Wilmington has a plethora of amazing restaurants, with offerings in an array of ethnicities. One of my favorite local establishments is The Pilot House, located downtown, on the corner of Ann & Water Streets, nestled alongside the Cape Fear River. The Pilot House features regional, “low-country” cuisine, and expertly combines “down home Southern cooking” with a modern flair, using many ingredients indigenous to the area. Guests can dine indoors, on “the porch,” or al fresco, weather permitting.
The Pilot House was founded in 1978 by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wright, Jr. The original structure of the restaurant used to be a primary residence, constructed by William Craig in 1870. The house was moved from its original location on Wooster Street, to its current location in 1977. The Pilot House was the first restaurant to open in the restored, historic Chandler’s Wharf district. In the beginning, the restaurant had a remote kitchen in the wharf, and served a limited menu of only salads and sandwiches, which customers carried from a service window to an outdoor dining area. The Pilot House was renovated in 1988, and a secondary structure was added, creating additional dining space, and a full-service kitchen. In 1993, they added a riverfront deck – an ideal location to watch the sun set over the Cape Fear River; and later moved the bar to the riverfront deck in 2004, which transformed the former bar space into a private dining area.
The Pilot House is open daily from 11:00 AM, and serves lunch and dinner. The menu offers selections for every palate, including delectable appetizers, such as Hot Crab Dip, Lobster Mac’n Cheese, Carpaccio, Shrimp Lollipops, Fried Green Tomatoes, a variety of Flat Breads, and much more; soup and salad offerings, such as the amazing Heirloom Tomato Stack, Spinach Salad, with bacon, apples, Portobello mushrooms, and candied pecans, and Shrimp and Corn Chowder, made from local corn, shrimp, lump crab meat and bacon bits, as well as other daily soup offerings; shellfish specialties, including steam pots, chargrilled oysters, and much more; seafood specialties, using local, freshly caught fish, such as Sweet Potato Grouper, Shrimp and Grits, or Jumbo Lump Crabcake; a variety of gourmet sandwiches; meat and poultry offerings, including steaks, duck, lamb, chicken and pork; and a variety of pastas.
If you want to enjoy fine, regional Southern cuisine, in a little piece of history, with unparalleled views of the Cape Fear River, be sure to visit The Pilot House for lunch or dinner, open daily Monday through Sunday.
The Pilot House Restaurant http://www.pilothouserest.com/
2 Ann Street, Wilmington, NC
910-343-0200
Written By: BlueCoast agent Melissa Snowden, Broker/REALTOR
910-836-8160 melissa@wilmingtonnchomes.com