El’s Drive-In

When we pulled up, they were packed to the brim. That’s how i knew it was going to be good! Our wait for our El’s Superburger burgers was 45 minutes. That’s how packed it was. We waited though because I wanted to experience the drive-​in.
OMG when I tell you the burger is so good! ¼ pound beef, chili, slaw, onions, cheese. I added tomato, mayo, and pickles. It was wonderful.
I can’t say anything about the restaurant because I didn’t go in but it was a wonderful experience.

Me and my wife stop here last week. We wanted a quick tasty lunch and that’s what we got! Very nice waitress!

got turned on to el’s by vivian howard. thank you vh! we were here the last time we visited my son and his family and loved the shrimp burger. today, returning home from ft. macon, we stopped by for another delectable shrimp burger and onion rings. my grandsons ate all their hot dog and fries. everything we ordered was less than $ 20. i look forward to coming back.

I’ve only have the Shrimp burger from El’s drive in. Love the slaw and cocktail sauce in my burger. The only complaint would be two large burgers costed $ 14 including tip. Once a while is fine, but not the price I would pay for frequent visits.

I’ve been here many times over 32 years and have NEVER had an order come out incorrect and food always tastes just as good as the last time.
For a super cheeseburger and shrimp burger with no sides or drinks, the total is $ 11.15. I guess the food is really worth it, but it’s just starting to get a little more than we want to pay for 2 burgers so we don’t come quite as often as we used to.
It’s a hit and miss with the girls though. You can come one day and they will be all smiles and full of «honey“s and «darlin’”s as they take the order or come the next day and they can be as rude as the smell of a low tide muddy river bank in the summer sun.
Today when we went, I told the girl that some dollar bills fell out of her apron as she was getting my change and she looked at me like I had just insulted her and said «It’s okay!» and then handed me my change minus the tip I told her to keep and walked away leaving the money on the ground.
Oh well. The food is always good, we can count on that!
When Grandmomma was still with me and I was taking care of her through Alzheimer’s a couple years ago, we came here a LOT! She would say «I want to go to El’s, I haven’t been there in years!». She would just forget about the last time we went and say it had been years. One day we went for an early lunch then she forgot and asked to go again for an early dinner then she forgot and we went again that night for a late supper. THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY! I didn’t even get tired of going there that much because the food was so good.

This is not a fast food joint the food is cooked to order. I definitely found out why the parking lot was packed. I had the super burger and it was great. My wife had the shrimp burger and said it was delightful. The is definitely a place we must stop at we we are in Morehead City.

What happened to the burger El? Sorry to see the quality has vanished. We live in New England and dream about an El’s burger from time to time. You just crushed our dream El. Burger was small, real small, over cooked and missing the El-​ness made of dreams for over 40 years. Nothing special anymore, I think the local customers should complain so on our next visit, perhaps we are so brave, the El-​ness will return. Speak up locals, give a damn, give many damns if necessary.

Good American food that is delivered with a smile to your car.
Chicken sammie is really good. Shrimp platter is good. Shakes are tha bomb!

Wonderful shrimp burgers. Great food… be nice for people to NOT feed the seagulls and start a swarm, though. Not El’s fault.

Not the absolute best burger I have ever had, BUT I have been eating here for years (19 years+). Every time I go to the beach, it is an absolute must to stop here for lunch! My recommendation, the pizza burger!

For nostalgia — 5 stars. For food — 3 stars. Not bad, but nothing spectacular. if you want a decent burger and fries and a good price, El’s is your place.

I would rate it a 2.5 but that’s not an option. I was visiting from DC and my friend (who lives here) mentioned that El’s Drive-​in was mentioned as top 10 so I was rather excited to go. We made the 20 minute drive and sad to say we weren’t very impressed. They come to your car to take your order, so that’s pretty cool. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a place that does that. My friend ordered the super cheeseburger and I ordered the super shrimp burger.
My burger was fried shrimp glued together with ketchup and I asked for the slaw on the side (not really a fan of it) and it was sub par, definitely not worth the drive. Basically a bunch of shrimp in between 2 buns. On a good note the fries were good.
My friends only comment was: I won’t be making this drive again.
I kind of wondered if maybe this state didn’t have too many burger places. It was pretty basic.

Wasn’t crazy about the chili with slaw burger. I think the slaw was a little bit too sweet for my tastes however the lettuce tomatoe version was better.

After seeing this on the 10 best burger list from Our State, we had to pay El’s Drive in a visit. You know you are in the right place when you see the trucks and cars all in the parking lot with running engines and happy patrons munching on the local fare. Squabbling seagulls are also tenants here and love the leftovers that end up falling out of the car windows. We did not know to call ahead so we placed our order and the wait was about 30 minutes. The food gets brought out to you in the car by a friendly waitress and it is cash only. The shrimp burger is amazing with fresh slaw and ketchup. They also have burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes and hush puppies. There is always a crowd and I can see why it is a local favorite since 1959.

The one thing I’ve learned about the South is that every place is further away than you think it is. Maybe it’s because that wondrous series «A Chef’s Life» makes everything feel so intimate. For instance, when chef Vivian Howard went to the coast for oysters on one episode, it just didn’t feel that far from Kinston, but that was a bit of wishful thinking. Jamie W. and I soon discovered on our GPS that it’s a full hour and a half without traffic to get to Morehead City where El’s is. Ah but what the hell, we had extra time before our appointment for the Kinston Krawl, so why not take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery in this part of the state?
We passed by a lot of great business names along the way. Sew Trendy. Hair Happenings. Steals & Deals. Sedation Dentistry. How come we don’t have great business names like those in California? Twitter… sheesh. When we finally arrived, it turned out to be on the other side of a busy highway, but you could tell you’re close to the shore by all the squawking seagulls hovering around the huge parking lot which was slowly getting packed with trucks, SUVs and compact cars. People don’t leave their vehicles here because two women come out of a small brick shack and take your order (photo:
). It was a total throwback from the Eisenhower years when it was first opened and apparently never changed since then.
They have all the expected burgers, but we came here for what Vivian fondly recollected from her summers growing up here, the shrimp burger. But not any shrimp burger but the $ 5.25 SUPER Shrimp Burger with the $ 6.25 SUPER Oyster Burger thrown in for good measure. We didn’t order fries surprisingly, but we did have a huge (and we believe growing) bag of pork rinds in the back seat from the Nahunta Pork Center. I’m not an in-​the-​car eater ever since a cop pulled me over for swerving on the highway. I was trying to eat a Del Taco while changing lanes. «Sorry Officer, I was pouring hot sauce on my taco.» Lucky us though as one of the three aged picnic tables opened up. The SUPER Shrimp Burger was tasty.
For some reason, I was expecting it to be a mealy patty but no, it was a bunch of deep-​fried shrimp packed onto a steamed bun and glued together with ketchup and their special homemade slaw (photo:
). We were only slightly less delighted with the SUPER Oyster Burger simply because the texture wasn’t quite a s crunchy as I would have liked (photo:
). My one nit about both was how the bun got stuck to the paper, so the inevitable peeling had to occur when we devoured them. Although there were plenty of seagulls, none were injured in their attempt to get morsels of our food. That’s because they didn’t have enough time between our bites.
FOOD — 4 stars… that shrimp burger is aces
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… that’s what I like about the South… and the 50’s
SERVICE — 4 stars… our server must walk quite a few miles every day… and she does it with a smile… don’t forget to tip her big, Jamie!
TOTAL — 4 stars… Vivian’s childhood memory becomes a tasty seaside treat

This place is a must go to place whether this if your first time in Morehead City or your 100^th time. The Shrimp burger is out of this world. Everything they have is delicious. Best drive in in the East!

My daughter asked to return here before leaving for BMT. I used to be a big fan 4 years ago. Today service was subpar. No smiles, extremely slow service. We waited at most 30 minutes for our food (I’m being generous on the time). Gristle burger was what my super burger was. It was loaded with more onions than usual. Watch your bill, they will over charge. The first ticket was right, the other was not. I was under the impression that tax was included in the price posted on the menu, our waitress says that is not the case. We actually had to force her to give us a menu. Sorry we aren’t local and with 6 kids to feed, a menu is a necessity. Ordered a super burger with cheese and a chicken salad sandwich that I though would be 7 bucks turns out to be close to 10. No more El’s for me, unless my daughter requests again. The things we do for our children (grin)

El’s is the BOMB! Their shrimp burgers are wonderful! A couple of years ago I got a fountain Pepsi from there, I hardly ever drink sodas and still to this day my mouth waters when thinking about that Pepsi!
Drive up and waiters come out and take your order! My friend from Denmark ate there and he loved it as well!

I had the Shrimpburger… Excellent but I never had one before … The slaw is not your typical slaw. And the hushpuppies were very good too. Husband had a double cheeseburger says it was good!

We were trying to eat a little lighter lunch. The big meals were starting to add up and we were less than halfway through or trip. We kind of just wanted an old fashioned burger, so went to El’s. I personnaly love places like this and really want to like the food as much as the idea of them.
It did not turn out to be a huge hit for us. This is mainly a style issue. They make a decent burger, but it needed salt. The chile on mine was pretty good, but the slaw was extremely sweet and over whelmed everything else. «Next time» I would just get chile and mustard.
Ms T had a Shrimp Burger because of the raves. The same exceedingly sweet slaw ruined it. It comes with catsup standard. Ms T ordered it without. I can’t imagine adding that much more sweetness. The shrimp were the least flavorful that we had on the 10 day trip.
This was two star food, but I like the iconic place enough to round up. If I ordered right I would have had a three star meal. It is fun.