If you are ever in New Bern, NC, you need to eat at MJ's Raw Bar and Grill. My wife and I were in…read morethe mood for seafood and I did a Yelp search. There were a few restaurants but MJ's stood out amongst the rest for the photos and reviews. MJ's is located in downtown New Bern. The restaurant is not very big but the wait (20-25 mins) was worth it. We ordered the Admirals Platter which had oysters, clams, shrimp, and crab legs. The oysters were steamed to perfection, the clams were not dried out, the shrimp was perfectly seasoned with Old Bay and red onions and the crab legs were not dried out. What I am trying to say is, the seafood was fresh and not pre-cooked. It was cook to order. Our waiter was awesome. Even though the restaurant was packed full, he paid attention to our needs. Our glasses never got empty. He kept our table cleared by replacing the shell bucket without asking. We really appreciate the customer service. After dinner, we decided on dessert and had the lemon blueberry pie. I highly recommend it ... deliciousness!!! Thank you MJ's for a special time with delicious food. If we are back in New Bern, you will be a definite choice for seafood.

Food was delicious and fresh! Our waiter was super attentive which was much appreciated with how…read morebusy the restaurant was. My husband had the raw clams, oysters and shrimp. Super fresh and he enjoyed every slurp. I had the snow crab legs with the lobster corn chowder. Again, super fresh and delicious! We will definitely return on our next visit to New Bern.

Two or three of us ate crab cakes on 8/10/26 and they were delicious. They were fresh and better…read morethan our specialty restaurants downtown, which is really saying something! We both ate one of our two crab cakes, and we warmed the remaining ones to eat the next evening. They were wonderful (again). We find the food consistently good. Our server was on top of things. It was a wonderful experience.

We had such a great experience at Annabelle's! The restaurant was really clean, and our waiter…read moreGinnie was amazing. They brought us tea with TWO perfectly cut lemons, which was such a small thing but I appreciated it so much. The food was seriously incredible. I had the Philly cheesesteak and it was probably the best one I've ever had. Everyone else in my party loved their food too. I was told that the crab cake sandwich was amazing and full of crabmeat. They also made us cinnamon sugar butter for our sweet potato fries, which was so good and such a nice touch. Overall, everything was great and we'll definitely be back!

Wow! What a perfect lunch and server! Then add a water view! Lovely! Keratin was so thoughtful and…read moreaccommodating! The seafood platter was cooked to perfection and the crab soup delicious! Come give it a try!

We listened to the many raves about the Grill and finally decided to check it out. The raves…read moreweren't wrong. We went there on St. Patrick's Day and had one of the best Reubens ever, along with absolutely the best fries ever. It is such a pretty restaurant and when you walk in and see the water and the boats you totally relax. It's like you're on vacation. Our server Christie, was so, so nice, and didn't blink an eye when I changed my drink. We are looking forward to going back there for dinner. The people at the bar were raving about the shrimp. We gotta try that next time.

This is a very nice restaurant in small town Oriental. The service people were very friendly and…read moreaccommodating, and the food was really good. The Oysters on the half shell and the quiche were both hits, but the breadbasket had some Blueberry muffins that were the best ever. Highly recommended.

We (14 of us!) dined at Gretchen's Bistro in Oriental last night. The trip out to Oriental was well…read moreworth it! We were seated at a large table in an enclosed patio of the restaurant. The seating and lighting were great. Our server, Kayla was very professional and efficient. As one might imagine, a seating of 14 can be difficult. She handled us with aplomb! Many different items were ordered. I started with the wedge salad where the iceberg lettuce, blue cheese crumbles and bacon were the stars of the show. I ordered the duck breast for my entree. The fat was perfectly rendered and the puréed carrots pair extremely well with the richness of the deck. A must have with the duck is their in-house made pear martini which blended perfectly with the fig sauce served over the duck. My husband ordered the Shrimp Cocktail as my appetizer. The shrimp were plump and perfectly steamed! The cocktail sauce was fresh made and delicious! His entree was Pistachio Butter Scallops. They were served on a bed of polenta with a side of haricot verts! The scallops were sautéed to a point where the edges were just ever so crispy while the interior of the scallop was tender and sweet! He said this was one of the best meals he'd have ever had and we've dined at many 4 & 5 star restaurants! I almost forgot to mention the bread service! We were offered either a Baguette or Focaccia bread. The focaccia was so outstanding, we bought an extra half loaf to bring home!!! Even though we were both happily satiated, we shared their pan fried pound cake with salted caramel gelato and chantilly cream for dessert! It was simply amazing! The management staff and chef came to our table to check on our service and meals. They were very appreciative of our glowing feedback! We'll definitely be coming back! I highly recommend going to Gretchen's Bistro in Oriental! You won't be disappointed! Sorry...only the one pic, because we were a large group enjoying a multitude of conversations.

Amazing open face sandwiches. Worth it but make sure you get more than one! Try em allread more

This is a really neat space with great drinks, just make sure you park strategically... the road…read morecan get entirely blocked by a train for a really long time, and you might find yourself a bit stuck! Didn't happen to us, but when we arrived, there was indeed a train sitting there, and some cars in front, well, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Inside is all vibes, kind of set up like an old pharmacy, but slinging cocktails instead, and I have to say, the cocktails were very tasty and well priced. All the tables were full of friend and family groups playing board games and enjoying various flatbreads and libations. Seems like the kind of place the local neighborhoods enjoy and spend quite a bit of time at. At the moment, can't remember the names of the cocktails we got, its been a few months. But I do remember the toasts. This place doesnt have a kitchen in a traditional sense, more like a prep area where they bring ingredients together (that I imagine are made off site) and toast it up to present you with some pretty unique combos and flavors. Honestly, a great way around some of the health code restrictions that start to apply to more in-depth operations while still having a robust menu. We ordered a variety for the 4 of us, as this was dinner that evening. Gettin Figgy with it was a favorite, as were the Pig and the Goat, and the Reuben. Their version of a Cubano was alright, but as could be the case you'd imagine, the pork was a little dry. The caprese was the only one we got that seemed to be a universal thumbs down, the avocado spread wasn't working with the other ingredients. Definitely would come back for some of these toasts, and drinks!

We had a pleasant weekday lunch at the Silos. The menu is fairly standard fare; I had a hamburger…read moreand my dining companion tried the Reuben. My hamburger was good, but was served almost past well done despite requesting it cooked to medium. The Reuben was excellent. We both tried the fries, extra crispy. They arrived hot and were very tasty. The interior of the restaurant is definitely on the quirky side. The restaurant is, after all, built from two grain silos. I thought it added to the experience. Service was excellent. Our server was personable, helpful, and extremely prompt. She is responsible for earning the fourth star in this review.

Once again, Yelp, where is my review? Since you keep deleting them, I will repost, but shorter…read more The food was okay, some of it seemed premade, like it had come from Sam's Club and been reheated. My pizza was good, fresh, and well-made. I had a hard time not devouring the whole thing, but I managed to take some of it home. Our waiter seemed to be running the whole place alone and covering the bar. Still, he hustled around and took good care of everyone. Our seating area was upstairs; note that there is no elevator. There is a little stage for bands, but since we were there during the day, no one was performing.

Had a fiftieth wedding anniversary there and celebrated Father's Day here. Homemade pasta is…read morefantastic. Every part of our meals was great, atmosphere, cleanliness, service, and the food. Try it, you will walk away full and happy.

Bestie and I swung by for an impromptu lunch of Italian food on a weekday, as she had been here…read moreonce before and raved about it. We were promptly seated after ogling the dessert case (next time I'm taking something sweet to go) and our server brought out 2 slices of bread. No silverware or napkins. Just bread. I mean I could've easily licked my fingers clean after tasting that pillowy soft bread but still. The bread had was warm and flavored with a little olive oil and Italian seasonings, and was phenomenal. I mean I honestly don't know how they got a crispy yet soft crust, along with a soft pillowy inside. I probably could've wolfed down at least 4 slices had I not ordered pasta. Bestie and I both ordered what she had had previously, the three four cheese tortellini add meatballs. The tortellini and the white sauce were so delicious that I couldn't wait to cut into the meatballs! Unfortunately the meatballs were cold in the middle so I had to cut them up into small pieces in order to let the hot pasta and Alfredo sauce warm them up. Hey we all make mistakes right? The flavor and texture of the meatballs were pretty good tho once they were heated through. As I finished up my meal I bit into something hard and when I took it out of my mouth it looked like a small piece of wood. I wasn't going to complain but my bestie called the server over to alert her, who said it was a pine nut. I'm not sure why there was one random supposed pine nut in my dish but whatever. Maybe they were just having an off day. I'll give them another try next time we are back in New Bern.

Great place friendly staff, waitress Sue was very helpful and Bartenders Both that we had were…read moregenuine and friendly. I know the one's name was Shelly and the other bartender was great too!! Food was plentiful and good quality. We liked it so much we ate there 3 times in the week we stayed at the Fairway Villas. The Villas were great too. One of the best timeshares we have stayed in!

Complete inconsistency and food is like a nursing home quality. The atmosphere is awful. Poor…read morequality for what you pay for. I use to enjoy it there when Michelle was cooking and food was fresh and drinks were simple. Just a waste of time to go there and money.