Restaurants - Kitty Hawk
Kitty Hawk is a great place to eat out. You’ll find everything from Eastern North Carolina barbecue to tasty vegetarian cuisine. Most restaurants feature delicious local seafood, as you might have guessed.
Some dress it up with exotic flavors and presentations, and some dress it down with traditional sides like hushpuppies and French fries. But you’ll soon discover that it’s all delicious. Kitty Hawk is home to several local favorite spots. Read on to discover where locals go for their barbecue, bagels, hot dogs, burgers, veggies and milkshakes. But don’t just take our word for it - dine out and discover your own favorite places!
Note that, as you enter the Outer Banks from the north over the bridge from Currituck, all the restaurants on the right-hand side of the road (the side with the Home Depot) are in Kitty Hawk, while those on the left are in Southern Shores. We cover those eateries in the Duck/Southern Shores book and tabloid or online at www.duckncguide.com. Remember that locals call Croatan Highway—aka U.S. Highway 158—The Bypass, and they refer to Virginia Dare Trail—aka N.C. Highway 12—as the Beach Road. Those simple names are just easier to remember!
Spanky’s Grille
- 4105 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 3.5
- Kitty Hawk
- (252) 261-1917
Spanky’s Grille is a casual, family-friendly restaurant. It also happens to be very affordable. The locals love the hand-formed burgers, homemade crab cakes, fresh hamburger steaks, grilled chicken, chili-cheese fries and foot-long hot dogs. Spanky’s is open for lunch year round and Wednesday through Saturday nights in the summer season.
Stack ‘em High
- 3801 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 4.5
- Kitty Hawk
- (252) 261-8221
Stack ‘em High is a great breakfast stop filled with everything you could ever want for breakfast. 2011 marks their 30th anniversary. In this family-friendly restaurant, you’ll go through a line to select your own beverage, fresh fruit, cereal or muffins and a complete line of breakfast items that are then prepared fresh the minute you order. Choose from delicious breakfasts like pancakes — short or high stack — with fresh fruit, pecans or plain. They also have waffles, omelets (try the crab meat and cheddar or the shaved ham), bacon, sausage and more. For those looking for lunch, they also have a light sandwich selection like BLTs, hot ham & cheese and even PB&Js for the little ones. Find a seat in the dining room, and they’ll bring your breakfast to you piping hot. Stack ‘em High is family owned and operated. They serve breakfast every day all-year round. There is a second Stack ‘em High located in Kill Devil Hills.
Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt
- 3700 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 5
- Kitty Hawk
- (252) 715-1965
Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt has a novel concept: pick your soft-serve yogurt flavors, dispense as much as you want, top it the way you want it from the topping bar. The cashier weighs your creation and you pay by the weight. The yogurt is all natural, low fat and healthy, and you can choose toppings that are healthy too, like nuts and real fruit. Of course, they have candy toppings too. Sweet Frog is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily in the summer months; call for off-season hours. Look for the pink building in Kitty Hawk.
Trio
- 3708 N. Croatan Highway, The Bypass, MP 4.5, Harbor Bay Shops
- Kitty Hawk
- (252) 261-0277
Your can taste the world at Trio, an exciting new retail and tasting destination that gathers the best of the vast worlds of wine, handcrafted beer and artisinal cheese into one lovely space. Trio offers more than 2,000 wines and beers from around the world ranging in price from $4.99 to $1,000, as well as more than 30 artisanal cheeses and a selection of cured meats. Also a tap house, Trio features 24 craft beers on tap. Wines can be sampled from wine dispensing machines using smart cards that allow you to choose the wine and amount you want to try. Taste a wide variety of wines priced from $10 to $100 per bottle starting at just $1 per taste! The cheese shop offers cheeses hand-cut to order and a menu featuring cheese plates, gourmet sandwiches, salads and small bites. Upstairs on the balcony you’ll find a tasting bar featuring award-winning wines from around North Carolina. An extension of Native Vine Cellars and Tasting Room in Point Harbor, Trio is a place to have some fun while you are shopping, or to shop while you’re having fun!
Vilai Thai Kitchen
- 5230 N. Virginia Dare Trail, The Beach Road, MP 1
- Kitty Hawk
- (252) 441-8424
This is a great new Thai take-out place. They are open for lunch and serve food all day through dinner. If you just can’t wait to dig in to their yummy soups, pad thai, spring rolls or any of their other offerings, they have a few seats outside so you can enjoy your food while it’s hot.
