Pepperoni Grill at the Beach — Restaurant in Oak Island

I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of this amazing restaurant and wanted to return the wonderful service experience I was given with a fair assessment. Over the last six years, my family and I have eaten at almost all the establishments on Oak Island and so I feel like if I rate this against all other restaurants, it is a fair comparison. I will be rating on Service, Quality, Speed, Cleanliness, Experience.

Service: This was an instant surprise! To walk into a place you have never been and expect to be waited on is an absolutely understandable viewpoint. Since this restaurant is self-serve/order you would think there could be lots of confusion. NOPE! As we entered we sat down at an open table and were greeted by the ONLY person in the front of the house. At first glance I was sure we would need to do everything from order to practically expo our own food and bus our tables, but instead, the lady greeted us and asked if this was our first visit to Pepperoni Grill. Of course it was and so she gave us the rundown of what they were about and how to handle our service. No confusion, no wondering, immediate service, and a wonderful way to start our meal. Throughout our meal we were checked on (not for refills, that's our job) to make sure our meal was satisfactory as well as pleasant conversation about the area in general. At the conclusion of our meal we were surprised to find they had overheard my daughters' desire to have a pepperoni pizza next time we were here and brought out a piece for my girls to enjoy, free of charge. That was huge for us, a family of 5 on a limited budget for the evening. Nothing could have surprised us more, however, than the wonderful dessert for our anniversary. Complimentary cannoli for our family. All in all, this service experience was top notch and there were ZERO turn-offs for our family. Rating: 5 of 5

Quality: Our family ordered a large pizza (classic white) and fried pickles. Complimentary garlic knots were provided with the meal in lieu of table bread and that might have been the best tasting part of the meal. The fried pickles were fresh from the fryer and served with ranch dressing. They were fried golden, crispy, and hot and were perfectly complimented by the cool ranch. The pizza was a standard brick oven style crust cooked just right and served as plain as advertised. Nothing fancy, nothing exquisite. The ricotta cheese was a surprisingly filling additive to traditional pizza fare and 2 pieces in I couldn't do any more. The flavor wasn't lacking and the amount was sufficient (with leftovers) for 2 adults and 3 children. The aforementioned cannolis were amazing and garnished with chocolate syrup and cinnamon/sugar to really drive home that sugar high you will have ten minutes after you leave. Rating: 5 of 5

Speed: What's to say? The longest I saw anyone in the restaurant wait was about 10 mins. On a much busier evening I would expect a wait of 20-25 mins but we were in on a slow evening with perfect conditions. No wait other than for the preparation and cooking of food at its normal pace. Not one iota to complain about. Rating: 5 of 5

Cleanliness: With only one employee up front you might expect some lag in the cleaning and busing of the place but the lady did a knock-out job of maintaining a balance of what needed to be done and helping customers. That's not to say that several people from the back didn't help, but rather they were very efficient in how they managed their time and kept the appearance of a much fuller staff with maybe only 5 employees in the entire establishment. The floors and walls were all clean and and restaurant tidy. Rating: 5 of 5

Experience: The culmination of the above qualities gives an easy picture of why this restaurant deserves the 5 star rating I gave them. I would eat there EVERY meal if had the money to do so. There is no better restaurant I can recommend here on Oak Island, and I encourage you all to give the Pepperoni Grill...

I hate leaving poor reviews, but I feel I have to say something in the hopes that someone might be spared the same experience I had. TLDR; DO NOT ORDER ONLINE. No clue what the food was like, since their online ordering appears completely broken and I was charged without ever getting my food.

I placed an online order for takeout, the website wasn't great and it doesn't tell you when the soonest pickup time is until after you pay, but I was alright with that. I got 3 different confirmations for my order, and figured all was well. I realized that I forgot an item and called to have it added and said I would pay when I picked up the rest of my order, I was put on hold and then heard the phone hang up. I thought it was strange, but figured they just got really busy and that they'd call back when they got a chance, which did not happen. When I go to pick up my order (3 small pizzas and garlic knots) an hour later at the time specified, the staff at the window tell me they don't have an order under my name or my phone number, claiming it meant their system never processed the order. I showed them my confirmation page, as well as how the payment was already taken out of my account, and acted as if it wasn't a matter of concern at all. The resolution they offered me was that I could place another order, pay again, and wait another 30 minutes to get my food. I didn't want to bother since it was already after 8pm, and was assured that the payment would clear by the end of the night as "This has been happening a lot lately." I made sure to have a number to call in case, and I'm glad I did as the payment didn't clear from my account that night, nor the next day, but instead went through and completed the transaction. When I called again, they said it could take 3-5 days to clear, until I emphasized that it was no longer processing or pending, but completed, at which point they finally collected my information and said they would refund the amount. I can understand technical difficulties, but the lax reaction to $50+ just vanishing out of thin air with no record and without even so much as a meaningful apology is what absolutely ruined my hopes for this place. I would have loved to try the food, but I at least hope they'll update/switch their system to prevent this from...

This is a restaurant I will never give my business to again. Here's why.

I placed an order for delivery and was told I would have it in 45 minutes; it didn't show up until 20 minutes AFTER that. I understand food delivery isn't a perfect science and that there's an understood margin of error (that should be) built into the time estimate, but being TWENTY MINUTES LATE when I was given a 45 minute time frame is wholly unacceptable.

The delivery guy was didn't bring any change. I won't comment on his character (because I don't have to LIKE the person who brings me my food), but not bringing change is just plain dumb.

I ordered a half cheese, half pepperoni pizza that tasted like what the cafeteria of my middle school served. The pizza was, by every measure, underwhelming and disappointing. Lame cheese, lame pepperoni. I don't mean to insult the tastes of anybody because, hey, we all like different things, but I could barely stomach this.

I ordered a large pizza (half cheese, half pepperoni) and a Carnalicious stromboli and it came to $30.27. I don't mind paying $11 for the stromboli, but a large, half-topping pizza costing $15.50 is way overpriced.

They gave us very little pepperoni. Some of the slices of pizza only had two to three pieces of pepperoni.

Because I want to keep this civil,...