Food & Drink

Whether you’re searching for the freshest seafood or vegan restaurants — in Wilmington, NC you can have it your way. The Wilmington River District is a foodie’s paradise with more than 40 locally-owned restaurants and pubs serving up everything from green curry at Indochine to southern comfort food at the family-owned The Basics. The city also has several award-winning restaurants, including Seabird or more casual mouth-watering wings and sandwiches served at On Thyme Restaurant.

Wilmington, NC isn’t just a hub for unique breweries and distilleries — it’s an entire wheel. Make your rounds among more than a dozen craft breweries, including hotspots like manna ave. 123 which serves up creative craft cocktails concocted from local ingredients. Private clubs like Earnest Money & Sons offer a more exclusive atmosphere, while distilleries like End of Days Distillery have earned national recognition for their extensive selections of whiskeys and other spirits.

Voted the top al fresco dining neighborhood in 2015 by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, the Wilmington Riverwalk offers an abundance of open air dining experiences along the Cape Fear River like Elijah’s or Anne Bonny’s Bar & Grill — the city’s only floating bar & restaurant. Looking for a premier rooftop bar? Cloud 9 and aView Rooftop Bistro provide high-class experiences overlooking scenic terrain. And if you’re in the mood to sit out over the shifting ocean tides, Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches are brimming with waterfront restaurants from the casual to the refined.