This was hands down some of the best food we had during our vacation in North Carolina. After…read morereading the reviews, we stopped in for lunch with our family--and it absolutely lived up to the hype. We ordered a variety of sandwiches, and every single one was excellent. The standouts were the schnitzel sandwich and the Cuban--both were incredibly fresh, perfectly hot, and packed with flavor. We also grabbed a few baked sweets to enjoy later in the afternoon, which turned out to be the perfect treat after a day out. What truly elevated the experience was the owner--so warm, welcoming, and full of great recommendations. You can tell there's real care behind both the food and the experience here.

Everything was wonderful and fresh. Sandwich took some time because it was made to order. It was…read moreawesome.

Cookies are really good- I enjoyed the lemon drop cookie it was soft and chewy had great flavor…read more The other cookies were really nice to look at - most had chocolate or cream frosting (which I cannot have) My husband really enjoyed the peanut butter cookie. He said not a lot of peanut butter flavor but the texture was great. We got to meet the owners - they are super friendly and helpful!

Delicious cookies and super sweet owners! My husband and a couple of friends enjoyed the cookies so…read moremuch that we even returned back to the Cookie Shack to take some cookies home on the last day of our OBX vacation. My favorite cookie was the Cookie Monster which was really cute with the Cookie Monster having a mini cookie in his mouth. I also enjoyed the red velvet and Oreo and my husband enjoyed the pumpkin and peanut butter cookies. All the cookies had a good chewy texture and were not overly sweet or thick. The cookies are room temperature and they're still good that way, but I preferred to warm them up a little when we got home. The owners also kindly gave us a free lemon drop cookie since we ordered a half dozen!

Unfortunately, we must leave a negative review. Claire's Cakes canceled on us 5 days before our…read morewedding. We hired Claire's Cakes in September 2025 to make our wedding desserts (6 dozen cupcakes and 3 cheesecakes). Everything seemed to be running smoothly until a few weeks before our wedding when her communication with us began to slow. We had arranged to pay extra to meet her on the Friday (11/28) before our Saturday (11/29) wedding to pick up our desserts. We confirmed this pick up date multiple times. On Friday, 11/21 (at 8:25 pm), she emails us: "I'm able to deliver on Wednesday 11/26/25 at whatever time is most convenient for you. As we get closer to the date, I'll provide an updated delivery window. I am currently out of town for the remainder of the weekend on business and will be back on Monday." So, despite multiple confirmations that the order was to be picked up on Friday, she now has the wrong pick up date. On Saturday, 11/22, we responded: "Enjoy your weekend (even if it is on business)! We had talked about delivery on Friday, November 28th (not Wednesday, 11/26). Let us know if that Friday still works -- we are at your disposal on that Friday (11/28) to meet to pick up the cupcakes/cheesecakes at whatever time is most convenient to you!" On Monday, 11/24 (at noon) -- the Monday before our Saturday wedding -- she writes us: "I wanted to reach out regarding your event. I've just been informed that a family member I am caring for has a scheduled surgery, and I will be unavailable for at least three days following Thanksgiving. Due to this family emergency, I am unable to work or dedicate the necessary time to create these items. Unfortunately, with the short notice and circumstances, I will not be able to accommodate your desserts for Friday." We find it a little odd that, between late Friday night and by noon on Monday (the day she returned from a business trip), a family member she is taking care of would suddenly have surgery scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving (or even the week of Thanksgiving). Given that she tried to change the pick up date to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, was out of town on business until Monday, and then, at noon Monday, used a family member to avoid providing deserts the Friday after Thanksgiving (which was the agreed-upon date), it seems the most logical thing is this .... When she made the commitment to make the desserts, she did not realize it was Thanksgiving week and that she would be making our desserts on Thanksgiving for the Friday delivery. And, when she realized the promised Friday was the day after Thanksgiving, she used an excuse that garnered the most sympathy/understanding (family member surgery). We hate to sound uncaring about her situation or that a family member needed surgery, but it just seems like a made up excuse. If it is not, our prayers to her family member. If she had at least given us some advance notice that she was taking care of a family member or had circumstances that may interfere with her ability to make the desserts for our wedding, we could have made a contingency plan. For example, our caterer could have made the deserts with a little more notice. As it is, we had to scramble -- my daughter made 3 dozen cupcakes the night before the wedding and we ordered plain Harris Teeter sheet cakes for the rest. Perhaps the professional thing for Ms. Claire to have done was to call someone she knows who could have fulfilled the order or at least made the effort to find someone to cover for her. OR... if she had said she would need to change the delivery to Wednesday because of the situation, maybe we would have been okay with that (presumably the desserts would have still been okay on Saturday?), but she did not -- she just canceled.

Amazing key lime cake! Claire is very easy to work with, she is flexible and accommodating- kind &…read morefriendly. You can tell she is artistic is her craft and truly loves baking! The cake had an amazing lime taste and buttercream frosting was fantastic! We will be ordering more cakes from Claire! Loved that She walks the cake to your car- no better service than that!

Don't skip this place. Donuts and ice cream were amazing. Got the donut sundae and wow! Still…read morethinking about it.

You have to try this place at least once. But make sure you're hungry. Do not attempt any donut…read moreand ice cream combination after a big meal. My family all got donut and ice cream sundaes. Different sizes, different types of donuts, and different flavors of ice cream. All were excellent. Donuts are fresh and warm. Prices are not cheap, but this is an experience you must try at least once. The only negative is that there's no place to sit and eat. Highly recommend.

The biscuit breakfast sandwiches with eggs, cheese, and bacon/sausage were really good!read more

After my experience at multiple Donut shops across the U.S I would rate Northern Lights Bakery one…read moreof the lesser experiences. To get straight to the point, the donuts are dense and not worth the wait/price. The worker was manning the cashier and putting donuts in boxes although she did have gloves, the gloves didn't seem to be getting changed. Not sure if some people down south have taste but the line to this place was long. There were flies everywhere. Although the staff were nice, they are understaffed and not clean. This place is another beach vacation money grab to travelers. Update: Found a baked in hair in one of the glazed donuts. Never Again DO NOT waste your $.

We had a fabulous time at this go to Bakery/ice-cream bar/candy/candies hot spot! It was full of…read moreoptions for local jams and sauces. It was so inviting and had so many options of candies, party decor, sweets and eats, and I had the best chocolate Heath malt (he let me design my own milkshake which was so much fun)! Their prices were much better then the other farmers markets nearby, and thoroughly enjoyed this family owned bakery and ice-cream bar that has so many options to see, enjoy, and purchase! If your a local they can take care of all your party needs from decor to birthday cakes! They provided stellar service and will definitely hop by here again with my family next we pass by!

From breads to cookies, cupcakes to cakes made to order, this place is amazing!! Not only has…read moreeverything I've ever had from there tasted great, Tiffany made a couple cakes for a special birthday party and they were a hit. I gave her cake flavors and general ideas of what I was looking for and she went to work to make super tasty creations that looked INCREDIBLE! The birthday lady didn't even want to cut the one because it looked so cool but with one bite she was extremely glad she did. Reach out to them for any of your bakery requests, you won't be disappointed!!

One of the things I was most looking forward to when we got engaged was the cake tastings. I try to…read moreeat gluten free as much as possible as it triggers my migraines. Candice was incredibly communicative during the process and worked with us to create a cake flavor that was representative of one of our favorite vacation drinks (Lime in Da Coconut). She absolutely knocked that flavor out of the park! Since she doesn't do the Banana Pudding Cake as a sample, we ordered it for a mini celebration to try before making our final decisions. She was able to make the entire thing gluten free (she makes it all from scratch) and it was delicious! As I've been to several weddings where there were gluten incidents, I decided that we would have all of our cakes be gluten free to keep everyone safe (we have several friends with Celiacs). We did a cutting cake in the Lime in Da Coconut flavor and mini cupcakes in that flavor as well as Red Velvet. The mini cupcakes are perfect for grabbing and popping in your mouth while dancing! All of our guests loved them and we had some left over to take back with us to enjoy. I will definitely be ordering from her again!

Since we were there on vacation my wife rates all cupcakes on a Sweet Coast scale! Thanks for…read moremaking me a hero on her birthday

I ordered two loaves of sourdough for pick up in Duck. The bread is fresh and delicious, ordering…read moreprocess was easy, and they follow up with confirmation and reminders to pick up at the appointed date and time. Will order again. Hoping to stop in at the location in Kill Devil Hills when I'm down there. I'm in Corolla and appreciate the convenience of their delivering to Duck.

AMAZING CINNAMON BUNS. All products are fresh and delicious, made with simple ingredients. I…read morepurchased the cinnamon sliced bread, sourdough loaf and cinnamon buns. AMAZING!!!!!