the real-life locations used in these films and shows.
Go for a cultural deep dive.
If you’re visiting Wilmington toward the end of the month, schedule in a Fourth Friday Gallery Night and visit some of the galleries and working studios across town. Make sure to also check out Cameron Art Museum (CAM) for its thoughtfully curated exhibitions of North Carolina-inspired works by local artists.
Outside CAM, you’ll find a moving life-sized bronze sculpture, Boundless, depicting U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) who served in battle here during the Civil War. It’s the only realistic sculpture of USCT soldiers in public art across all of eastern North Carolina, and that’s only the beginning when it comes to the cultural and historic importance of this exhibit and outdoor park.
