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    Sonny's Waterfront Restaurant

    3.8 (193 reviews)
    Closed 6:30 am - 2:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM

    Sonny's Waterfront Restaurant Photos

    Business Info

    SONNY'S WATERFRONT RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Sonny's Waterfront Restaurant

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    Mary M.

    Great bang for your buck!!!!! Nice staff. Got in and out A recommended restaurant.

    Mahi sandwich
    Terry L.

    A nice little restaurant. Service was good. Food was good but portions were a little small. Fried mahi was good, could be a little more fish. Shrimp burger was great. Definitely we'll be back.

    Creamy Alfredo
    Amy B.

    The most amazing food! We were here for 5 days and 4 nights and we ate here for 4 meals, 2 breakfast and 2 suppers. Everything we had was delicious and they welcomed us even when they were closing. Thank you for being our trusted safe spot!

    Kids shrimp meal

    We almost didn't go here because of some of the negative Yelp reviews, but we are so glad we did! It was amazing and exactly what we were looking for. Simple menu, insanely fast service, and delicious food. Prices and servings were very reasonable, especially compared to some of the other restaurants in the area. The vibe was very casual and perfect for tired travelers with a toddler. It honestly checked every box for us. We loved it so much we changed dinner plans on our last night to go back. Definitely recommend Sonny's! For those curious, things we tried were: shrimp, clam strips, onion rings, clam chowder, fries, mashed potatoes, hush puppies, chocolate mousse dessert, and the raspberry donut cheesecake. All delicious!

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    1 month ago

    The world's nicest people work here and breakfast is always good. Never miss a meal here when you visit!

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    7 months ago

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    1 year ago

    Service was great, staff was very friendly. The crabcake sandwich was homemade and well worth it. This place just feels like home.

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    8 months ago

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    1 year ago

    Great food atmosphere and service. Loved the seafood platter. The view was just the icing on the cake

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    I love Sonny's. Great home cooking, fresh seafood and excellent prices. Don't miss this hometown favorite.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    What a great, friendly diner this is! The food was delicious, large portions, friendly, efficient staff.

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    3 years ago

    Food was quick and good, they had a great beer special and the chocolate desert is awesome

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    Hatteras Sol Waterside Grill

    Hatteras Sol Waterside Grill

    4.4
    (254 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$

    One of the best meals in all of OBX where every part of the meal delivered…read more For starters we had the crispy calamari. The calamari came out hot and tasted so good with the Cajun remoulade to dip in. We also had the special lamb lollipops which were cooked to a perfect medium and were seasoned perfectly. The chopped wedge salad was massive and great to share with another person. The seafood corn chowder is packed with all different kinds of seafood and makes a nice thick chowder. The shrimp and grits is one of the best shrimp and grits I've had. The tomato sauce is full of so much flavor with the large tomato chunks adding some nice texture to the dish. The grits are fried into cakes that have that crispy outside and smooth grits on the inside. On the specials we had the fried soft shell crab. While the crab had a nice light batter the crab shell isn't great but was made up with the lemon remoulade on top. The vegetables were under seasoned lacking salt and any other seasoning. The whole fried fish did stand out as a great dish with the fish cut into large strips, the light fry, and the Cajun remoulade to add some flavor to dip in. For dessert we had the special chocolate mousse cake which was delicious but nothing too special. Overall every item was good and our server was wonderful and I will plan on coming back whenever I'm in the OBX.

    Got the seafood corn chowder to start it was fantastic. Got the seafood Alfredo for an entree and…read moreit wasn't very good. Shrimp was very over cooked. and dry. scallops was also very overcooked. Sauce was very watery and had no flavor. The entree was $34 definitely not worth the money. Tasted like a microwave dinner from food lion. Our waitress was also not very friendly. Over all it wasn't the best experience and I wouldn't recommend it.

    Photos
    The bar
    The bar
    Fried Calamari
    Fried Calamari
    Sunset view from the outdoor bar. We waited there to be seated for dinner and enjoyed the live music!

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    Sunset view from the outdoor bar. We waited there to be seated for dinner and enjoyed the live music!
    Dinky's Waterfront Restaurant

    Dinky's Waterfront Restaurant

    4.1
    (275 reviews)
    0.1 mi
    $$$

    It seems these past few years of complaints have finally paid off! The previous wench of a hostess…read moreis finally gone! The new girl (I didn't catch her name) was polite, friendly and accommodating. My party of 6 did not have to wait because we got there early enough after opening, but even if we did have to, I know she would have been ten times more polite than the previous one we've unfortunately encountered over the last few years. Our food was delicious and the drinks were spectacular. We had such a great experience this time, we even got dessert to go! This five star review has been a LONG time coming. And I'm finally happy to say it was VERY WELL deserved. Our server was attentive (I also didn't catch his name, I'm getting old...) and friendly. I have zero complaints. We will be back next year

    Quite possibly the worst food I've ever been served ranging from unseasoned food to horrific…read moreingredients combinations to even fish that went bad. We ordered the seafood platter deep fried which ended up being a mess. The shrimp were chewy and there was barely anything of any item. Nothing was seasoned and the crab cake while full of crab was dry. The shellfish trio was the best item ordered that had plenty of scallops, shrimp, and crab meat. The pesto cream sauce was serviceable but the dish is average at best. We had two different daily specials, the mojo yellowfin tuna and the Parmesan crusted triggerfish. The mojo yellowfin tuna was cooked well enough, with it being mostly raw in the center, but lacked really any flavor and a tad bit overcooked on one side. It was served over some rice, beans, and a fruit salad. Off combination and not great. There was a side of what tasted like boiled unseasoned zucchini/squash. Abysmal side and a terrible dish, but not even the worst dish. The Parmesan encrusted triggerfish was the worst dish I've ever been served. The dish even from its conception is poorly designed as it has way too much Parmesan. Usually for a Parmesan encrusted dish there would be about an 80/20 split of breadcrumbs to Parmesan, however this dish was almost all Parmesan likely 10/90 of breadcrumbs to Parmesan. The overwhelming flavor of Parmesan was the only thing you can taste and totally masked the triggerfish. The worst part was while half of the fish was fine the other half had something terribly wrong with it. Instead of being flakey the other half was rubbery and chewy and tasted nothing like fish. This rancid half could barely be cut with a knife and made us sick. This was also served with a side of unseasoned squash just to make it even worse. The strawberry rhubarb pie and chocolate pecan pie were both fine but didn't amaze. With everything being so terrible food wise the restaurant is even worse with every entree being over $30 and the acoustics were terrible. The whole place is so loud when it's a full house and you have to scream to talk to someone at your table. The prices present a high quality meal but I wouldn't even pay fast food prices.

    Photos
    Dinky's Waterfront Restaurant
    Yellowfin Tuna
    Yellowfin Tuna
    Updated Menus-April 2026

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    Updated Menus-April 2026
    Open Water Grill

    Open Water Grill

    3.0
    (15 reviews)
    0.8 mi

    Unfortunately the excellent location and view was not enough to overcome the very average meal we…read morehad for lunch. We returned the shrimp cocktail because it was mealy and not fresh (note: waitress was very nice and understanding about the shrimp). With that location the menu needs to be enhanced and upgraded. I would not recommend.

    We ended up here because hatteras soul was 1 1/2 hour wait. We should have waited. I don't mind…read moretrying new places and know they will have growing pains when they open- however, this was one of the worst experiences in a while. The view and relaxing back deck is the only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars. It took a little longer for our waitress to great us from the start. They looked a little under staff so I get it. We ordered our food and drinks together because we figured better to speed up the process. She screwed up the drink order bringing an iced tea instead of a Chardonnay. Ok minor mistake. Then our food came out and my shrimp and grits did not have the sausage in it like the menu said. The grits were on the thinker side. Overall not bad but I wanted the sausage in it since that's the reason I got it. My wife ordered potstickers and she crab soup. The potstickers came out with no soy sauce or anything. So she ate them dry because the soy sauce never came out after we requested it. She also didn't get to try the she crab soup because the waitress spilled it brining it out. Our friend ordered the Tuna and liked it. Would recommended it. Our other friend order the crab Mac & Cheese and she crab soup. She loved the crab Mac & Cheeee! However, the waitress forgot the she crab soup so again she cannot say one way or the other if it's good. This the first time Yelp steered me wrong. This is not a 4 star restaurant until they get all the kinks worked out. Not sure I'd be willing to try them again.

    Photos
    Beautiful Sunset off the Docks
    Beautiful Sunset off the Docks
    Beautiful view!
    Beautiful view!
    Open Water Grill

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    Sonny's Waterfront Restaurant - seafood - Updated June 2026

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