Absolutely amazing breakfast spot. Even on the Fourth of July, when the restaurant was completely packed, the staff went above and beyond by saving a table for us. That kind of kindness and customer service is hard to find. The waitresses were some of the nicest, friendliest people we've ever been served by. They were welcoming, attentive, and made us feel right at home despite how busy they were. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was great, and the entire experience was outstanding. If you're looking for incredible breakfast and genuinely exceptional service, this is the place to go. We'll definitely be back! We started going here the first day in vacation and we only went to their restaurant because of how kind, welcoming and generous these people could be. This is the best breakfast place ever. I mean the prices are great and incredibly cheap. read more

First, a disclosure: "greasy spoon" diner, so the authenticity of this family diner is automatically a point in its favor. It is simply authentic and charming in its lack of pretentiousness; it's not a tourist trap, but a dependable staple of American food. The food came really fast after ordering, everything was accurate as ordered, and the portions were all really generous, ESPECIALLY considering how reasonable are all of the prices! For my family of five, it came to about $45 including tip. You just cannot beat that! Standard diner fare, nothing fancy, but it was all done well. The pancakes were REALLY TASTY, and I'm a bit of a pancake snob. That leads to our one complaint: the only syrup they had was Log Cabin, and the quality of the pancakes deserves a real maple syrup. My wife is from New England and now travels with emergency real maple syrup in her purse. read more

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Very bad service. Been sitting an hour & still don't have our food. They don't have enough waitresses!

My wife and I were visiting area and noticed this plain looking restaurant's parking lot was full at all hours of the day and decided to try it out. It so good we had to go there twice during our visit. The place was packed with locals who were all on a first name basis with the friendly wait staff. The food turned out to be amazing and the portions were generous. The prices were very low. I definitely recommend place and look foward to coming back during my next visit. read more

Popular spot for breakfast, also serving lunch and dinner. Veteran owne, this restaurant serves a wide variety of American dishes to include Vegetarian and all of the down south recipes your mama made. Restaurant is spacious traditional decor, wheelchair accessible with both indoor and outside sitting. Staff very down to earth folks that are pleasant and efficient. This place gets crowded especially for breakfast so prepare to wait a little longer than usual. Wife and I went there for breakfast I deserted eggs, toast and corned beef hash wife ordered blueberry pancakes and neither one of us were disappointed. Highly recommend for breakfast, family oriented and military friendly. read more

Breakfast. Simple, good. Ample portions. Great service. Low prices. What more could you ask for ?

Asked a local where to eat, suggested Cox Family Restaurant, so glad they did. Love a home style eatery that is simple, friendly, and serves delicious food. This spot has it all from the menu, the great staff, and the price. We were all over the place on our selections from fried seafood to a baked potato, from specials to individual choices of whatever sounded good at the time. Everything was delicious, from appetizer to desert. The place definitely had charm and may be too simple for some, but perfect for anybody who loves good food at great prices served with a smile. My only complaint is that we live too far away away to become a regular. read more

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Great food and great prices! I will definitely be back again when I'm visiting Morehead City! read more

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Cox is a family icon, serving a variety of meals -one meat and a two vegetables , plus a host of other delicious foods. My friend had chicken livers and was in heaven! I had a 4 vegetable plate and the collards, friend okra, and cucumbers in vinegar were great... the rutabagas left a lot to be desired, but otherwise it was all delicious and very reasonably priced. Would return read more

Home style cooking, seasoned to perfection. Great price. Prime Rib special is absolutely the best!

One of the best places to eat if you like country/comfort food and they have plenty of vegetables. This is the first place I've seen in 20 years that has rutabagas! Their collards are tender and flavored well and they have fried and boiled cabbage that are both delicious! If you like a good bowl of vegetable soup, this is a must try. Their clam chowder is good as well. My wife has had their breakfast a few times. The pancakes are wonderful along with the eggs and grits if they haven't run out. If you enjoy this sort of food, this place is an absolute MUST! Well done,CFR! read more

Being near the ocean we ordered seafood, hushpuppies, baked potato, slaw, okra. Most of the food ordered was fried, typical for seafood. The only way to distinguish the different foods was by shape cause all fried food was the same color. The flounder had an extremely old taste so it was inedible. There were other pieces brought which color wise looked much better but the taste was of old fish. Basically all fried food appeared to have been prepared in oil that was old. The slaw was swimming in whatever ingredient in which it was marinated either mayonnaise or vinegar or both. Seafood repaired many miles from the coast has been a pleasure to eat but this was not case at Cox Family Restaurant. read more

The breakfast is super delicious and very reasonable. Professional wait staff. My only Gray, but I wish they served shrimp and grits together. It's the best and most reasonable breakfast in this part of the Outer Banks. read more

Excellent food for a great price!! Staff very friendly and welcoming! Would go again!

Everything here is wonderful, have not had one bad experience ever. My go to, I always make it part of my visit to include Cox.

I have been wanting to try Cox's for a year now and finally got around to it! Boy am I glad I did! The restaurant has a classic southern breakfast/diner feel with plenty of seating. We sat ourselves as the sign at the entrance directed and started looking at menus that were already at the table. It did take about 10 minutes for our waitress to first come by, which is the main reason I took one star from the rating. However, once she came, things were great! When she came by, she brought the list of the day's sides which was huge! It was wonderful to have such variety, but also a lot to look at, so I wish we had the list with the regular menu. Our drinks and hushpuppies (amazing!) for the table came out quickly, as did our food. I bet it took less than 10 minutes for the food to come out. All was delicious! Perfect southern cooking, especially the sides. The butter sauce on my cobia was a bit salty, so I scraped it off, but the fish itself was cooked phenomenally! I was well fed, and our party of 5 ate for $48! You can't beat that! I wish I had tried dessert, but had my sights set of some beach ice cream later in the day. Cox's is a great break from being right on the water and has wonderful food of all kinds. A must visit in Morehead City! read more

Cox Family Restaurant - Example of daily specials - American Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

We were sojourners in a strange land, and the previous evening we'd eaten a meal consisting primarily of fried foods at another homestyle restaurant. "Let's try something different," we said to each other, and decided to venture into Cox Family Restaurant. What did we order? More fried food. Because we live by the motto that more grease is more better. The menu in this place is super extensive. The side dish list is huge. There are numerous specials of a large variety. And there are enough standard menu items to please everyone in your party. The place was hopping even though it was a weird eating time (around 4pm). Our server was pleasant and efficient, which was a good thing because she was waiting on a lot of tables. Staying true to ourselves, we ordered plenty of fried food, including fried oysters, fried clams, fried flounder, fried shrimp, and fried oysters. Seared scallops, a ham steak, and sausage gravy with biscuits also made an appearance on our table. The fried food was top notch. Seriously. Everything was hot, fresh, and absolutely yummy. The fried shrimp was particularly delicious. Kid #3 had the fried shrimp sandwich and he ate every bite, which hardly ever happens. The only disappointment on the table was the sausage gravy, which tasted processed. Big shouts go to both the hush puppies and grits. The hush puppies (a basket was put on our table before the meal) had a unique onion flavor that was divine! I normally am not a fan of hush puppies, but I could have eaten the entire basket myself. And the grits. Well, the grits were the best I've ever eaten. Ever. Ever. Dessert came with the meal, which a few of us indulged in. ;) Should we ever find ourselves in the area again, we 100% will return to The Cox Family Restaurant. read more

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The only true country food restaurant left in the region. This is a must try. My personal favorite is the breakfasts for $7.95.

You get what you pay for that's for sure... The Cox Family Restaurant is a good place to eat if you're looking for decent food for a good price. As always, I try to provide a fair and balanced review to let folks set their expectations. I'm always looking for a good dive, I walked into the Cox Family Restaurant and realized they probably haven't updated their decor in 25 or 30 years. So when you go here, expect to see old decor, that is fitting for a local restaurant that has a long history of serving the area. What you need to expect from going to this restaurant is looking for a place that's been around for a long time at the beach, where the locals are supporting it, good service and average food at a really good price. Let's start off with the food, I appreciate the fact they didn't use salt at all in the eggs and allowed the patrons to select how much pepper and salt they want to put on anything that was served. I had three eggs and corn-beef hash, which I would put as average across breakfast places I've gone to, so not bad, but not great. Dori had 2 eggs and turkey sausage. I have to admit I have had better turkey sausage. If you follow me, you know my favorite restaurants to write up are breakfast places. I set the basis of my critique on the coffee as a consistent standard. I have to admit most places let me down when it comes to coffee, which completely confuses me as most people are looking for coffee when they come to breakfast. Cox did not let me down in my expectation. The coffee was not great and I barely got through my 2nd cup. The service was fantastic, it's what you expect from a family ran business that really focuses on their customers. I gave the waitress a good tip based on that souly...she was very sweet and knew the menu backwards and forwards. You truly do get what you pay for at this restaurant, we had two full breakfasts with a couple of sides and coffee, and got out for less than $25 after tip. That's pretty good, so go here depending upon your situation and expectations for breakfast. The place is great for a family with kids, there were some really interesting local folks at the restaurant. In summary, there are a lot of very positive comments regarding Cox below. With that said, please go and see for yourself. I probably won't be going back to Cox, but I'm not saying for folks to not go if you're looking for decent food at a very good cost. I wouldn't go expecting five star service, exceptional food to go along with that and the ambience to support it. Know what you're getting into before you go here. read more

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I was really looking forward to eating here- the menu suggests everyone in the family will find some good Southern family that suits their taste. However EVERY TIME we tried to go there, their tiny parking lot was packed and there was absolutely no hope of us getting a table. Super bummer. read more

Waited an hour and a half Thanksgiving day after paying for two takeout orders. When I called to complain the owner made no apologies and said people had been waiting for an hour and a half since 11 o'clock that morning. I asked for a refund and he quickly said he would not refund. It's not my problem if he has not yet figured out how to run his business better than this on a busy day. I don't intend to eat there again, very poor customer service if you have to deal with the owner. read more

Pretty good. Gobs of food. Grandmas kitchen ambience. Nice staff. Low prices. Come after you've been starving for four days or you will leave bloated. Food tasty and good. Served fast. Paraphernalia on the walls dates back decades. Like a museum from The Andy Griffith show. Seriously, this place is unique. Friendly, tasty, comfortable. Grandma would be proud. read more

Food was what you expect from a very basic diner. The atmosphere and service was great!

Yes it is very good country cooking and has very reasonable prices especially on seafood in this area nice flounder and shrimp and even catfish, burgers chicken meatloaf and great breakfast read more

I was working my way down coastal North Carolina and I was looking for a place for dinner. I was actually heading to a different restaurant, only to find that many of them were now closing early in the evening. But as luck would have it, I saw this place while driving down the road and based on the crowded parking lot I decided that this restaurant was definitely worth a stop. And I much prefer to support local places in lieu of bigger corporate chain restaurants - so this place fit the bill! I Had not been here before, but I can tell you that this place delivers as you would expect. Big menu with simple foods, large portions- more than enough if you're really hungry. They start you off with free hush puppies - and they are very good hush puppies! Great flavor and cooked to a nice golden color. The cheese burger had a wonderful amount of good quality bacon - a very nice surprise! If you get a special many come with a free dessert - check the special board before ordering. My steak and cheese sandwich was very good - nice quality meat with sautéed onions and green peppers - topped with an ample amount of melted mozzarella cheese! So if you're in the area, and you like the look of their menu, give this place a try. I think you'll find that they provide simple and good country food with a great attitude for a very reasonable price! read more

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I think this is wee liked by locals, especially those who care more about seeing friends than the food. Too many items on the menu. Ruben sandwich is one item they should leave off! If they could focus more on limited number of selections that they do really well, I think they would do better. Bland seasonings with too much grease. I cannot recommend it to those traveling through. Go a little further and find really good seafood! Wish I had! read more

This is a local favorite. Nothing fancy. Fast service, Good food and reasonable prices.

The food here was very delicious. We had good size servings. However, Our waitress had a major attitude problem from the beginning. She acted like we were bothering her by being there and did not pay attention to our order. She gave me the wrong drink to begin with and never came back to check on us. I asked for a box for my leftovers. When I asked where was my box with my leftovers, she said she forgot and threw it away. The place is a nice, homey restaurant and I will be back but will request a different server. read more

We saw this place was popping so we decided to eat here for dinner because everything else around was pretty expensive other than fast food. Let's just say you get what you pay for (imo I paid too much though). I got the steak and it was so disgusting I left the whole thing on the plate. Did not taste like steak at all nor did it look right. The mac and cheese was also gross and tasted worst than box Mac and cheese. The only thing that was good was the potato, I mean kinda hard to mess up a potato right? Next was the service. Our waitress was barely at our table, was not friendly, and did not explain their very bland and somewhat confusing menu at all. I guess they expect that everyone who goes there is a regular. She did not act like she wanted to earn a tip at all. The restaurant was also dirty feeling with our table still being sticky when we sat down. Safe to say I am still hungry after a $20 meal and very very very disappointed. read more

Terrible service! Took forever for the food to come out and it was cold. Staff were very unfriendly and rude! Would not recommend.

The service was absolutely great our waitress was kind and attentive! I wish I took a picture of my blueberry pancakes because they were phenomenal, best I've ever had!! Cute spot has a homey feel and you can't beat prices! read more

We are vacationing in Emerald Isle NC. I asked on Facebook if anyone recommended a restaurant that served traditional Thanksgiving dinner on thanksgiving day. The most recommended place was cox family restaurant. They weren't wrong the thanksgiving dinner was right on, the amount of the serving with drinks and dessert was less than $30. The waitress was great and the food was amazing. Tip them well for working on a holiday and still have a great attitude. read more

The food is amazing, and the service is great. If you like pancakes, this is the place for you

I visited this place based on the reviews, but i didn't like it at all, food was just not good, everything tasted like frozen food, maybe I'm wrong but that's the taste that i got visit, i wish i could say something different, i ordered country fried steak with rice and fried pickles, rice was good, pickles tasted so salty and like frozen ones, fried steak same taste like frozen ones, my daughter got the soft shell crab burger and she didn't like it at all, her fries were not the best ones. The only thing we like was the hush puppies. read more

Cox Family Restaurant - Hush puppies - American Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

The Cox family restaurant has been feeding us delicious home-cooked style meals since I can remember. It's like going home to mom's. There should be another star rating for this restaurant. read more

Very good please for country cooking in Carteret county. Service is outstanding. Restaurant is always clean.

Amazing breakfast and service. Very down home friendly environment. Felt like eating at my grandmother's house and I would highly recommend trying this place! I had the "Country Boy"! 2 eggs, sausage under sausage gravy over biscuits with home fries. Amazing flavor and taste read more

Cox Family Restaurant - American Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

Good waiters Food was okay Ambiance was decent read more

The food was amazing. Love me some chicken fried steak, eggs, and hashbrowns. The service was super southern friendly as always. Inside the restaurant has a very country vibe to it. We're out of town and will be happy to come back at the next family reunion. read more

Local favorite. It's an okay place to eat but don't expect anything amazing. Captain's Table next door is better IMO.