Lost Colony Tavern — Restaurant in Manteo

4/2025" went in today for lunch..lea our server was nice& friendly.. the mushy peas weren't available and I thought they were the best thing on the menu last year so that's to bad..the chicken tenders were ok.. but they were pressed meat they were not chicken tenderloins which for the pricé I expected chicken..they did not taste like meat but like cardboard with tasty breading, the young man who sat us was not friendly, the people in here working in general were not friendly Í don't know if they didn't like us the local natives or did they think we were tourists?? This is the 3rd time giving them a chance but as much as I want to help the local business I won't do that here, the food just isn't that great, service overall acted bored and unfriendly ( granted Lea was super nice) and it seemed the locals sitting at the bar were the only ones receiving friendly service... 3/2024Had not ate here in years or since it changed hands.. went in for dinner it wasn't to busy and Michael was our server.. he seemed to be doing tables and the bar"" we had the fish & chips... Excellent fries by the way... and the mushy peas.. yum! I tried the crab cake sandwich.. it initially tasted good but after a few bites it was plenty and whatever the seasoning was could have been better if a lot less of it... had a few drinks the Hatteras ice tea was ok but the Painkiller uck" avoid, it was not a good drink..and the prices for the drinks are not worth the cost.. at $12 a drink they were to pricey but if they had been made well I would have had no problem with for you get what you pay for, but these fell way off the mark.. so I recommend avoiding the expensive drinks. ( and if you do I'm sure having a beer would be more cost efficient ) .. I did not like having a server come to the table with a phone pad telling us the cost and that's it.. you pay while they stand their watching you.. and unless you pay cash for a tip.. you have no option to pick your own amount for a tip available.. very indifferent (as was the server) and I don't like not having a copy of my bill especially when paying with a 20% tip just a couple dollars less than $100 bucks for 2.. I would come back to grab takeout and get the fish.. but did not really have the friendly service I've had at most places in our area.. and when you pay that much you want welcoming friendly service which it just seemed to lack..( I will say the young woman who was waiting on a different table did seem really friendly and I think if we had her waiting on us instead my opinion on service would had been a good one) check them out for fish & chips alone makes it...

AVOID. AVOID. AVOID. Worst restaurant experience I've ever had in the 3.5 years of us having children. I have just 1 rule with restaurants being overwhelmed. Be transparent about it! Don't trick me into giving you my money. I love it when restaurants tell me it's going to be a long wait for everything. It's good old fashioned honesty and it allows me to make a choice upfront, especially with having tired and hungry young kids.

We were in a party of 8 plus 4 kids, all 3yo and under. This is Easter week and the crowds are very light everywhere. Upon our arrival, they told us it will be a short wait to get our table ready since a previous large party was just leaving. Good timing, right? We decided to stay based on that information. Some of us would have opted to go back to the beach house if it was going to be a wait because we were pushing our kids nap times. No one said a word to us that they were overwhelmed in anyway. It was nearly 20 minutes before we actually sat down. I tried to grab a beer in the pub area. The bartender seemed drunk himself, because he wasn't even paying attention to who was next in line or the fact that I wanted a beer in the first place. My friend came in and told me they were finally sitting down so I gave up on the bartender. Then the real nonsense began. Our waitress introduced herself after 15 minutes of sitting just to get drink orders. We had 8 adults and 3 of us wanted flights of beer. She casually took all the orders without writing anything down. 3 of the drink orders were wrong. 15 minutes later we had waters on the table. 10 more minutes we had beers. (40 minutes of sitting) Then she took everyone's food orders without writing it down again. Food came out after about 30 more minutes!!! That's 70 minutes of sitting with children without a bite to eat. (We had text messages about the table being ready to prove this timing.) Oh and 2 of the food orders were wrong, making one of us wait another 10 minutes to make his entire dish. The food wasn't even good. French fries are better out of the freezer at home. My crab sandwich was a joke for being in OBX. And another one of us couldn't eat his BBQ sandwich after the first bite in fear that the meat was bad or under cooked. The only thing this place gets right is beer. But to be in a family oriented vacation spot like this and treat us like that is unacceptable. Our kids were miserable and falling asleep...

While visiting Roanoke Island, Fat Man Reviews ventured into the Lost Colony Tavern in Manteo, NC. Lost Colony is a casual hangout pairing house brews & local beers with an eclectic pubby American menu.

I took the Tour of British Isles' beer flight. This flight takes you on a tour of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales with a 4oz pour of all 8 Lost Colony ales. Starting with the lights there is the Pamlico Pale Ale, Kitty Hawk Blonde, Nags Head IPA and finishing with the Hatteras Irish Red. The dark starts with Nut Brown Ale, Charon Stout, Kill Devil Scotch Ale and finishing with the Holy Hand Grenade. I thought that most were good beers I really enjoyed the Brown Ale, Stout and the Holy Hand Grenade. The Brown and Stout tasted like a traditional ale of that fashion, but they were both fresh and crisp. The Hand Grenade was sweet and reminded me of a barley wine. Their beers are worth trying for sure.

My fiancé and I split a lunch entrée and fries. We had The Huntsman, which is made with seasonal wild game, Elk was in the menu today, a handmade pie crust made with Lost Colony Nut-Brown Ale, mashed potatoes, mushy peas and a brown gravy. The mash was made well, and it was a little lumpy and rustic, which I enjoy, but it needed salt. The mushy peas were creamy and cooked well with some texture, but they also required salt. The pie crust was flaky with a nice crispiness on the top. The meat filling was juicy and cooked well with a bit of gravy inside. It did need a touch of salt and pepper, but it did not have a gamy taste. The gravy in the gravy boat was a brown and kind of sweet. It was an interesting flavor but when combined with the pie crust and the savory filling it made for an enjoyable bite. The fries were out of a bag and were fried to a perfect golden brown crispiness, but they required a touch of salt. You get an impressive amount to an order.

The Lost Colony offers several British food favorites in dinners, savory pies and sweet endings. They have a full bar, the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. The Fat Man says that Lost Colony Tavern is Fat Man Approved...