The Bite at the Box — Restaurant in Atlantic Beach

For the last 25 years, my family has been vacationing here in Atlantic Beach. We have wonderful memories and have always been treated with kindness during our visits. Sadly, after visiting this restaurant, our family is very disturbed, having experienced a very unexpected encounter here.

Nine members of my family visited here, and this group included three children. The kids grabbed shakes from downstairs and then proceeded upstairs to the rooftop seating area. The six adults placed orders for drinks and those drinks were served to us. As we began to enjoy the evening, my family was approached by the owner of this establishment. My brother-in-law, a United States Army veteran has a registered service animal. This animal has been trained to accomplish tasks such as: initiating tactile intervention when his handler experiences sensory overload and helps to alleviate symptoms of hypervigilance. My brother-in-law suffers from PTSD after serving tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This man displayed bravery and valor on behalf of his country yet was told he needed "to leave because the health department told me I cannot have dogs in here" according to the owner. Both my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law attempted to explain that the dog was a registered service animal. We were told "the health department does not care about that and will shut me down because we serve food here". This service animal wears a vest and a tag. I was quite astonished at being asked to leave when we literally had just given this restaurant our money and literally had taken five sips of drinks we were served. My brother-in-law was understandably very upset, and quite honestly I was appalled. In 2022, it is absolutely disgraceful to see a veteran and his service animal be discriminated against. All I kept thinking was what if he had a sight impairment or was an epileptic? Would individuals suffering from those ailments be denied service also if their service animal accompanied them to this restaurant? This is a clear violation of the laws of the state of North Carolina as well as a violation of the ADA. What seemed to be a beautiful little restaurant is harboring discriminatory policies and lacks any knowledge of ADA compliance.

I suggest the owner and bartenders educate themselves before this type of situation occurs again. For starters, I suggest searching the state of North Carolina website which contains educational fliers for owners and employees regarding the use of service animals and the rights of their handler. According to North Carolina and the ADA, the only question you may ask a handler is in regards to what service their service animal is performing for their handler. You may NOT deny the handler nor the service animal entrance or services provided at your establishment. Needless to say we will not be returning and encourage others with service animals to verify their rights before considering...

Excited to try it out but unfortunately had a bad experience. We were confronted on arrival to the outside rooftop bar area by the bartender and her boyfriend regarding my husband's service dog which is totally fine and we are used to being asked. We explained he was a service dog and had registration with us to show proof. We thought it was resolved at that point but a few moments later the same man walked downstairs and reported to owner. The owner then came upstairs and confronted in a group of people that we had to leave. Although she was trying to be kind regarding her love for pets she was misguided on her information and kept stating the health department could shut her down so we had to leave. We attempted to explain this is not the case and he is permitted with the handler but it was not accepted. Our kids were present and this became a rather embarrassing situation being asked to leave on arrival so we decided to pay and leave not even finishing our drinks we had just ordered. This was rather shocking honestly and looking back we should have stood our ground but we just didn't want to be somewhere that we were not welcomed. Really disappointed and I recomend they educate themselves before this happens to a family that does want to enforce...

This was not our favorite place. It was recommended by the hotel staff which also gave us a 15% discount which was great but we're traveling with our dog and the dog friendly patio was somewhat out of service due to repairs/ maintenance work so that was disappointing and awkward. We ordered coffees, chicken and waffles, and the breakfast bowl. The coffee wasn't good. It was watered down and taste like coffee infused tea. The waffles were not good either. They were comparable to the packaged hotel waffles with the sugar crystals that you typically get at a hotel breakfast buffet. The eggs in the breakfast bowl were fine, the hashbrowns were just typical frozen hashbrowns again commonly seen at a hotel breakfast bar. Overall, for the cost, the awkward ambiance of drilling and hammering, it wasn't worth it even with the discount. Would have been better off going to the bojangles down the street....