Buxton Munch Co — Restaurant in North Carolina

Honestly, this place is overrated and definitely not worth it. Don't let the highly rated reviews fool you.

I was visiting Hatteras Lighthouse and decided to eat here since I saw really good reviews and the theme of the place seemed cute. When I arrived, there was about a ten minute wait for two people, but the wait wasn't bad at all since there was shaded seating outside.

When we were called the lady in charge of the wait list (which I assume is the owner as I've read through other reviews) gave us our menus and told us where to sit instead of walking is to our seat. No biggie though. As soon as we sit down without even having a chance to open our menus, our waiter comes and asks us for out drink orders. I told him to give us a little time, but he still stands wait waiting to jot down out drinks. Feeling rushed/taking up his time when he could be helping other tables, I just got water. I don't know if this is how he was trained but he came back every five minutes when I told him time and time again that I needed time to decide on what to eat.

When I was able to relax and look at the menu, I found it to be slight variations of the same thing. (Crabcake sandwhich, crabcake wrap, Jamaican crabcake wrap, etc.) I asked the waiter how many cheese sticks and in an order and he just motioned with his hand a small box and said "they come on a small tray about this big." That's cool and all, but how do you not know how many cheese sticks come in an order, or at least not volunteer to ask the kitchen how many comes in the order?

Anyways, I decided to get an appetizer of chips and salsa and a crabcake wrap, while my boyfriend got a bacon cheeseburger. I expected the chips and salsa to be just plain Tostitos with salsa, but they were house made bread chips. They were really good, although they weren't warm upon arrival, which is what I would expect for that type of chip (like the chips you get for crab dip at other places).

However when the food arrived, that was when we received eight Tostitos chips. I dont know about you, but eight, medium to small sized Tostitos is not a good side for a burger or a wrap, especially since they don't serve fries. The crabcake meat itself was really good since it was blue claw/shell crab meat, but it wasnt worth the money. The cheeseburger was very average, and again not worth the money. As my boyfriend took the last bite of his cheeseburger the waiter immediately came over and grabbed his plate, while the check came shortly after. I finished my wrap and we paid and left.

Our waiter made us feel incredibly rushed during our meal and when we were deciding on what to eat (which how can you decide on what to eat when nothing stands out as being "original.") As I said, the wrap was really good, but you could just get a sub or wrap from a gas station deli that would make you feel more full than the wrap. As for the burger, just go to Five Guys and itll be ten times better than the burger here.

Although I had a very lackluster and boring experience, I rate this place two stars simply because the room temperature house chips were pretty decent, and my crab was good (but literally every other restaurant has good crab like this so it's not really that much of an achievement.) Just go somewhere else to eat, because this place definitely isn't worth your time or money.

Edit/Response: When I asked the waiter if there were other sides other than the chips for the cheeseburger and wrap, he said that there were only chips and not fries. I'm not sure if he just finished training a week ago, but he didn't seem knowledgeable about the menu. Which is fine if he just finished training, but at least ask the kitchen or you, the owner, questions that the customer has without just shrugging it off. This may be the first time that someone has left a review saying that they felt rushed, but that doesn't mean that my opinion is invalid/false/untrue just because it's the first time you've heard of this issue. Perhaps others felt rushed in the past, and just didn' want to bother with...

I didn't leave a review nor did I voice a complaint while in to pick up my food... I figured the other employees would let you know... But obviously they didn't as u are literally asking me to air some dirty laundry..so here goes... As I was only 1 of 2 customers in the business at the time, it shouldn't be hard to figure out what the issue was if you happen to ask the other owner in the kitchen or any of the wait staff as they completely saw what happened. And I won't even mention the conversation that I over heard when i called in my order. as you laid the phone down to speak to the people you were ringing up..but you should be ashamed...not going to put into type for your own good..u should thank me. I completely enjoy the food there..its great. ..had the leftovers for lunch today. But if you were to happen to let your other employees handle the telephone or the register which would free you up to mingle and talk to the customers as long as you please...I'm sure that you would never get another bad review and you would probably enjoy your day more at the business. And as far as the other reviews I've left through the years that you obviously read as you trolled my profile......ummmm....am I not allowed to leave someone a review unless I ask your permission or what... I saw someone straight up cough on a tray of uglies...and then the girl just bags one right up off the tray... u wouldn't complain about that as a restaurant owner??? U act like people are only allowed to leave 5 star reviews....lol... Take my advice in stride....let someone else in there answer the phone and run the register...u will totally enjoy your time there more if you trust your employees to do the job and u can just mingle. And like I said, the foods great.... But if u go through the years and read any of the bad reviews the place gets ....they are all about the person behind the register. And your responses to the 1 and 2 star reviews that are ALL mentioning YOU specifically are condescending and the epitome of rude.... and that tells me all i need to know about you and how you run the place....so there's that. Not how a business should be managed...and I'm stoked that u have made it 26yrs...but that's only because you are in a village with little to no competition...it's not hard to run a business feeding people in a town with no where else to eat lunch. And oh my gosh....in 26yrs of running a business that has constant issues with limited space and constant complaints from people that you tell to go away because they have more than 4 people....it really really really seems you would have taken some of those funds that allow you to close for 5 months out of the year and either buy a lot and build the restaurant of your dreams or find a suitable rental...but i guess you don't care enough to invest in something that would make your world easier and that would allow your husbands food to be enjoyed by more people. 26yrs...your investment would be paid off by now...instead you choose to sit in an inadequate space and just complain because people want to give you money... Maybe if u had a more suitable location that weird airlock vestibule thing u got going on with the stop sign wouldn't exist....Lol... the stop sign...thats the most unwelcoming introduction to a business you could throw out there. Oh...and I will just throw this out there...it was obvious that the waitstaff was afraid of you as they stood by and refused to interrupt you ...thats why your husband rang that bell to get your attention after I had been standing there for about 5 minutes..... Read some of the cheesy signs u have on the wall in the place....read them slowly....the ones talking about kindness.

Just trying to help you...

We went to this place after we found out there was a 1 1/2 wait for the ferry. Not many choices for lunch around this area. So we ended up here. Had a small wait which we expected. Actually got sat pretty quick. 5e woman that came out to get us for our table didn’t welcome us, ask how I was or anything, just called out our name and saw I had a bottled water and said “you can’t take that in here” turned and stood there. When I came back in she didn’t even walk us toward the table, actually bar stools, just point to the back of the restaurant. I brought a bottled water because we were told it would be about 15-30 minutes and the wait was outside on a bench in 90 degree weather. We were waited on by a young man that was very nice and he checked up on us somewhat consistently. There was a point where we were out of sodas and water and we asked another lady behind the bar for refills and she wasn’t very friendly but asked what we were drinking and walked off to never see her again. At least on our end of the bar. Another young man, and I mean young, like maybe 16 behind the bar???? Took care our drinks refills. Food was good. Average I’d say. “Hospitality was quite lacking tho. Again, only a few options in town so next time we’ll pack PB&J sandwiches.

Thanks for your reply! Bar stool, bar top and cases of beer behind the counter looks more like a bar than a lunch counter. But that’s just me. Glad you can remember my face, I do have one of those faces that’s people remember for some reason. However, per your own stats that’s a lot of faces to remember in one 5 hour day let alone one from LAST WEEK! My calendar reads that July 4th is this week not last week when I was there. I’m sorry I didn’t approach you at checkout and gave your u a canned response but you were the one that greeted me like you did. (Not addressed in your response by the wa) Guess because I wasn’t local I got greeted the way I did. Just guessing. And I did address the service by the lack of tip we left. And I certainly didn’t hear any of the singing You proudly boasted about. I wish you much more success in the future. You got the lunch time crowd because you’re one of the few that serve lunch. Shame on me for not being better prepared this time and stick with my suggest about of bringing PB&Js to eat. Be just as good and...