Jinks Creek Waterfront Grille — Restaurant in Ocean Isle Beach

We visit OIB yearly same time each year. Don't know what happened to this place, it used to be great. They lie on their website and menu that everything is local and fresh. We had three different dishes and none of them were local or fresh. We had the garlic clams appetizer which stated "local" clams on the menu and we inquired with the waitress and she assured us they were local, as well as the shrimp and the fish we ordered. Well, the clams were not local they were farm raised baby clams that tasted like old bathtub water and garlic powder. The shrimp were frozen imported farm raised, you know the ones that are already deveined and are squiberry and tasteless? The "grouper" we ordered was not grouper but instead frozen imported "corvina" from central or south America. And the grouper-corvina didn't have any crab topping on it at all as described on the menu. And all the sides were boring and tasteless. The so called Grouper which was Corvina was $30! Why charge 30 bucks for a frozen imported piece of trash fish then keep the wording and description of grouper on the menu? And the description was "smothered" with crab. There was zero crab on top of it just a little spuge of some kind of tasteless white stuff. Could not even finish the fish is was so horrible. We did bring all this to the waitress attention about the lies on the menu, the outrageous price for something different than what is stated on the menu. So then she changed her story and admitted the items were not local; although she said they were when we ordered and that is also what the menu says. She did not charge us for the 30 trash fish dish. Truthfully we still feel ripped off, nothing was as stated and it was sub par in every way. Not to mention charging these kinds of prices every meal around the 30 dollar mark for a restaurant that has no ambience other than a view of the creek. The chairs inside are all white plastic and wobbly, like the cheap ones you buy at a department store to put on your porch. Waitresses and waiters dressed in different clothes and sneakers. And the whole place is not very clean inside. Not the sort of place you expect to pay that much for food especially for frozen imported. Don't believe the menu or the waiters or waitresses, they do not buy local at all. They are cutting corners, not selling what they promise and ripping everyone off. Sure they will continue to take advantage of the tourists that may or may not be back again. But we will never...

My husband, son, mother and I went here for dinner It was Saturday evening about 8:45pm and I called to make sure they were still open after reading the great reviews and we went. WELL let me tell you the staff is friendly and thats about as good as it got. We ordered our food which is over priced but it was late so oh well. The food took awhile to be prepared which is fine if its fresh when you get it but ours wasnt. The french fries were hot, but over cooked so we thought, the hush puppies were good, my scallops were good but very small portion and very tiny, my mother shrimp was small portion and ask tiny along with terrible french fries BUT my husbands steak sandwhich tasted TERRIBLE. At frist he wasnt sure what was wrong so since Im pregnant my mother tasted the steak which was fine. So my husband ate another 2 bites and still it was bad so I tasted it and here the onions/cheese tasted of lighter fluid or propane. I then had my mother and husband both taste the cheese/onions and they agreeded. We told the waitress and the manager came out. He took my husbands food and then came back out from the kitchen and said he could smell the lighter fluid and confirmed the cook had spilled it on the onions while cooking and a new sandwhich was being made. The sandwhich came out husband said tasted fine, his fries were hot but also were terrible. When we told the waitress about the fries she told us that they were old and since it was late the cook didnt want to make new ones so just put the old ones in the fryer a second time and served them to us. She apologized. Then once we got the bill a female manager came to our table and apologized and asked how everything was after. I told her about the fries and she just told me fries arent good anywhere what did I expect and that she gave us an employee discount on my husbands meal but tried to joke and say she wouldnt make us wash dishes for it. We paid over 50.00 for this terrible meal and literally within and hour my husband was in the bathroom sick! I am very upset with how we were treated and will be emailing them as well! I would never recommend this place save yourself a ton of money and get better food from a long john silvers...

The food was good. Service was slow due to being short-staffed. Waitress was nice but It would have been good if she was around for the delivery of the salad/appetizer round of the meal because several people needed attention with their first round of food and it was around 10 minutes before she returned leaving anyone who needed more dressing for their salad or more dipping sauce for their appetizers, out of luck. Basically, if you waited, your food got cold or your salad got soggy . The main entrees came out and again, the waitress was not there for the delivery of those. At least the attendants delivering the meal did wait and ask if anyone needed anything. One person's meal did not come out with the rest, so the main chef did deliver that meal himself. He also apologized and made sure everyone was satisfied before leaving the table. Several minutes later the waitress showed up, with...., The person's meal that was not delivered initially with the others... (Apparently there was no communication in the kitchen with her that it had been delivered by the chef) so that was a waste of her time, as she didn't want to leave the kitchen without their meal in hand (which was thoughtful), however, again, unnecessary and a waste of her time. All in all, 4 stars because the food was good, prices were as to be expected, service was at least thoughtful but could have been a bit more aligned so as to minimize people not getting things they needed with their meals. BUT, seeing as how everyone is short staffed these days I can definitely say it could have been waaayy worse. If you're looking for a nice meal, if you aren't in a hurry or someone who expects a very tight run service platform this is a nice place to eat. If you are uptight about things being a certain way, you might want to choose...