Oceanic at the Crystal Pier - NC — Restaurant in Wrightsville Beach

I dislike writing reviews like this. This restaurant has the best atmosphere in the Wrightsville Beach / Wilmington area. The inside is really nice and the outside is stunning. The outside seating is on the Crystal Pier. The views of the ocean are beautiful. With that said every time I have dined here the service as been awful. It has not been that the servers are bad. I think it is because they have to many tables because when they do come to our table they are very pleasant. The problem is the wait. The last time we dined here was Saturday Oct.7th. We were sat outside right away. We sat at our table 25 minutes before a server came to our table. Then we waited another 15 min for our drinks. We waited 40 min for our food and did not receive everything. At that point we just let it go. Now for the food. The food sounds really good. In the 10 plus times I have been here the food has been prepared terrible. The fried food is not battered well and greasy. Ly fries were soggy. The shrimp barely had breading. The She Crab soup had no seasoning. No flavor other than cream and crab. The salmon that came on the salad had no taste of seasoning but was cooked well. The crab dip taste like mayo. I could go on and on. When you walk from the front door to the pier you walk by the kitchen. You can see in the kitchen. The floor was filthy. It is very unfortunate because the restaurant is really nice and the atmosphere is wonderful. They need to hire a consultant or someone that knows how to run a restaurant. I would trim the menu to be able to focus on quality. Hire someone that can install high standards with service and cleaning. I waited a long time before writing this review because again I do not like writing reviews that are not good but it is what it is. I keep going back here because I love the environment and I want the best for...

Not sure how to describe this place honestly, so I’m gonna talk us through it:

You get seated at the front, you have the choice of outside or inside, we chose outside; not the best idea.

The decor and vibe is very coastal bar, millennial-esque if I may. Outside are cute blue tables and cable seats! Do NOT sit outside if it’s windy or sunny, it’s by the water so it’s a bit harsher than you would expect. Also birds, like a lot of them, pigeons, seagulls, raven/crow(medium sized black bird), and they aren’t scared of ya that’s for sure!

We got the chicken wrap, Tuna Poke Nachos, Scallops and Shrimp Linguine, Lumina Burger, and Truffle Parmesan Fries. Along with the piña colada mock tail, antioxidant mock tail, and coffee.

Our order was messed up a couple times, but our assigned server was super sweet and made up for it three fold! We also didn’t wait long for a seat, even though we went at 1:30pm!

The food was ok, nothing really stood out with it. My burger was cooked to medium, as asked so that’s good! Nothing was under cooked, the wrong texture, or anything bad, but nothing fantastic either.

The drinks were meh, like “://“ meh you know? Maybe they’re better with alcohol LOL get too buzzed to realize what your dealing with ig

Altogether, pretty views, nice decor and vibe, sweet staff, average food, maybe too meh for the prices… actually I stand by that, but there is a “near pier/landmark tax” that’s expected!

Would I go when I visit again? I don’t think so, maybe for more pictures on their deck, but not inside. Maybe for drinks and brunch though! We didn’t get their for breakfast, but the vibe in there suggests they have...

I hate writing negative reviews about places however after high expectations I have to say we were highly disappointed in our experience at the Oceanic Restaurant. The views are amazing which is unfortunately is where the positive ended for us. It was around 2PM, so not a busy meal time, we just wanted drinks and the view. We were seated out on the dock, and after waiting for over 10 minutes to be acknowledged by a server order a glass of wine and a beer. The wind was really heavy so I went back to the car to get my jacket. Came back and we still hadn't received our drinks. We saw other tables who were eating, and/or ready to leave also sitting and searching for the server. She did eventually come out with our drinks (I didn't check my watch but I'd estimate about 20 minutes) and apologized profusely for the wait. We said it was ok, which it was because we were not in a rush. After finishing said drinks and having not seen her again since, we decided we should probably just pay the check and leave. We waited and waited, then finally went insider and asked the bar tender if we could just pay them so we could leave. She was behind us in the kitchen hallway laughing and joking around with staff. She took our credit card to pay without giving a bill/tab which we thought was strange, Then brought the slip for my husband to sign. We were so disappointed. The place is beautiful with great ambiance and views of the Beach. I hope that this was a unique experience due to the specific server, and not the overall norm. It has discouraged us from considering coming back...