The restaurant offered the most amazing hush puppies. Sorry! No pics..we were too busy eating. read more

Frying Pan - Southport port... pic from Frying Pan! - Seafood Near Me - Southport, North Carolina

Great location on the water with outdoor and indoor seating. Indoor 2nd floor seating has an elevator, so you can enjoy the view if handicapped, especially nice on rainy days! Good seafood, American menu. Liquor license. read more

Awesome! My mum and dad treated my brother and I to lunch here on a Tuesday at the end of July. The staff was incredibly kind, seating available inside and outside. Mask rule is mandatory while walking through the dining area to your table. The complimentary hush puppies were well fried , hot, and delicious. Three of us got the lunch special- grouper po boy and mum got the shrimp po boy. Very generous helpings on a nice soft roll served with fries and slaw. My cajun grouper was crisp, well seasoned, and perfectly fried. The fries were perfectly salted. The accompanying sweet chili sauce was YUMMMMMM. Would definitely return. read more

Food wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either. This place earns its keep because of the location and the view. The cocktail list is good if you're a college kid and the food selection is weak on innovation. read more

Ordered food for carry out which was delicious! They had us look at our order before bagging it up to be sure everything was there and correct, which it was. All staff had face masks on too. read more

Frying Pan - Safe Haven, Duck Wings, and Hush Puppies - Seafood Near Me - Southport, North Carolina

See all

Nice view and great food. I requested no bacon wrapped scallops due to dietary restrictions, restaurant happily accommodated given a super busy Friday night. Usually I'm not a fan of fried fish since it's usually blend and not enjoyable without tartar sauce. But this fish perfectly seasoned and tasty. Our waitress is also very friendly and attentive, I thought my dietary restrictions would come as pickiness and not well received on a busy night. Our waitress actually made sure our order came out to be exactly what we asked for. Very happy with the experience, highly recommended. read more

See all

Went for all you can eat crab legs. Service was amazing. Staff was friendly and couldn't ask for a more welcoming environment. Top notch food with top notch service! I will eat here everytime i come back to the coast! read more

Great view sitting outside under the full moon. All the food was very good and reasonably priced. Our waitress was really nice too, and very attentive. read more

Outstanding customer service, very professional. Food was delicious and well seasoned. View was very nice, would recommend.

The food was so salty 2 of the people couldn't eat it. Worst food we have eaten in a long time. Service was good, but stay away if you want good seafood read more

Definitely not what it used to be. We were here a few times a couple years ago, but today will be the last time. Pandemic or not, to pay their prices, service was very poor. The food was so so. All the fried food tastes the same. That's fine for a $14-$17 plate, but when you're paying $26+ a plate you expect better. Bottom line; Not worth the money, the food or the service! read more

I had an amazing meal here in September 2021. It's a very nice place with amazing intercoastal views. I started with a beer and some delicious hush puppies. I ordered fried fish and popcorn shrimp with fries. The breading on the seafood was perfect and the portions were twice what I expected. The sweet potato biscuit was devastatingly delicious. I miss it. Seriously, check this place out if you are in Southport. read more

See all

What happened to this Southport staple?! As usual the view and service were great, but the new menu and food!. We've been going here for years and tonight's experience was very disappointing and definitely not worth an 1 1/2 wait! The only thing we can imagine is that the restaurant was sold. We won't be returning. read more

Nice, casual place to go out to eat with family and friends. I had the bacon wrapped scallops, roasted potatoes and green beans. They do have alcohol as well. Our waitress was nice and attentive. Our food came out quickly and was delicious. Beautiful view through the huge window wall of the water. I highly recommend. read more

Great seafood. Nothing fancy but a great beach food. The reason for the 4 stars is because the restaurant was extremely hot. Like not because it's august at the beach but I'm talking it was probably cooler outside. We were sat near the kitchen and if I dine here again I'll ask to sit somewhere else. Fried shrimp was on point though. read more

Walked out. I found the bathroom disgusting. Husband was sat and there is trash on floor. Plenty of workers for this to not be like this. .

I really enjoyed my waterfront lunch at Frying Pan! While the waits for the other restaurants were pretty long I had no problem getting a water view table! The hostess was super nice and let me pick a different table to avoid direct sunlight and my server was there right away with hush puppies taking my drink order. I was starving and I love seafood so I ordered the Calamari for an app and the popcorn shrimp. Everything was super fresh and crispy! The only downsides were that the calamari was wayyyy under seasoned.. even with the salt I added just didn't make it taste as good as it looked! The second was the cocktail sauce- it was like a paste. The taste was ok but not easy to dip. I can't wait to visit for dinner! read more

See all

Food and drinks were amazing! On a busy evening our server was on point! Hustled and made sure we had everything we needed, very personable and gave us great recommendations. read more

Delish food, clean restaurant. Food was a bit overpriced thou. We also had to track down our waitress a few times, but it was busy so we understood. read more

We just ate there yesterday and the food was absolutely terrible. I got the 'Safe Haven' from the menu which is a seafood combo. We have eaten there before and it was good or at least okay enough to return. The Safe Haven has a crabcake, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp, fish, green beans, and potatoes. The only think that was okay were the potatoes. The rest was terrible and we won't be going back. read more

I really wish I could remember our waitress's name because she was amazing! We stopped in for lunch for the first time and everything was wonderful! The view, the service, the food, the complimentary HUSHPUPPIES! We will definitely come back. read more

The service and food was great and the view is amazing! Only downside is the desk tables were closed.

Tried the butterfly shrimp. Was delicious! Everything our group picked was good. Only complaint was the tiny hush puppies. Ha! They need to serve less hush puppies and just a few big ones. Service was great and not too long a wait during a super busy holiday weekend. The employees worked really hard with the amount of people I saw coming and going. Would definitely recommend read more

Service and views were outstanding- were able to accommodate our group of 10 at 5:00 with no wait on a Thursday evening. Inside the restaurant was very warm and very loud. The food and drinks were just meh. The hush puppy baskets on the table were good. Most of the food was very greasy- even the non fried stuff was swimming in butter. 5 stars for the service and views, 3 for the food read more

The staff is lovely, prompt and responsive, 5/5 The seafood seems to come frozen, then fried, very little taste. Unrecognizable. 0/5 Overall the food left much to be desired, for a group of 6 - $350 we wish we never spent. Recommend going somewhere else until they revise their food quality/menu read more

I really wanted to love dinner. The service was great, server was kind and ended up compensating us for my meal, however the food was horrible. I got the safe haven with unicorn fish, bacon wrapped scallops, and grilled shrimp with green beans, sautéed spinach, and mashed potatoes. The unicorn fish was salted so heavily it was bitter and inedible. The bacon on the scallops was grey, old, and tasted off. No one at the table ate their scallops. The grilled shrimp was the only thing I ate. The green beans were also so salty, and my spinach was drowning in oil. The sides were served in styrofoam cups (which for $34 is subpar at best). Do not recommend. Go across the street to provisions for peel and eat shrimp if you want local fish. read more

The food is awesome especially the grilled fish, battered shrimp, hush puppies and sweetened corn bread. Yea, the fries were hot! This restaurant seriously needs to improve its host station. With two hostess at the landing and outdoor seating level and one at the indoor seating level, they constantly yell at each other to the point of swearing. Quote "do you have your **it together." They use a paper system and take no phone numbers to alert customers that tables are ready. Our table was ready at 25 minutes not the 50 minutes they quoted us. Because of the long wait, my husband decided to make a business call. While I sat there and they called my name, I told them it was only 25 minutes and they said the 50 minutes was only an estimate. I told them to defer us until my husband was ready. They said they couldn't do this. They said when he arrived, we'd be put on the bottom of the list. Luckily, it was early afternoon and we were seated within minutes. Automation would be great - three iPads for three hostess, one at each level. Some older customers don't have the capacity to climb the stairs twice, once to check in and twice to be seated. Also, short shorts don't sell food, service does. More conservative and standardized clothing would be appreciated. read more

We have always had great meals at The Frying Pan, however recently...not so much. Ordered the Calamari and Crab Cakes. The breading on the calamari was crunchy and the actual squid inside was hard and brittle. The crab cakes made with lump crab...had no lumps in it (primarily filler). One of our dishes had to be sent back, but returned corrected. Our server Mackenzie did a nice job, was pleasant, attentive and apologetic (not her fault). She was rewarded well. read more

Outstanding food and service. Fish, shrimp, and hush puppies all delicious. Look toward to returning there.

This place is amazing! Do yourself a favor and go here. The food is amazing with huge portions! The service was great with an awesome view. We came to try it provisions next door and thankfully they had a line and we came here instead. So glad we did!! The Cajun seasoning on the fried fish was amazing and flavorful, and the sweet potato home made biscuits are NOT to be missed! The award winning chowder was good too! Update: 2nd time here and it was just as amazing as the first time!!! Sooo good. Fat and happy now. read more

See all

The Frying Pan is a huge restaurant right on the water in Southport. It's located next to the American Fish Co. and has a beautiful outdoor deck seating area. Inside is a large seating area which also has great views of the waterfront. Last summer I had my rehearsal dinner here. We had a very large party (~60 people). They did a fantastic job serving all of us. The wait staff really went above and beyond. It was extremely noisy (probably because of us) and tight quarters, but overall a very fun evening. This weekend we returned to the Frying Pan with a group of 6. This time (as it wasn't my rehearsal dinner) I was able to enjoy the food and atmosphere with no distractions. Overall, the location is beautiful. It was still packed and noisy but didn't bother us much. The food was very good. My husband and I split the crab cakes and shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits were fantastic and very filling. The crab cakes were not my favorite. They were some of the saltiest things I've ever eaten. I drank about 3-4 bottles of water when I got home. To start we had the calamari and duck wings (you only get 4) which received praise around the table. Their hush puppies and sweet biscuits were both delicious as well and the gin and tonic I ordered was generous :) read more

See all

45 min wait for outside seating so we went inside and such a delight beautiful views since we can over by ferry. This was a nice treat for us on this side of town read more

Frying Pan - Seafood Near Me - Southport, North Carolina

See all

Views are awesome Waited 2 hours for a group of 6 Restaurant was blazing hot with no air even circulating Service very slow and unfriendly Food was average, not worth the money. This was on our must have list based on our 2020 visit. Now it's overpriced and average and will not be on our list next visit. read more

View: 5 Service: 5 Food: 3 Agree with other reviewers. Fried shrimp and fish batter way too salty. Excellent service. Clean. Cole slaw was delicious but you only get about 2 tbsp. serving. FYI: Menu needs updating on Yelp. Prices are now higher and some things are off the menu. read more

Came down to oak Island for a long weekend and of course I had to make a trip to Southport to one of my favorite restaurants, The Frying Pan! We walked right in and were seated for only a few seconds before our waitress brought out some hush puppies and got our drink orders. (Btw the hush puppies and spread are spectacular lol) I decided on getting the fried shrimp and fish with french fries, along with a side salad, and boy it did not disappoint!! My side salad came out within a few minutes of ordering and it was great! Fresh and plenty big. No more had I finished it and turned to look out the windows at the beautiful view surrounding The Frying Pan and my main course was coming out. The shrimp and fish were fried perfectly and there was plenty of it along with my fries (yes I know a lot of fried food but I was on vacation so...lol) and sweet potato biscuit. Everything was great! All in all my visit to The Frying Pan was a huge success. The serves was fantastic, food is delicious, and the views of the waterway are incredible! I highly recommend for anyone looking for dinner with a great view in the southport Oak island area! read more

I wasn't bad... the price was a little high for the quality of food you got, but the restaurant is located right on the water so that's understandable. Service wasn't to bad, they were extremely busy the day we went. As far as the ambiance is concerned, I loved the timber beam framing and the views of the intercoastal waterway. read more

Food was delicious. Service was above all standards. Dining area was spectacular with beautiful views.

3 stars for the food/service and 5 stars for the view! The location and view was beautiful, I could sit on that patio for hours, so relaxing and the sun was not in your eyes at all. The food was decent, but nothing special. I got the bacon wrapped scallops, which were a bit chewy but pretty tasty. My family also got the "Safe Haven" which had a little bit of everything- they said it was just okay and pretty average. The food took a little long, but the view made up for it. read more

Frying Pan - Patio at frying pan - Seafood Near Me - Southport, North Carolina

Ate lunch here before we headed home and the service was great. Our waitress was very sweet and even gave us some recommendations. The food was perfect! And to make it better we had a beautiful view of the water! Will be here again!! read more

The food was just not very well done. We started with house salads. It was bagged salad that was a little old. I had the beef tips with garlic mashed potatoes. The meat was fine but the vegetables were slop. This included corn on the cob cut 4 ways and deep fried--still on the cob! His meal was some fish, scallops and shrimp. They were terrible looking with very little flavor. We were unpleasantly surprised. read more