Cape Fear Seafood Company — Restaurant in Raleigh

February 23, 2025 - (Quick point . . . Skip to my photos!) After eating great seafood in Maine for 7 years, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner at Raleigh’s Cape Fear Seafood Company! 😃👍🏼

We’re impressed with the selection of fresh fish at the Village District location ( 1 of 9 locations by the end of 2025) of this wonderful seafood restaurant company. Our last night in Raleigh, the parents of the Groom took us out for seafood , knowing how much we ( parents of the bride) love SEAFOOD! 🦞

Although lobster wasn’t on the menu, we tried North Carolina’s seafood 🍤 🐟 Between the 4 we ordered spicy Jambalaya, Flounder stuffed w/crab, Shrimp Tacos, and the special Stripped Bass ! Sadly our delightful server, Kimberly returned with news that the Stripped Bass was sold out! Kim assured me to try the Wahoo 🐟 !

As we sipped on cocktails, ( I liked my strawberry margarita on the rocks) we recounted the wedding experience of the last few days. Fun starting up new relationships. . . and speculating of future celebrations on a growing family 😃👍🏼

No rush , unwinding , and enjoying the moment at a nice restaurant in Raleigh! Then comes our dinner entrees! After a few bites over comes the manager , Matt! He asks us about our meals, we in turn give a “ 👍🏼” up ! We mentioned that my wife & I loved the fresh seafood , and how we hadn’t found many fresh seafood restaurants in the Raleigh area until tonight! I asked Matt about their source of seafood? We talked for a good 10 minutes, and he thanked us for coming to dinner.

As we wrapped up our meal, our server Kim returns to share a surprise. . . the restaurant would like to offer all 4 of us complimentary desserts to celebrate the wedding of our children ! Wow , “ Thank you “! 🙏🏻 I found out, a Chef creates all the desserts “ in house” . . .

Key Lime Pie Expresso Brownie Sundae Creme’ Brûlée New York Cheesecake

( we shared all 4 , rich, delicious desserts)

Once a “Maine-ah” who loves fresh seafood, I highly recommend the seafood, especially wild caught broiled fish ! Next time I hope to try the Stripped Bass !

The Cape Fear Seafood Company was founded by Evans Trawick in 2008, over time locations & partners were added:

Monkey Junction - Wilmington, NC Porters Neck - Wilmington, NC Waterford - Belville, NC Spring Forest - Raleigh, NC Village District - Raleigh, NC Wake Forest , NC North Myrtle Beach - SC *Cary, NC (Opening soon) *Greenville, NC ( Opening soon)

Fun Facts . . . Farm Raised v. Fresh Fish 🐟

( Consider what you value ?)

Farm Raised Fisheries

Sustainable food source U.S. aquaculture guidelines & practices U.S. controls chemicals & antibiotics U.S. requires water standards for fish U.S. requires nutrient rich foods U.S. can trace US fish company products Overseas (Southeast Asia) not regulated 90% of shrimp comes from overseas Farm raised fish food not regulated Child labor & human trafficking possible at overseas fish farming companies Farm raised fish high in Omega 3 Industrial pollution, use of chemicals

Wild Caught Fish

Natural Taste & texture of fish 🐟 Natural diet & fatty acids Fish leaner in natural habitat Over fishing changes habitat Larger fish ( tuna, cod, salmon) higher mercury levels -Lost lively hood of...

My family and I visited Cape Fear Seafood Company today to celebrate my daughter's college graduation. We were a group of 9 guests. Everything was going great. Our server, Samantha was doing a great job. She was friendly and had exceptional menu knowledge. The food was great! And we ordered plenty of it! It did take quite awhile to get our food ( at least 30 minutes) but we were a large group and it's understandable that it takes time to get everything prepared. After we finished our dinner Samantha brought us menus to order dessert and took our coffee order. When she brought the coffee she also brought the check. We were confused by this and asked her to take our dessert order. She did take the order but I quickly became aware that the manager, Pam was giving us the stink eye. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. About a minute after our dessert was served Pam approached our table and basically told us we had to leave. She said we had overstayed the two hour limit and they needed the table for another party. The manner in which this information was given to us was astoundingly rude! No apologies, just get out. First of all, I was not informed when I made my reservation or when I was seated that there was a time limit. So our experience ended with us choking down our dessert which for the record, probably added at least another $60 to our check. I understand that there is a need to stay on schedule with reservations but Pam really mishandled things. The unfortunate part of this is this would have been a five star review. I would consider returning but never again with a large group. After tax and tip we spent over $500 today and things ended in a very upsetting way. Probably a better way to handle the situation would have been to politely explain the need for the table and offer an option for to go dessert. Allowing us to order dessert then telling us we had to leave in a snarky manner was just wrong. There is something terribly wrong with spending $500 at restaurant and being...

All I can say is, as a New Englander, this seafood is outstanding.

We started out with soup/bisque. My husband ordered bisque and said it was very good. I, however, did not enjoy my cup of clam chowder. I had to explain to Topher, our server, the difference between Manhattan and New England Clam chowder. He was not aware of this. When I said, "New England style has a cream base and Manhattan has a tomato base, he said 'then it's the New England'." That is NOT what I got. First, it was a brownish looking, pudding-lie consistency, without the sweet taste of clams I am used to. I tried one little bite, and pushed it over to my husband. He did not like it either. Luckily, it was taken off of our bill.

The rest of the food was outstanding. I had the Fried Scallop platter, and there were plenty of them (even gave 3 to my husband). So tender, juicy, and not overly seasoned. Not salty, which is great. I substituted Fries for Risotto. Another great side-dish I would recommend.

Prices are pretty good. Not over the top. Affordable. Skip the bread, the appetizer and dessert, and this is a delightful night out. We'll be back again (maybe sit outside this time). I will not be ordering their clam chowder - sorry, guys! You need a better recipe. Try the New England way - this would be a best seller, in my opinion. Looking forward to...