Dining on Ocracoke: The Restaurants, By Name

Howard's Pub: A 46-Year History and a 2025 Ownership Change

Howard's Pub & Raw Bar Restaurant, at 1175 Irvin Garrish Hwy, is the single best-documented restaurant on the island, and its history is worth telling in full because it's a genuinely distinctive Ocracoke story, not a generic one. Ron Howard -- a descendant of an early colonial Ocracoke landowner -- opened it in April 1979, in a building constructed by island carpenter Sammy Fortesque. Per Philip Howard's Village Craftsmen site (a long-running Ocracoke local-history blog), it mattered beyond just being a new restaurant: it was the first place in more than 50 years that islanders and visitors could buy a beer at an Ocracoke restaurant. The early years were rough -- rowdy shrimper crews caused enough trouble that the NC Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission suspended its license for 15 days in September 1980 -- and Ron Howard pivoted the business in 1981 into a bar-and-deli with live entertainment, featuring his father Edgar Howard, a former vaudeville performer, on banjo.

George "Buffy" Warner and his wife Ann bought the pub and its building in 1991 and grew it into what Village Craftsmen calls one of the best-known, most popular eateries on the Outer Banks -- known for an eclectic atmosphere, a large menu, and an extensive beer list, open year-round. Buffy Warner died in 2004; Ann Warner continued running it for another two decades. In May 2025, at 67, she sold the pub to Colin Wiseman, a Nags Head restaurateur who also owns Mulligan's Grille in Nags Head and The Rundown Cafe in Kitty Hawk, according to the Ocracoke Observer's May 24, 2025 reporting (independently corroborated by the Outer Banks Voice). Wiseman told the Observer, "There's a great legacy here and I really want to continue that going forward," and pledged to keep the existing staff and menu through the transition. As of this research (July 2026), Howard's Pub shows as currently operating on Tripadvisor's live Ocracoke restaurant listing.

Full-Service Dining Near the Harbor

Dajio, at 305 Irvin Garrish Hwy, is a bistro-style restaurant serving brunch, lunch, and dinner built around local seafood -- seared tuna wraps with cotija cheese and ginger aioli, and crab mac and cheese are dishes multiple tourism sources point to specifically -- with an outdoor deck.

The Flying Melon Cafe is the island's Creole-and-Southern fine-dining option, built around locally and regionally sourced ingredients, with filet mignon and almond-crusted tuna cited as signature dishes and a small, intimate dining room. Its address is one of the genuine discrepancies in our research: OuterBanks.com and Ocracoke-NC.com both list 804 Irvin Garrish Hwy, while Foursquare and a printed menu listing put it at 950 Irvin Garrish Hwy, and NC Tripping lists 181 Back Rd. We're not picking one and presenting it as settled -- confirm the current address directly before you go.

Back Porch Restaurant, at 110 Back Rd, serves local seafood, hand-cut meats, and poultry with a seasonally changing menu, homemade desserts, and a wine bar, in a screened-porch-and-air-conditioned dining room; bacon-wrapped scallops, sheepshead, and Spanish mackerel are dishes named across multiple sources. One tourism guide bluntly warns, "get here early or expect to wait for a table."

sMacNally's Bar & Grill, at 180 Irvin Garrish Hwy on the Anchorage Marina side of Silver Lake, is described by more than one source as the island's only true waterfront restaurant -- fresh seafood, burgers, and live music on the water, with mimosas and beer towers called out specifically.

Ocracoke Oyster Company pairs raw and prepared local oysters (ceviche, Rockefeller, and a preparation sources call "Mon Luis") with fig-smoked barbecue and ribs, plus live music. Its street address is a second genuine discrepancy in our sources: OuterBanks.com and Ocracoke-NC.com list 875 Irvin Garrish Hwy, while NC Tripping lists 621 Irvin Garrish Hwy -- both plausible Irvin Garrish Hwy addresses, neither independently confirmed against the other here.

Breakfast, Tacos, and Casual Counters

Pony Island Restaurant, at 51 Ocean View Rd, serves breakfast only, 7 to 11:30am daily -- pancakes, eggs, and classic diner fare. Multiple tourism directories (Ocracoke Island Realty, Blue Heron Vacations) describe it as Ocracoke's oldest eating establishment, with one citing a 1959 opening. We could not independently confirm that founding date against a primary source the way we could for Howard's Pub, so treat 1959 as tourism-directory-sourced, not verified history.

Eduardo's, at 950 Irvin Garrish Hwy, serves what its listings describe as fresh, authentic regional Mexican and Latin cooking -- a longstanding, well-regarded taco option on the island. Helios' Hideaway, at 589 Irvin Garrish Hwy Unit A, is a Mediterranean/Greek takeout cafe with falafel, lamb kebabs, pita wraps and pizzas, and vegan and gluten-free options. Thai Moon is a cash-only, carry-out Thai kitchen (curries, pad thai, satay) that multiple sources list at 180 Irvin Garrish Hwy -- the same address given for sMacNally's, which we flag rather than silently resolve; confirm the exact storefront before planning around it. Jason's Restaurant, at 1110 Irvin Garrish Hwy, is a casual pizza-subs-seafood spot geared toward takeout, and Sorella's Pizza & Pasta, at 59 Irvin Garrish Hwy, serves Italian food with delivery available. Old Salt Sandwiches, a food-truck operation in the Ocracoke Variety Store parking lot, serves shrimp burgers, hot dogs, and fried-fish sandwiches.

Brewery, Wine Shop, and Coffee

1718 Brewing, at 1129 Irvin Garrish Hwy, is described consistently as Ocracoke's only local brewery. It runs an on-site kitchen, though our sources disagree on that kitchen's current name: Ocracoke Island Realty's page (and the existence of a standalone marauderskitchen.com site) point to "Marauder's Kitchen," while other directories -- including one from the same research pass -- still list "Plum Pointe Kitchen" at the identical address. That's consistent with a name change we couldn't pin down a date for; we're naming both rather than guessing which is current.

Zillie's Island Pantry, at 538 Back Rd, is a wine-and-beer shop and tasting deck with 275-plus beers and 200-plus wines by some accounts, gourmet cheese and provisions, and weekly wine tastings (reservations recommended). Ocracoke Coffee Company, at 226 Back Road, serves coffee and smoothies and, per some listings, runs as a mini-bar with live entertainment in the evenings; it's described in places as operating seasonally rather than year-round, though we did not independently verify exact off-season months.

What We Couldn't Verify, and Didn't Guess At

In keeping with this site's rule against fabrication, here's what our research on Ocracoke dining did not turn up, stated plainly instead of invented: we found no reliable, restaurant-by-restaurant price-range data (no site we checked published a consistent $-to-$$$$ scale across all of these businesses), no independently confirmed exact seasonal-closure calendar for each individual restaurant (several are described as seasonal in passing, without specific open/close dates), and no primary-source confirmation of Pony Island Restaurant's stated 1959 founding beyond tourism-directory copy. We also flagged, rather than silently resolved, three specific discrepancies above: the Flying Melon's street address (804, 950, or 181 Back Rd, depending on the source), Ocracoke Oyster Company's street number (875 vs. 621 Irvin Garrish Hwy), and whether 1718 Brewing's kitchen currently operates as Marauder's Kitchen or Plum Pointe Kitchen. None of that changes the core finding -- this is a real, active, well-documented restaurant scene -- but a site built on honesty should say what it doesn't know as clearly as what it does.

What This Means If You're Buying or Visiting

The honest picture: Ocracoke supports roughly two dozen real restaurants, cafes, and food stands for a village of fewer than 800 year-round residents, concentrated along a half-mile or so of Irvin Garrish Highway and Back Road around Silver Lake -- a genuine, well-documented dining scene, not an empty page. Howard's Pub's 2025 ownership change is worth knowing if you've visited before and expect the same owner; the menu and staff were reportedly kept on, but confirm current details before you go. And because a handful of addresses and one kitchen name are genuinely unsettled between our sources, treat this page as a strong starting list to verify against a current map or a phone call -- not a substitute for confirming hours and addresses immediately before your trip, the way you should on any small, seasonal island.