Jimmy's Seafood Buffet — Restaurant in Kitty Hawk

Jimmy's is an amazing family owned local business. And as such you may not get an atmosphere like those other chains, or even the lowest prices, but I promise you, the food, experience, and service you will be getting at Jimmy's gets you more for your money and makes it so worth it.

Before my family and I went, I read some reviews and was a bit hesitant. Yes there are seafood smells in the place (come on this is an all you can eat seafood buffet), and the interior is reminiscent of an old school restaurant, but I tell you what, this is what it's all about. I'd much rather enjoy this than a cookie cutter or more overly modern ambiance full of fluff place.

The server we had that day was awesome. He had great pride in this place and a great attitude. From the kitchen staff that I was able to see through the counter in the back, to the bus help and other wait staff, they work real hard and efficiently and they do it to benefit their guests.

Food overall was excellent. I admit not all items were a homerun but given the variety and quantity I won't knock them for it especially as a local business that makes most things if not all (from what I learned) from scratch. For example fried shrimp and scallop, they were of the smaller bay type BUT, I would much rather they focus on the homeruns like the variety of hot seafood. My gosh that spread was thick; Snow Crab (various sizes), Dungeness, King Crab, Blue Crab, Stone Crab, Mussels, Clams, Lobster Tails and Claws etc. The hot food was also not bad and I'm sure there are items there that most people would enjoy, I know I did.

On the day we went, it was Wild Wed so there was an additional 10 or 15 dollar charge on top of their regular prices. We were good with that because I would much rather pay more for higher quality for a nice buffet. The increase was from what I understand, the availability of collosal Snow Crabs from a high quality supplier and I will tell you, it was so worth it, THE BEST Snow Crab legs I've ever had in my long buffet experienced life. Meaty, flavorful, umami, and not overly salty just a nice fresh mouthful of delicious crab is all I will say. As an FYI, I believe they change up the specials based on availability of special items that may impact price so check prior if you want, either way you can't go wrong (even their standard Snow Crab legs were good).

To put my review into perspective, we were at Captain George's several miles away two nights prior and while it was 15 or 20 bucks less, their Snow Crab legs were of the lower quality and size and not as fresh. So while we were stuffed with wet and salty crab legs, we didint enjoy them nearly as much as we did Jimmy's. They also didint have the variety of Crabs or Lobster that Jimmy's had.

In summary...this is what a local family owned business should be, and this is why as a consumer your expectations and understandings have to be balanced. My family and I really enjoyed our experience there.

Kudo's to Jimmy's...I hope that our next visit will be just as good when we head down to the OBX again.

(BTW, I did hear some customers as I was walking out complain about wait times and I suspect that starting off like that may influence their experience and reviews so I urge yall to call and ask for best times or not go during the early...

0 stars for kid friendliness! I hate to even wright this review. Been coming to the obx for a while now and each year we made it a priority to stop by jimmy’s seafood. After this year we will no longer be visiting now that we have children. Last year we was charged for my two year old to eat a bite of crab legs and wasn’t even aware until this year when we went back. We thought it was awful expensive last year but we brushed it off and went on with our day not knowing my 2 year old was actually charged $35.00 for a bite or two of crab legs. This year we go back and we was actually told that my now 3 year old was going to be charged 35 dollars for again the couple bites of crab legs that he may have eaten. My son likes crab legs and always wants to try some but obviously a 3 year old clearly is not going to eat even a whole leg let alone a whole cluster. But I’m not going to make my son watch me eat some and him not even get to try some so I paid the 35 dollars for the maybe two or three bites that he had. We also have a 2 year old who we couldn’t even let try the crab legs because of their policy. Luckily he wasn’t to interested in them but I still felt bad for not being able to feed him some. On top of that all of the employees sat over in their little booth area watching to make sure I didn’t feed my two year old any so that was annoying being stared at the entire time we was eating like we was under some kind of surveillance. I couldn’t even enjoy the food that we so look forward to every year. Jimmy’s sea food was always one of our main reasons for visiting the obx. I actually wasn’t going to leave a review because I’m usually not one to do so but I can’t help but think of all the little kids and families that have been ripped off from their kids policies obviously. Any kid 5 or younger isn’t going to eat $35.00 worth of crab legs. An adult wastes more than what a kid that age will eat. Their website says other wise though and says your kids will be charged their age times two but that’s if they don’t eat any crab legs and that’s even the tiniest bite so be sure not to let your little ones try a piece because they will watch you like a hawk. I was peeling steamed shrimp for my 2 year old and I made sure to let them know that’s what it was. Didn’t want them to get any ideas of charging me for a extra crab leg buffet. Also the place is super loud and crowded I had to stand around and wait for the waiters/waitresses to move out of the only path that we had to get to our table and they ain’t going to make it a priority to get out of the way either they’ll sit around and talk while you hold your plate for 3 minutes. The food was still good although I couldn’t enjoy it from the frustration and the employees watching us eat the entire time. But I do give the food itself a good review. Our waitress was nice and all but as a whole I give the service one star for the way we was being watched. I’m an honest person and if I was going to give him some I would have paid for it there’s no need to sit and watch us like that. I’ll give the place 2 stars and that’s only because the food was still good but overall 2 stars is all they deserve this time. Before I had kids I would give it a 5 star all day but if you have children I don’t...

I was traveling for work out of town, and saw the sign for the Seafood buffet with crab legs and AYCE lobster. So, I clipped the coupon, and went. It was typically busy, no problem, and they seated me at the busy bar. The noise from the dining area was fierce, with children screeching and drunk people bellowing. The barmistress was nice, but the happiness ended when she told me they were not honoring the ad or the coupon for AYCE lobster. That's when the problems began. You could buy ONE for $5.99 extra on the already pricey buffet price, 59.99 per person. I grudgingly agreed to order one and go up to the crowded buffet area, which is really laid out weird. No scallops in the buffet pan (nor were there any all night), over-fried clams and oysters, and cold crab legs of all description (they should have been served hot), blue crab claws that were so dry they looked like they were left over from the previous night. The Seattle Dungeness crabs looked really good, but tasted like diesel. Yes, diesel. The best item on the buffet that night was the foil-wrapped baked potato..I came back to my seat at the bar to find a forlorn-looking lobster that was cold and dry. Settling in to eat the fried oysters, just couldn't do it.. They were fried hard to the point of charcoal briquets. Sad, because a good fried oyster is hard to beat. Got up to check on the scallops, hopeful, but no joy. Heard someone else say they had been waiting their whole visit for some, but none were brought out. They did have some tasty Angus steak bites, but they were too tough to cut with the flimsy butter knife you were given. Overall, this was a crashing disappointment, from start to finish...I had been warned by one of the locals that this place was hit or miss, and she had known several people who got food poisoning here..I can see why---hot items were cold and cold items were hot, and then there were those Dungeness crabs that had a diesel fuel taste. That can't be good. My body won't run on diesel. Heed my local friend Julie's advice and give this place a hard pass. I got off lucky with not catching some kind of...