Dirty Dick's Crab House - Nags Head

I don’t often leave reviews but I felt like this was necessary. This was the WORST FOOD I have ever had at any restaurant in my life. The first clue should have been that this was the only place in a 5 mile stretch that we drove past without at least an hour long wait. But, we were hungry, so we stayed. We were seated at a table in the corner that smelled faintly of urine. I tried to justify it as being a weird beach smell because I was so hungry and just wanted to eat. We ordered a couple appetizers- the gator bites and the crab dip. I have never had gator bites so I don’t have a comparison but they were ok, I guess? The crab dip was awful. Hardly any crab, not creamy at all, the cheese was burnt on top and it just tasted like a mouthful of cheddar cheese. For dinner we ordered crab cakes, crab melt, a Philly cheesesteaks, and crab legs and my youngest got the kids’ spaghetti and meatballs. Kinda hard to mess up crab legs… the kids ate them and seemed to think they were ok, although watching them it didn’t appear that they had a whole lot of meat for what we paid. The only edible part of the crab melt meal was the chips on the side. The melt itself was no better than the crab dip other than the addition of super hard bacon- it was terrible. The crab cakes hardly had any crab and instead were the consistency of Stove-top stuffing with a taste similar to that of burnt plastic. The rice on the side was mushy and had no taste at all. None of it was edible. The Philly cheesesteak was literally just Steak-ems. There is no mistaking that taste- and while I don’t mind a Steak-em at home, I certainly DO mind spending $17 on a crappy sandwich at a restaurant that calls it, “ griddled ribeye slices”. Finally, the kids’ spaghetti- was undoubtedly scooped from a can of Chef BoyArdee. It was disgusting, and my son, who had just eaten 3-4 of the gator bites, was now pushing away his bowl of spaghetti. I left as hungry as I arrived and pretty pissed off at having spent over $200 on food that mostly went uneaten. I think it was pretty obvious by the plates full of food and the denial of boxes that we were weren’t happy with our meal but no one actually asked us and instead just brought the bill and cleared away the platters of putrid. Yes, it really was THAT bad. And I did leave a note on the receipt telling them that the food was horrible. I can’t make any sense of how the place is still in business or how they get away with charging what they do for the crap they’re peddling as food. I beg you- STAY CLEAR OF THIS PLACE if you have any standards at all and you value your hard-earned money!!!!!!!

Food was wonderful. Had a large party (15) and the service was excellent. Christi was professional and knowledgeable. Thank you for the wonderful experience during the busy summer season :)

Love eating at Dirty Dicks! Preston was the best making sure we had everything we needed 5 starts for PRESTON!! Even without a 🦀 hat 🤪

I could seriously live on the fried green tomatoes. Seriously. I mean, the shrimp is great, the key lime pie will curl your toes and make your eyes roll back in your head, but I could eat nothing but the fried green tomatoes (hint, they are tipped with crab) for the rest of my life and be happy.

We came with a bus group and the service was outstanding! Val was pleasant & a model of efficiency! Very patient with our busload of modwesterners! We enjoyed our meals, too!

The food was amazing! Best seafood we’ve had in a long time! Saxan was a great server too. She was super friendly and attentive☺️ I would highly recommend this place 🦀

Everyone at this restaurant was attentive to allergies we brought to their attention and chef even came out to confirm ingredients in food to ensure they were fine. Sheri was an excellent waitress!! 10/10 service!She was extremely personable and helpful! I would highly recommend this restaurant and Sheri!

We are currently sitting in the restaurant and informed our server of a food allergy to artificial color. We ordered two appetizers and asked that the ingredients be checked for safety. Server brought out our appetizers (fried pickles and fried calamari) and we asked for confirmation that the food was safe for a member of our party, a child. Server said they didn’t have time to check and didn’t know what to tell us. Attitude was flippant and indifferent. Rather surprised at the response and the message delivered to us was “oh well, I don’t know what to tell you. You’re going to have to figure that out yourself.” We left without ordering entrees and will never return. Extremely disappointed and absolutely disgusted with the behavior the server Andy displayed.

This place is fanaminal!!! The food was so good,the service was great. We definitely recommend this place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Snow Crab Legs Platter, Fish, Fried, Hush Puppies

Food: amazing and scrumptious
Service: I really don’t think I’ve ever received such perfect service. Everyone is so nice and you can tell they care about their customers.
Bathroom: squeaky clean! With the paper towels stocked 🩷
Restaurant: very clean, lovely theme and decorations. I left my drink at the bar and came back and it was untouched!! Very safe place to have a drink 😍

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Burger

Food was fantastic our waitress Maria was beyond exceptional. It was our first time there and it was for our anniversary dinner. The only thing that I was not happy with was when I asked about a side order of 2 meatballs and was told it was possible. They were delicious BUT I was charged the full dinner price for them. $18 was definitely not a fair price, otherwise the dinner was exceptional! Will be going back on Wednesday which is tonight for Dinner.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Creole Shrimp & Grits, Fish, Fried, Fried Pickles, Hush Puppies, Fried Shrimp

Ordered the snow crab. Expensive but spouse choice. Melted butter was rancid. Ruined her meal. Only offered piece of key lime pie as compensation. Should have comped the meal. Manager finally gave 15% discount on food. Not crowded when we arrived, but service slow anyway. Better restaurants in the area than this one. If back again, I will pass on this one.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

I would give this place no stars if i could. The food was horrible, looked like garbage, was burnt and dry. The portion was soooo small for an approx $40 seafood broil (we ordered 2!). We also ordered gator, and it was so hard and cold. I don't know what happened with the hush puppies. They were burnt and hard, no flavor. Everything tasted horrible. The amount of food did not fit the price tag by a quarter. They had closed before we even realized how everything looked when we got back to our hotel. Would not recommend this place. We should have read the reviews before ordering. Best go somewhere else where they'll actually care about the customers and want to do and be better with the food for the ridiculous amount they charge for garbage.

Parking: Would NOT recommend it unless you enjoy overpriced burnt food.

A local favorite and so good! Crab is a specialty!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food great and service was also great my waiter (RL) was awesome

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Snow Crab Legs Platter, Fish