I love Elijah's but I must admit I've been very underwhelmed the last couple of times coming here, but my visit yesterday has redeemed them! I went with my mother-in-law yesterday for lunch and a few colds beers! We got the stuffed mushrooms, oysters rockefeller, shrimp salad and bud light and tropical lightening. All of the dishes were excellent and the beer was cold, always a plus! Of, course, I will be back again! read more

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refurbished and looking good. service was efficient, but food was so-so. my grilled shrimp were cooked to a rubbery consistency. drinks were well made read more

Located on the ILM waterfront this place is aces for ambiance, service & menu. This was stop one on our Taste of Wilmington Tour and set a high benchmark for the rest of the eateries. Shrimp & grits sampler was one of the best I have had in the area...smooth & creamy grits and perfectly cooked shrimp. Can't wait to get back here for a real sit down meal. read more

Beware of Patio Insects! The food was delicious, but so were we. The bugs on the patio were swarming. We are from out of town and thought these insects were gnats that were just a nuisance, but found out later that they were "noseeums" and had literally hundreds of bites on our bodies. I called the restaurant the next day to inform them and they were less than apologetic. I suggested they spray and extend the offer to move indoors. The conversation was disappointing and we have been miserable with welts and severe itching ever since. read more

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE RESTARAUNT in Wilmington! They never disappoint. Beautiful location, beautiful place, amazing staff as usual and fabulous food! Even when it's cool out, they know how to keep the deck side warm and toasty. The oysters Rockefeller is always delicious and a great idea to get. The steaks are amazing and so are the scallops, and salmon. They have some amazing desserts as well. My spot every time we come down. Might be down in July, hopefully. You can't go wrong here, it is a bit pricey, but it is absolutely worth it . You can even sit on the deck side, look across the river and even see the USS North Carolina read more

Best restaurant experience in a long time. The service was wonderful. The food was amazing. We got fish and chips and shrimp basket. I substituted new potatoes for fries. The fish and shrimp were fresh and cooked to perfection. I loved the outdoor dining. I can't say enough good things about this place. Definitely my go to place when I am In Wilmington NC. read more

Very good food and drinks. Hot crab dip and lobster roll was delicious. Has the shark drink. Very tasty. Parking is interesting...

Made reservations yesterday for dinner tonight. Was really looking forward to eating here as it has always been pretty good in the past. We ordered 2 NY strips and 3 prime ribs. All of the meat we asked be cooked medium rare or rare. All of them were brought out well done. When we spoke to the server about it, she asked the chef and he informed us there was "no more steak in the restaurant so he could not remake them and that is the rarest they can cook steak". The sides were inedible. Mashed potatoes had more salt than anything I have ever eaten. The chef's vegetables were bland with no seasoning whatsoever. None of us could eat our food and enjoy it. I will say after speaking to a manager he comped us the whole meal and we only paid for our drinks and tip. We were very satisfied with how the staff treated us we just simply were not satisfied with the food itself. The customer service was outstanding, although I do not think I will go back due to the taste and quality of the food. read more

This place is one of the best places to dine at for the river views. There is a ton of outdoor seating as well as indoor. The restaurant is divided into 2 sections. Indoor fine dining and an oyster bar with indoor and outdoor seating. So make sure you check the menu when you walk in to see where you want to dine. The food in the fine dining is good, the oysters are great and freshly shucked. I didn't care for all the fried food and small portions for the prices though. Service was okay, they go through servers quickly so don't expect to have the same server when you come back. The ambiance really makes the place as well as the oysters and bar. They do have happy hour options they don't have listed but ask your server and they can tell you the specials. read more

Elijah's Restaurant - Sunset view - Seafood Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Got there around 7pm , waited 30 minutes for a table. Ordered about 15 minutes later, got food around 9pm then was told to take our time eating but they close at 9...they did give us employees discount on food. Probably to hide it from upper management, but thanks for effing up my evening. Won't be back ever read more

I've been to Elijah's many many times in the 20+ years I have been visiting this area. Tonight is the first time I have been very very disappointed in what I ordered. I ordered shrimp and grits, which is one of their signature dishes and I'm sorry to say that the shrimp were frozen they were tiny like cocktail shrimp. There was no taste to the dish whatsoever. It came in a much smaller bowl than last month when I ordered it and it was sorely lacking in seasoning. There were no bell peppers as stated on the menu. As far as the service, we waited half an hour for our appetizers, and then the meal came out immediately after the appetizer so the entrées were cold did send them back, and they did make new ones which at least were hot, but my entrée was awful. I am so surprised that Elijah's used frozen tiny shrimp I've had affairs catered there. I have been there many many times, and this was an epic fail , unfortunately I did not get a chance to speak with the manager. I believe his name is Vincent but I hope he will see this review and reach out. Very very disappointing. read more

Great food with the best views. The staff was very friendly. On my way out I noticed the bathroom was very clean. Definitely a place to visit. read more

Just like pilot house and the george...the place has a great location...so why bother making food taste good? Everything seems unfresh and reheated. I think they share a microwave with pilot house. Prices suck for the food quality and the service is sub-par. I dont recommended this restaurant unless u like chewy, bad food. If u do then it's the place to be!! read more

Elijah's Restaurant has s nice view of the river. We sat at the bar and had wine and an appetizer. Service was excellent and the appetizers was very good . read more

You know I don't have anything but good things to say. After a short wait, we were seated and then greeted by the nicest server. I wish I would have taken the time to learn his name because he was great. Really. Food was delish. Drinks were delish. The view is awesome. I'd 100 perfect eat here again. Side note: we were in NC on vacation. While we were eating at Elijah's my Aunt and cousin ate somewhere else and had a horrible experience. It was kinda funny because every place they ate sucked and every place we went was great. It did feel a little like the town wasn't quite ready for crowds and the boardwalk was super busy because the weather was so nice. Elijahs did seem a little overwhelmed and maybe the service was a little slower as a result but it didn't negatively impact the visit. read more

My experience with the Shrimp and Grits was somewhere between disappointed yet satisfied. The plating was boring with little color giving you a visual glance at the flavor profile that's about to grace your palette. However if your like me, the overwhelming explosion of butter that filled in for seasonings shift while it was on vacation will satiate you after an almost two hour drive from Fayetteville. With this being said, I ate the whole thing and I'd do it again.... however the $18 price tag is a little steep for what you're getting. Lastly, great staff and environment for a day out with your friends and family. read more

Meh. After hearing others brag; decided to try it. They are operating at half capacity and we waited one hour for a table inside. Southern Peach Sangria was refreshing; however, it quickly was watered down with the ice. (When ordering; just order light to no ice.) Carolina Iced Tea was good as well; but again too much ice. Hot crab dip was good; came out hot. The side Caesar salad came out warm; not sure if it was bc it was served on a hot plate or sitting under a warmer - but I like my salads cold. Ordered the salmon blt b/c the photos here looked good and it was alright but nothing special. (The photos look more delicious.) Not sure this place was worth the hour wait. read more

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Food was super good and lots of different options. Stuffed shrimp were awesome. Service was good as well.

Id rate this place a 5 stars easily if it wasn't for the obnoxious babies crying every few seconds while we were trying to eat. Unacceptable for those brats to be allowed inside. To add insult to injury, the management must have been deaf as they bellowed. The food however was quite good. Too bad our experience ambience wise was a totally different story. Don't these parents even ATTEMPT to put a muzzle on their brats? read more

would NOT RECOMMEND ORDER THE STEAK. Bland as ever, might as well go to Longhorn and get a New York Strip for portion of the price

I rolled the dice with my fiancé and decided to do my rehearsal dinner for our wedding here. I had never been here before the big event, but Elijah's is a nice restaurant in a nice location. It has great scenery and my in-laws are longtime patrons. Parking was a bit tough on a Friday night, but that is just true of the area. We had at least 20 cars for our party arrive roughly around the same time for about 32 guests. We had the middle room reserved for all our guests and it was nice and tidy when I walked in. The decorations were on point and we had at least 2-3 dedicated servers the whole night. Or at least it felt that way. The service was very good considering how many people we had. We had some bread come out and drinks. We supplied our own wine, but we were still hit with a silly corkage fee of something like $10 dollars a bottle. That ended up being a rather expensive aspect of our meal which was completely unnecessary, but hey its a business and they are trying to make money. Minus that it is hard to find much to dislike. The food came out within 30-45 minutes for all our guests once we ordered. I thought that was pretty fast. The bathrooms were clean when I went. When the check came it was slightly higher then what I expected and the average cost of each person was about $38 dollars. Still with all that said, it was a for a very special event and the service was top notch. The food was really good and no one complained to me about the serving size or any aspect of the food. I think most people left happy and that is what you want for your rehearsal dinner. We could have done it cheaper, but we paid for a great food, great service, and a good atmosphere for a special event. I would come back here to eat with my wife or my family for sure. read more

We were promptly seated outside and Josh was our waiter. He was awesome! We ordered the mahi mahi (definitely the best), oysters Rockefeller which were a little small as expected since they were out of season, and a lobster roll. Everything was cooked perfectly and Josh made sure we were taken care of. Josh was attentive and offered some great food suggestions. He's a definite asset to the restaurant and made our experience one of the best! We've been coming for years and always love it! read more

Finally tried this place out on a trip to visit family and was not disappointed. Take advantage of being able to sit by the water and do yourself a favor and order the shrimp and cheese bread. I really appreciate that the stuffed shrimp had a lot of flavor to it. Will definitely be back. A great option if you're in downtown wilmington. read more

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Tried to dine here alone. Many, many, many open tables and they want you to wait 30 to 40 minutes?

I was in town recently on business, and met some colleagues here for dinner. One of them has dined here several times, and was raving about the food, especially the honey mustard dressing for the salad. They had a happy hour special on beers so I had a shock top. Several of us ordered the shrimp and grits, only to find they were out of it later on. I then opted for the shrimp Po boy, and a house salad with the honey mustard. The dressing was interesting, and had a little heat to it, but the salad was otherwise, a salad. Unfortunately, I must report that the Poboy didn't really intrigue my taste buds very much. It certainly was not bad, it just wasn't special to me. I did enjoy the crispy french fries as my side. Another one of my colleagues ordered the crab legs and enjoyed them very much. So just another comment about not having shrimp and grits. I understand that a seafood restaurant, especially if it is making things fresh daily, may run out of some protein, but strangely, I believe the server told us they were out of grits. I passed on desert, but opted for a Mojito for my after dinner drink. Again, it was ok (some more mint may have been nice), but next time I should probably check on the drink price before I order it, as it was $10 (not that this is necessarily a high price, especially at an ostensibly more upscale establishment, it just wasn't worth the price). Service was fine, our server was working with someone who was training for their last day, both of them were friendly and made sure my water stayed Refilled. All in all, not a bad meal, but not such a culinary experience that I would rush here if I'm ever back in town. read more

I would like to speak about my experience today on 3/17/24. I have been here at Elijah's before and never have had the displeasure of management mistreatment that I experienced today. We were a party of 7 ppl. We sat outside. YES, I saw the "No dogs on premises" sign at the front, exterior of the restaurant. We however, were on the outside patio/dock area of the restaurant. There are no immediate signs stating "No dogs on premises" near this outside area. We have "Service Dogs" with proper and REAL, certified paperwork. They are certified by a medical professional as "Service Animals". We had them in a crate, minding our own business. We had been here for at least 30 mins. I opened the crate to give my dogs water. One of them went to the table next to us. Our dog Diesel is a micro teacup Yorkie and weighs 4 pounds. The table was pleasantly surprised by his presence and proceeded to let their small child pet him, as we gathered him up to put back in the crate. Suddenly out of nowhere a woman, who never identified herself with a name or position, began to negatively speak to us about the presence of our animals. We tried to explain their documentation, but she met us with combative energy and scornful wording. She was very disrespectful and rude, being that we were paying customers. As she scolded us we asked, "Do you want us to leave?", as our food arrived. Of course she said "No", seeing the tray of food arrive for our entire party. After presenting our paperwork to another manager, he ALSO met us with the same dismissive and rude behavior that we had received from the first person. I have never felt more disrespected as a patron at an establishment, than I have today. This is not the way to run a business or establishment. Customer service requires just that, "customer service". When trying to show our proper paperwork for our animals, we were met with accusatory questioning. We were basically called "liars" without the statement being made. Then we were told, "Well I hope you are enjoying yourselves", in a dismissive, condescending tone. While all of this was happening, the table with the small children next to us, had moved a table with an umbrella close to them. They did this so they could provide shade for their small, fair skinned children. The one male manager with the dismissive, condescending tone began to stack the leftover chairs from the table they moved. He did this in such an aggressive manner, all the while glaring at the table for moving the table and inconveniencing him. He then punctuated his tantrum by overtly wiping his hands clean of some invisible muck, while glaring again at the table. The only POSITIVE I can report from this experience was our server. He was attentive, gracious, apologetic, and just a nice person. He was the exact opposite of the management there. Perhaps if someone with his customer service skills and good energy were running the place, awful experiences like this wouldn't occur. As CRAZY as this all sounds, it really happened. I had to document this because I have never been so disrespected as a patron in all of my 40 years of existence. Today was the day after the "St. Patty's Day" weekend festivities. Perhaps these "managers" went out last night and had too much fun? Maybe they were too hungover to properly manage and communicate in a professional, customer service based way? Who knows? Still, no matter what was going on they should never have treated us the way that they did. By the way, it is illegal for them to dismiss and refuse service to those with proper documentation for their service animals. I wanted to be sure to speak out today because I can. Who is to say that the next time this happens to someone, it happens to a person who cannot articulate or have the voice to speak out with? If management changes, Yes I would recommend this establishment. If it stays under the same management, then NO, I do not recommend this establishment. Hopefully, you come on a "Good Day" and don't get treated "Less than" by the management. Good luck folks. By the way, I had to leave one star because I couldn't post without doing so. I would have left it blank if I could. read more

Elijah's has a great location, right on the water. A large restaurant in a nice area. The only thing missing was fresh Food. Absolutely everything I saw was frozen, processed, or canned. Ordered ceviche that was clearly made with canned tomatoes and frozen miniature shrimp. Dinner reminded me of a cafeteria from the 1980s. I've been there three times in the last eight years as my family likes to travel in this area. They always want to go here, but I'm never setting foot in this restaurant again. read more

The shrimp bread is amazing but stop there. Honestly, I tell everyone about the shrimp bread. Service is hit or miss and most other food I've tried I'd never order again. Prices are what you'd expect for mediocre food on the River. My issue is their partnership with 30offlocal. They receive $50 in advertising for each ($50) gift certificate that is sold and the contract clearly states that unless noted, the gift certificates should be treated as cash. We were denied using a coupon along with a gift certificate which clearly violates 30offlocal policy. I offered to speak to the manager but she was never sent out. I also immediately reached out to 30offlocal to make sure I wasn't mistaken (they responded quickly to say that I was correct and they would reach out to Elijah's). I also sent an email to the restaurant with no response. 30offlocal is a great service and benefits both businesses and customers. If Elijah's continues the partnership, it's only fair that they abide by the rules like every other business in the area is expected to. An easy fix is to either stop sending out coupons or put an exception on their gift certificates. If this was a mistake and the manager/server wasn't properly trained, a simple "we're sorry" would have been nice. read more

Elijah's Restaurant - 30offlocal policy - Seafood Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

I came to this restaurant really expecting something great. All was good but when it came to My NY Strip it came out rubbery. I prefer a steak that melts in your mouth. Not one that your chewing on a rubber band. I told the waitress and they immediately put in for a new order even though that I eat the mashed potatoes I just wanted a new steak. That was awesome that they brought me everything like a brand new plate. That is the only reason why I am given this a four-star. I really felt like they deserved only two . but they did try and they refused to let me pay for the second one. the second steak wasn't much better but That will remind not to order steaks from here. Everything else was great. read more

This place is so tasty! We decided to come Here for our third anniversary because he prices were decent and there were plenty of food options. We ended up sitting outside because it was so nice. My only complaint was that the plastic side covers were down on the porch blocking the beautiful breeze. It did make it a little toastier without it. I ended up getting the stuffed shrimp for dinner and I thought it was amazing. The rice that comes with it is a little funky but still good! Hubby got the mahi Alfredo with chicken instead and said it was one of the best Alfredo's he's gotten at a restaurant. We had a really good experience and will definitely be back! read more

First of all, Amanda was our waitress and was amazing. This was my first time here and the food was great. I had Elijah's red chowder with the lemon cake. Must come visit ! read more

Delicious food. Courteous, attentive staff. My husband and I enjoyed the experience. I highly recommend the Shrimp and Grits

Visiting from L.A. and know my seafood places, and Elijah's is excellent! Our table of eight ordered a variety; each item was outstanding. The "Oysters Elijah" were unusual and delicious, the pastas fantastic -- Gordon Ramsey himself would've been impressed. The manager, Vinnie, was kind and professional, and stopped at our table to check on us -- a delightful man! Our server was top-notch, and even though it was a busy time of day on the waterfront, we didn't wait long and everything was perfect. One of my favorite restaurant experiences ever! read more

We had a spectacular dinner at Elijah's with excellent service from Gavin! I ordered the scallops and it was the best meal I've had in a very long time. The scallops, risotto, and asparagus were all cooked to individual perfection. My fiancé had the blackened chicken Alfredo and he loved it. Gavin treated us to a complimentary birthday brownie sundae which was so thoughtful and delicious! Everything was perfect and we appreciated Gavin's kindness more than anything. We can't wait to come back! read more

The popcorn shrimp was delicious. Super cute to eat outside on the patio. Will definitely be back. read more

Elijah's Restaurant - Popcorn shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

I lives in Wilmington nearly 20 years ago and have fond memories of their fried oyster Po Boy sandwich. Recently traveled down to visit some friends and went to Elijah's. Ordered the Po Boy and it was as I remembered. Oysters weren't at all chewy, crisp fried coating, mild horseradish sauce. I was impressed and very happy. Looking forward to going back... only, won't wait 20 years again. Others that I dined with were equally impressed with what they had ordered. If you're in the downtown Wilmington area, wander up the river walk and stop in Elijah's for some outstanding seafood. read more

Walked in on a Sunday afternoon with out of town guests. 3 of us had fish n chips and 1 person had stuffed shrimp. We sat on the patio with a beautiful view of the Cape Fear River. It's not fancy, but pretty perfect for what we wanted at the time, read more

Nice view, great service oysters Rockefeller, 10 jumbo fried shrimp and four panseared scallops. highly recommend the pan seared scallops and fried shrimp we got them à la cart read more

Elijah's Restaurant - oyster Rockefeller - Seafood Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

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So first let me preface this, I have worked in the service industry since I was 14 years old. I never write reviews unless it is really really bad because I've been there and dealt with anything you could think of in the restaurant business however, this was hands down the most horrible experience I have ever had in any restaurant I've ever gone to. I gave it 2 stars only because the server was so kind and polite and the manager (at the end) seemed apologetic. So starting off we walk in, restaurant is cute, it's right on the water, our server walks over and brings us all water and introduces herself, she was a doll! She takes our appetizer order which was half dozen chilled oysters and a cup of clam chowder. 10 minutes rolls by and the waitress comes back and asks for our lunch order which I found odd because we still had yet to receive our appetizer but we ordered anyway. My husband ordered a burger cooked medium/rare, my daughter ordered fish and chips and I ordered a black and blue salad. So about 10 more minutes rolls by after that, then 20 minutes rolls by and still no appetizer, 35 minutes after we ordered the appetizer my chowder comes to the table, I ask her when my oysters would be coming she said she would check and came right back over saying they were shucking them. I said thank you and went to eat my chowder, I took a bite of my chowder and it was as if it had been sitting in the window for the entire 30 minutes, it was no longer warm and the shrimp (that was in it for what ever reason?) was like rubber. I was annoyed but ignored it, finally my oysters come out and they are drowning in a pool of water torn up.. I eat oysters religiously and have never had this happen. So before I could say anything about it a waitress brought over our meals. Immediately I was shocked at the way my salad looked in a higher scale restaurant. The lettuce looked as if a toddler had used their hands to tear it up, there was like literally 5 pieces of blue cheese crumbles on it and the vinaigrette was in a small plastic ramekin on the side and the WORST part was that my "steak" was so cooked that my daughter laughed grabbed a piece and tore it with her teeth like beef jerky, some of the sides were so hard it made a noise when I hit it on the side of the plate, then to make it even worse they used blood from another piece of meat and like tapped my pieces of steak in it to make it look like it was rare I was appalled. The waitress walked by and I grabbed her and expressed my concerns and asked if it could get remade. Meanwhile, my daughter said "mommy my fish is wet" and I was like how is your fish wet it's breaded fish. I grabbed her plate and sure enough it was wet and soggy, I cut into it and the fish was completely raw. So now at this point my husband said "babe look" and the side of his burger Patty was dripping out raw ground beef, not the blood, the actual ground beef was like falling out the side of the burger. I cut into the burger and it's strung together as a pulled it apart. I immediately asked to see a manager and he walked over and said "yes, you're the table that sent back the salad?" And I responded with "yes, we actually also have a huge issue with our other two plates as well, my daughters fish is so raw the breading is soggy and my husbands burger is completely raw beef." In response he says "well how did your husband order his burger?" I said "excuse me? Sir, he ordered it medium/rare and even if he ordered it rare it wouldn't matter anyway because this isn't rare this is completely raw!" I couldn't believe that's the response I had gotten from a manager to begin with. Moving on, I said "we will pay for our drinks but I will not be paying for this meal" in turn he apologized and offered to comp everything which should be done anyway and my family and I walked out. He stopped us at the door asking to give us a gift card for their sister restaurant next door which I turned down. Needless to say, I will NEVER EVER step foot into that restaurant again. read more

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I loved this place. They were a little short staffed, but we sat at the bar and had really great service and a nice time. It's on the River, so it's a great location. We had crab stuffed shrimp, flounder po boy, and fried shrimp. My Margarita was also delicious. I will definitely be back. read more

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