Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe — Restaurant in Nags Head

Terrible food, apathetic management. My friend and I started out trying to go to “tale of the whale” but they were closed so we ended up here. We were told That there was only a five minute wait and was told we could wait in the bar. When the bartender found out we were going to have dinner and we’re just waiting for our beeper to go off, she walked off and didn’t take our drink order. We sat there for at least five minutes being ignored. After we were seated, our server brought some warm cornbread and butter which was really good. Our server was friendly and kind of made a big deal about the fact that all three of her tables in a row were new customers (that should’ve been a red flag that it wasn’t full of local, repeat customers). The French onion soup was good, but the she–crab “soup,” although flavorful, was more of a pasty roux than a soup. My prime rib came out completely gray despite my request for medium rare plus. The server informed me that it was because it had been sitting under hot lights and that it would ”pink up” as it sat for a little while. It did not. The roasted potatoes had a little bit of rosemary but were otherwise not seasoned. The asparagus was extremely thin and very stringy, even the tips were not tender. My friend had ordered a seafood platter with shrimp, flounder, and scallops. She asked the server if she could substitute sweet potato for the vegetable of the day and was told that she could. When a plate came out, she just had carrots. The fish was tender But did not have a lot of flavor. The scallops were perfectly cooked and were sweet on their own, they also were not seasoned. The shrimp were boiled in an old bay type seasoning. Honestly, I think everything was seasoned with the same paprika-based seasoning mix. There was no salt in the seasoning and it didn’t taste like anything more than paprika. My friend and I had both ordered crabcakes as an add-on. They were terrible. They were supposed to be lump crab meat but were shredded crab. They were extremely dry and flavorless. We asked the server before we ordered if there were any peppers in the crabcakes because I was allergic and she was sensitive. By “allergic” I mean I have extreme sensitivity and painful stomach issues. The server insisted there was no pepper. Since they were so dry and flavorless, we asked for “old Bay” and mayonnaise. My friend on a whim asked if they had remoulade. The server brought us some. We tried to make them taste better, but they didn’t. Then my friend found chunks of green pepper. I looked at my crabcakes and there were chunks of green pepper in mine as well. We called the server over and she said they didn’t usually put it in. She told the manager who said there wasn’t any in there. He came over and we showed him that there was pepper and explained about the sensitivities. He walked off to check with the kitchen. A few minutes later a different manager came over and said, “there’s no pepper in the crabcakes, it was in the remoulade” and walked away. First of all, who puts chunks of green pepper in remoulade? But second of all, the apathy was shocking. I don’t know what I was expecting but after working in the food service industry for several years, it was not that. In general the whole experience left a literal bad taste in my mouth. It was so bad, that we just wanted to get out of there. I hope this restaurant can exist on a constant flow of...

My family and I came to OBX for a holiday weekend. We were so excited to eat here after specifically looking for locally owned restaurants with fresh caught fish, and reading about the restaurant and family on the website.

First, let me clarify since I’ve seen this brought up in replies by the restaurant: my husband and I love nothing better than fresh caught seafood, and have eaten everywhere from Venice, to Hawaii, to St Lucia, including countless times on the southeast coast of the US. We are not “unaccustomed” to fresh fish’s flavor as the owner suggests on other reviews.

The website advertises panoramic views and their outdoor area, and while I may have been confused, it was definitely misleading when we arrived to discover there were no outdoor tables. Still, we figured the food would be good and fresh. We were eating with our 18 month old son with special needs. We had to ask for a high chair for him 3x. We had to ask for a straw for him 2x. I am 3 years sober, and was happy to have found a single mocktail on their lmenu, but when I asked about an unknown ingredient, the waiter told me, “yeah I wouldn’t know” and walked away.

We were brought our meals pretty quickly, which was nice, but in my husband’s words, “It looks like it came from a retirement home cafeteria” (pics attached). We both ordered off of the fresh Saturday specials menu (that they posted on their social media that day); mine was yellowtail served with scalloped potatoes and squash and his was tilefish on top of grits…except they weren’t. I was served a gray, watery, undercooked tuna steak with mashed sweet potatoes and sliced pickles and onions sitting in a bowl of vinegar. I didn’t know what my husband ordered, so I asked him if his soup was good, only to discover it wasn’t soup (check the picture). I asked the waiter, “wasn’t this supposed to come with scalloped potatoes?” He said, “I don’t know, did you read the description?” I didn’t have the menu still, so I said nevermind, but when checking it later on their social media, I saw I was right.

My husband managed to stomach some bites of his food, and my toddler ravenously ate their fries; I didn’t eat anything. As soon as we got back to our hotel 30 minutes away, my perfectly healthy husband and son had explosive diarrhea. I have IBS and felt perfectly fine, so I guess you can decide for yourself what variables contributed to that.

I had hoped for genuine care for the food and location like I’ve experienced at other family owned restaurants, instead we visited a tourist trap that makes garbage fodder. Maybe their fish was fresh caught at one point, but certainly not by the time that it made it...

My parents recommended this as our “nice night out” restaurant when we went to the OBX on vacation. It did not disappoint.

The food was beyond expectations. The seafood specials had the name of the fisherman who caught it and brought it in that day. The vegetables and herbs come from the organic garden that’s out In the front. There is even a sign that explains how there may be an unusual smell since they use fish scraps from meal prep to help fertilize the garden.

I have a disabled teenager who likes to order off the kids menu. I asked if that was ok, and our server Dalton said “she can order anything she wants. I’m your server. You tell me what you want, and I’ll bring it.” It was a very refreshing answer and unexpected from previous experience at higher-end restaurants.

Dalton was very knowledgeable about the menu and even gave me some suggestions. He even helped me decide how I’d like my tuna steak cooked. Something I’d never had before and was clueless. We got a crab dip appetizer that was awesome, and Dalton accidentally talked me into a cup of clam chowder when he described it and said it was broth and not cream (I can’t have dairy).

They served us traditional style cornbread with kernels of corn in it and it was amazing. Even the tea was good. I was expecting standard Lipton, and instead I got a reminder of my childhood in the Midwest, and real unsweetened tea.

Dessert was top notch. We got three slices of various pie/cake wedges (would Have been 4, but they ran out of raspberry cheesecake). Which was actually nice since it means they are made there, And not some defrosted concoction shipped in from Cleveland.

The food was fantastic, our server Dalton was amazing, the ambiance and the show in the sound outside the windows was priceless. I’m going to get out of geology and go into biochem so I can split some dna to get a few more arms and give this place...