Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe

Very nice restaurant between Manteo and the barrier island. The place is loud. So, sit accordingly. They have a garden outside that helps with their meals. Check it out. Great views. Our server was Emma and she was fantastic. The food is good. Plenty of local seafood. You can bring in your own catch and they will prepare that for you as well.

My husband and 12 year old son took a charter this morning and caught their dinner. After calling around for hours we finally found this establishment that would cook their catch. Colton walked in bouncing with joy wearing a smile from ear to ear with his fish in hand. Carolyn recognized him immediately and made a big deal about him catching his own dinner. She went out of her way to share his excitement throughout the restaurant! Then we met Jeff and Stacy (server in training) who continued to share the excitement of Colton’s accomplishments with the fish. The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, but the way they made our child feel on top of the world was above and beyond anything we ever expected! We will be back on our trip next year! Highly recommend this restaurant!!!!

Fantastic place to eat! Menu was vast and offered really good specials. I had the Flounder stuffed with crab imperial. Food was incredible. Menu even shows the name of the fisherman who caught the fish. Live music was great touch to the bar area. Must visit, but visit early. They open around 4pm

My family and I were enjoying coffee at Charis Coffee in Manteo while deciding on a place to grab dinner. I asked the local barista where to go and without hesitation he said, "Cedar Cafe". He told us that they had the best chef in the area and served fresh local food which piqued our interest for sure. Another Barista rattled off a few other places that she had to think for a while to list but the gentleman gave solid reasons why not to go to them. So we excitedly went to Basnight's Cedar Cafe. The restaurant was spacious allowing us to have easy conversation. The windows on both sides of the restaurant were viewable from our table and the views were beautiful. Our server was excellent. She was born and raised in the area and had wonderful things to say. When I asked her what she would eat if she were sitting down for dinner, she offered two suggestions without hesitation and I ordered one. The Snowy Grouper was fantastic, the sides were also phenomenal! I loved that they told us who caught the fish that day in the menu. Everyone enjoyed their meal. When we left, we noticed their pesticide free vegetable garden where they grow their own produce to use in their dishes. It doesn't get fresher than that! We look forward to our next visit for sure.

My family and I came to OBX for a holiday weekend. We were so excited to eat here after specifically looking for locally owned restaurants with fresh caught fish, and reading about the restaurant and family on the website. First, let me clarify since I’ve seen this brought up in replies by the restaurant: my husband and I love nothing better than fresh caught seafood, and have eaten everywhere from Venice, to Hawaii, to St Lucia, including countless times on the southeast coast of the US. We are not “unaccustomed” to fresh fish’s flavor as the owner suggests on other reviews. The website advertises panoramic views and their outdoor area, and while I may have been confused, it was definitely misleading when we arrived to discover there were no outdoor tables. Still, we figured the food would be good and fresh. We were eating with our 18 month old son with special needs. We had to ask for a high chair for him 3x. We had to ask for a straw for him 2x. I am 3 years sober, and was happy to have found a single mocktail on their lmenu, but when I asked about an unknown ingredient, the waiter told me, “yeah I wouldn’t know” and walked away. We were brought our meals pretty quickly, which was nice, but in my husband’s words, “It looks like it came from a retirement home cafeteria” (pics attached). We both ordered off of the fresh Saturday specials menu (that they posted on their social media that day); mine was yellowtail served with scalloped potatoes and squash and his was tilefish on top of grits…except they weren’t. I was served a gray, watery, undercooked tuna steak with mashed sweet potatoes and sliced pickles and onions sitting in a bowl of vinegar. I didn’t know what my husband ordered, so I asked him if his soup was good, only to discover it wasn’t soup (check the picture). I asked the waiter, “wasn’t this supposed to come with scalloped potatoes?” He said, “I don’t know, did you read the description?” I didn’t have the menu still, so I said nevermind, but when checking it later on their social media, I saw I was right. My husband managed to stomach some bites of his food, and my toddler ravenously ate their fries; I didn’t eat anything. As soon as we got back to our hotel 30 minutes away, my perfectly healthy husband and son had explosive diarrhea. I have IBS and felt perfectly fine, so I guess you can decide for yourself what variables contributed to that. I had hoped for genuine care for the food and location like I’ve experienced at other family owned restaurants, instead we visited a tourist trap that makes garbage fodder. Maybe their fish was fresh caught at one point, but certainly not by the time that it made it to our plates.

Wait was shorter than what they quoted which is always a plus. They have tons of room inside for large parties. The food was great and the menu was expansive and welcoming for all tastes and budgets. Dalton was our server and took great care of our family. Will definitely come back!

Some of the best seafood I’ve ever had! The waitress I had was absolutely amazing! (If I could have gave her 6/5 stars I would have!) I couldn’t have asked for a better experience! First time visit but definitely won’t be my last.

Had a great time!! Lovely atmosphere and ambiance and awesome service, we loved the osprey nest and information card about them! As a bird enthusiast, this was very exciting 🤓 Dalton was our server and was very friendly and fast and all of the food was delicious, seafood was great and super fresh!!

Service was good, cocktail weird tasting dirty martini but excellent prime rib. Nice view of the water.

We have come here every year for that last six years and always have been happy with our choice. Things have changed. We decided to come tonight out of convenience. We were able to be seated quickly. Our server was friendly and provided an overview of the fish of the day and other options on the menu. We looked over the menu and it is large and varied. The special menu was as large as the regular menu. I ordered the broiled seafood platter (shrimp, scallops and flounder) with a bake potato and corn on the cob. Our meals were brought out quickly almost too fast for what was ordered. My wife had fried flounder. All the seafood was overcooked by a lot. Scallops were rubbery and flavorless. Shrimp was limp and cold. Flounder was dry and overdone and under seasoned. The corn and potato were also over done. It's a shame because this has always been a favorite when we visit OBX.

We ate here while on vacation. The restaurant is huge, with multiple dining rooms. Our hostess sat us at a window table with a perfect view of the Osprey nest. We watched them come and go throughout our meal. We received outstanding service from our server. He was friendly, knowledgeable and had a great attitude. I started with a glass of Riesling. My wife and I shared the She Crab soup at our server's suggestion and a mixed salad. That soup was incredible! It was thick like a chowder and packed with jumbo lump crab pieces. The vinaigrette dressing complimented the salad perfectly and truly elevated the taste. We then shared (for a $4 spilt plate fee) the flounder. We had it broiled. It came with a baked potato and Cole slaw. Everything was delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly. The baked potato was too. Their tartar sauce was a great addition as well. The experience overall was great.

Terrific seafood! I had a bowl of their She-Crab Soup which was some of the best I've ever had. I was very full with the soup and a side salad. The salad came out of their organic garden. It doesn't get any fresher than that unless you're having their fish. Most of which was swimming when you were having breakfast. My wife had their crab cakes and proclaimed them to be fantastic. She is a bonafide crab cake snob and to win her praise is an achievement of the highest order. Basnight's is a very casual place with ample seating for groups so bring the entire crowd. They have a full bar and an extensive wine cellar.

Our server Cassidy was the star of our experience - she was attentive, fast, and friendly.

Named after the Basnight Family, I recommend this place hands down. Friendly service & so much delicious food that you can taste the love that they put in it. Great panoramic views of the ocean no matter where you sit. We'll definitely go back when I go to NC again!

I was worried when I saw such mixed reviews but we really enjoyed the food. The service was great also but it did take a while for our food to come out. We loved the cornbread bread service! Delicious! I had the broth based clam chowder and thought it was great. For my meal I had the fish taco app from the specials menu. It was burger night and my husband had the Frenchie burger and subbed the grit cake in place of fries and said it was all very good. My son had chicken tenders off of the kids menu. They were your standard chicken tenders so nothing to write home about there. Overall our experience was very nice.

Another locals' favorite place. It had an old timey charm to it. Food was OK. I was impressed at the winelist - very California heavy and some bordeaux at reasonable prices. They had a few bottles of aged Petrus on the menu. I was tempted by that and may have pulled the trigger if it were at a steakhouse. While the restaurant was half-empty, we were still made to wait, I suspect due to staff shortage. I liked the interior decoration. Food was edible.

Good Food. Great wine list. Service is above and beyond. If your in the area you'll love the food and if it's the season. There is an Osbrey nest outside the dining room over the water. I'd recommend the '19 TRIMBACH RESILING with your fish. Reaalllly effing good!

Our waitress was very friendly but this place felt tired and was very dated inside. Zero atmosphere... an older woman stormed around the floor with a snarl on her face. The owner maybe? The menu was dated and the food was only ok. There was no wait on a Wednesday night compared to 45 minutes at Millers. Now we know why... we won't be back.

Amazing food and friendly people! We sat at the bar and our bartender (never caught her name) was as sweet as they come!! We even got a special treat, live music by Jack Colgan. He was fantastic and made the night extra special for us! The menu has so many great dishes we are going to go twice to try more things! This is a must while in the OBX

Absolutely the worst dinner experience I've had in a VERY long time. Arrived around 5 pm shortly after opening, was seated and told about the specials. a squid ink pasta with soft shell crab on top is what I ordered. After an above average wait time my dish arrived. It looked like plain old pasta to me with some kind of white sauce. I asked the waitress what was up, it didn't look like squid ink to me, usually a dark grey/black. she said "oh, we ran out of the squid ink pasta " . Never came to ask if I wanted a substitution, everyone else was served so I would have had to wait again. She was simply wait to see if I would notice. I asked her to take it away and take it off the bill. when the bill came, they charged me 1/2 since I ate a piece of the crab on top. I won't be going back there again!

We arrived right before the restaurant opened and there was a line down the stairs. We were one of the first few groups and waited around 10-15 minutes to be seated. The restaurant is along the water and we had a great view for dinner. The service was great. Our server Dylan was very nice and did a great job checking on us. We ordered the she crab soup, grilled tuna special and the broiled combo. For the she crab soup, the consistency was too thick. It was more like a dip than a soup. Also, the soup wasn't heated up to a hot temp--It was lukewarm. For the taste, I've had better she crab soup and wouldn't reorder it here. The tuna special came with whipped sweet potatoes and green beans. We asked for the tuna to be medium rare and it came out well done. The broiled combo came with coleslaw, baked potato, and veggie mix (zucchini, yellow squash, onions, green peppers). The scallops were over cooked and had a chewy texture. The flounder was over cooked as well, it was very dry. Most of the dishes were overcooked, but also was served cold. The temperature and consistency feels as though they may have been reheating a bunch of the food--or cooked it, and left it out too long. I was disappointed in this dining experience for the price point, and personally wouldn't recommend if you want a fancy date night meal.

Ok. Had high hopes. They were soon dashed. Arrived around 630 pm to a half full parking lot. Should have been first indicator. The good: waitress was good, but could have been a bit more attentive given the place was not busy. Not a deal killer. Crab cakes were good, but not the best I've had by a long shot. The bad: ordered baked potato. To say it was done would be a stretch - it barely hit the oven time finish line. Corn on the cob was ok. Presentation? Not a care in the world for plating in an attractive manner. Micky Ds dine-in tray has a more appetizing appearance. When we left, the hostess didn't even acknowledge us (she wasn't busy). The cleaning guy at least wished us a good evening.

Great location. We scored a table right by the window and enjoyed view of ospreys feeding chicks. 3 of us ordered Friday shrimp specials - grilled shrimp and shrimp and grits and shrimp Alfredo- and 1 ordered scallops. The asparagus side was cooked a little too long but all rest of sides were great. Friendly servers.

Waitress was very friendly, but never asked how everything was. Seated immediately (off season). Chocolate martini very disappointing, glass not chilled. Too much Low quality chocolate syrup to hide fact that there was very little if any Bailey's Irish cream, vodka, or chocolate liqueur.Only drank 1/4 of it, which is something new for me. I should have sent it back so that's on me. Pork bites were drowned in BBQ sauce that tasted like sauce from a bottle with extra burnt sugar added, no spice to it, three pieces burned, tried to scrape off a lot of the sauce. Fish tacos were wet, fish was wet on taco, no crunch ,taco shell itself was wet, two kinds of weird sauces on it, which added to squishy consistency and not the favor, zero fresh ingredients . The shrimp pasta had bland flavor, nothing fresh, and sauce tasted like it was from a jar, no onion, garlic, just the same pink color throughout except for a few pieces of spinach, the cheese on top of pasta dish looked like the powdered parmesan stuff in a green jar I keep in my fridge. couldn't eat garlic bread, saturated in butter. Nice ambiance, water view. Beautiful Christmas tree. Hostess was alone in lobby as we exited, never said goodbye, happy holidays or any sort of pleasantries as we left, and we were the only ones in the lobby. I try to support local business,,, but felt very unsupported this evening. Won't be back for a long time.

My mom and I stopped in a gift shop and the workers recommend this spot and I am so glad they did. This was one of my favorite meals while I was visiting North Carolina. We had a bit of a wait, but it went by quickly. There is a huge parking lot. There is also ample seating while you wait for your table. There are chairs and benches in the restaurant foyer area, as well as a gift shop to browse. Pretty much every restaurant we went to had a gift shop attached to it. There are also rockers on the porch. But, before you sit down, make sure you walk and look at the garden, where fresh herbs and vegetables are growing. They then use these items in their dishes and drinks. I'll get to that later. There is also a dock and many places to stare out into the water and relax. There are many rooms within the restaurant. We were seated in a room in the back, which was nice, but wasn't around much action. We had a server, who had just started a few days prior. I thought she was great and friendly. No complaints. For my drink, I went with the North Carolina Mojito. It was made with local rum and homemade mojito mix, as well as homegrown mint from their extensive garden on premises. I also ordered the fresh flounder. What I loved about the menu was that it listed the fisherman who caught the fish that you were eating. I thought that was a nice touch, and something I have never seen before. The food was delicious and I really enjoyed the aspect of them growing produce and herbs on site and then using it in their dishes and drinks. The flounder was fantastic. They also serve cornbread before the meal, and it was excellent.

Food was great! Table was started with some good sweet southern cornbread, not dry but not the best I've ever had. We shared appetizers of mozzarella sticks, oysters, and fried green tomatoes all of which were well made and delicious, and the oysters were very fresh. I got the fish grill which was a huge portion and the whipped sweet potato side was just like sweet thanksgiving potatoes! The fish was well cooked, my favorite was definitely tilefish. The dish also came with a side of green beans and these were good, but not spectacular. Ambiance is kind of a mixed bag with some people dressed for fine dining and others rolling in in t-shirts and flip flops. There's lots of huge big tables and booths that make it oddly casual but the prices say fine dining. Server was nice and adequate. Overall good food, not an environment I loved though.

This dinner was terrible in terms of flavor, presentation and form. Absolutely embarrassing display of food. The service was fine, however, we were advertised a cuttlefish ink linguine, and received pasta that was as plain as store bought. 0/10 on the food. Do not recommend. Photo speaks for itself.

We went to Basnight's on a whim after the OBX car show with 19 people. This restaurant is huge and very nice. The decor is nautical chic, and I am sure we were slightly under-dressed coming from the fairgrounds, but the staff was gracious and mentioned that they were happy to see us more than once. Very nice. The waiting area was comfortable. Nice couches and comfy chairs were available while we enjoyed the beautiful ocean views that are available at the restaurant. They seated us quickly, and we, due to staffing shortages, we had one waitress that we were sharing with other tables. She was awesome! She took every order quickly and served us all with ease, checked in frequently, and she waited on her other tables with the same attentiveness. We were all impressed. The orders were all over the menu seafood platters, wings, tuna salads, tuna bites, flounder platters, shrimp combos, and desserts went home with most of us. EVERYTHING we ordered was prepared to perfection. Not one issue. The service, the food, and the decor were fabulous. Basnight's was excellent and their prices were reasonable for the high quality of food that they served. Highly recommend them for your next trip to OBX.

We came in with a party of 8 for dinner on Saturday night. Through the years I've always heard really good things about this restaurant, so I was really excited to see if they were right. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable the place feels- not hurried or rushed, just very relaxed. All the staff were friendly and pleasant. We were served cornbread and butter just as soon as we got our drinks. The cornbread is delicious - moist and dense with real corn kernels. ( For some reason, that made it seem really special ). By the end of the week, we'd all had our fill of seafood, so most of us chose something else. Three had the prime rib melt. They seemed pleased with the flavor, but it was quite fatty...probably 50% meat to 50% fat, so a lot was pulled off and left on the plate. A couple of us had the Parmesan crusted chicken. It was fine, but not something I would order again. My poor husband ordered the ribeye medium rare. It was cooked poorly and was mostly fat that was not seared. Most of it got cut off and wasted. The seafood here looked really delicious and huge portions. Next time we are here, we'll plan this restaurant earlier in the week so we can try the seafood. For this visit, we just ordered the wrong items.

For a place that specializes in seafood, I was shocked to see the shrimp in both our appetizers and the seafood combo platter were so small. They looked like they were 50-60 per/lb count size. This was disappointing. Taste was only okay. The servers were younger boys and they auctioned off every dish upon delivering them and he was the one that took the order so should know who ordered what without having to call out the name of each dish and waiting for people in our party to raise our hands. Also, baked potato came with no butter or sour cream. Likewise the seafood combo platter came with no butter, tartar, or cocktail. I had to ask for all these items individually?! Wish we would have waited for line at the tale of the whale.

Our annual OBX trip wouldn't be complete without going here. A great farm to table restaurant with w fabulous onsite garden! Three of us ordered the local shrimp In the spicy, creamy Asian sauce - similar to a bang-bang shrimp but not as spicy. The shrimp are lightly breaded in a fabulous sauce! We paired this with a side house salad - and I could barely finish! This salad is large and with homemade croutons! My father ordered the fresh fried flounder and easily stated this was his favorite he has had! It had a light breading and was a large serving. My brother in law added a fried combo and agreed with the lightness of the breading and great flavors of the fish! It's like a trusted old friend you are visiting!

This place has gone downhill. Cold scallops, disgusting grits cake, Prime Rib ordered medium came well over well done. There were 6 of us and all of our food was either really bad, or average. For $35-$40 per plate, we'll pick one of our other favorite places to dine on the island. Service was subpar also....not sure why staff can't be friendly in the OBX? Server mentioned how she couldn't stand this time of the year and all of the "people" here....us "people" pay your bills.

Such a great restaurant with amazing views! I visited with a family of 8 on a Tuesday around 5 and were seated right away, right in front of a beautiful window view of nesting birds! We ordered several appetizers which were all good. I had the best mojito I've had in a long time. All our meals arrived quickly and were so good. The waitress was friendly and so helpful. We visit the outer banks often in the summer, we will definitely be back!

So this restaurant is a little fancier then our brewery norm, but the food is totally worth it! The seafood specifically the crab dip, the spicy shrimp, and the flounder meal was awesome! Then we headed into the bar for trivia which I highly recommend - three rounds from 6-7:30 on sundays. Pretty good prizes though we weren't even close to winning still a good time.

Basnight's Lone Cedar Restaurant is locally owned and operated and is one of the best restaurants on the Outer Banks! I've known them since they opened and they buy all the seafood locally and are very popular with locals and tourists alike.

The service, the view, and the food were all perfect. Great experience that I hope to repeat someday soon!

This place has huge portions, a bit pricey for the area but the meal is ample. I had the fried fish (flounder) with sweet potato mash and squash casserole. The fish was so good, flaky and delicious! The tartar sauce tastes homemade and the sides were also very good and tasted homemade. You can tell they make it all fresh which I love. We have a party of 8 and even during COVID they were able to accommodate.

Boy oh boy! While this place did not have vodka pasta on the menu they did have a delicious DELICIOUS shrimp basil tomato cream pasta (I ordered it without shrimp of course)! Unfortunately this was on their special menu, so it will not be there all the time, but this was a hit. The sauce reminded me of vodka pasta so much, to the point where I believed it was. This pasta was so very delicious and I could not get enough. Not only did the pasta slap, the location is beautiful! Right on the water, a garden to walk through, an osprey to gaze at. All around beautiful restaurant. The service was A-okay! While we did have to wait a while, and our buzzer was not working, they sat us right away when we asked!

Food was good. Service was excellent. Caribbean swordfish was excellent. Sweet potato puree was OK, nor sure why the add sugar to sweet potatoes. Maybe offer it on the side. Carrots were good. Scallops were over. Lot of Scallops for the price, but were overcooked. Grit cake was nice as were the root vegs. Got creme Brule to go. Delicious!

We had the soft shell appetizer, fried soft shells, bacon wrapped scallops, and this pasta with fried soft shells, shrimp, tomatoes asparagus, and charred ramps. All the meals were delicious and the server was amazing. We got to watch the ospreys pair on their nest, so neat. Wonderful atmosphere.

Great food!! Great views! Great service! Vast array of special daily! Beautiful location for sunset!

Good place with a small deck overlooking the water. The inside appeared spacious but we chose to do outdoor dining due to COVID-19. This place in particular were very safety-forward. Lots of hand sanitizer & they were spacing outdoor tables more than 6 feet. A little annoying as we had to wait for a table & when I looked outside - we could have easily had been seated without being too close to people. Pork belly app was very good & I loved the caesar salad. The tuna was good but had a lot of cumin on it. I enjoyed watched the Osprey's in their nest while we dined - very cool! They have a nice garden on the side - very nice to see they are growing some of their own produce!

Fresh local seafood that is very good, great atmosphere and service! Worth a try if you are in the area

This has always been a favorite spot for us. We have come here for the past 15 years but the food was nowhere near as good as it usually is. There was a very short wait compared to Tale of the Whale, which surprised me and then the rubbery/overcooked scallops arrived and it made more sense. I hope they can get back to serving quality food because we would love to keep supporting them. However, we felt like we massively overpaid for mediocre food this time.

This is my first time posting on yelp but I felt compelled to write about my Easter buffet experience. The amount and quality of food was extraordinary. The entire staff was friendly and very accommodating. The grounds are comprised of multiple verdant gardens filled with fresh grown foods and spices used in your food selection. A pair of nesting osprey can be viewed outside. A great Easter experience! Vivian Shackelford

I have never been disappointed by the staff or menu selections. The food has always been great. Love the pork belly appetizer. Prime rib was delicious and the best soft shell crabs in the OBX.

This restaurant was super cute outside and inside. We were very excited and hungry to try, but the waiter started out our evening very lackluster. We ordered a bowl of clam chowder to share and it was all water with little flavor and a few smelly clams. We ordered flounder filet, baked potatoe and cole slaw to share. The Cole slaw was a huge serving and the flavor was good. I ordered a glass of Pinot noir which was also good. The flounder was very tiny and average at best tasting. Our baked potato was very small and looked to be reheated from the day before. Our server never once asked us how our meal was. We ordered peanut butter pie to take home. The waiter assured the desserts were made homemade daily. This pie tasted like they added Elmer's glue to the mix. The filling was so thick and pasty we both took one bite and tossed it. Maybe because we are here off season, but I do not recommend.

We have eaten at Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe for many, many years. Tonight we had the pleasure of being one of the first customers at the opening for the 2024 season. The hostess that greeted us was friendly and most attentive. After being seated, the waitress by the name of Maggie D. greeted us. Her warm smile and friendly attitude made us feel quite welcome. During the entire meal experience, Maggie D. was most attentive to our every need. Not only did we have a delicious meal, we had a first class waitress experience. Basnight's Lone Cedar food is top notch and they should be very proud to have someone like Maggie D. represent their fine restaurant.

3 of the worst meals we have ever had. The drinks were great Step up from McDonald's Flounder was wet and tasteless Shrimp small , rubbery and tasteless Lump crab again no taste Scallops not fresh with little taste

Lovely view. Enjoyed watching the ospreys and their new babies. Got the NC Mohito which I enjoyed. It's one of my go to's to judge their cocktail ability. There were quite a few interesting things on the menu. Decided on the wedge salad which was ok but was drowned in blue cheese dressing. jumbo lump" (which it definitely wasn't) crap dip, disappointed as it was the typical cream cheese and very finely shredded cab and was supposed to have horseradish which you couldn't taste at all. Got the calamari which were pretty good but not quite hot enough served with aioli which wasn't to my liking. My husband got the broiled jumbo lump crab cake dinner which was definitely lump. Next to the mojito it was the only thing worth the $97 our dinner cost. I will say the waiter steered me away from a couple of things he said he wouldn't recommend.

We have been dining here every time we have vacationed on the Outer Banks, sometimes twice during our vacation stays. We have not been to the Outer Banks in a number of years until this week. Our first stop for dinner was Lone Cedar. I have to say tonight's meal was adequate and not the standard I had come to expect from them. I ordered the broiled fish, scallops and shrimp dinner. The scallops were tasty, the fish, the same, but noticeably smaller than previous visits. The shrimp were a little dry and not very tasty. After being our go-to OBX dinner spot, I may have to reorder my dinner list. If you have never been, probably worth a stop for dinner.

A favorite for many many years so we were a bit disappointed in our visit this fall Sunday evening. My local green tail shrimp was fried with different breading and too salty and the breading was also heavier, the baked potato was good, the succotash was just okay with added okra. The corn bread was not as sweet but the sweet tea was still good. The beer battered flounder was okay, the French fries not as hot and well cooked as before and the Parmesan chicken again was just okay. We inquired about one of our favorites the sweet potato casserole and was told it was now whipped sweet potatoes without the crunchy topping. The service was still very good but we sensed a drop in quality has occurred. There are too many other quality places here competing for food dollars to make this a good choice anymore.

We made a return visit to Lone Cedar for brunch after a couple of years absence. I was again struck by the place. It is large, but still nice, especially if you can get a seat overlooking the sound. We were there at opening on a Sunday and there was plenty of space on the water. Previously we ordered rather ordinary breakfast. Nothing wrong with it, but decided we should try their seafood. We both ended up ordering fried shrimp, green beans and coleslaw. All was good, pretty typical actually. They were serving a smaller grade of shrimp, certainly larger than popcorn, but smaller than is served at Mulligans and Miller's Waterfront. They were fine, lightly salted except, I thought they were a little overcooked, maybe due to their smaller size. They were a little chewy. I liked their smoky green beans that were served in a generous portion and the slaw was a pretty solit effort. I liked the shred (as opposed to the cubes that some places are serving), it just needed a bit of vinegar to provide backbone. I remedied that as I usually have to do with a splash of Texas Pete. All in all, this a nice place serving good food. We noticed they were taking Thanksgiving reservations and I am thinking it would be a good place to try if we were here this year. Maybe next year. I give Lone Cedar four stars. That may be a little rich, but they are close. The place is well run, the service very good.

This place is DEFINITELY the place to go if you're trying to get the most of the Outer Banks. The roosting birds are an awesome lil local staple that we were delighted to learn about. This is as good as seafood gets, and the friendly and hospitable wait staff is just the cherry on top of the whole vibe. This restaurant is just another reason to fall in love with the outer banks.

Our group of 9 plus a high chair arrived when they opened and were seated right away. Minus the high chair. Had to retrieve that ourselves. Our waitress was great. She spoke well, offered the specials, got drinks quickly. But she sure couldn't compensate for a table full of cold food cooking from the kitchen! Every side on every plate was cold. Baked potatoes wouldn't even melt butter. The glaze on the pork tenderloin has started to harden. Without offering to fix this she only noted she would 'let the kitchen know'. I assumed she would adjust the bill in some kinda way or maybe even offer couple desserts on the house, something. But already knowing how expensive the bill was going to be I would definitely think twice about going back. Not sure what's going on in their kitchen but hope they correct this issue.

Easter Buffet-1:00 reservations, extremely crowded but got seated around 1:30. Waitress brought us our drinks then we headed to the buffet. There was a server at each station and they were there to serve, small portions and slow to add more when asked. The selection was ok, turkey was already off the bone, as was the ham. Both were good, ham a little tough. Mashed potatoes were cold, sweet potato casserole was excellent. Green beans and collards were ok, Fried shrimp was excellent as was the fried fish and chicken. Corn bread and sweet potato biscuits were ok. Crab dip was good. The smaller portions made you go up again. Deserts came to table to select, cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, banana cream pie and key lime bars. We tried each one of the first three, all commenting on lack of flavor, carrot was more like spice cake and dry. Waitress was nice, atmosphere dated but beautiful water views. We'd try it again with regular menu. $30 plus drinks and gratuity

Service was phenomenal, Waiter Twyne is one of the best. The food is a different story, I ordered the Drum which was advertised outside the restaurant on their sign and it was a disappointment. The plate was soaked in oil and had a miserable 3 hour old baked potato on it. I paid more for that plate than the sheepshead which tasted the exact same with no sauce or flavor. Both of those fish were made without spice and flavor. Finally flat out do no order the Flounder, it was dry and I was done after the first bite. However the star of the show was the tuna which was absolutely delicious, it had a teriyaki glaze to die for and was cooked to perfection. The sides were all great apart from the baked potato. If I do come back it will be for the Tuna.