The Wreck Tiki Bar — Restaurant in Hatteras Island

Decent food. Decent atmosphere. Customer service? Generally good, but one staff was absolutely terrible.

Here’s what happened: We ordered two drinks and lunch, prepaid a 20% tip, and waited for a table to clear. Instead of bringing our drinks to the freshly cleared table, the staff plopped them on the bar. While juggling both drinks off the slippery menu they’d set them on, one slipped —before I’d even had a sip.

One bartender immediately began to remake it (basic decency, right?), but another—a younger blonde—intervened and insisted they “had to charge” me because it “wasn’t their fault.” Even other customers in line spoke up, pointing out that I hadn’t even taken a sip of the drink yet.

On principle, I refused the replacement drink. Given we were waiting for a ferry I would have happily bought at least two more drinks, but that level of nickel-and-diming killed any chance of that.

Pro tip: If you want your customers to come back, don’t humiliate them over a $14 drink they never even tasted.

Oh, and FYI mimosas don't come with crushed ice. If you don't know how to make a drink you can always ask or Google.

Reply to owner: Thank you for the reply and the offer: If you had just made the offer without trying to justify your rude and frankly just inexperienced staff cashier, I would have taken you up on the offer and deleted my review. But here is where you are wrong. If you read my review again (I have not edited anything above the "---"), I did not say it slipped off the menu. I was clear I was juggling the glasses with my hands. It was not attribution of fault I was disputing. It was courtesy, hospitality and service that was lacking. I have been honest in my review of food and atmosphere with 4 stars each. We ate inside. If you review your video again you will see that as soon as I finished ordering I told a polite waitress that I am going to wait to find a table inside since it was very hot outside. And a table had just cleared up before the drinks were put on the bar. Mimosas don't come with ice - anywhere. I wouldn't have cared about it in the absence of the rude service. But you chose to make a distinction between crushed ice and the ice you serve rather than recognize the problem.

So, thank you, but...

After waiting over an hour for food (which the told us was the case when we ordered, and it was busy), server brings food out and plops my food on the edge of the picnic table where it flips off the table and into my lap and into the floor. Server watches it happen, looks at me and scurries off into the restaurant. I was able to savage half my sandwich from the ground. I wasn’t exactly expecting a free meal, but the complete lack of care is what bothered me. Before leaving, my husband went in to ask for a box and soda refill. He was ignored and finally was able to get a box but gave up on getting a refill bc of the lack of attention the staff gave. I walked in to the bar and was completely ignored due to the girls “working” there too busy flirting with men sitting at the bar. I finally had to interrupt their conversation to ask if they provide drink refills and was told yes. I explained my husband waited and waited for one but couldn’t even get anyone to acknowledge him. Staff became rude so I informed them about the mess outside that needed to be cleaned up from my food that flipped off the table. They continued mouthing off as I walked away. Would never spend a dime here again. Shame they’re one of a few places to eat in thin walking distance...

I had a really disappointing experience at The Wreck Tiki Bar. I visited because I’m currently pregnant and was really craving a frozen non-alcoholic drink which they had advertised. Unfortunately, the frozen option I ordered wasn’t frozen enough — which I completely understood and politely asked if I could switch to a different non-alcoholic drink instead. I pointed to it on the menu and made it clear I wanted the non-alcoholic version.

When I got the drink, I didn’t realize right away that it had alcohol in it. After taking a few sips, my boyfriend went up to double-check, and sure enough, it did have alcohol. When he brought it up, the server was extremely rude and said, “Well, that’s what she ordered,” instead of apologizing for the mix-up. To make it worse, several of the girls behind the bar started talking about me and gossiping loudly, which was incredibly embarrassing.

I left feeling upset, embarrassed, and honestly devastated that I accidentally consumed alcohol during my pregnancy. Mistakes happen — but the lack of accountability and the way I was treated afterward was unacceptable. A simple apology and a little kindness would’ve gone a long way. I don’t...