South Beach Grill

Wanted a grilled fish sandwich while visiting the coast. Didn't realize it's only served at lunch here...but when asked, the server Sarah and the chef made it happen for me. They even charged me the sandwich price after I offered to pay for the dinner Catch of the Day entree...A true example of hospitality!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was so good. Good service, nice atmosphere.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Loved the atmosphere and the relaxed feel of the place. In addition food was good 🙂

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great food and a great location just off the beach. I've been taking my family there every time we are in the Wilmington area for years. Can't recommend it enough.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First time eating here and waitress Danielle was absolutely amazing. Shout out to her and the quality of the food, drinks, and service. Love Danielle and the restaurant, will be coming back for sure.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Awesome!!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had one of the best salads I’ve ever eaten- with roasted tomatoes, fried artichoke hearts and a delicious dressing. Also really enjoyed the black eyed peas appetizer and my son loved his sweet potato crusted flounder. Very family friendly, roomy, lots of natural light, and comfortable seating. Great for couples too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Service was great and food was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We ate here the last night of our vacation in Wrightsville Beach and what a way to go out. It was the best food we had the entire time there. It may not have the views some of the other places have but you'll not find better tasting food. The seafood nachos platter appetizer was amazing and we shared the grouper Linda and sweet potato crusted founder... both outstanding. They also make fabulous drinks here and our server Danielle was one of the nicest people we met while vacationing here. Highly recommend the South Beach Grill in Wrightsville!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had a wonderful lunch experience at the South Beach Grill today. The Food & Service was excellent . South Beach has been a local favorite for Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington Diners for many years. The food & the view make it such a treat to dine there .

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

⭐ 1 Star
Two Strands of Hair – Unacceptable Experience

South Beach Grill has always been one of my favorite places to eat when I visit Wilmington—but after my most recent experience, I don’t think I’ll be returning. I’m honestly considering going to Oceanic instead.

I was served a plate of food that had a long, straight brown hair in it—very clearly not from anyone in my group or our server (who had curly hair). Some of the staff members did have hair that matched, though. That alone was extremely off-putting.

We flagged down a manager, but instead of addressing us directly, she passed the issue to our female server, who was the only one to apologize and ask if I’d like the dish remade. I said yes, because I understand mistakes can happen. It took about 10 minutes to get a new plate.

Then things got worse.

As I was boxing up the meal to take home, I noticed another hair—this time in my drink (which I had already drunk half of). At that point I was disgusted and just wanted to leave.

The final straw? When we got the bill, we were still charged full price for my meal, despite finding hair in both the food and the drink. No discount. No manager apology. Nothing. We paid it and left, but I left feeling really disappointed.

This restaurant used to be one I recommended. Now, I’m not so sure. The food may be good, but if this is how they handle cleanliness and customer concerns, it’s hard to feel confident coming back.

📸 Photos attached for reference.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The food was amazing! (especially the calamari), a little pricey but worth it. Our waitress, Gladys, was super sweet and her service was outstanding.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great spot for local seafood and lots of unique small plates to try on their chalkboard. We like frequenting this spot.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

As locals who live on the island, we’ve been to South Beach Grill before, but our recent visit was incredibly disappointing. We started with a Caesar salad that never arrived. We had to remind our server after the entrées were brought out, and when the salad finally did come, it was drenched in dressing and completely inedible. We ate a bite each. I ordered the grouper topped with crab meat ($42), expecting a top level dish as it was a famous dish for them. Instead, it came out fully raw. While they did remake it, I unfortunately had already eaten part of the undercooked fish before realizing it. Despite these significant issues—a forgotten appetizer, inedible salad, and a raw entrée—nothing was comped on the check. In all our years dining out, we’ve never experienced a restaurant not offering anything to make up for this level of service failure. We really wanted to love our meal, especially being locals who support the island’s restaurants. But this kind of experience makes it hard to recommend South Beach Grill anymore. We will not return

This place does not serve raw oysters. I got the low country seafood mac n cheese which was 10/10, gf got sweet potato crusted flounder which we both did not like 2/10. Rice was not even cooked all the way. Flounder itself was good and flavorful, sweet potato crust was not the best. Left with a stomachache and safe to say we are more than likely not coming back. Maybe just for the mac n cheese.