Awesome! The food is fantastic. If you liked seafood. If you liked fried seafood. Even if you liked it baked or broiled, they have you covered! When I went here, on a friday night during Memorial Day weekend, I didn't really expect to get in. The locals even told me.. "go down this road, keep driving until the 2nd stoplight (apparently there aren't many stoplights on this beach because that drive was like 30 minutes!) and prepare to wait!" But once I got there, went right on in and was seated! No line. I thought hmmm.. maybe it's not as good as they say! But I was wrong! It definitely is as good as they say. If you go to the Wilmington Area and are staying at the beach, you HAVE to go here at least once. Even if you aren't staying at the beach, you are doing you and your taste buds a disservice by not going. Once you go here, you will never want to go to a Red Lobster again. read more

The new management needs to find another line of work. We have been coming there for 7 years...NOT ANYMORE !!! Took almost 2 hours for our dinners to arrive,after tables on either side of us had been served and left. Had to ask for hushpuppies or something to keep the kids happy. Food was terrible, fish tasted terrible and shrimp was bad. Service was so-so and our waitress kept apologizing that the kitchen was "backed up" ...the folks at the other tables must have been using another kitchen I guess ?? Go across the street to Jack Mackerel's and cross Big Daddy's off your list, we sure have !! read more

Disappointed. Overall shabby appearance. Wait service was friendly and attentive. Ordered the fresh catch (swordfish) with side of coleslaw. Dish was bland. Coleslaw had no seasoning, dressing, nothing. Just shredded cabbage. Sent it back, got the same thing. Bland, unseasoned, dish all around. Small portions. No, would never try it again. read more

Worst experience ever . Order came wrong. Wings were barely edible. Burger was obviously frozen and we left most of it on the plate and the chicken was so dry it was awful. We strongly recommend this place be avoided. I am only sorry I can't give less than one star read more

I laughed as I saw the 2 reviewers to the left who left rave reviews after they ate at this dump on 4/23/15 under its new management. Let me tell you, a group of us (11) went to dine here last night while in town for the Kure Beach Street Festival and OMG!. We sent 5 different dishes back due to: hair in entree, cold appetizers, stale and hardened jambalaya, chicken alfredo with no sauce...at all (they were gonna make more in the back) which never came. Hushpuppies were pre-frozen and dried out, the slaw was so dry I had to add a teaspoon of water and the seafood dip was pure mayonnaise with a few crumbles of seafood. We were baffled, after all, we had eaten at this place several times but it wasnt until we got to talking with the staff that we learned of the new management. Soooooo, you would think that this being under new OWNERSHIP that they would be receptive and come out after the 1st or 2nd dish was rejected, nope- the incompetent, rude and ill equipped manager came out to speak to us with an attitude and was very defensive. When we told him about the jambalaya, his response was...well, what is it suppose to look like? LOL Truly, if it wasn't for the waitresses, we would have all gotten up and walked out. They were so apologetic and tried very hard to make things right- kudos to those ladies. I will tell you this, the water was excellent! To make matters worse, they had to correct our checks 3 times, they actually had another patrons dishes confused with our orders! Total time wasted, yes wasted in this establishment was 2 hrs and 50 minutes. I was, however able to get a huge laugh at the conclusion of the evening. As I was departing the dining area, a family of 4 was coming in and I overheard the "front attendant" tell them that there is going to be a 10 minute wait time for the next available table. WHAT?? There were only 4 tables occupied in the whole establishment!!! I could have screamed it was so unbelievable, I would have loved just to linger and see their faces when they finally were let in to see how empty the place was. In hindsight, I really feel that the manager/owner was the cook as well which explains why he was so irate/rude/short tempered. If this place is still in business next year this time I would be absolutely surprised, my advice is to get out of food service and turn that building into a worship center or a Hooter's lounge. Best advice- go directly across the street to Jack Mackerel's, you will definitely be rewarded with great service, wonderful food if a great appealing atmosphere. Oh, and for Steven S and Tracey S. over in the comments section, either you both are family members of the new manager or have very low expectations of dining. read more

We sat down and ordered our drinks... this is where we should have gotten up and left. our drink was made incorrectly and had to be sent back. We ordered a different drink and our food, it took roughly 45min. upon getting our food; my wife bit into her crabcake sandwich and it was awful, my burger was supposed to be medium and was cooked far past well. my wife then ordered a hamburger to replace the crabcake sandwich, after waiting 15 min with a terrible sandwich sitting in front of her. 20 min later the burger came out, the fries were cold and they did not make it as we ordered. We then asked to have a manager come by and no manager came by within 15min so we decided to get the check and leave. we were told that the manager was fixing our check and then all they took off was the items that they messed up. we were at the restaurant for over 2.5 hours and had to change our plans for the day. When we left I wrote a note to be contacted with my number and e-mail and no one has tried to contact me and it has been 3 hours and counting. read more

Food was good once we got it! Service was probably the worst experience ever. Server was friendly but that was about it. We had a table of 6 plus a high chair which they didn't have. 17 year old ordered chicken tender meal and they brought her a kids meal? We all got our food except my husband....10 minutes later the server inquired how everything was and we had to tell him that my husband still did not have his flounder? Finally got a refill of our drinks after he got his food. We are on vacation so will never eat here again regardless. read more

I don't know if my taste is just low-quality, but I ADORE this place. Delicious steak and crab legs, we go every time we are in town!

Back in the day we came here every year on our beach vacation, but since then the prices have went way up and the food is not good anymore. We went with a group of people and our waitress made 30 dollars from gratuity and we seen her only twice. read more

The service outside was awesome!! The inside sitting area seemed a bit plain, stuffy and boring. The atmosphere outside is exactly what you would expect for a restaurant by the ocean. Food was good and the drinks were strong. Four stars because the food is not worthy of a five star rating but defiantly worth the money. read more

Waitress was inattentive. They ran out of chicken somehow. The dining room was dark and the table felt sticky. The food was overpriced for the quality. It was $6 to add chicken to my salad. The only good thing was the proportions. read more

The outdoor area looks very inviting and to be a fun atmosphere. However, the interior is bleak. The service is poor. Took us 2 hours to have a lunch. They served my food to the wrong table. The food wasn't anything to write home about. And to top it all off the credit card machine was down. Poor experience to say the least. read more

Nice place...HUGE portions!!!! and I mean HUGE! Sat outside and had perfect service...

Brisket delicious especially sauce made in house.

Service was good, free refills with drinks, left small pitchers so you can refill yourself. Veggie wrap is steamed zuchinni, squash, mushrooms and marinara sauce. Marinara sauce doesn't work with those veggies and pickle was warm not cold. Possibly from having food sit under a hot lamp while they waited to bring all the food out at once... So this may only be an issue in large groups... Felt like it was missing carrots, cauliflower or other steamed veggies. Mahi taco was mediocre at best. Mango was not fresh and appears cooked, possibly from frozen supply? Blackened fish was over peppery and not flavorful. Spicey sauce was really good and had a kick. Hush puppies were tasty and not overfried or oily. Sweet potato waffle fries were really good, would be great with some sauce. Sweet tea was a not too sweet and if two people order unsweetened and sweetened, they can mix the refill pitchers to taste. Store has a gift shop when you enter and large place to seat big groups. Has outdoor bar and seating with a big screen tv. That alone deserves a star. read more

It was ok - not outstanding. Not below average ... Just an average restaurant in your regular beach town. Read the other reviews - and would not say it was horrible. Again - if the other restaurants nearby have a waiting time and this one doesn't , then go... Just don't expect gourmet food. read more

Worst service I've ever experienced. Party of 9 so we expected to have to wait a while, when we got there the hostess said it would be a 30 minute wait, which seemed fast, so of course we waited. Ended up being 1.5 hours...only reason we stayed was bc we were in no rush. (While waiting I witnessed the hostess playing on their phones, sitting on steps, and not caring about much) ...when we were finally taken in to be seated, there were only about 9 other tables sat (basically an empty restaurant) ...I asked the hostess what took so long since there was so much space, & he said that the kitchen needed to catch up. Our waitress came to the table about 15 minutes after we were sat and took one appetizer order, walked away, 10 minutes later came back for drink orders. Being that I have been a waitress before, that was backwards. She may have been new, service was very poor. Food took another 50 minutes to come out. It was well below average tasting. Spent about 4 hours here in total. THE WORST part is that when we were leaving it was 9:00 PM on the dot. We were walking out and a family of 5 or so was coming in. A hostess stopped them and asked them were they coming in to eat. The family of course said yes, & the hostess said "no, we're closed" ...I asked her why did the sign say 10:00pm if they were closing at 9.... She said "I don't know, that's what the kitchen manager told me." ...since when does the kitchen manager control when a business is supposed to close if their is a set time on the door? Very unprofessional. I sent the family across the street to Jack Mackerels ....all in all, horrible place. Never returning again. read more

The service was friendly. We ordered hamburgers which were delicious. I would stop and eat here again the next time in town.

Ate here several years ago and was bad then, and recently revisited with family. Still bad atmosphere inside, way too expensive, especially for the deep fried frozen-not local or fresh food. Somewhere serving seafood in a beach town has no excuse not having fresh seafood. We ended up leaving and going across the street to Jack Mackerels. read more

Paid $75 for 2 "special" dinners of fried flounder and oysters, 1 chicken pasta Alfredo with no sides, and a cheeseburger with fries. The flounder and oysters were dry, overcooked, and had a flavor of old cooking oil. The only side with it was a choice of potato/fries and slaw. My husband asked for potato and got French fries. My son said the Alfredo had very little flavor without extra parmesan cheese on it, his friend loved the cheeseburger and fries. He got sweet potato fries by mistake first before getting his regular fries. So we had lots of mistakes, mediocre food, really high priced and slow service. read more

If you like over seasoned, over salted and overlooked fish, this is the place for you. We had terrible food. Tasteless sweet potato fries with terrible fish tacos. And expensive too! read more

Can't really review this place because no one ever spoke to us. Seated and waiting for over 15 minutes and no one even greeted us. The place wasn't overrun with customers, more open tables than filled. When I told the hostess we were leaving she didn't even try to stop us. read more

We haven't been in 5 yrs, because we only go on vacation and we live in west NC, but we love this place to eat. I love the decor and ambiance, casual seating. Souvenir shop is full and I always buy a charm for my charm bracelet that I also got there on my 1st trip. The food is not cheap but good. If we stay a week, we go here once. read more

This is not even a one star deal. Absolutely the worst dining I have ever had. Waitress was good but she could not compensate for the terrible food and the time that it took to get it to the table. The food was wretched. Do yourself a favor and do not eat at this place. read more

Great seafood at reasonable prices. Stopped in for for lunch yesterday with family. We received great service from Liz and several of us had the special, a Cajun shrimp po' boy. It was excellent. Nearly all of us got the sweet potato fries which were also great. Liz also brought out a new batch of sweet potato fries that the kitchen was testing with a hint of cinnamon. Hope they add them to the menu. Long story short, we've found our new favorite seafood place at the beach. read more

I would put no stars if I could. The mgr is a 22 yr old who has no clue how to run a restaurant. Party of 13 took 3 hrs! Apps in 1 hr & would have cut bait & run but everywhere else was an hr wait. Food came out cold, $28 filet burnt & size of hockey puck...sent back twice. They had our waiter who was also the bartender working front & back of house at same time (he was great). Heard 3 other parties complaining of same issues. As we were leaving heard a guy saying been coming here for 37 years and he will never return. Heard new owner is cutting staff & losing staff at same time. Sinking ship!!!! Eat at own risk if you read this and still go... read more

Sad, Sad, Sad.. All the people posting such rave reviews have to be new owner, family Or friends. I have had a vacation home in area for years and Big Daddy's was always a great spot for entertaining out of towners as well as recommending to tourists when looking for great food and service. Memorial Day weekend was a mess at Big Daddy's . Young man was turning people away at door suggesting they come back the next day. Person in our party asked him if owner knew he was turning away people. Response was he was only letting them know so they wouldn't be mad at him for it taking so long to get service. Told us he had several people to seat before us and it would be a while. Popped head in dining room, 3/4 empty with 4 people in area waiting!! After seeing all the horrible reviews, about food and service, glad we were turned away. If you want to waste time, money and have your last nerve tested, by all means go to The "NEW" Big Daddy's . As for me, never again. Rumor on the Island has it Big Daddy's will be lucky to make it through the summer!!! read more

I really don't know the last time I was so disappointed. I ordered the New Orleans red beans and rice, I have been to New Orleans many times and I've never had crunchy rice. After complaining to our waiter he offered us a free dessert. All I wanted was the Red beans and rice. Our bill for four people was $120 plus tip. In my opinion the restaurant is way overpriced and I can't give it a recommendation. read more

Big Daddy's definitely went downhill since last year. I visit Kure Beach with my family every year, and we always make a stop at Big Daddy's. Well, we did. This year, the menu definitely changed. While the appetizers (wings and fried artichoke hearts) were good (the best part of the meal), they took forever! It took even longer to get the food, which didn't seem like that much time had gone into it. I got the Beachcomber's Combo, which I guess is supposed to be like the old Big Daddy's special, with fried shrimp and a crab cake. The crab cake was the worst I've had. Better stuff comes from Costco! The shrimp were better, but still gross. It doesn't take much to be better than that crab cake. Another person at my table got horrible flounder, and shrimp instead of the scallops they ordered. The waitress never brought those scallops, but she at least took them off the bill. We used to enjoy this restaurant every year, but it's definitely gone off the deep end. It's sad to see such bad seafood so close to the water, but I guess there's new management at Big Daddy's who've never had the right experience. Save yourself the time and money- go elsewhere. I'm not sure how anyone could rate this anything over 2 stars. read more

Way over priced for the quality of food received. Large portion of over breaded over cooked seafood. Servuc was slow at first. Not worth the 80 some dollars for 2 people for fried food. Wasn't our first trip been going for probably 30 yrs. Will be our last. read more

I was skeptical about coming here because of the terrible reviews others have left. But I'm so glad I only use their opinions as mere guidance because this was awesome! I got the fried catfish platter with rice and grilled asparagus. The catfish was really good and the asparagus was well seasoned with great texture. I had everyone at the table eating the catfish with me because it was that good, and they give very generous portions. My bf had the down south burger and it was cooked exactly as he requested. I will definitely be coming here again! read more

Generous portions. The fried oysters & shrimp are incredibly fresh, since Big Daddy's is basically across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. This place is a throwback to the days of tourist-traps past, complete with HUGE gift shop you have to walk thru to get in and out of the dining area. Very tourist friendly and good place to take the family for a big dinner. read more

Be careful of some of the reviews for this restaurant. Big Daddy's is closed from the last weekend of October until the first weekend of March yet there are many reviews from people claiming to have eaten there during the wintertime or trying to recall their experience from months prior. So many people post so many reviews without having any inside knowledge of working in the service industry. For example if a customer sees another customer with cole slaw with their fish and chips they should assume that other customer ordered an additional side of it rather than post a negative review that they were somehow slighted. For those complaining trying to say other local restaurants have fresh fish I have to tell you that I have worked at several of those restaurants and the same Cisco and US Foods trucks deliver the same meats and seafood. Someone posted that they tried to order off the kids menu and were refused so they gave Big Daddy's one star. Another person compared the prices at a smaller restaurant with lower overhead to those of the behemoth that is Big Daddy's. Others take away stars due to the beachy decor or the loud children that families have brought with them vacation. Everybody is quick to jump to assumptions before having all the facts. Educate yourself on your subject before posting misinformation on the internet. Your lack of knowledge and rush to judgment can jeopardize the livelihood of dozens of hard working people trying to make ends meet, just like you. read more

Ratting is negative not one star. Do not go here!!!!!. Over priced frozen not fresh fish and chips.

If I could make a negative star I would. Awful experience, but nothing to do with the service. Our server was friendly and kept apologizing for the long wait, which BTW was 2 hrs still with NO food. We arrived at 5:30 were sat right away but after about 45 mins were told the kitchen was extremely backed up. As time continued to pass other tables began to leave and the customers who actually received their food said it was wrong or ice cold. The new owner sat down at the table behind ours and began making excuses as to why the kitchen was so backed up and making such horrible mistakes. The one excuse that sent us out the door without receiving our food was that, "it's a brand new menu that has never been cooked in the restaurant before." BS, this is Sat. of Memorial Day weekend I'm pretty sure they were open Friday as well. Anyway, as a business owner myself this just sent me over the edge! I'm not going to wait over 2 hours for food that's prepared wrong or cold and overly priced, especially when the owner defends the crap job his cook staff is doing to his business! We've been eating here for years and I've NEVER seen customers walk out but tonight we witnessed a lot of lost business for the "New" Big Daddy's. We will not return. Piece of advice new owner, you need to train your cook staff on the menu BEFORE opening weekend! This poor judgment cost you your ass tonight! read more

New management = huge disappointment. We go once a year on our trip to the beach. Normally my favorite part of the meal is the baskets of hush puppies with the honey butter. However you now have to request them and alas no honey butter comes with it. The wait time was a bit longer than normal. The menu has changed quite a bit. It definitely wasn't last year's Big Daddy's and this year will probably mark the end of a yearly tradition. The only plus is if you are looking for good fish and chips well you've struck gold. For hush puppies and other goodies, I'd look elsewhere. read more

First time visiting this establishment....wow, just loved it. Sat outstide at the bar & Chris the bartender was wonderful!!!

There should be a big fat 0 for a rating. I will keep this short and simple,,,,the food is nasty and I had a nasty case of food poising from the oysters! One can only assume that a restaurant, at the beach, would have fresh seafood?! I would rather have eaten at a nasty fast food joint! Go somewhere else and save your money. read more

Dirty place used to work there dead roaches and bugs in fryers they eat off ur plate while in the window so do not go there unless u like ur food cooked with dead bugs read more

BEST spot on Kure beach!!!! Trying sooooo hard to please!!!! Would recommend to anyone and would beg you to try again if you have had a prior bad experience there is new management that is trying very hard to make this spot the best in town!!!!! I loved my food and service!! read more