Sam & Omie’s Restaurant: Best Seafood Platter on the Outer Banks
Sam & Omies Has a Long History
Sam & Omie’s Restaurant has been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to natives and tourists on the Outer Banks for over seventy years.
This casual beach restaurant has a long history. The full restaurant as we see it today was established in 1971, but its history goes back to the late 1930s when the Tillet family started a recreational and commercial fishing business. When commercial fishing was slow they took folks out who wanted to fish for fun. The business had to close during the World War II years, but picked back up after the war ended. The restaurant idea came about to give the local working fishermen a place to eat. It was a father-son business for many years (Sam and son, Omie Tillet.) Ownership changed a couple of times but the tradition of good food did not. You can read more about the history of this establishment on Sam and Omie’s website http://www.samandomies.net/history.htm.What's on the Menu?
I indulged myself with the Whale of a Seafood Platter – and it really was a platter piled high with fried oysters, shrimp, clams, scallops, and flounder, lightly breaded and fried to perfection. The vegetable of the day was collard greens and they were cooked the old-time way. I enjoyed them as much as the seafood. The price for the meal was $28.99.
If for some odd reason you don’t want seafood, the dining room serves everything from appetizers, soups, and salads to burgers, steaks, chicken, and pork. If you want to eat lighter the fresh tuna salad plate is a local favorite. A steam bar offers oysters, shrimp, clams and snow crab legs.
Sam & Omie’s parking lot is usually full at breakfast time, too. The morning menu offers all of the traditional southern breakfast foods – eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, hash browns and of course grits. After all, a hearty breakfast is necessary whether you’re off for a day of commercial fishing or you are a tourist with a full itinerary of sight-seeing. The bar offers a place for folks to gather socially and swap their fishing stories. They serve a good variety of domestic and imported beer and wines.
Be sure to buy a Sam & Omie’s T-Shirt or sweatshirt on the way out. They also sell souvenir can-huggies, hats, and visors in the restaurant and on their online store.
Sam & Omie’s Restaurant on the Outer Banks Nags Head, North Ccarolina is located on the Beach Road (Hwy 12) at the16½ milepost, near Whalebone Junction. Phone 252-441-7366. They are closed December through February.
Try the Whale of a Seafood Platter
Visit Sam & Omies Website
- Sam and Omies Restaurant Nags Head, North Carolina Outer Banks
Sam and Omies Outer Banks Restaurant Nags Head Seafood Institution of great food.
© 2010 Donna Campbell Smith
