For a few days last week we were wandering NC's Crystal Coastal. Previous to this trip, we had spent most of our time in the Beaufort, NC area. This time, though we stayed in our favorite spot, the Beaufort Inn in Beaufort, we spent most of our time in the Swansboro area which is roughly thirty minutes west of Beaufort.
Kathy, a real estate agent, took us to lunch at the Icehouse Waterfront Restaurant in Swansboro.
We found the food to be great. We even went back on our own before we headed back home.
I can't tell you a lot about the menu, since I'm still stuck on one of the house specialities. It's a great sandwich. In fact a guy came in and sat down just as mine was being delivered. He quickly told his waitress as he pointed to my sandwich, "I'll have whatever he's having." It was even good enough for my wife, Glenda, to have twice in a row. That is something that she rarely does. It's the Grouper Grandwich pictured to the left.
We'll be investigating the menu more thoroughly since we really like the area.
I did try their lemon-ginger-chicken soup which was also very good. The second trip, we split an order of coconut shrimp which comes with spicy peanut dip and raspberry dip. Surprisingly both dips were very good.
The dessert tray looked deadly, but you can walk off dinner if you turn the ladies loose shopping in Historic Swansboro which seems to have an overabundance of shops that are good at keeping the ladies happy while the guys go fishing.
The Icehouse Waterfront has a couple of outside seating areas and a couple of interior ones .
It also has a bar and some Martini specials for those who care for alcoholic beverages.
For more information you can call 910.325.0501.
The restaurant is located at 103 Moore Street at the corner of Front Street in Swansboro, North Carolina. It is on the water. The ocean is a little deceptive in this area. It's actually to the south instead of to the east of you. That's just one of the pleasant surprises of the Crystal Coast.
Update- Well we ended up loving the area. We bought a place just a few miles from the Ice House.
I live in Swansboro and I am a former manager at the Icehouse. The grandwich is an amazing sandwich but as a local that knows the kitchen I would not recommend the place to anyone. VERY dirty kitchen and employees do not handle the food with care. While I was employed there we had several complaints from food poisoning. I attempted to turn the place around but was offered a job with better pay before i could. To date they have not hired new management and the minimum wage employees are the only eyes on how the food is handled.
Posted by: Manager | December 09, 2007 at 05:30 PM
The above comment is completely untrue! I too have been employed by the Icehouse and will refute this statement 100%!!! Those of you that have worked in the food industry before know that there's NO FOOLING the Health Department. It's plain and clear, in black and white, how clean the kitchen is once that sign is posted, IN PLAIN SIGHT! The owners of the Icehouse are incredible people that have the utmost regard for the comfort of their guests and loyal employees and the restaurant serves AMAZING food! Don't believe me? then go try it and see. If you choose not to, you are only missing out. You will also notice upon visiting, especially on a Thursday through Sunday, that the restaurant is packed! This must be a testament of all the "food poisoning cases."
Posted by: Long time employee | October 19, 2009 at 03:44 PM