John’s Drive In

Had a delicious bacon cheeseburger and fries. Very reasonably priced and great location being right across from the beach. My husband had the dolphin sub with cocktail sauce and said it was excellent. I wish we had tried the milkshakes but we will next time!

Wonderful place for lunch!
I don’t know if it’s because I was hungry from a morning on the beach, or what, but this was hands down one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a tiny drive up place, but they definitely made up for their size with the food.
I got the ½ bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and ketchup with a small side of onion rings.
The burger was thick, cooked perfectly, the cheese was great, and it was all on a thick and delicious bun. The onion rings (even though I ordered a small) were plenty and perfectly crisp.
Might not be a five star restaurant, but they definitely have my vote for a lunch break on the beach.

Dolphin sandwich and peanut butter chocolate milkshake from John’s, Kitty Hawk = absolute heaven

First, I have to admit that I probably have 20 John’s Drive In T-​shirts from many years of milk shakes and dolphin sandwiches. (like 30 years… if that’s possible?)
Second, I think that you are crazy if you fail to order a dolphin sandwich or boat. Literally, like you are nuts… irrational for not getting the best thing they do. If you want a hot dog, go to the Food Lion and grill your own. But you CANNOT fry up some mahi as good as you will get it at John’s.
Let’s be fair: you just pulled up to a cinder block hut on the beach road. There are no inside tables and the parking is bad. It doesn’t look good.
WHO CARES? IT TASTES GREAT.
Sure, the ocean is across the street. And yes, it’s a fried fish sandwich. But something about that fried fish sandwich, particularly with shredded lettuce, cheese, and tartar… DAMN…it is November and I haven’t had one since September and won’t get one for months (John’s closes after all their staff have to go back to school in September)
But you can’t just eat a dolphin sandwich. (you can eat 2, however)
You need a milkshake. A really good milkshake. With dozens and dozens of flavor combos… BUT, I always seem to end up coming back to the CHO-​BAN. Chocolate Banana milkshake, dolphin sandwich, and maybe some fries. And I am ready to find another break and ride my big-​ass belly in the OBX shore break.
Closed on Wednesdays, always, and they have been reducing their hours, you might want to call ahead. And crazy busy at lunch… but it’s just so good.

Oh, my, oh my. Make me say «oh my». We go every trip to the family house in Kill Devil Hills. Fried. Fantastic. Fast. My bf loves the dolphin boat or sandwich. One order of fries feeds both of us. If you bring your doggie, ask for a pup cup of vanilla soft serve. My Maggie loves our trips to Johns! As do we.

In OBX again and that means a visit (or two) to Johns; a OBX MUST. Yes it is a «dive» kind of place… that it has been around so long, always has a crowd, and the «locals» eat there should tell you something. Great burgers, outstanding shakes.

Mahi Mahi bites were great. I wouldn’t re-​order the fried okra. They had great coleslaw and onion rings. If you’re looking for an unhealthy and fried lunch, this is the place to go.

Easiest 5 star review I’ve ever given. The people complaining about it not having Gluten-​free, the parking, or the wait don’t understand Johns. It’s a old, popular BURGER DIVE PLACE, it’s not a white table cloth restaurant. Yes, they still use a calculator to «tally» your total. No, you can’t order ahead or online, and No, there isn’t a place to eat indoors. WHO CARES! For what it does, it’s the best — period. I always get a burger (best at OBX), a Mahi-​Mahi (Dolphin) sandwich (amazing) and a cajun crab (insanely good). I never walk away without ordering each of those three. Put it this way, if I had to choose one place to go to on vacation at the OBX/​DUCK, I would chose Johns.

One of my absolute favorite places to eat at when in the area. I always get a burger, cheese fries & a shake because they have the greatest shakes ever! If you are even within 20 miles you should make the trip to enjoy their delicious stuff. Definitely one of the best places to eat at in OBX.

Ordered the mahi mahi sandwich, which was fantastic! It had the right amount of crispiness to it, but the bread on the sandwich was too overwhelming. I’ll probably order the mahi mahi pieces next time. The location is so close to the beach, which is very convenient. Can’t wait to come back again!

Food was fresh but not was we ordered. I would give them a second chance since the food seemed fresher than most. Being right by the beach was also convenient.

FYI this place isn’t very gluten-​free friendly at all.
However, the girl in the window had to call over a manager (?) to help me put together a Carol M. friendly meal.
I ended up just getting a cheeseburger sans bun, with a side of coleslaw and a Diet Dr. Pepper float.
The burger meat was actually pretty good and didn’t taste frozen, but all the above cost about $ 10 and I just felt underwhelmed. I guess I expected fries or something to come with the burger.
The lines weren’t too long, maybe 5 – 6 people deep, but it still took about a half hour just to get to the window. That’s really my main gripe. There’s not too many options to order from so I really don’t know why it took that long to order, and even longer to get our food.
I’d try another option next time, especially if you have food allergies.

Another great week at the OBX beach which means another great visit or two to John’s during the week. We have been coming to John’s for over 30 years. We have watched little John take over from Big John with Momma Pat watching over both.

Dolphin and cheeseburgers were excellent! Milkshakes were perfect. Skip the fries though, not impressive.

Very popular place!!! Ordered burgers onion rings and a t shirt… Pork bbq Excellent burgers delicious — beach food to the nth

Fantastic Dolphin sandwiches & boats! Best on the beach!!! Have been coming here for 30+ years!

Dolphin boat pure battered fried and greasy good golden delicious. The other items we got were also good and a great value. Finding a good meal for a bargain is not easy in the obx but John’s is a place to do that.

BEST milkshakes HANDS DOWN. We stopped here over the summer to grab a quick and inexpensive bite to eat. This place gets crazy busy in the summer so be prepared to wait. This place is nothing fancy, but their burger hit the spot and the milkshake was to die for. We always return here when we’re down in the outer banks. They are closed durning the colder seasons so keep that in mind if your wanting to try this place out.

This place is so awesome!!! The food is great, the prices are amazing, and the chocolate peanut butter milkshakes are the best ever! We went for lunch two days in a row. We had the crabcake sandwich, scallop sandwich, dolphin (mahi mahi) sticks, French fries, cheese fries, unsweetened iced tea, and of course, the chocolate peanut butter milkshake.
The crabcake had delicious seasoning and at $ 4.50, the cheapest I’ve ever had. It was loosely packed but still good. The scallop sandwich was like a crabcake but with scallops and it tasted even better! It was on a hoagie roll and tasted so fresh. However, the best meal was the dolphin sticks!!! These are the best fish sticks ever. The batter is like the batter used for British fish ‘n’ chips. The mahi mahi was flaky but substantial, not fish that just falls apart. I was amazed. The fries are crinkle cut and perfectly crispy. The cheese sauce is nacho cheese.
Finally, in case you couldn’t tell, I LOVED the chocolate PB milkshake which is why I came here in the first place. My friend, who is a local, had said it was the best and it was! Thick, but not too much so. Deep chocolate and delicious salty peanut better. Best part, it wasn’t overly sweet. I hate super sweet shakes.
The only reason I can’t give it a five star is because they lost my first order. They were very apologetic. They said it blew away. That’s fine, I still went back the next day wearing the my John’s shirt.

My colleague recommended me this place after I told him we were visiting OBX. This place has the best mahi mahi and crab cake sandwich in town, the prices are very reasonable too. They have a wide variety of milk shakes — my favorite was the peach milk shake. Highly recommend this place!