The Blind Pelican Seafood House

LOVED this place! We saw them on social media and wanted to try! We ordered the lobster roll sandwich, a burger and the bourbon maple salmon along with crab dip to start! For the price the portion size was great! Very tasty food! We came for margarita flights and realized certain days and weeks have themes and different offerings so we opted for a blueberry lemon margarita and a cantaloupe honey margarita to try and WOW!! Very tasty! Price was a lot lower than expected for how great these drinks were! Overall I will be back!

We loved our first visit to the Blind Pelican. They don’t take reservations but do allow call ahead seating which is just as good! Blind Pelican offers delicious food, great service and fair prices. Our server, Caroline, was very informative about the menu and specials. Some of our favorite items from this visit: Ted Williams shrimp with roasted red skins and broccoli, sushi nachos appetizer, and shrimp po’boy special with yummy hush puppies. The cocktail list is very big! I enjoyed one of the nightly features - a flight of Bellinis. Lots of diners around us were getting the popular Bloody Mary with all the fixings. We look forward to coming again!

Absolutely worth every dollar I spent!! The girls were wonderful with the drink recommendations and the Bloody Mary I ordered was well worth the 8 hour drive to get there. I had a few drinks and the manager even come out when I was leaving to make sure I was ok. I was waiting on an uber. He still made sure I wasn’t driving. Hats off to all of them.

Attentive and friendly staff, excellent and perfectly prepared food... Blind Pelican has got it going on! Cocktails are great, though could be a little less sweet, which would make it more balanced. The only other thing lacking is more seating to reduce wait times, as they don't take reservations. Came here for the first time to celebrate Mother's Day. Our wait time was about an hour, not bad considering the day. We ordered an appetizer special of raw oysters with lobster and caviar, which was amazingly delicious and fresh! Fried calamari was perfectly tender, crispy and lightly battered. The Surf & Turf dinner special was 🔥😋 Perfect medium rare filet and super tender lobster tail with mushroom crab risotto, grilled broccolini, and Cajun lemon butter. This should always be on the menu! Definitely need to come back to try their famous Bloody Mary and more.

I went on a Sunday for brunch and when I pulled up, I noticed there was a huge crowd. We did not have a reservation and we did have a party of five but we're able to be seated within 10 minutes. I requested to sit outside on the picnic table for the nice breeze because inside was a bit loud and very crowded. Our waitress was the bomb! The food was amazing! I had been wanting to go here for over a year now, but was never close enough in the area to go, so while I was out of town one day, I decided to take a three hour ride just to visit the restaurant. I am so glad I did because it was a great experience and the food was amazing. Everything we ordered was great! They have a unique variety of bloody Mary's, but the waitress allowed me to sample a bloody Mary before ordering one of the specialty drinks and because I was not too fond of it they allowed me to change the drink to anything | Wanted, however, still include the seafood on top so it's not mandatory that you get a bloody Mary with that special menu which I thought was awesome! Take a look at the pictures, everything we had was amazing. I definitely recommend going whether it's for brunch, a date night or just a family gathering. The bar is even nice so you could go enjoy the food solo!

Fun beachy seafood restaurant in Holly Springs! Not a stuffy restaurant. Funny Bloody Mary’s all decked out in fish! We loved the shrimp by the pound; the cocktail Sauce is amazing - great kick. I ordered Cajun fish sandwich… it was massive and took half home. My husband had the oyster Poboy and is asking when he can go back. Canes fans for servers.. go Canes. A little nod to Canes in the ladies room. Restaurant has a nice atmosphere, great for families, plenty of seating.

Stopped in last weekend to celebrate Father's day. This place was sooo much fun. Our server CJ was friendly and very helpful. The bloody Mary was amazing as was the rest of the food. Can't wait to visit again!!

Can't even put into words how good our bloody mary was. Lobster was cooked to perfection. We had a custom bloody mary built and it was just perfect for the 2 of us. Great staff, all friendly, Chloe went over and beyond for us. Definitely recommend to any seafood lovers.

Yum yum yum, the crab dip is a must! The warm, delicious crab dip helps offset the chilling ambient temperature. But bring a sweater as well since they keep it quite cold inside. Although the crab dip was the star, we enjoyed our dishes. I especially liked the Connecticut style lobster roll. Our waitress was friendly and attentive and all our orders were accurate. The menu is primarily seafood and the prices and portions seem reasonable. The bloody Marys however were expensive. I'm not a big fan of bloody Marys so I skipped it. I didn't realize until a neighboring party ordered one that you could swap out the Bloody Mary part for a different drink! I may have to do that next time. Does shrimp, grilled cheese, bacon, and lobster go with a pina colada? Note: the crab dip is gluten free and can be ordered with tortilla chips rather than bread.

Can never get past the Hostess. We have tried several times to get a table, several different times of the week and weekend. Always told there are 2-3 hours of wait time. Even though there doesn't appear to be that many people waiting and more then enough open tables. We even asked a few times to sit at the bar instead and was told there are no seats. We clearly saw open seats at the bar area. It's obvious that the hostesses have possible favorites when it comes to seating. However, 2-3 hours on a mid-week night, seems like a very long wait. I can't comment on the food, have never been seated.

Let's call this one: "Definitely a vacation restaurant" I'll start with I didn't love our dinner here, but I appreciated the waitstaff so 3 stars for a neutral experience. I think the one major thing I'd point out is this place feels like a restaurant you'd find at a popular vacation or tourist spot, definitely OBX ambiance going on and it seems maybe intended that way. Their big draw appears to be the huge customizable gimmicky Bloody Mary. I'm not a Bloody Mary fan but to be fair- they looked pretty cool. I really wanted some good scallops and this place had a decent rating so I picked this spot out and we drove an hour to Holly Springs to try it. Overall the food was notttt great, which was a little disappointing. The crab dip was the best part of the meal- that I did enjoy. However the scallops just completely lacked any flavor and even the garlic butter they're swimming in wasn't enough to save them- still really flavorless. Im a big scallop girl and these were for sure on the bottom end of my scale. The sides were eh, nothing to write home about. My boyfriend got a burger and fried Okra. He enjoyed the okra but said the burger was also flavorless. We got banana pudding for desert and that's one of my BFs top desserts so I let him be the critic..he didn't love it. As I stated earlier, the waitstaff was great. Very accommodating, friendly, and quick. If the food had been better we likely would return. My overall recommendation, if you're in the area and looking for what appears to be a good Bloody Mary maybe give it a shot, check them out- just don't order the scallops!

What a great hidden gem! It reminded me like I was back in Pensacola with the vibe! We came for drinks and an appetizer and loved the calamari! It has a sweet spicy sauce that just hits with each bite! We sat at the bar and the bartenders were great! We tried the margarita flights since it's national margarita day and they don't disappoint!

We found ourselves here on Father's Day, and although the place was jam packed, the food and service was spot on. The dolls at the hostess stand were personable and professional and the service at the bar was fantastic. (Thank the good Lord for full service at the bar that spared us the 80 minute wait). Our order came out quickly, and we were in and out in no time! The oysters Rockefeller were delicious and the hubby's shrimp basket w/ onion rings was tasty also. We also enjoyed sharing a mimosa flight. I can't wait to return and try more menu items. Cheers!

Great tasty food! Excellent service. They were having lobster night when I was there. They look so good. They are famous for their outlandish Bloody Mary that serve four with seafood!

What a fun experience For Father's Day I decided to treat my husband to his Bloody Mary of his dreams. the Blind Pelican was 1 1/2 hours from our place so we took a little road trip. We arrived around 2:30 Saturday afternoon, and got seated right away. We ordered oysters rockerfella, lobster roll (Connecticut style), and The Zeus Bloody Mary. The Lobster Roll was perfect. Lightly toasted bun, plenty of chunked lobster! Hushpuppies were great. Oysters rockerfeller came out hot and cheesy and delicious. The KRACKEN was unbelievable even the bloody Mary was good

I've heard great things about this place and decided to try it for myself. WOW! The experience was fun and the food was awesome. I will definitely be here again soon.

What a fun place! It gives a very beach, casual vibe. Just the crab dip is worth the trip - it's AMAZING! The lobster and shrimp cavatappi pasta was also in my top 5 favorite pasta experiences! Some of the other dishes were more average, but they have some truly out of this world gems.

What a beautiful day out after the storm, I live in Florida and I always wanted to come to this place but didn't think I'd be in North Carolina. Well, here I am visiting my best friend and she took me here. The most delicious bloody Mary's I have ever had!

The service was wonderful the staff is very friendly. The food was served hot and they were great portions. It's hard to find some good seafood spots so I definitely recommend this restaurant. The atmosphere is not super fancy which was enjoyable for a relaxed dinner

We fell for this place hook line and monster Bloody Mary! We had to try the kitschy drink but it was amazing with the lobster tail, grilled cheese, bacon and shrimp! The lobster and scallop bisque was delicious. The lobster roll (hot) was so buttery and good that you close your eyes as you take that first bite and let your other senses take over. We will be back! Almost forgot to mention the crab dip!! A definite must!

The grouper sandwiches, tuna nachos, bisques, cocktails, and everything we have had at The Blind Pelican has been delicious- and of course the bloody Mary's are legendary. But the customer service is really what is top notch! Every server we've had is phenomenal, friendly, and fun. The hostesses do an amazing job getting everyone sat in a timely manner. We most recently ordered takeout and unfortunately our order did not come out correctly. The manager, Rich, and the hostess did such a great job righting the wrong. We love this great local restaurant and will definitely keep coming back.

I kept seeing this place on my Instagram feed but it's about an hour away so I knew I was going to have to wait until my birthday to get my husband to agree to go. And I'm so glad I did! We got the sushi nachos (which I think we a special app since I don't see them on the menu) and they were wonderful. We a bit of sushi nacho connoisseur and get them whenever we can find them. These did not disappoint. I got the Classic Ultimate Bloody Mary for me meal (hehehe) which comes with shrimp, bacon, and grilled cheese for $20!!! Not only is it tasty, the presentation is magnificent. Truly...I believe this bartender keeps this place in business. AND (Fun Fact)...if you don't like bloody mary's, they'll make this display in ANY drink you want to order. My husband got the fried shrimp basket with onion rings and hush puppies, which were also very good. This was a very fun evening for us. The staff was great and I wish we lived closer. The food was delicious and it was great value!

This is a fun happening spot. They have gone viral online for their famous bloody Mary's, but their other drinks are beautiful. We enjoyed a blood Mary with lobster tail, grilled cheese, bacon, shrimp. So delicious. Their special drink was a Pelican Old Fashion. Perfectly crafted. Our service was great.

Awesome place and when I am in the area it is a must have. Great food and fantastic atmosphere

My family and my wife's brother's family came here for a final meal before heading home. We were quite happy with our meal. No reservations here and we were a big party of six adults and four children. Thankfully the "communal" center table was not being used and we snagged it about 4:30pm in this smallish seating restaurant. None of us had been here but we definitely heard about the super Bloody Mary monsters available. Our bubbly and friendly waitress explained that she was sure that anything we ordered would be liked, that they were a family owned place, and we'd want to return. Several things were ordered and all was liked. Most favorite was the special Ahi Tuna Sushi Nachos, and I really loved the house soup today - scallop and lobster bisque. No pieces of either in the soup but very tasty. My fried oysters were not overdone, the hush puppies were crispy, and garden salad was nothing special. My wife quite liked her Caesar salad with salmon, and the seafood chowder had a nice kick in seasoning to it with lots of chunks of seafood. What was really special was the Kraken version of the Bloody Mary my brother-in-law ordered. Lobster tail, shrimp, crab legs, bacon, celery, grilled cheese sandwich (yes, that's correct), and a great Bloody Mary. Quite expensive at $80 but so good. And that was not even the most expensive on the menu. We were also told we can beat the all-time record of $1550 by going a dollar over. You can just keep adding onto the Bloody Mary until your heart desires. I didn't see any record breaking pictures on the wall, but that should become a feature in here. There were a lot of people waiting for a table by the time we left a couple of hours later. Glad we didn't have to wait today. $445 for six adults and four children including automatic 18% tip for parties of seven or more and included three cocktails. This seems quite reasonable for a large party. I'd come back!

Excellent fresh seafood. Nice atmosphere. A little pricey but worth it for a treat! Will be back.

All 6 in our party thoroughly enjoyed our seafood. Service was great. All the employees were very nice. Prices reasonable Fantastic Bloody Mary's. I sampled all the meals, my fave was the blackened grouper. Mmm so good

Was looking for oysters and came upon this place and entered without any expectations. Sam at the bar was courteous and informative. She assisted us with our order and we had a delicious meal. We got the Connecticut style lobster roll which was a good size with sweet potato waffle fries, peel n eat shrimp, a dozen oysters and a clam chowder. We'll be back again!

We went to blind pelican about six years after I did my first review. The food was still delicious, but the lobster mac & cheese definitely changed as far as presentation. Ambience was busy and the service was excellent.

I went here for my birthday. Heidi was our server. She was awesome. We tried the baked oysters & they were delicious. The pasta was good as well. I ordered 1 of their seafood drinks. It was good. I can't remember which one, I think it was the Lobster Drink. It had a lobster tail, grilled cheese sandwich & shrimp skewers. The presentation was nice. The drink, I think it was the Ocean drink, was good. The hush puppies & honey butter are a must. I'm definitely going back. I want to try one of the bigger drinks with more people. They offer outdoor seating and also have a bar inside. Plenty of parking.

Excellent food in a beach theme setting. Service was on point. I can't wait to come back to try other items on the menu.

Food was amazing! It's always hard to find good seafood like your grandma use to make. This is the place. Service was amazing and we had wonderful recommendations. The restaurant on the inside has a nice dive bar vibe but with a touch of coastal charm. Highly recommend the crab dip for appetizer. Also, can't go wrong with the fried baskets.

Bar manager was great. Let me have a taste of the Bloody Mary first. Honestly. A Bloody Mary. Shrimp. Bacon. A full lobster tail with garlic butter and a grilled cheese? $40 totally worth it. But for the amount of food and veg you get with your bloody marry if you're having a grown ups brunch or day out - the quality and amount is excellent for your money. I plan on taking my son back to share a kraken :)

This is by far the best seafood restaurant in the Raleigh area. Over all the restaurant is not super fancy but the service is always on top of everything. This place has the best Crab dip I have ever had. Their fried shrimp has a very light coating so you can actually taste it instead of how some places have too much coating. They have very good lobster rolls and scallops are awesome. They have specials each day and Tuesdays are taco nights. The tacos are always perfect. They even did a fancy tequila drink flight which had very unique flavors.

So it's in a strip mall, but you really can't miss it. It has been doing outdoor seating if you happen to come on a nice day and don't want to go inside. It has a full bond. So if you feel like drinking, this is a good place as well. Is themed in a lot of nautical and seafood, obviously lol. But that's okay, it fits very well. The place is nice and clean and it has a really large bar. They have a few TVs there so you can probably watch a game or two but it's not like it's inundated with televisions. So it will be good for a meet up but not a super large meetup because if there's more than one game happening, it's going to be hard to watch it. So I tried the Redskin potatoes, and I tried the onion rings, just for size. But that's not the main event. What makes this place special is the bloody Mary's that they have. I don't even drink vodka but I have to follow the plan! They have the most eccentric bloody Marys where it's basically stacked up to the tip top or whatever you want. Steak, sandwiches, whatever! I'm here for it lol. I got a lobstrocity And I added a few things. I added some extra bacon and some extra shrimp and I added a fillet. The wait staff of super nice about explaining how it all works, as far as you adding or taking away things or whatever the case may be. They were awesome.

First off, the only reason for four stars is the potential wait and how often we are discouraged from going because of having to get a table. We've been able to go a couple times and the food certainly lives up to the hype as well as the drinks, especially the Bloody Mary's. The option to add food items is awesome and highly recommend the bacon and grilled cheese. Service has always been great but we've only had the bartenders as we've never sat at a table. Definitely a bar vibe and a solid bet for good seafood. Not sure how to solve the table problem but would love to go more.

First time trying out the restaurant base on Yelp reviews. The food was excellent and tasted fresh. My mahi mahi was tender and thick cut. I would skip the collard greens ( base on a NC born collard eater). My wife had the Ted Williams scallops ( same as shrimp scampi) and she thought they were ok. They were not seasoned the way she likes them at Blue Water Grill in Wrightsville beach. I had a great New England chowder and they were really great dining experience.

I was instantly attracted to this place, like most people are because of their bloody Mary concoction. I'm not quite sure why I didn't order it. It definitely was a variety of things. It seem over the top, and the price point was a bit much. But hands-down, I would definitely recommend somebody ordering this. Next time I'm in Raleigh, I think I should definitely just go for it. My first choice of drinks was the flight of coffee. They look so cute. I didn't even realize they had liquor until the bartender described each flavor. I loved all four flavors, but they were not even the least bit on the strong side. It's OK I would still consider ordering this again. All three of us definitely had a large variety of different drinks right off the bat, so probably explains why I didn't want to order such an expensive Bloody Mary. I know I could've ordered a plain one but my mentality is go big or go home. I did wish they had more of a seasonal drink menu. Majority of the options on the menu were summer hang out on the beach kind of drinks. I ordered the lobster BLT. This meal was highly disappointing and I would definitely not recommend ordering this. The whole sandwich was just fallen apart and lacked flavor. Cheesesteak - I had a bite of my husband cheesesteak, and it was pretty good. Definitely not the best I've ever had but good enough for a lunch option. Fish sandwich - my friend ordered the fish sandwich and he wasn't too impressed because he requested it to be blacken and it did lacked flavor. I had a bite and it wasn't too bad and I honestly would've preferred that over my BLT. The specials that they were offering sounded absolutely amazing. If we came here for dinner and wanted an actual meal and not a sandwich I would've definitely ordered one of the specials. Off the top of my head I know it was a fish with stuffed lobster and I believe one of the meals had ricotta ravioli. we were just looking for some thing simple but I'm kinda kicking myself for not ordering something besides that BLT. The service was pretty good, considering it was not a busy day, and it was the day after Thanksgiving. The ambience was very nice had plenty of decorative stuff all over the walls, and the merchandise was definitely funny. We love collecting stickers for our cooler and unfortunately they didn't have any. Would I go back here again.... Absolutely.

We loved the food and service. We went around 1pm on a Saturday and it was pretty busy, but we luckily found two available seats at the bar and had stellar service. We also were able to watch the cool bloody Mary's being made. We recommend the baked oysters, those were our favorites.

It's essentially sub-par bar food. If you're looking for a neighborhood spot though this is your place.

Delicious! Service was great. My sister, husband and I loved it! Best lace for seafood in NC (not on the coast).

we had dinner there and while the food was good and the service was good the prices were not! Let me clarify that. when I got my bill it stated "20 dollars for a stand Bloody Mary veggie only with a 3 dollar up charge for grey goose. The menu said 10.99 for that drink. So I questioned the staff and was told well you ordered a double. I said that's correct so that more than doubles the price? The response was "we serve 2 oz of liquor in a standard drink and if it's a double we ser 3 oz". I'm like ok well I could have ordered 2 separate drinks paid less and got twice the amount of everything?!?! So use caution when ordering there as they will not tell you any if that and then your hit with an astronomical bill and left saying well they should have told me that like I was. There's no way in earth I would have paid almost 25 dollars for a plain Jane Bloody Mary with an extra shot in it!!!!

Amazing place. Had the best Bloody Mary ever. It was a meal in itself. Super friendly service.

The ambience was spot on for a seafood restaurant. I enjoyed the grouper and broccoli, but I did not enjoy the peel and eat shrimp, crabcake, or drinks from the bar. Staff were friendly, and the prices were decent, so I will return again in the future.

The waitstaff was awesome, super friendly, and the manager was amazing as well. The bisque was really good and my son loved the kids cheeseburger. The main issue here is the kitchen. The calamari was drenched in oil and was taken out a few minutes too early. Not crispy at all and the calamari itself was very soft and mushy in texture. The special of the soft shell crab was also super oily and the crab lost its flavor to the coating that was corn meal mush with oil. The mussels were inedible unfortunately, a quarter or so of them had a smell that is a one way ticket to food poisoning city, others shriveled and dried, highly over cooked. I worked at multiple seafood restaurants over a 10 yr span which is the only reason I feel pretty confident in my assessment. Food was left on the line too long in my opinion as most of our meals were cold or lukewarm. The only other thing is that it lists the kids grilled cheese with American cheese but it's white American. Totally fine but typically restaurants want to call out if it's white American as some parents make decisions on where to eat based on if they have something their child will eat. No big deal, minor addition would be helpful. Management was great and so was our server when we gave the feedback. This place has potential for sure! Tighten up the kitchen and tweak the menu and it would be 4-5 stars easily.

Always a treat to visit the Blind Pelican. Food and service is always 5 stars. Truly best sea food in the area.

It was a fun atmosphere with fun food! The staff was very helpful and accommodating! I highly recommend this restaurant, especially if you're celebrating !

We were going to eat there with a party of 12 and we called a day before to do a reservation, at the time they said they could do reservations. They then called about 2 hours before to confirm that we were still coming for that reservation. We get there and they tell us that they don't do reservations. We proceeded to wait an hour for a table that was supposed to be reserved before we decided to leave. As we leave the servers at the front start to laugh at us. Would not recommend Do not go there

Super cool place. Great food. Great service. Call ahead. The old fashioned menu is awesome. Build a Bloody Mary! Why not?!?! We saw a group come in all the way from Texas and break the record! So cool.

I went on a Sunday for brunch and when I pulled up, I noticed there was a huge crowd. We did not have a reservation and we did have a party of five but we're able to be seated within 10 minutes. I requested to sit outside on the picnic table for the nice breeze because inside was a bit loud and very crowded. Our waitress was the bomb! The food was amazing! I had been wanting to go here for over a year now, but was never close enough in the area to go, so while I was out of town one day, I decided to take a three hour ride just to visit the restaurant. I am so glad I did because it was a great experience and the food was amazing. Everything we ordered was great! They have a unique variety of bloody Mary's, but the waitress allowed me to sample a bloody Mary before ordering one of the specialty drinks and because I was not too fond of it they allowed me to change the drink to anything I Wanted, however, still include the seafood on top so it's not mandatory that you get a bloody Mary with that special menu which I thought was awesome! Take a look at the pictures, everything we had was amazing. I definitely recommend going whether it's for brunch, a date night or just a family gathering. The bar is even nice so you could go enjoy the food solo!

The only thing they have going for them is the novelty of the $100+ blood Mary, outside of the food decent but not great

So good. Friendly staff. Decor makes you feel like you're at the coast. Small restaurant. I could see this place having a wait on the weekends. We made a meal of appetizers. The spicy baked oysters weren't really spicy, but the diced jalapeño was fresh and delicious. Great hush puppies. Best alligator bites I've ever had, very tender didn't even need the dipping sauce. Drinks were good, but not heavy with alcohol. Got their basic martini, couldn't taste the alcohol. Friend had a mojito, so much mint in that drink. Will be back to try more menu items.

Best lobster rolls around! One of our favorite spots to go to in town and they have some really cool drink specials. We love blind pelican, and the call ahead is a nice add-on too.

Always clean, excellent service, great food and very special cocktails. They always have cool specials

Fun spot! If you want to explode from eating too much seafood, This is the place! I had the shrimp and grits. OMG! My Brother had the pasta and my daughter had the biggest Bloody Mary I've ever seen!!

Lou is an awesome bartender! I'm pregnant, and she had so many great recommendations for me and my dietary needs. She was friendly, fast, and made some great drinks for my fiance, whose birthday we were celebrating. Will be back to see her again! Bar was clean and lighting was great - good vibes all around.

About a year ago, I saw strange pictures of wild looking bloody mary's on social media. I had to find out where these were coming from. As it turns out, the pics originated in the Raleigh area, so I dug further and found the Blind Pelican in Holly Springs. I told my wife and co-workers, my next birthday dinner was going to be here. Fast forward nearly a year later. My birthday came, my bride and I had scheduled a date night here to celebrate, but a death in my ex-wife's family sent me to NY instead. I had to reschedule my birthday dinner. It was OMG Totally worth the wait. I ordered a "Build my own" bloody mary. It was delicious, the crab legs, the scallops, the shrimp, the filet mignon, everything... it was just incredible. Oh and the Bloody Mary was good too. I WILL be back.