Eight years ago we bought a home here on Raymond's Gut in Carteret County. Before we even signed the contract we had lunch in the Fairway Restaurant. We went on to have many wonderful meals there and got to know Chris, the owner. After much sampling, I awarded the Fairway the crown for the best burger in the area. The Fairway became our local restaurant of choice. Chris decided he wanted more time with his family and sold the restaurant. While we tried the new restaurant, we never became fans and it quickly disappeared.
This spring we watched with great anticipation as Angie's Lighthouse opened. After several meals there I am happy to report that Angie's Lighthouse has become a favorite of ours. It is one of those rare restaurants where you feel very much at home. That is actually no surprise since Angie's is definitely a family business. You will find Angie, her daughter who is another Angie, and her son, John, working in the restaurant. Having a family running a restaurant adds a special touch especially when they care as much about their customers as the team at Angie's does.
Of course we go to restaurants for convenience, good food, and a dining experience that gives us a break from cooking at home. Angie's Lighthouse Cafe does all that and more. You get very good food at a very reasonable price. Many of you know that my wife, Glenda, and I write a travel guide, A Week At The Beach - The Emerald Isle Travel Guide. One of the responsibilities that we take very seriously is recommending places for our visitors to eat. We want our visitors to have a great experience at the beach and that includes the meals that they eat out.
We say this in our travel guide about Angie's.
The newly opened Angie’s Lighthouse Café on Highway 58 in Cape Carteret is located just before the junction with Taylor Notion Road. They also serve fried seafood. They opened in the same spot that used to house the Fairway Restaurant. I had a tasty shrimp basket my first trip there and the Friday before Memorial Day my wife and I tried their seafood sampler platter. It is a tremendous amount of food and a good value considering how expensive seafood has gotten.
Angie’s Lighthouse Café might be one of those places you can enjoy on busy nights until everyone else figures out that they have good food at a reasonable price. They seem to be doing a very good breakfast business. We stopped there for a quick lunch the first week in June and my wife really enjoyed the special, which was a chicken wrap.
That was written a couple of months ago and we have eaten at Angie's a few more times. On July 12, we had lunch there, and as usual my wife ordered their chicken sandwich wrap. She is hooked on it and maintains that it is one of the best chicken sandwiches in the area. She also loves Angie's slaw and explains that it is the closest in the area to her own cole slaw which we feature as one of the recipes in our travel guide.
I am a little more adventurous and continue to try new things. I have enjoyed their shrimp basket, their "small" eight ounce hamburger, and on our most recent visit, I tried their Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. It was delicious and came with a huge order of fries and a tomato that actually tasted like a tomato. At $8 it is easy for me to rate my Angie's Cheesesteak highly since it costs $3 less than a similar sandwich that I got in another local restaurant this week. The sandwich at Angie's was a better sandwich and the fries were hotter.
We have only been to Angie's once for dinner and we tried the Old Scar's Seafood Platter. I believe it was $34.99 but it is designed to be shared. My wife and I could not finish it all. The platter was as advertised, a great sampling of Carolina fried seafood. I certainly would not stand in line at Jordan's or TW's just to eat in a place that has been around longer. The folks at Angie's do a very good job frying seafood and they remain undiscovered by the tourist crowd so getting a seat at dinner is not a problem.
I mentioned that I ate the "small" cheeseburger at Angie's. It was half a pound and cost $7.50 with fries. Their standard burger is the Ocracoke Burger which is a full pound and costs just under $10. Angie's grinds their burger fresh and I have seen some folks eating the huge Ocracoke Burger.
What really impresses me about Angie's is that they are working hard to be our local restaurant. They have just introduced a senior's menu for those who do not want such large portions. They are also doing some specials during the week from chicken and pastry to the ever famous liver and onions. I am more interested in the return of their hot dog special with slaw and chili. John also shared that his dad is a commercial fisherman and we can expect some unique to the area seafood meals. One of the upcoming specials was so exciting that I made John promise to email me so I would not miss it, but I also had to promise to keep it a secret.
We are looking forward to exploring the dinner menu at Angie's over the course of the next year. There is everything from steak, chicken and pasta to seafood on menu. There is also a very nice selection of dinner sandwiches. Angie's is conveniently located just 1.2 miles north on Highway 58 from the stoplight before the Emerald Isle Bridge. For us it is only about 1.5 miles from our spot near the White Oak so we are excited about once again having a very convenient, consistent, and not so expensive place for tasty meals.
It is also nice to know that Angie's will soon be getting new carpet and new landscaping . The floor that was freshly painted this spring quickly wore down but carpet is on the way. It is refreshing to be able to go to a restaurant during our busy season without having to wait for a seat and to get good food quickly after being seated. However, John did warn us that they have been very busy for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays so we will probably pick a weekday to try breakfast.
Angie's Lighthouse certainly is not the fanciest restaurant in town, but it may well be the friendliest and we can assure you that they will treat you right. I expect that you will enjoy your meal and come back for another one. I am starting to recognize repeat diners.
Those of you who have purchased our travel guide and have access to our restaurant rankings will notice that we have ranked Angie's in the top five restaurants in our area. Our rankings are based on value, how much we like the food, and the total dining experience which includes the professionalism of the staff.
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