50 Best Seafood Restaurants in Wilmington

“Thank you Origins Food and Drink! Thank you Alicia, and I hope I spelled that right!  Not only did I get to host a fantastic (Oh so tasty) lunch for my visiting cousins, just off the highway, but as we sat in the nice quiet bar area, talking well through your lunch closure, your staff just let us stay. Nobody said a word. Thank you for that. ❤️ One cousin lives in Rwanda and the other in Florida, and I haven't seen them in a year! ❤️ Once again, you are my restaurant of choice for so many reasons! Thanks for the incredible food and professionalism! (Originally posted on my Facebook page on July 1, 2024)“

“This evening we were excited to bring friends who had never been to Seabird, and it was my wife’s birthday! The food did not disappoint. Our friends loved it. It was good to see a restaurant with a sense of humor when they brought out a “no calorie” birthday cake! (A lit candle stuck to a dessert plate)“

“So good! Best resturaunt steak I've had. Crab legs were delicious. Be sure to get the hush puppies. Even our kids' meals were great. Great service!!“

“Excellent food, beautiful presentation and great service!“

“Finally got to try On Thyme Restaurant and it was worth every second of the drive! The Philly egg rolls are my new favorite thing, the salmon bites were delicious, the shrimp was fresh and the fish sandwich was huge! The outdoor seating is really nice too! The entire staff was friendly and helpful! Go support!!!“

“Too many positives to mention. Friendly and attentive staff, high quality and delicious food and a great atmosphere“

“We just finished another great lobster roll. Yes, the lobster is too die for! We missed seeing Jim this time on our trip down. No worries though, Pam and Jamison took great care of us. Of course they are both from Maine. Makes the experience more authentic. Thanks to you both for the great hospitality! We can't wait to finally move in a year so we can enjoy this treat more often. See you guys in a few months!!!“

“This place is always spot-on! Don’t sleep on it, great people, great food. There’s been a poke void in Wilmington and this fills it!“

“I always enjoy eating here when I visit my mom. The serving sizes are plenty!“

“We just finished another great lobster roll. Yes, the lobster is too die for! We missed seeing Jim this time on our trip down. No worries though, Pam and Jamison took great care of us. Of course they are both from Maine. Makes the experience more authentic. Thanks to you both for the great hospitality! We can't wait to finally move in a year so we can enjoy this treat more often. See you guys in a few months!!!“

“Great food, staff and atmosphere! Would definitely go back!“

“Wonderful experience definitely worth a try“

“THANK YOU Candance for taking such good care of me this week by taking my food allergies seriously. She was AMAZING with ensuring my meal did not contain any of my food allergies, which allowed me to enjoy my dinner stress-free. It was my first time ever visiting the restaurant and I'll definitely go back.“

“Hidden gem! We lucked out as we were driving in to town and read the reviews but there was no availability online. Stopped by anyways and our luck there had been reservation canceled. Amazing fresh catch of the day and preparation. Service was amazing.“

“Dinner tonight at Fish Bites was fantastic! Grouper, risotto, green beans! We had one of their amazing desserts, lemon blueberry cake! Very, very busy, service was great and so friendly!!“

“always the best! my go to favorite seafood place I have never had a bad meal there!“

“Beautiful, clean restaurant. We had a very nice server by the name of Tyler. The food was absolutely delicious. I had pineapple glazed shrimp with lemon risotto and grilled pineapple. My hubby had the Baja fish tacos. Everything was amazing and we can't wait to return!“

“Went there a few weeks ago for my birthday, and I'm currently prescribed to a very restrictive diet. Nicole, our server, went above and beyond to check even the blackening seasoning on the tuna (which I didn't even think about!) and recommended her favorite items that didn't have any of my restrictions in them. She was absolutely wonderful, and it was an amazing birthday dinner even with my limitations. I appreciate it deeply! Beyond that, the meals (my very specific one and the rest of my family's that ordered a variety of foods) were excellent. Thank you!!!“

“muy rico y auténtico sabor andamos de vacaciones y buscamos mariscos y dimos aki la verdad excelente atención y el sabor muy rico se siente todo fresco 100 x recomendado“

“I saw this restaurant in Diner’s, Drive-Ins & Dives but I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant. I knew it was something fishy. When we looked up seafood restaurants there it was, “Something Fishy”! All of the food was great & the freshest quality! My grandson couldn’t get enough of the chicken tenders!

We are still in love with this restaurant over 3 years later! Way to go, Something Fishy’“

“This restaurant is an absolute must try when visiting Wilmington. All our food was outstanding (my husband and I both tried a fresh catch of the day). Make sure to leave room for dessert because the pecan cheesecake is out of this world! All the employees were friendly; however, our server, Mandy, went above and beyond for us. She is definitely a super star!“

“Great atmosphere, fantastic food(kitchen staff are the best phenomenal service!!) I highly recommend the shrimp and grits, shrimp po boy and the calamari. You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu! And the oysters are delicious! Try the Ted pepper relish too!!“

“Sitting by the water, watching the boats and draw bridge is the best! Always a favorite for my adult kids as we’ve been going here for years! I like the Islander: Grilled Chicken sandwich with pineapple and bacon. My one daughter loves the blackened Mahi tacos. One thing that is no longer on the menu is their crab dip. They could add a couple more dessert choices as well.“

“Ate dinner at the boathouse on 4-15-23 food was good Logan was our waiter very attentive other staff helped him an assistant manager was greeting people going from table never once did she come to our table or say anything to us there was no excuse for that“

“The sailfish is a great place to visit by boat. There is plenty of boat dock capacity and there are always staff on the docks to help out. Having visited Sailfish about ten times, the service and food has always been very good. My only knock on the place is pricey draft beer...“

“Excellent day on the deck, ahi tuna and crab cake sandwich were the best. Our waiter Diego was the best!“

“Good food, Great service.“

“I worked for this place 5 months. The roaches in the back are overwhelming. They leave the door open letting any little creatures inside. The owners tried stealing my pay stubs so I wouldn't see them funneling my leftover money. Everyone that works in the back is great, but they're slaves. They have to work constantly and immigrated illegally. 2 of the servers are also Asian immigrants. So the Asian owner can spy on the American servers. The owner doesn't like Black people so she would try to give the white tables to the Asian servers because apparently " black people don't tip" ...verbatim what they say on the low. My girlfriend is black so since day 1 I've been resentful of the racist undertone. The crabhouse was also stealing money from my leftover paystubs. They thought i wouldnt ask for them and quickly scrambled the paystubs together after 48 hours. They wrote me a check for my stolen/missing money. The seafood is all frozen from Ecuador and they most likely eat their own feces or human feces in a farmed environment. It's a scam at best, for employees, patrons, or even takeout orders. This is garbage carcinogenic fake seafood that just sits for God knows how long in a freezer. The ranch is garbage and spoiled, the owners are cannibalistic slum lords and they confiscate our phones as soon as we walk in the door so the employees cannot show the roaches on the back end. If you enjoy food that destroys your body, and intestinal health by all means indulge. Also if you send the food back they will wash the food in the sink then re boil it to make it look fresh. I had to send an order back and Lena [ the chinese manager, that uses a fake name " Carmen"] will wash it in the sink and re-serve it to you personally. The lady stormed out and said I was disrespectful for serving half eaten food they put back in the sink n boiler pot. I was livid..because she was absolutely valid to feel this way. The harsh truth is this place is garbage food being served like top shelf caviar, brought to you by racist folk who only care about $$$ and your hopeless addiction go their toxic food. The assistant manager is also a drama queen. Her personal life is way too involved in the restaurant. I feel she has a complexity disorder. Always bringing their kids in to work and talking about guests behind their backs. It's completely unprofessional. Everyone deserves respect and dignity. Very sad way to live.. I wish you the best...“

“I have eaten Sushi all over the US as well as Asia and (not to mention) Japan. This place is very authentic and the sushi is just amazing. I only order sushi but my husband always gets a cooked dinner and he says they are amazing as well! The staff is attentive and the sushi chef (I believe owner) is fantastic. I sometimes get supermarket sushi as Genki is not real close to me. I used to appreciate it was “just supermarket sushi” but after Genki (10-12 times) it’s real hard to get a quick supermarket fix. Actually right now I’m salivating!“

“Excellent Excellent flavors! Never disappoints“

“Food was amazing!!! We had Brussel sprouts, grilled oysters, lamb lollipops, and crab stuffed salmon and it was all delicious. The seating and views are amazing as well. Highly recommend“

“Outstanding venue, service superb, ty Mark, appetizer's out of this world, dinner, seafood, even better ......in the words of a great poet, we'll be back.....good job, Brent“

“Always good!!!!“

“Dinner - Delicious Ambiance - Classic Service - Just perfect! Thank you Brandon, you were exceptional! 10/10“

“Unbelievable. If you are going to be in Wilmington and you do not go to this restaurant, you are missing out. The food was cooked to perfection. The quality of the food was clearly a cut above all other restaurants, and the atmosphere and experience phenomenal. The baklava and Turkish coffee was a perfect finish to a protein heavy well cooked amazing meal. It was by far one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. You need to make time to visit this place when you’re in Wilmington.“

“Awesome, fresh seafood in a casual, fun environment. A real fish house! Daily specials are not to be overlooked- Power Up is a yummy and healthy complete meal, created by an inspired chef with different flavors every day! I'm hooked!“

“Though I worked in Wilmington for several years, commuting from Myrtle Beach, I didn’t discover Ruth’s until today when a couple of locals took me for breakfast . Absolutely great food, quick out of the kitchen. Our waitress bantered with me and that was the icing on the cake. But, she also shared diet specific dishes for one of my companions with gluten restrictions. If you are a homecooking kind of human…you must try Ruth’s!!!“

“Farm to table meats, seafood and vegetables !! The octopus was amazing !! Great atmosphere !!“

“Awesome, fresh seafood in a casual, fun environment. A real fish house! Daily specials are not to be overlooked- Power Up is a yummy and healthy complete meal, created by an inspired chef with different flavors every day! I'm hooked!“

“Awesome fresh fish, crabs, shrimp..... They have it all!“

“My wife ani recently moved to Wilmington. We have been looking at various places to eat and I saw a write up on Soulfil Twist. Yesterday we decided to locate them and found them at their home location. We stopped and spoke with Leon and found that he and Pat owned the food trailer. Leon told us where they would be serving today.We got there early and were in no way disappointed we have had fried okra all over the south including “family “ I will tell you, her breading, is superb not only for the okra but her shrimp. You want to put Soulful Twist on your list of places to eat in Wilmington. 5 stars definitely!!“

“Beautiful space deliciousness everywhere. So convenient and good! Grateful for the GF options too!“

“The Bavarian pretzel was huge and absolutely delicious. all portions were very generous and the service staff was great!! I highly recommend this restaurant!!“

“We LOVE coming to Ellipsis! Everybody is so kind and the food is always incredible. We love that the menu is rotating and the service is always 10/10. We’ve had Sam has a bartender/server the last 3x and he’s one of our favorites in Wilmington. Always kind, always caring, and super knowledgeable!“

“It's really hard to find good Chinese food around here but I have to say, Ming Yao is very good!I got General Tso's Chicken combination. The egg roll was great, the chicken was cooked perfectly and it came with actual fried rice not yellow rice like most places here. I also got boneless spare ribs, they were very unique. It was actually chunks instead of the tough, fatty pieces most places serve, it was excellent! This will be my go to place for sure!“

“Nick at The bar was amazing and the server was very attentive and helpful. The food was hot and and even better than the expected. I definitely recommend this place for great drinks and awesome food.“

“Deeeeelicious crab cakes! Wonderful staff, Abby was fantastic“

“Really good food. Friendly service“

“Best sesame sauce I've ever had and chicken ona stick was really great“

“We had a great time at the Grill and our waitress Zena was fantastic. The food was excellent and the staff was professional and very courteous.“