Ate dinner there on a Wednesday with a party of 8. We were seated promptly, which was a good start, unfortunately it wasn't super from there on out. Waitress was in the weeds and didn't acknowledge us for 10+ minutes. (Would have just preferred to have us wait at bar vs. at table with no drinks, etc.) It seemed like they were under staffed as she seemed to have no help. When we did order the fried foods were ok (conch fritters were good) but those of who ordered grilled fish were highly dissappointed. Fish was super overcooked and dry. Will probably be some time before we return as there are a few better options in my opinion in the area. read more

Excellent place to have a meal on the Island, with a relaxed atmosphere, soft live music, and a very attentive wait staff. A wonderful view of the sound is a bonus. read more

We've been coming to Hatteras for many years. Breakwater is by far the best restaurant ion the island. The apps are great, we had most of them the three times we ate there during the time we were there. Entrees were fresh and well prepared. We were there one evening during gale force winds earlier this month and they were open and ready to serve us and a few at the bar. Most places would have shut up and gone home. Great wait staff. Great views of the harbor and sound. Oh did I mention generous drinks. Our last meal there was the night before the closed for the season. They still had everything our large party ordered. I look forward to eating there again upon our return. read more

Great meal with great views. Soft shell appetizer was wonderful and the entrees were fresh and tasty. The prices on the menu are average for a nice seafood restaurant but the special and desserts are pricey. I was taken back when the check came and my special was $32.00 and a slice of keylime pie was $9.00. Wait staff was attentive. We will return on our next visit to Hatteras. read more

Good food but very slow service. Seems like the same server takes multiple tables and has assistance do the rest. Do not go unless you have a night to spare. Best drink: Orange Crush. read more

Had a wedding rehearsal dinner here. Food was good, but service terrible. The bartender was a serious B**tch! I wouldn't recommend it, as who acts ugly to a bride and groom and the mother of the bride the night before their wedding! I hope the owner knows the bartender asked our entire party to leave the restaurant because she was shutting down at 9 o'clock. The entire wedding party stayed at the breakwater inn too! Spend your money at a place people actually appreciate your business! read more

Great dining experience while visiting Cape Hatteras. Our party of 10 was seated and served in a timely and pleasant manner. I had the wahoo special that night and it exceeded all expectations. The restaurant also has an amazing view of the water and Marina. The evening view was very good and I would definitely return to this place. Breakwater is a must while on Hatteras Island. read more

This is my favorite restaurant in Hatteras. The view from the deck is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the atmosphere is great. As a vegetarian my menu choices are somewhat limited, but my meat- and seafood-loving family are always pleased. A table is hard to get on a Friday night, and it's certainly not the cheapest place around, but in all my years of going here I've never been disappointed. read more

My wife and I have been eating here for years. We enjoy having dinner at the bar from the appetizer menu and the fact they have a decent selection of wine including always carrying a C-D-P, Brunnel this season. The staff has always been kind and the service attentive. We have never had a bad meal here. Now, this is not the value menu restaurant of Hatteras, it is an upscale venue for adults. Sitting at the bar we see parties of 10+ just show up thinking they will just get a table. Please have the curiosity to call ahead just like you do in the big city where you are from. Try the ravioli crab app and the tuna, always great! read more

This is the second year in a row that we have had horrible service and won't return. The food was good but not the best around Hatteras. We won't be back. read more

Good eats sense of clean healthier food. Good variety of seafood including the catch of the day. Lots of veggie options. Great ambience for a nice night out. Features a bar live music and outside deck seating with a view. read more

Good location, good food. Not a huge menu but certainly something for everyone. I enjoyed the thickest piece of flounder here that I have EVER seen. However, do not order the crab cakes as they are way over seasoned to the point of not being able to taste the crab. read more

Great place. The view is amazing. We had great service. I had the red snapper special with rice and black beans. It was a lot of food but great. The crab dip appetizer is a must have. The husband had oysters in half shell and was very pleased. A must do....we end our vacation each year with dinner here. read more

Don't bother! We had a large party but told the hostess we were willing to split up into small tables to make it easier for them. Her very quick and rude reply........at least an hour, we are short stafffed and can not serve you. The restaurant was half empty! What we heard from locals was she's always rude and they can't keep the place staffed. read more

The Breakwater has delicious fresh food, great bar and cocktails with amazing service and ambiance

Delicious food and a wonderful view of the sunset. We are here twice while on vacation in Hatteras and both tines the seafood was delicious. Grouper bites and dock chips for appetizers were great. We had mahi here both times - once with a crab guacamole over rice & black beans and last night curry dusted mahi over coconut jasmine rice. Both were absolutely delicious! The beer battered trigger fish was awesome as well. Only disappointment was my sons chicken Alfredo - the sauce was not good - carrots, snow peas & broccoli added in?? Sauce just tasted like vegetables not not Alfredo. Otherwise, everything was great. read more

I am a connoisseur of fine cuisine. I found the food at Breakwater to be just so-so. The flavor palette was underdeveloped and left The Stew longing for a meal that was on par with the atmosphere. The views and the dining room created a perfect seaside ambience; but...ahh the meal. read more

Wow! Fantastic place! Ate at the Breakwater on 6/4/10. We had 14 in our party, including 7 children! Everything I tasted was wonderful and flavorful - mushroom crab soup (to die for!), tile fish special (rich & creamy), grilled scallops, and of course more than one good bottle of wine! It was my parents' 44th wedding anniversary and I have to say we couldn't have chosen a better place to celebrate! Will gladly return next time. (Only one slight negative - children's meals should have come out much faster & they should have been served first.) PS - Checked "moderate" price - that's for meals only. With wine, it's more toward the "spendy" category. read more

A must when in Hatteras, pain killer cocktail is always great. Crab cakes are awesome as well. The outside deck can't be beat overlooking the harbor, even better when they have live music. read more

Service was slow and they were not that busy. We ordered two starters and only got one. They never even mentioned the second one and when it was not on the bill we didn't say anything. The peel and eat steamed shrimp was just ok. Nothing special. Decided to leave after the starters and not stay for dinner. read more

I went to Breakwater for drinks at the bar. The female bartender acts like she is doing you a favor by getting you a drink. I saw her and another female waitress talking about a friend of mine (by the way I can see your reflection in the window when your back is to me). Then when we got our tabs, she labeled our seats as "annoying". When a friend pointed it out to her, she back pedaled and tried to come up with some lame story about a local. I will return, however I will request the male bartender. He has more of a personality anyway!!!! read more

A $30 meal for $75.... While the food was ok, nothing to write home about, I was a bit shocked when the bill came. I expected a lot more for the $25+ entrees and the non-listed $5 drafts were a huge surprise. Never again. read more

Wanted to end our week in Hatteras with a good seafood meal. Items ordered were the crab cakes.......totally not "lump". Mushy and not rolled in potato chips. My daughter in law ordered the seafood platter.......way over cooked, all the seafood was tough and dry. My daughter ordered the shrimp and grits and the butter wine sauce was totally liquid not saucy, making the grits more like soup than grits. The 2 kids meals (fried shrimp and pasta) were ok. We left feeling cheated. Not worth the $112.00 charged. read more

Every summer we come here to Hatteras we have several meals here each trip! Always good. Never have a bad meal.

Had my fiancé's birthday dinner here and everything we ordered was fantastic. From the firecracker shrimp to his perfectly cooked, mouth watering steak to my sea scallop al Greco...all so so delicious! The views at sunset were breathtaking and loved every moment. Our waitress even sang to him which was hilarious. She was a sweetheart. Will keep coming back! read more

We have been vacationing in the Outer Banks for the past 20 years. The Breakwater is our favorite restaurant and we eat here 2-3 times each vacation. Other Yelpers have mentioned a wait for a table and I have waited up to 30 minutes on a rare occasion but the view and food is well worth it. There is a bar close to the lobby so have a drink and the time flies. Try to plan a meal at sunset they have a nice deck and beautiful views. We highly recommend any soup on the special list. Our two favorites are; She Crab Soup and Scallop and Brie Cheese Bisque. The chef is amazing and we skip lunch so we can order a BOWL of soup as an appetizer. The best soups we have ever had! I also recommend the fried sea scallops for a main course, they were delicious and buttery. The staff is always friendly and a pleasure to deal with. The Breakwater seems to get a nicer class of vacationers and the menu prices reflect that. We spent $100 both nights this year and that includes one glass of wine for each of us and the soups. This is more than I normally spend for a meal but its vacation and we love the place. We definitely recommend The Breakwater Restaurant. read more

Excellent place!! Food is delicious, pain-killer cocktails were perfect, waitress was friendly knew the menu, had her hands full with a busy restaurant but was quick and friendly. Dining room is really nice and clean unlike other restaurants in the area - you won't be disappointed. read more

Good food, excellent service and live music on a Thursday night. View over the harbor is nice as well.

Appetizers were very good, but our entrees were disappointing. The dining room does have lovely harbor views. On the expensive side.

Sorry, we had terrible food last week. Tried a variety of appetizers and they were all very underwhelming. Mussels had a blue cheese sauce that was too thick; scallops were fishy; steamed mix platter had no flavor and the ravioli tasted like it came from a can. Our server was very pleasant and we enjoyed sitting on the deck overlooking the bay. Better luck next time? read more

My husband and I stayed on Cape Hatteras for 2 weeks and this was by far one of the best restaurants we visited between Avon and Ocracoke. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was great. The view was wonderful. The spinach and artichoke dip appetizer was AMAZING! My husband had a pasta dish and I had the crab cake (more like a crab ball), but they were both delicious! read more

Absolutely the worst meal that I have ever had. We have eaten here over the years and this year was the last. My husband found a hair in the shrimp and grits. The shrimp were like rubber and the sauce was inedible due to the salt and overseasoning. My meal was an overcooked chunk of bluefish that wasnt even seasoned with salt and pepper. The rest of the seafood on the plate was equally overcooked and not seasoned. It was supposed to be a grilled plate, but it had obviously be put in a broiler. The prices are so expensive to boot. AND my husband got food poisoning and after spening two days in the bathroom, he spent a week with severe stomach cramps. Do NOT eat here. read more

A large group (15) of us vacationing in Hatteras chose Breakwater for our one night out for dinner. What started out to be a questionable choice ended up being a great dinner. Since they don't take reservations, we knew there would probably be a significant wait time. The wait ended up being twice as long than the hour quoted upon arrival. But we are a pretty easy going group as long as we can get drinks and have adequate space to wait. There was plenty of space on the outdoor deck where there was decent live music and a beautiful sunset/view perfect for getting photos. The service at the bar was a different story. The two bartenders were clearly overwhelmed and did not even acknowledge waiting customers with eye contact or a nod, let alone a "be right with you." It seemed that no matter who went up to the bar, we were invisible unlike the apparent "regulars" who were seated at the bar. At one point, after investing an hour and a half of wait time, we were close to leaving. But we decided to stay and once seated, the food and service did not disappoint! read more

Great food with a great view. Enjoyed the live music on a Sunday night. Fabulous chocolate mint martini !

Had a wonderful time on a sunset cruise out of Oden's Dock. After the cruise, my wife and I decided we wanted a nice drink and some Tuna. First, the hostess did not greet us with any words, just looked at us. So I said, "Hello, how are you?" To which she replied, "Good, and you?" So I said, "Good!" Then another long pause and stare from her. So I theb decided I guess I should tell her how many people we have, which was two. She replied, "okay, wait hold on a second." There were plenty of tables open for the record. So my wife and I waited 15 minutes and no one came to our table, so we simply left. It's tourist season, make somewhat of an effort. read more

Went there on our last night of vacation in OBX. Service was very slow, front of house staff were quite rude (seemed as if they were being forced to work against their will). Wahoo was on special, it was ordered by one person as a filet, and another in their fish tacos. Both were overcooked to the point of having no moisture at all. Snapper was also on special, two people ordered it fried, the breading was very thick and burned on the bottom side, fish was way over cooked and dried out completely. While slow, our waitress was doing her best to keep up and very friendly. Fried shrimp and cole slaw were perfect. Calamari was pretty good as well, came out with fired jalapeños which added a nice kick. Overall, average place with pretty high prices. read more

I grew up spending summers in Hatteras and as an adult I fell in love with the Breakwater. It was the only upscale restaurant on the island. The breathtaking views at sunset are still worth seeing but other than that I am sad to say much has changed. The staff is either snobby or just rude. I have heard it many times while on the island that the locals hate the tourist and many of them show it by being very rude. The food has changed tremendously from the cowboy steak to the spinach dip. I think they are charging more but spending less and caring less on food quality. Sad. They have a great idea by having music on the deck but they need ti screen it in so u cxn drink and eat outside. What a loss of an opportunity. read more

My wife and I had dinner there last night. We eat most of our meals out and found that the quality of the meal did not come close to matching the price. We do not. Mind paying for a good meal but, the food was less than stellar. We will be vacationing here 2 more weeks and will not revisiti this restaurant. They should apologize to the crabs that gave their life for what they called crabcakes. read more