Ortega’z Southwestern Grill and Wine Bar

So there’s a reason Guy Fieri liked the fish tacos — they are oversalted. Service was excellent, food was just fine.

The food here is DELICIOUS, the restaurant is cute located in an adorable little town. We made the 35 minute drive to walk around the pier and eat at Ortega’z and we were pleased with our choice to.
Our server was young and inexperienced but eager to do well, which was appreciated. Unfortunately it’s the servers that either pop by to just drop off your food who are bizarrely rude because you’re not THEIR table that can almost ruin your dining experience (and almost negatively impact your actual server’s tip scale). Seriously, if you don’t want to run someone else’s food, then don’t. I’d rather wait a little longer for my actual server who gives a crap then the older lady who slammed our Mac and cheese app on the table (without plates) and breezed off without even a cursory glance, then rolled her eyes and huffed when we called her back and asked for small eating plates.
Anyway, the food. My fajita shrimp salad with a cilantro vinaigrette was phenomenal — I could have drank a shot glass of the dressing. And so, so fresh. The kids with us and my husband declared the crab Mac and cheese the best that they have ever had (which is saying something because in Cincy we have had some positively divine cheese-​sauced pasta options available).
I didn’t receive my cup of she-​crab soul and when our server came back towards the end of the meal I mentioned this to her and asked her to just remove it from our tab (unfortunately I hadn’t had a chance to tell her sooner since I managed to get locked down the whole time on a bloody work call). The poor young girl looked almost heartbroken and ran and told the manager (or owner maybe), who came over and personally apologized and said the charge had been removed but they still wanted me to have the cup of soup.
End of the meal or not, I disinterestedly dipped my spoon into the creamy pale pink bisque — AND OH MY SEA STARS tasted the best damned seafood soup I have ever had. HUNKS of crab, cradled in a gorgeous creamy base, yum yum yummers. Bless our actual little server for caring enough to want me to try it, it was delicious. I ate it in about 30 seconds, it was pretty much my dessert.
When we come back to OBX we will absolutely eat here again, I want a tureen of that she-​crab soup next time.

This is probably my favorite place to eat in this area. Very quiet and quaint. Service was great and the food even better. We had the nachos, fish tacos, shrimp and chorizo pasta, and key lime pie.

This place has Amazing Food!!! We have been here twice and have had great service and delicious food both time. If you like southwest food… you have to try this place!

Awesome! The nachos were probably the best I’ve ever had and the fish tacos were incredible. I can not wait to go back to try other items on their menu.

This restaurant is fabulous. We had the nachos for an appetizer. They were beyond wonderful. The fish tacos were delicious. The drink menu was great also. We plan to go back again very soon!

Awesome place! It’s a good get away from seafood although they do have seafood options for seafood lovers! The service was Amazing, fast, and caring! It’s a very family oriented restaurant, lots of fun, great food!

Cozy restaurant in a small downtown near the waterfront. I love it.

Located in the quaint downtown of Manteo, on the sound side, Ortegaz is definitely a place you want to add to your itinerary while visiting the OBX.
My wife and I both had the grapefruit margaritas, which were refreshing and the perfect accompaniment to a late spring lunch on the beautiful patio.
If you’re on the fence about the she-​crab soup, don’t hesitate. Creamy, well seasoned, and while the meat in many she-​crab soups tends to be rubbery, this was very delicate and clearly very fresh.
I was a bit taken aback by the Guy Fieri endorsement of the fish tacos. Nevertheless, it seems olé flavortown Jack actually does have some taste buds. My wife very much enjoyed them. The fish was fresh, perfectly cooked mahi with just the right amount of spice. I would have preferred corn tortillas, but that’s a minor gripe. And if you’re between two entrees, opt for whichever one comes with the yellow rice and black beans. We both thoroughly enjoyed them.
I myself got the soft shell crab sandwich that was a special for the day, and hopefully will be a special when you arrive. It was a seasonal delight. The crab was perfectly fried. Not greasy and perfectly crunchy. The spicy aioli was very well balanced and allowed the crab to really come through.
Delicious food, peaceful atmosphere, wonderful attentive service. Definitely worth your time and money.

I had the crab mac and cheese — savored every bite. Also, ordered a side of steamed veggies and they were beautifully prepared, perfect in the freshness and tastiness. This is a must stop. Ate outside and was delighted. Will be returning.

We’ve ate a Ortega’z quite a few times. Not once have we been dissatisfied. We are not from the area and have always enjoyed our meals mid to late summer. Our waiter was wonderful and always very helpful. Any time we see fish tacos on a menu they are compared to Ortega’z. I have never had one that came close to the spectacular tacos here! Also their house margaritas are amazing. I would definitely recommend. They are a bit pricey but we’ll worth it for the quality.

I looked at reviews and see what people liked the most. I saw about the chips and dip appetizer. We got it but it was alright. Not bad but not awesome either. However, the fish tacos were Slap Yo’ Mama good. Definitely recommend that to any fish lovers. My husband got the chicken and steak stir fry (he hates seafood. Seriously who is he?!) and he loved it. He couldn’t stop talking about it and made a list of ingredients on his phone.

Solid pick. The food here is delicious, especially the she-​crab soup!

We showed up at 2pm on a Monday and they were closed. No signage to say if it was a special situation or closing on Mondays for the season. Disappointed to say the least.

Was visiting the area from Boston and stopped in for lunch on a Friday. The food drinks and service were nothing short of fantastic. We had Kristen J as our waitress who was awesome–
For food we ordered the chip and dip trio. Probably the best chips I have ever had. Kind of like pita chips but a little softer with a touch of salt. The queso was delicious.
For meals we had the fish tacos– my boyfriend loved them and said they were very fresh. I had the chicken fajita salad for my meal– the chicken was delicious. We also had the crab make and cheese– very cheesy and delicious.
The hand made mules were very tasty.
When we are in the area again we will definitely visit.
Great for dates, girls night, and family dinners!

Had lunch today, we were a party of 7. We were seated pretty quickly but we did wait awhile for the waitress to get our drink order, to the point to where we went ahead and placed our food order. The poor waitress dropped most of our table’s food so we had to wait for it to be cooked again, she did bring us out complimentary chips and salsa for the trouble which were AMAZING! Our table ordered fish tacos, shrimp tacos, steak wrap and the quesadillas. The fries that came with the steak wraps were out of this world, crispy and crunchy. The steak wrap and the quesadilla got good reviews, the fish tacos were really good but OMG people! The shrimp tacos is where it’s at! Don’t be scared by the wasabi, I didn’t even taste it but seriously, the shrimp tacos are amazing! We would definitely hit this place up again

More like 3.5 stars. The fish tacos or the fish special is what you want to order. The order comes with yellow rice and black beans. the portions are good — it will fill you up. I’ve been here two times in the last two years every time the family goes down to North Carolina Outer Banks for vacation. We make it a point to stop by Ortegas. We enjoy the pork nachos a lot so I suggest getting these — the chips are thick cut, crispy, yet have a lightness to them. The pork marinated in mojo is delicious. The steak fajitas were good but nothing to run home about.
The service is nice when seated, but not so much with the hostess. When we called to make 7pm reservations we were told they don’t really take reservations but will take our name and put it on the list so that when we arrive we will be at the top of the list. Well, we arrived at 6:30 and were told we couldn’t be seated because our «reservation» was for 7… Umm. You just said you didn’t take official reservations and it wasn’t busy. I understand if she’ll seat us as soon as a table is free but don’t give us the «we can’t seat you at 6:30 because your reservation is at 7». What.
The ambience is too dark and too loud, hence the one star deduction. Otherwise the food is solid. Although the last time we ordered the fish tacos it was a little dry but still tasty.

It was July 22, 2015 we were on a vacation at the Outer Banks. After seeing Guy Fieri’s review on DDD, we decided to try Oretega’z for the first time. It was 5:50 PM and we were seated promptly. The waitstaff appeared harried, but were polite and efficient. there were 3 to 4 flies present, but they weren’t annoying. I had the Fish Tacos, we also had the Steak Fajitas, Chicken Fajitas and Steak Tacos. It was all excellent! The Fish Tacos were amazing, the fish was tuna and there was only a slight kick to them.

Good overall experience, we had a larger party and had to wait a bit for a table even though it was an off time.
We all tried something different and shared a bite or two of each item, and everything we ordered was very good.
The fish tacos that Guy «approved», were good, but nothing that no one else isn’t doing. The quesadilla of the day was very good, and the California burger came out exactly as it was ordered and was very tasty.
Our server was on point with everything and had drink refills before we asked which is a must for me.
I would recommend this place to anyone, prices were reasonable and everything was solid all around. I could see this being a go to restaurant for us if we lived in the area.

Well, this is the kind of thing I will tell stories about for years. My husband and I were reading one of the local tourist papers and happened to see the Ortega’z ad which had a picture of Chef Marcelo Ortega. Who happened to be sitting nearby in the same establishment where we were eating breakfast!!. We said hi, got to chat with him and his nice wife a little, and he told us about the great fresh catch that he was expecting at Ortega’z the next day. This is the kind of act of fate or coincidence or whatever that shouldn’t be ignored! So we made it a point to get to Ortega’z for lunch the next day. Wow am I glad we did! My husband got the fresh catch Cobb salad and said it was the best salad he has ever eaten. The fresh catch was wahoo, and I got it as well but as fajitas. Oh my! Best fajitas ever! The fish was cut into bite size chunks, dusted with spices and came out sizzling and crispy in a piping hot.skillet. The smell was incredible, as was the taste. And Chef and Lisa came out and said hi, which was really nice
Ortaga’z will be a regular stop now when we visit the Outer Banks.