Home of the Crab Leg & Lobster Buffet For 25 Years!

Jimmy's Seafood Buffet is a great stop for an all you can eat affordable dinner extravaganza. The buffet offers over 100 different items. It even serves Jumbo Alaskan crab legs and Jumbo steamed shrimp, something you will not find on any other buffet in the OBX.

Online ordering and contactless curbside pickup and delivey available. Order Now!

The buffet offers a variety of seafood and non seafood options. Try some of Jimmy's seafood options and load your plate with blackened tuna, Louisiana crawfish, steamed scallops and mussels, fried oysters and deviled crabs. Not in the mood for seafood? Fill your plate with steak, pineapple glazed ham, fried chicken, BBQ ribs, and fettuccini Alfredo to name a few. The buffet also offers a kid section. Let your kids load their plates with chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and corn dog nuggets. Don't forget dessert! The buffet also offers soft serve ice cream and a plethora of baked goods. 

Jimmy's Seafood Buffet not only has an eat-in buffet but also offers take-out options.

Order what you want and Jimmy's will fill a bucket to go for you.

Order for Curbside Pick-Up

Or Call 252-261-4973 or 252-261-4974

Celebrating 25  years

It all began with three partners and their idea of starting a one-of-a-kind seafood buffet business. One of the partners, my husband Jerry Dowless, decided to buy out the business in May of 2003. Unfortunately, Jerry passed away in August of that same year, leaving me and my three children with a tough decision. We are so glad we made the choice to carry on our dreams because today, we can proudly celebrate being in business for over 20 fun and successful years.

Jimmy's offers the usual seafood fare, but with an emphasis on a Caribbean twist, giving our food choices diverse flavors from all over the world. When it comes to our buffet, we have high hopes you will not be disappointed with all that is offered. Undoubtedly, you will find unique seafood options as well as traditional Southern food and made-to-order desserts! In addition to our tasty food, our welcoming and down-to-earth staff will certainly make you feel at home when dining at Jimmy's Seafood Buffet.

After 25 years, we are proud to be known as the "Vacation Destination" by people from all over. To all of you who come back year after year, and to those who plan to come in the future, my children and I thank you dearly.

– Liz Dowless

 

Fresh Fish and Friendly Faces

Jimmy's Seafood Buffet Provides Flavorful All-You-Can-Eat Seafood at the Beach

It's been 25 years since Jimmy's Seafood Buffet opened its doors for the first time. Since that inaugural summer, the goal has remained the same: provide customers with a tasty, fresh array of seafood full of Caribbean flavor.

Elizabeth Dowless and her husband Jerry had always worked in restaurants in the Outer Banks, so when the opportunity to open Jimmy's Seafood Buffet with a couple of friends arose, it was an easy yes. The Dowlesses bought out the business in 2003, excited to turn Jimmy's into an Outer Banks staple. When Jerry passed away later that year, Dowless knew she wanted to continue pursuing their dream on her own.

Dowless went all in on the concept of a fresh, flavorful seafood buffet and her hard work paid off. Jimmy's Seafood Buffet is a beloved fixture of Outer Banks dining, with customers returning year after year for the fresh fare.

"Customers keep in contact with me throughout the winter. I get people every day asking me when we're opening for the season, and customers book their vacations around our opening," Dowless says. "I absolutely love getting to see familiar faces come back to see us each year. I love seeing them lose their minds over the buffet! Their excitement is what I love most about my job."

Jimmy's ensures a quality buffet experience by sourcing fresh, local fish daily, and serving made-from-scratch salad dressings, soups, entrees, sides and desserts. And while people may come for the multiple kinds of crab legs, lobster specials and crab-stuffed mushrooms, they come back time and again for the friendly atmosphere.

"IWe have such a family feel. We also have a lot of employees who've worked here for many years, so customers are coming back to familiar faces each year," Dowless says. "We make them feel at home."

Dowless has called the Outer Banks home for three decades, and she loves owning a business in the tight-knit community where you can't go anywhere without running into someone you know. That feeling extends to the employees who keep Jimmy's running like a well-oiled machine all season long.

"We close the restaurant on Sundays to give the employees a day to recover, and oftentimes we all go to the beach together," Dowless says. "I love the small community feel here, where everyone looks out for each other. It's something customers notice when they come to the restaurant too."

–Interview by Chelsea Sherman

If you want quantity and quality for a great price, bring your family to Jimmy's Seafood Buffet for dinner! 

Kitty Hawk
252-261-4973
Hours
*Off-season hours may vary*
Call 252-261-4973 for current hours.
  • Monday03:00PM-10:00PM
  • Tuesday03:00PM-10:00PM
  • Wednesday02:30PM-10:00PM
  • Thursday03:00PM-10:00PM
  • Friday03:00PM-10:00PM
  • Saturday04:00PM-10:00pm
Categories
Restaurants
The Cotton Gin

The Cotton Gin

For those traveling to the Outer Banks, The Cotton Gin is a beloved landmark with its large windmill and picturesque gardens. The Cotton Gin has stood in the same location since 1929, starting as a working cotton gin and growing to a gift store with 4 locations. Visitors are treated to a unique shopping experience in our main store in Jarvisburg, as well as our beach stores in Corolla, Duck, and Nags Head. Explore room after room filled with décor for your home and coastal fashions for both men and women. Discover the brands you really want, like, Vera Bradley, Vineyard Vines, La Mer Luex, Simply Southern, Lindsay Phillips, Scout, Pandora, Kameleon, Brighton, Spartina, Tommy Bahama, Southern Tide and Salt Life and Old Guys Rule - all under one roof!

 

Don’t forget the gourmet market, or shop our beautiful linens for your bedroom and bath. We also feature coastal books and fine art, or just a whimsical fun gift to bring home to family and friends. Stop by soon and don’t forget to try our estate grown wines in our stores or visit our vineyard and winery, Sanctuary Vineyards, located adjacent to the original Cotton Gin in Jarvisburg.

 

Most know The Cotton Gin as a must-stop shop for fine gifts, beachwear, souvenirs and so much more, but this retailer has a long-standing history within the Outer Banks. A local landmark that holds almost a century of memories, The Cotton Gin started from humble beginnings and continues to adapt to the times and tourists. Tommy Wright’s family has been in the Outer Banks for nearly 200 years. His great-great grandfather, Jacob Francis Wright, shipwrecked in Duck back in the early 1800s. Calling these barrier islands his new home, Wright and his family acclimated to their new environment.

 

Adaptation is a common theme for the Wright family. Tommy and his wife Candace, who continue to steer The Cotton Gin, have seen not only their business change with the times, but the Outer Banks as a vacation destination as well. A farm market in Jarvisburg eventually transformed and flourished into several retail locations dotting the Outer Banks.

 

“As the area changed and tourism took off in the 1960s, the family saw people coming for vacations, so they began to grow vegetables and things developed from there,” says Tommy Wright. The Wright family expanded upon the farm market and began to remodel a working cotton gin, later transforming the gin into The Cotton Gin general store in the late 1960s. While the additions to the farm store drew visitors, it was their encounters with the Wright family that kept people coming back year after year, which is something that remains true today.

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