JK’s Restaurant

We love coming to JKs every year. The service is usually good and pleasant. The food is consistently delicious and we like that there are new and different specials all the time. The bread and sweet tea are on point! I just wish the dessert was a bit better and that they switched up the vegetable side every now and then — growing tired of the green beans with bacon vinaigrette! But that said I would highly recommend this place for an enjoyable dinner.

For over 35+ years, family has been making our annual trek down to the Outer Banks (from PA, VA, and NC) for our family vacations. We typically hit up the local Food Lion a few times a week to get what we need to cook at home to save us all some money!
Our most recent trip left my parents, my best friend and I searching for a nice restaurant to have dinner at on our last night in Kitty Hawk after the rest of the family headed hom. We had tried other restaurants in previous years, but decided to branch out and try something new.
My parents could recall JK’s being around for years and years and honestly, I could kick myself for not going sooner.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with a smile and seated very quickly. We were approached by our waiter, Dan, who offered the specials and took our drink orders. He was very witty and personable and made us feel at home. We loved that!
Dan suggested the Tobacco Fried Onions as an appetizer and we ate every last bit of them! And the fresh, warm loaves of bread! OMG! My friend also ordered the seafood bisque. It was TO DIE FOR! So much so that we were wiping up the left over soup with the bread until the bowl looked clean! This was borderline embarrassing. I’m pretty sure Dan thought that none of us had eaten all week!
Moving on to dinner: My dad opted for the Prime Rib special. 16 oz of the most tender, flavorful meat I have probably ever tasted. My mom ordered a steak and shrimp dish; my friend a salmon w/​tzatziki sauce, and I, the filet, crab cake (ALLLLLLL crab meat — next to no filler), and salmon dish. (Yes, ALL 3 but not an overwhelming portion — i did take some home though). The mashed potatoes were something likely made by angels and every piece of meat we had ordered was cooked to absolute perfection! I wanted to hug the cook when we left!
Of course, we haaaaad to save room for dessert. We ordered the crème brûlée, the profiteroles, and the key lime pie. ALL amazing!
Back to Dan, our waiter. He was so helpful when it came to our menu questions and offered suggestions. He knew the menu very well and helped us through our decisions! Again, his friendly attitude and service is something to be commended. I could’ve hugged him too!
I could definitely classify JK’s as fine dining, but without the ‘hoity toity’ persona. The ill came and I treated.
For 2 cocktails, 2 glasses of wine, 1 appetizer, 4 entrees, and 3 desserts, our grand total was around $ 220. Admittedly, it is pricey but i believe you get what you pay for. Our food was absolutely delicious and exactly what we had hoped for. I cannot say enough about it! I left Dan more than a 20% tip and after leaving wished I had added more to it!
JK’s is a GEM in the Outer Banks and not to be missed.
I will absolutely be heading back there next year!
Stop in at JK’s and request Dan!

food was great and prices were reasonable compared to what you get. we had to wait 10 minutes for our server to get to the table and when the manager came to see how we were doing I let him know about our wait for the drinks and he comp’s our whole party a dessert of choice, so that made up for the lack of service. Steaks are on point and side dishes were equally as good. will def go back if we make visit the island again

We started dinner with oysters Rockefeller. Followed by a Maytag salad which they had no trouble splitting for two. I had the chicken and ribs. And she said she had some kind of chicken with a cream something over it. Can’t take her anywhere nice. I should just take her to McDonald’s and shed be happy with a cheeseburger. I think she had way too much wine personally. Lol jk Anyway everything was delicious we finished it off with crème brûlée. Took the leftovers home. Had no room in the refrigerator for them so we had to pull the beer out to put the leftovers in. Can’t waste good food. The wait staff was very professional and accommodating. Even the chef was willing to modify for my wife’s gluten-​free needs.

Without a doubt, the best place we have ever ate! We enjoyed our 10^th anniversary there and couldn’t have picked a better place. Everyone was extremely nice! We were seated in minutes and our waiter Austin took his time to go over the entire menu and answer any questions we had. Drinks were great, bread was great, and our meals… Were perfect. I chose the fillet. It was cooked perfect. By far the best steak I’ve had. My wife a rockfish platter after a recommendation. It was out of this world good! Finished it up with desert that was on par with everything else. We enjoyed a nice conversation with another couple there after we were finished. We did not feel rushed one bit. We will absolutely be going back next year. Thank you to the people of JK’s for making our 10^th anniversary perfect!

Great steaks cooked on a mesquite grill are simply delicious. They use quality beef and cook it to perfection. The mashed red bliss potatoes are good and the service is spot on. The hot loaf bread is also great. I’ll be back to try fish and ribs and chicken cooked on the grill as it all looks good. A bit expensive but worth it.

Start to finish amazing. Mushrooms appetizer was surprisingly good, wife loved the seafood bisque. Steak was perfect! We had eaten here once before 5 years prior and it was so good we made a point to eat there again. Not many places make an impact that you remember 5 years later

If you are t going in there for the exceptional cuts of meat and fish, then you must be there for the exceptional service and the exquisite wine list! For good measure — John, the owner, is such a wonderful host! What a treat!

I had Wonderful clams and Brie salad. My husband enjoyed the grilled veal chop and oysters Rockefeller immensely! Classy place with a master chef running the kitchen! Service was excellent too!

Highly recommend for nice evening out. The steaks were cooked to perfection and fish specials were unique and tasty. One of the best experiences in dining in the Outer Banks.

Went with a large group of friends. The service was outstanding. The environment was great for talking and hanging out. The food was amazing. Even with all the rain, wind and storms we found a harbor of hospitality!

Hands down the best steak I’ve ever had. Forget Ruth’s Chris and those chain restaurants, they don’t come close. This is the best restaurant in the Outer Banks in my opinion.

This was the highlight of our eating experience in OBX! The food was amazing & service was even better! Could not ask for a better evening in Devil Hills. Everything was local & fresh. Will not disappoint. We had a great private room & they were accommodating to large groups which has been an issue in the OBX… Our waiter was phenomenal & food was served perfectly. We had the quail appetizer, tabacco onions, pork belly egg rolls, matag salad, JK special, porterhouse steak, soft shell crab, salmon, shrimp, Caesar salad, peach cobbler, & profiteroles ice cream cream puff with dark chocolate drizzle. The prices were in accordance with the quality of the meals. The manager came to the table & asked about our experience. It was the perfect night. Thank you JK

Overall good experience. Cocktails were GREAT. Filet was undercooked and needed to be sent back. Service was excellent, Jana was our waitress. Will be back.

We were really disappointed. Since this was a steak house, I ordered filet mignon & my husband ordered the NY strip — both ordered medium. His was cooked perfectly, mine came out very rare. I sent it back (which I never do but it was so rare I couldn’t eat it). The server took my steak back, and then gave it back to me medium well-​well done. There wasn’t really a lot of juice left at this point, it just ruined the steak. I pretty much paid $ 40 for a side of mashed potatoes and asparagus because I barely ate any of my steak. I should also mention that no one really followed up to see how the steak was after «fixing» it. Besides all of this, the appetizer was good, the server was nice. It was just a disappointment considering this is a steak house and it had pretty good reviews on Unilocal.I expected better, I can’t say we will be back.

I absolutely adore this place. Friendly perfectly timed service, a cozy atmosphere and top notch food. I always eat aged beef when I can get it and I wasn’t dissatisfied with my 26oz Cowboy steak at all. It came with steamed lemon butter broccoli and red skin mashies European style (tons of butter).
The appetizers were also perfect. I know it’s quite pricey but I can’t wait to return.

My family has been coming to the OBX for years and this has always been a favorite of ours. We usually visit the island twice a year; near Thanksgiving for a long weekend and then for a week during the summer, and it’s not uncommon for us to eat here twice during both trips. Definitely not the cheapest option on the island for a family dinner out, but it’s well worth it.
The inside vibe is good for people who don’t like crazy-​crowded, overly loud restaurants, and the booths are more than spacious. As an overgrown child, I also really appreciate the paper tablecloths and crayons available for booze-​fueled masterpieces while we wait for our food.
The warm, fresh baked bread and lobster bisque is honestly the selling point for me– I could easily make a meal out of this and a ceasar salad and just forgo an entrée altogether. I’m trying to figure out how to convince them to cater my wedding with gallons of this bisque. (FYI– not even remotely engaged yet, but these are things that I think about). But if you’re a steak person, definitely go for it, you won’t be disappointed. Pretty much everything I’ve tasted here has been on point, and the service is impressive as well. From start to finish, this is an amazing meal.
Side note: the guy who owns the place, I believe his name is John, is the friendliest dude. He’s often seen wandering around the restaurant, and even sent my dad a t-​shirt all the way to Philly because my dad is an avid t-​shirt collector/JK’s aficionado. What a nice guy.

Wow! Want an amazing steak dinner? Lol JK’s was amazing! They had great service, all the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. We had amazing food, the mash potatoes were to die for! Both my husband and I had mouth watering steak! We had great time and had delicious food! I strongly suggest this restaurant to anyone looking for a food in general! Ps the bartender has a strong hand my mojito was on point!

Came here with the fam bam because we desired a steak. In checking the Unilocal app, the past reviewers said that this one was a winner.
Pretty easy to spot from the road, parking is fair to middling in the lot from what I recall.
The inside is pretty schweet. Tables, and semi private rooms galore. Quite romantical even if you had a boo and what not.
The menu was pretty cool, there were daily specials, there was a nice variety.
We began with the fried oysters, and the fried green tomatoes. Can’t say that either of these were my faves, the oysters were fried nicely, not too oily, but there wasn’t that great of a flavor. The fried green tomatoes were the same, but there was this dressing on the top, that I just didn’t care for.
I wasn’t über hungry, so I got the petit filet (5oz), this came with mashed potato and the veggie of the day, which were string beans with a bacon balsamic dressing. The steak was great, it was cooked to perfection, and was just plain delish. The potato was seasoned nicely, and had just enough chunks; (I love those BTW) the string beans, left more to be desired, as they lacked seasoning. Had they not had the dressing, I would not have eaten them.
I also tried the wahoo, the cowboy steak, and the swordfish.
Now, in all honesty, I have never heard of wahoo, and had never tried it. This was one of the specials of the day, I believe it was supposed to come with a jerk type of seasoning and a mango salsa. My aunt decided to order the seasonings on the side. I tasted the fish both plain and with it’s intended dressings and they were both delicious. I also tried the swordfish, that came with a dill dressing. I did NOT care for that at all.
For dessert I tried the profiteroles which were filled with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate and the crème brûlée. Both were delicious.
The service was great, or server was quite attentive, despite our large party and crazy antics.

My husband and I just finished dinner here after getting a tip from our kayak instructor that it was an excellent meal. Wendy didn’t lie.
I had the yellowfin tuna, my husband got the filet. Both were cooked perfectly, though I filled up on delicious baguette and barely made it through half my meal. I did manage to save room for dessert. The blueberry cobbler hit the spot.
Our server was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. It’s a little pricey, with entrees in the twenties and thirties, but it was worth it for a nice meal. If you’re visiting the Outer Banks and are looking for a date night spot, I definitely recommend JK’s.