The Fat Pelican — Restaurant in Carolina Beach

The Fat Pelican is my favorite bar in the world. It is what other beach bars hope to be. It kind of defies explanation, but I will do my best by bulleting important points:

They do not have a liquor license. You can only buy beer by the bottle/can from a giant freezer (that I believe is the back of a refrigerated semi truck, permanently parked beside the bar) where a wall has been torn down and steps built up into the freezer. You choose your drink and pay at the bar

The only exception to beer are "plum shots." I don't know what the loop hole here is, but if you really don't like beer plum shots are your next option. They come in little jars that have twist-off caps with a plum inside. I have never eaten the plum

The decor is an amalgamation of furniture and closed down signs from all over town. This place is a living history of Pleasure Island. Locals who have been here for a while probably have stories about every sign you can find inside and out.

The staff is always the same, and they are all great. Don't give anyone a bad attitude, because they would never ever do that to you. This is a relaxed, feel good place.

It's just...

Went bar hopping with a friend last night for her 21st birthday and TFP was on our list to stop at. However the bouncer at the door, after asking us for IDs, asked for an ID card for my service dog. I told him there was no such thing and I didn’t have one, but the man continued to ask for papers or identification. In the end, we decided to leave and not fight it since we weren’t in the mood to do so.

According to ADA federal law, Service Dogs do not need identification! There is no registry! They are medical equipment and denying us access because of one is against federal law. If it had been any other night, I likely would have called the police.

Considering we live in a town with multiple amazing Service Dog training programs like Paws4People, I would expect people to be more open minded if learning the law when they don’t know or simply educating themselves and their employees. This was unacceptable and I plus many people I know will not be...

This is not a review of the bar or the staff, but of a local group of older, white, former military men who seem to be regulars there. We walked over last weekend from a house we were renting for New Years and our first anniversary, and were really looking forward to the great beer selection, quirky atmosphere and the cornhole. All of those things delivered, and we would have had an A+ time if we didn't experience some pointed racist comments from one man in particular ("I've told my daughter, if you hang out with trash, you started to smell like trash"), and a very cool reception from most of the group (i.e., we asked to sit down at a large circle around a fire pit and no one responded, everyone stopped their conversation and were slow to pick it back up, and one person got up and left immediately). Would not recommend for this reason,...