Ignore the decor! It's old, shabby, dingy. Ignore the atmosphere. It's not packed like a frat house bar. Come for the food and the service. Best in the area. We had pork cheek and shrimp martini for starters - both amazing, pork cheeks are to die for! Then main of stuffed quail and scallops, both fresh and succulent. To finish off, blood orange ice cream and salted caramel ice cream - locally made, simply awesome finish. Staff go out of their way to attend to you. All in, a great experience! And whatever you do, get the pork cheeks if they have them ... Should win awards for it it was sooooo good read more

CLOSED or planning on closing soon--- only open as a bar on weekends. Shady bar staff that changed the tip on my credit card. pHONE NUMBER IS INVALID. If they haven't gone out of business looks like they are planning on it soon I would avoid this place as a night club they overcharge your credit card and you have to open a dispute because theres no one to answer the phone during the day before the night club opens. 22 north will probably close soon!! read more

22 North strikes me as a talented kitchen with the misfortune of being handcuffed to a tired looking restaurant. The place looks as though it hasn't been updated in decades; as a result, the carpeting, the tables, the decorations - everything - has a dingy look to it. The food was fine. We tried the OBX Scallops, Grouper and Grits and Swordfish. All were quite good. Our enjoyment of our meals was tempered by the environment, sadly. This is a tired space. If you're looking to celebrate a birthday or other special event, you'd be much better off at The George, Aubriana's or Catch. Our server was lovely. But early during our visit she accidentally dropped two drinking straws near our table. At least three 22 North employees walked by these (white) straws over the next several minutes, and none of them bothered to pick them up. Honestly, I just don't understand that sort of lackadaisical attitude. In the end, this is not a restaurant I'd return to, which is a pity, as the kitchen is doing some good things. I'll attach a couple of photos so you can get a sense of the state of 22 North's main dining room. read more

22 North Restaurant - Take a good look at the carpet. - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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My friend and I found this place down from our hotel. We were nervous when we arrived and were the only guest, but we considered it a treat. Our server was so sweet and kind and made sure we had everything we needed. The menu was small, but the crab legs and fries were delicious! So glad my friend chose this for our dinner. read more

22 North Restaurant - Crab legs - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

Food, service, and parking were all completed horrendous. Car was towed with a sign right next to it saying public beach parking.

In Wilmington for the week and decided to park in the 22 north lot to go to the beach. Parking attendant was super nice and helpful, paid the rate and enjoyed my day at the beach! Cold T. Is just making things up because he tried to cheat the system and got caught in the process! read more

Who in the he!! allowed this place to serve food? This is a great spot if you are looking to hook up with someone who pretends that they surf. Didn't even know they had a kitchen. On the plus side they...may? Still have a pool table? Idk...weird choice if u want food read more

I wanted to go four stars, but just couldn't. Here's why... That terrible stale bar smell--it takes hard work to keep a restaurant clean, and if you slack off, it gets out of hand...do it for years, and you get that darn smell...maybe the tables further from service areas are better. Other than that, nice, quiet dining room, simply appointed. Now the food. Caesar salad...super crisp romaine, fair amount of shaved parm and several nice crispy croutons, and a pretty decent dressing, if not a bit tame on the anchovies, which is understandable for the masses. Problem? Four times as much dressing as needed--the salad was swimming in it. Ask for light dressing, as caesar really needs to be tossed in the dressing, thus my not requesting the dressing on the side. Bummer. It could have been so much better. Entree, shrimp and grits. Very full-flavored, no skimping on the butter and A LOT of shrimp. Very good. So, sit to the far left in the dining room and you may avoid that stale bar smell, request light on the salad dressing, and you should get a solid four-star meal--server was friendly and there just enough. I'd give 'em another shot. read more

22 North Restaurant - Caesar salad...or soup? - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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Went during an off peak hour, just at the end of winter. Overall good restaurant, despite the lack of diners. Even though the decor of three place seemed dated, the menu from what we were told was brand new. Easy menu with a tame selection of dishes to fit one page. Price wise, it was pretty expensive, where the average price for a dinner menu item was about $19. I got the skirt Steak, which was huge. It was well cooked, and dressed with some herb butter topping. The meal was well seasoned, and cooked well. Even though the food seemd higher end, I'd probably consider coming back,after the place gets a dining room makeover. read more

22 North Restaurant - Gator and pork cheeks - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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Off-season Saturday night in early March and we walked from our hotel (Blockade Runner) via the beach and found ourselves peeking into this restaurant. That led to a booth, a menu on a blackboard, a very good Server,great drinks, great food, and even an encounter with the friendly Chef. I am usually a wine gal, but so many of the cocktail choices sounded good! I was torn between the 22 North (Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka, Peach Schnapps and Amaretto with a splash of cranberry juice and sour mix), and the Blueberry Muffin (Smirnoff Blueberry Vodka, Vanilla Vodka, with a splash of pineapple juice and a dash of Grenadine). See why I was torn??? So Husband said let's get one of each. Loved that she brought the empty glasses out with the drinks still in their shakers, then poured them at the table. Nothing worse than places that bring your drink in a martini glass, sloshing it all over the tray and table when they set it down. I don't like waste, ya know? That being said, I didn't care for the curvy-stemmed glasses, because they were hard to hold. So my clumsy self managed to spill and sadly waste some of my own drink...wah! My drink, by the way, was the Blueberry one, because Husband latched on to 22 North and wouldn't let go. While they were both very good, I preferred his carefully protected one also. With our drinks we were brought a basket with butter and three breads. One was scone-like with herbs, a moist cornbread, and our fave was a sweet blueberry one. Having grazed our way through downtown Wilmington earlier, we weren't starving, so we opted to share a couple things. They never made us feel like we were being cheap or anything by doing that, which we really appreciated. Off the appetizer section of the menu, we decided to share the Crawfish Ravioli. This was Crawfish and pumpkin ravioli in a cream sauce. Quite rich and tasty and a generous portion for sharing. As for the entrees, we chose to share the Shrimp n Grits. Husband is more of a grits guy than I am, and he especially loved this. I thought it was really good. I really liked the few pieces of andouille sausage. The large shrimp were perfectly cooked and the grits were rich and creamy. Even though we were pretty full, the Chef (who had come out to discuss special requests from the booth behind ours), stopped to talk with us and convinced us we should try the Chess pie which was his Aunt's recipe. And he was right. It was very moist and very good. We also found the prices to be very reasonable for the quality level. Our cocktails were each $8. Crawfish ravioli was a mere $7.95, Shrimp 'n Grits $18.95, and the Chess Pie 6.95. So our total before tip was just $52.56. I would encourage anyone visiting Wrightsville Beach to stop in, take a peek at the blackboard and see if that day's selections appeal to you! read more

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Extremely negligent during the current pandemic. Not operating at 50% or enforcing any social distancing as mandated by the governor and is blatantly putting people at risk. No cleaning took place during my visit, dirty restrooms, no masks or gloves were worn by bartenders or servers, no sanitizing stations, and the list goes on... multiple people that I know of have gotten sick after visiting this place. If their sanitation is this bad during a global pandemic, I can't imagine what it's like normally. Avoid at all costs, they obviously don't care about their custome Update: I was not overly intoxicated, it took me 45 minutes to just get one single drink before leaving. Nice try! read more

Very disappointing. Extremely limited menu with no seafood. Sign board out front said fresh catch and Shrimp and Grits. Neither was available. read more

The seafood was so fresh and delicious! We came here for dinner on a Saturday night. I got the tile, which came with jasmine rice, roasted zucchini, onion, and peppers, and a creamy sauce. It was perfect; I can't recommend it enough! My friend got the mackerel, which also came with rice and veggies, as well as a mango salsa, but we both agreed that it wasn't as tender as the tile. read more

22 North Restaurant - Mackerel - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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We decided to try this place for a family dinner as reviews about the place on various sites seemed good. The ambience was odd, it's a bar that they seem to have just put tables in. The floor was dirty and it smelled odd inside. Given the reviews and all the visible award plaques (and hungry kids), we persevered. We should have left. The waiter was friendly and that was about the only highlight. Drinks were slow (and weak), and my husband had what he said was the worst Old-Fashioned he'd ever had. It took a very long time for food to arrive, even though we were only the second table there (on a Friday night at 7pm in early August). My husband had swordfish, which was cold, bland, and tough. My shrimp and grits were tasty, but not hot by the time it came out. One of the kids had what we assume was Kraft mac and cheese, and the other had crab legs my husband said were sub par as they were leathery and hard to get into. For a meal coming in at $115 for two adults, three kids and before tip, this was a bitter disappointment. Try somewhere, anywhere else. read more

Not recommended. So my wife and I decided to just walk off the street to grab a bite for her birthday. We randomly chose this place. The ambiance of the restaurant was the first thing we noticed. It could use a serious updating. We ordered drinks, which were cocktails. Being generous, 3 out of 5 stars. They weren't that strong or filled up all the way... Ok. 9 bucks.. We weren't even asked if we wanted more drinks. That's food service 101, man.. So, We ordered the muscles, the Asheville hot chicken and a ceaser salad. The muscles were only ok. There broth was too salty. Not horrible though. There was a toasted bun that came with it. Usually there's a toasted bruschetta or something crusty for dipping in the broth. Ok. Only ok. The ceaser salad was ok. A 7 dollar salad on a 5 inch plate. Pretty small portions on that. The Asheville hot chicken was the entree. It was a 4 inch wide patty of mashed potatoes with chicken on top, garnished with greens. I'll say it was pretty flavorful but the execution was akward. It smooshed everywhere when you cut it and for 15 bucks the portion was rather small. There was a fancy siracha drizzle all over the place as to replicate fine dining but it came off in contrast to the shabby environment, as amateur. 2.7 out five stars on that. Dessert. We ordered an Asheville chilled Lava cake. It came in a 4oz canning jar. It looked like a Yankee candle. It was supposed to be a chilled Lava cake? It was a jar filled with cold chocolate stuff, coconut flake things which my wife thought was wax and some minty siracha cream on top which, flavor wise, made no sense. It sucked and we only tried a tiny bite each. The waiter, who was decent, took it off the bill and told us it was new on the menu. I will point out that the service time to order and eat was pretty long too. I don't think I would go back to this restaurant. They have to realize that they're in a coastal city in North Carolina. They should stick with what works, seafood, Carolina style comfort food, and may be larger portions if they're going to be charging those prices. For a birthday dinner, I was pretty disappointed, afterwards we went next door and grabs two slices of pizza. I think a restaurant like that should really lay into the cook about that quality of food. In the long run it's going to hurt their business, I mean you've seen all the shows with Gordon Ramsay right? This place has a great location and they're ruining it. Also we were the youngest people there, under 80. An ambulance even came and took somebody away after they passed out on the sidewalk. Having all geriatric customers it's kind of off-putting for younger crowds oh, but whaddya you going to do? read more

22 North Restaurant - Do you like eating a chocolate candle? That's what this tasted like. - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

5 star food. 3 star atmosphere. The place was dark when we walked in, No hostess, had to ask bar to seat us. It's a shame the place is so outdated, because the food was phenomenal. The top 20 pop playlist wasn't my favorite, but all in all the service was kind and the food was great, very tasty! We had 2 entrees, an appetizer, 2 glasses of wine, and was roughly $80 read more

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When you walk in a restaurant and you are the only person you have to wonder...I mean it is the off season, not many people on Wrightsville Beach tonight, but the bar across the street is busy. We decided to stay. I was not disappointed. They have a small menu that is ever changing. I had the flank steak on mashed potatoes with mushrooms and a few julienned veggies. My steak was med rare but wasn't consistent. The consistency of the potatoes was spot on and the flavor was great. The seasoning of the veggies was perfect. For $23 I felt it was a good value. My husband felt his rare steak was tough, but enjoyed his veggies. The 4 stars is based on my meal. I hope they make it through the off season. read more

Do not ever go to this place when it is open as a bar! The service by the bartenders is regularly terrible on the several weekends I've gone here. The bar staff refuse to take cards on closed tabs unless you spend $10, which is okay, but still rather annoying. However, never open a tab here, as this past weekend, I had opened a tab and my card was given to another person when they closed their tab out as was explained to me by the manager. After being blown away by this, I proceeded to flip out on the manager for their extreme negligence and instead of an apology I was met with a threat to go fight outside. Never go to this place unless you want your money stolen and your credit card given to someone who isn't you. I don't recommend ever going here. read more

I have no idea what people are talking about with this place. There are so many fundamentally wrong things that I almost don't know where to begin. Let's start with the water- it tastes like a swamp. EVERY restaurant should have a grade A water filter this place does not. My napkin is paper. It has a questionable consistency making me wonder if it is for the table or for the bathroom. The bread basket is composed a blueberry muffin and corn bread with jalapeño. Cornbread never should have jalapeño. The goat cheese, strawberry, pecan salad was drowning in dressing and overly sweet. The pecans tasted stale. It was as if they were roasted days ago. Good beach town food is like waterproof electronics. No matter what you do it always has a weak point that endangers the entire system. read more

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We used Open Table to book a reservation. The night we arrived the town had plenty of action but this restaurant was fairly empty. We were a little concerned that perhaps we should have read reviews first. We ordered beer and the dip of the day which happened to be crab. Yum! It was delicious. For dinner we selected crab legs which were cooked to perfection. It was very easy to snap a leg and get a large chunk of meat out at one time. I would definitely go back if we end up in the area again. read more

Hands down the best meal we ate in Wrightsville Beach. The food was fresh, creative and delicious. I loved that the menu is written on chalkboards and changed weekly. I had the local stuffed trout and it was very well balanced. My only criticism of the restaurant is that clearly becomes just another 20-something bar after a certain point. I understand the economic realities of the situation and the bikini clad girl racing for the door was sort of funny...but not really conducive to find dining. read more

Treat your tastebuds at 22 North!! After a day at the beach, my husband and I worked up an appetite. 22 North offers fresh seafood, most of it is locally caught. They do not have a standing menu, rather, they put their daily entrees on a chalk board. When they are out of an item, they erase it. The chef is fantastic! Each entree is paired with its own side. The flavor of the entree is delicious...I savored every bite! The desserts are all made in house. If they offer the peanut butter pie, get it. It is a great way to end the night! The staff is very friendly, helpful, and attentive. We stayed approximately 2 hours eating and visiting and never felt rushed. It's not necessarily a slow dining experience, we just had a really nice time. Even though I give this restaurant 5 stars, there were a couple areas that I want to comment on: 1) Although the food was delicious, be aware it's on the salty side and 2) They still offer a smoking section. It was not distracting, but I prefer establishments that are purely non-smoking. Enjoy, it was worth every penny. read more

22 North Restaurant - Hog Snapper - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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When on Wrightsville Beach, this place is a must! Fusion with a East Carolina twist. 100%hand crafted by the same chef for 10 years (Brent). A great guy. Food an A atmosphere a B- but well worth it! I mean it! We will definitely be coming back. PS SEVICE WAS ALSO EXCELLENT. PSS we just finished the desserts we brought home. My god.they were amazing. The best keylime pie wr have ever had and a chocolate, coconut flan to die for. So unique. You can tell Brent thinks out of the box. Very imaginative. read more

22 North Restaurant - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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Their grits is literally one of the best things that has entered my mouth. It blew my mind, I was like "what is this black magic!?!?". I wanted to try every thing on the menu cuz they all sounded so good. But only had room for a few things. Highly recommend this place. Now I actually have a reason to come back to Wilmington! To the restaurant, please don't ever change! read more

We read a review of this restaurant and decided to give it a try. It was great. When we walked in around 5:30pm, it was empty, which is not a good sign, but it was off-season. So we took a walk on the beach and came back for dinner at 6:30. The food was delicious. The menu changes daily, depending on what's fresh and what the chef/owner wants to cook. We both had fresh fish. Excellently prepared. Would definitely go back. read more

We decided to try this place out when we had some difficulties getting last minute reservations. Let me tell you, the food was amazing! We started with the calamari- it was perfectly cooked and seasoned though the marinara was a little plain. I decided to try the Lobster and Crab Bisque at the last minute and I am so glad I did! It had plenty of lobster and crab meat and the bisque was velvety and seasoned well. For dinner my husband and I decided to split two entrees- the Shrimp and Grits and the Bacon Wrapped scallops- the grits were perfectly cooked and seasoned and there were plenty of shrimp, a ton more than I usually see in a dish. I didn't like the fact that the tails were still on but they were good. It also had a tomato and Tasso sauce that complimented the dish very well. The basin wrapped scallops were to die for! The bacon was crispy and the scallops were seared to perfection. The fresh mango salsa was also a plus. While our waiter was great and the bartender made excellent drinks, my only complaint is that it is really dark. Especially in the bar area. We will definitely be back again! Sorry about the shadows on the pictures- it was really dark in there read more

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Best restaurant in town, best service I've ever experienced. Waitress was awesome and friendly. Will be coming back for sure. The main course I ordered which was Mahi Mahi was phenomenal. Great location right next to the beach. read more

22 North Restaurant - Alligator - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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This place has a little something for everyone! If you are looking for a great dinner with fresh and LOCAL seafood or something from the land then this is definitely the place for you. Seafood is delivered daily from a local market and the chefs create one of a kind entrees each night. The atmosphere is one of casual dining experience with exceptional food and drink pairings. The staff are knowledgeable about the menu and will help you in any way possible. If you are looking for more of a bar scene then you are luck as well! Around 10 pm (when dinner ends) The restaurant is transformed into a hip beach bar with great drink specials and friendly bartenders. read more

I highly recommend this restaurant. The Krabby Patty burger was absolutely delicious with crab dip oozing all over and a perfectly cooked 8 oz burger. I rarely order burgers but so glad that I did this time. Definitely a credit to the chef. read more

Delicious food and great service. Loved the crab encrusted sea bass and scallop appetizer. Had a wonderful meal there while on a weekend trip to Wrightsville beach. Grew up here, wish it'd been are then. The menu on the chalkboard features a changing menu, so looking forward to an opportunity to go back and try something new. read more

22 North Restaurant - Delicious food. Chalkboard brought to table. Loved the scallops app n crab encrusted seabass - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

I love this bar!!! The bartender Genevieve is the sweetest and nicest woman ever. She is the best bartender ever and without her we would not be here every single night! We love22!!! read more

This is the best kept secret on Wrightsville Beach! If you are visiting from out of town, this is a must. I have been here several times and the food never disappoints, love the blackboard menu and the service is excellent. P.S. There is brand new tile floor in the dining room so any reviews about the floor are out of date. read more

What a wonderful surprise. From the outside it looks very ordinary and typical beach town affair. The fresh home made bread and salad dressings were Wonderful! We have not even had the entrees yet. I had the Pork chop with vandalism onion jam, collard greens and mashed sweet potatoes. Excellent!!! read more

22 North Restaurant - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

The staff was attentive and friendly. The menu changes daily and we had a chance to speak with Chef Brent. He explained his use of local ingredients to create regional dishes. We had the scallop with jasmine rice appetizer. The only thing wrong was they were so good we wanted more. Note: I'm not saying there wasn't enough for one person, but we split it. The shrimp with grits was exceptional. I have never had grits that were so favor full. The porterhouse pork chop was seasoned and cooked perfectly! It came with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies. Yum!!!! If you are tired of the same old fried fish, you need to try this restaurant! It is an adventure in dining out! BTW we ended the meal with orange/cranberry bread pudding with vanilla gelato. Big enough to share!!! read more

22 North Restaurant - Orange/cranberry bread pudding with vanilla gelato. - New American Near Me - Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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Where here tonight heard it was a good place to go waited for an hour in the bar for a table. They said we couldn't order food at the bar. I went up front hour after we got there there were eight people in the dining room and only one person crossed off the list before us. Unbelievably rude and would never go there again. Not even a sorry! read more

The 5 stars are for the amazing crab dip and the shrimp and grits !!! Not the coziest atmosphere, ambiance for a restaurant could be improved. read more

Farm to table - appetizers are always unique and tasty 4-5 fresh seafood dishes on the menus along with a great ribeye, duck and chicken dish. Desserts are always great - I think they are made in house. Very casual three star menu This is my third time back - we came here last year - end of college season and it was a bit loud but goes with the territory near a college town; tonight was great environment. read more

Went to 22 North as it was recommended by friends that live in WB. There were 4 of us. We ordered clam chowder. When the soup came it was barely warm. Ordered skirt steak and it was not hot. Ordered seared tuna, honestly not sure if it was supposed to be hot warm or cold. But it was in between all of them. We don't send food back. We should have left after the soup. Very disappointed. read more

Awful Applebee's quality sh*t food at an expensive price The Food looks microwaved and the water tasted like trash! Never visit here I got heckin bamboozled! read more

Terrible food. 1 star service. Subpar ambience. Pretty much sums up the experience this evening. Incredibly disappointed. After tasting their food at a charity fundraiser we couldn't wait to come and try out this establishment. What a waste of time and money. Not that this is the fault of 22 North (the only thing out of their control tonight), but the extremely loud couple dining two booths over yelling F--- every 30 seconds, we could have done without you as well. And the icing on the cake for this stellar experience--our waitress commented as they left "I think they might have been doing a little blow tonight..." Seriously. Not at all what we were hoping for and will not be back. read more