Buddy`s Crab House and Oyster Bar in Topsail Island

Slow service. Food excellent

Gets 2 stars because our waitress was nice and the view was good. Everything is entirely over priced. Food came out cold and for the price the portions were TINY. Beer came out warm. Witnessed another waitress(not ours) talk to a table of grown men like they were toddlers while they just sat there quiet trying to appease her. Overall would NOT recommend.Edited to add: they were also out of oysters and claims. Sad for a place that calls itself a crab and oyster bar.

View is amazing! Service was less than luster, fries were wimpy, fish bites were okay. The Fish and Chips special is posted outside at 5.95 - great deal, right? Ordering the Fish and Chips nets you a 125 tab and an apology for the misunderstanding. The view for an hour was probably worth the 20 I dropped there. Just be forewarned...

Excellent fresh food... curb side service was fast and excellent! #1 to us ❤❤

Went there for a drink sat outside tonight. Sat there for 30 minutes no one waited on us. Went to the bar to order drinks asked for a lemon martini bartender said she couldn’t make it because she didn’t have vermouth. Got the drinks sat there for another 45 minutes no one ever even spoke to us. Someone did say goodbye while we were leaving. I’m a local and have been there several times and the service is not Much better even in a good day. It’s a shame as the location is awesome.

Called to make sure that had at 5:30pm oysters was told they did, arrived at 5:45 and they were out. Ordered snow crab and they were also out of 2 of 3 sides I tried to order, any alternatives would of been upcharges, not offered any deals for the inconvenience. Felt the portion of the crab was small for the price. Also an obscure amount of Flys on the patio

Nice chill place to eat. Bartenders are pretty good. Nice view of the beach and easy access to get down to the waves.

We decided to go here for oysters since it was called an oyster bar, but to our disappointment didn’t have fresh oysters (only steamed or fried). We were told there had to be a special permit for these and nobody on the island had it.The place is seat yourself when you walk in, has a great view, decent food (fish and chips), attentive service (although wasn’t that busy)... but I give 3 stars for lack of cleanliness. We could see waitresses go from touching food with their bare hands, to money, to the refrigerator, to condiments without washing their hands between customers. We saw happen too many times to not go back again.

Great beachfront casual restaurant. The atmosphere is everything here, so make sure you eat out on the deck if you can. The food isn't gourmet but it's decent enough, the drinks are tasty and the view is amazing. You're literally just a few dozen feet from the water, with the Surf City pier off to your left. Prices are reasonable and the service is quick and friendly, even when the place is packed.

I give the food 3 stars because it was really no wow factor but 4 stars for the scenery of the beautiful ocean.

Went there to have dinner. The waitress was a bit rude and didn't seem to know what was in certain dishes. Got fish and chips, and a fried clam basket. Not going to go back here again. Fish was greasy and had a very strong fishy flavor. Fried clams were more like little round clam pieces. Over priced in my opinion for the food they served.

Was not impressed by the service or the food. They had fried oysters but not steamed or raw. We waited for over an hour. Our waitress didn't know the prices of the drinks. She also didn't know that they didn't have any frozen margaritas until I ordered one and waited 15 mins for her to come back to tell me only to have me just order a beer that I waited 15 more mins for. Smh we might not go back. If we do I pray for better experience.

This place is a huge rip off. I got the fish and chips but there was only one piece of fish. The service at this restaurant is horrible. They completely ignored me and took people's orders who arrived after I did. Definitely not going back. I would give them zero stars if i could.

Went 2 days ago. Did NOT offer Take Out!!!! I was shocked. Pleaee tell your servers NIT TO TOUCH THE RIM OF CUPS!!Or Take a USED cup back to the soda foundation to refill!!!

Waiter there's a fly in my... corn fritters -- which they graciously 'discounted'. I guess we weren't comped because we ate half before making this discovery. Gross. Such a great location with so much potential.

Loved the view. Wait staff excellent. They are out of food or drinks we wanted several time we have been there, today ran out of styrofoam cups.Come on! send someone across the street to pick some up.Going to start hitting some other joints...sorry

Bartender served 2 people 1 big fork 1 small . No crackers to 2 people eating snow crab in shells! Repeatedly asked for utensils. Her cigarettes were more important.

Love this place mostly due to its location mostly but they do make some pretty good bloody Mary’s.. the view is great if you sit on the porch and they have an upstairs hangout type area that’s great for just mingling and drinking with friends. Kids loved it too

Great food. It's got the classic beach shack atmosphere. They were out of a couple items on the menu but I still enjoyed it. Great ocean view. Would definitely go again.

The food was really good and excellent services, the beach view was expectacular. Will go again

DO NOT GO HERE!!!!! This place was absolutely terrible, when we first arrived we had to wait 20 minutes for a table, which is fine, however, we waited then another 20 minutes to be served. My appetizer came out at the same as my meal after waiting over 50 minutes for both. I ordered two jumbo crabs, which were not jumbo at all and received 2 tiny fried crabs. The crabs were soggy and salty and the French fries were hard to chew. The waitress was rude and did not apologize for the wait. Overall over priced and NASTY food!

No personality waitress. Food was good.

The restaurant was not too packed, day after Memorial Day we enjoyed a nice steamer, stock was depleted on clams due to the holiday but staff made adjustment and took care of us. The food was very good and the beach side scenery was excellent. Our waitress was very sociable and very congenial. This was a great experience for us. Try the Edward Teach on tap, it's Aces.

The service and atmosphere was nice. Right on the beach over looking the peer.The food was just ok. Not worth the price of the meal. My husband could not chew some of the oysters, fries were not so great either.

Great food, view and attention. The waiter was super nice and friendly.

In my opinion, the food is not worth the price. Order the fried oysters and you get mainly fries...portions are not very good and neither is the service. I think my money would have been better spent somewhere else and I really regret coming here. Will not be back.

Great view! It's right on the water by a pier. The food was good and there was live music too. It was just what I was looking for!

Our waitress, Paige, was very friendly & outgoing. Food was great, service was quick & the view fantastic. We will come back next time we are down!!

Great views and service make up for the lackluster food. Marketed as a crab and oyster house yet out of both when we went, the views of the ocean helped to ease the disappointment. The tacos were good and the drinks average.

Good service, good food. Ate there for lunch. But I must admit is the most I've paid for beer out of every restaurant we ate at on the island!! I was really shocked when we hung out on the upper deck for a while and I decided to go back to the bar and get a beer. It was $6 after tax. In a flimsy plastic cup and not very cold!! ☹️ We ate at several places when we were on vacation there. Nobody charge that much and like I said it wasn't very cold. Other than that everything was great

Who ever makes the grilled cheese is a horrible chef. I will never be returning to this establishment. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

A group of us went to eat and the whole experience was not very good. Our waitress forgot a lot of things and took a long time to bring anything, take orders, etc. They were out of the app that we wanted so we tried to get another but was told it was frozen and wouldn’t come out until after our meal. When the food came it was awful. Cold and over priced for what you got. For example. I got the shrimp sandwich. It was just fried shrimp thrown on a old bun with nothing else and cold fries on the side. The drinks were also very weak. Would not recommend to anyone.

Great beach bar with good food. The view and ambiance are not to be missed while in Surf City.

At one time a person confined to a wheelchair was welcomed at Buddy's. But last year (2019) they have since closed off the only entrance into their restaurant that was wheelchair accessible. So, if you are a disabled veteran, car accident victim, surfing accident victim etc your presences is not wanted, allowed or tolerated at Buddy's. They have made that very clear when they closed off the only entrance without making modification for an alternate entrance. What's really sad is how they display the American flag on facebook but don't allow or serve wheelchair veterans. Is that legal?

Great place, great staff and great food! Most of these bad reviews appears to be in the middle of tourist season when they have to wait and it makes them mad. If they can't be patient with a restaurant staff that is doing their best to feed and accomodate everyone in a pandemic situation, maybe they should just stay home and cook themselves.

Very very slow service. Wanted a staple item but they were all out of basically everything. Also charges for water! Go to Daddy Mac’s.

Great service, excellent view and good staff! Fish tacos are so good I could order 2 and be completely happy with it! Reccomend to anyone looking for a bite at the beach!

We both got the Flounder Platter and LOVED it!!! Made the 3 he drive to the beach worth it.

Nice location, first restaurant we visited. Mostly seafood, some other options like hamburger and chicken. I would have liked the option to have a chicken tender basket with fries and slaw, but they wouldn't do it. They had just chicken tenders as an appetizer alone, and other items as a basket option... Otherwise great service and reasonable prices. Great view!

This is the place to go if you want to have fun. Great seafood great view great people. Every time my wife and I go there we meet so many nice people. We will continue supporting this awesome local business.

Hostess staff was rude! Off the beach and can’t serve because we had bathing suits on but no covers, ok cool, so we went across the street and bought clothes however for “Julie” is still wasn’t enough. When we approached the front to see where are party was seated we were rudely interrupted by “Julie” telling us our party was seated in the back. Ok cool. However when leaving, checking out and leaving a hefty tip still had no respect with this girl at this establishment. As a manager I would never accept this type of attitude or behavior within my work crew. Poor attitude!!!!

Slightly rough atmosphere but incredible food and drinks. Better for younger couples(drinking age) and anyone just looking for bar fare and a drink. This ace does have great ocean views!

Great view and atmosphere. Food is decent. Great drinks.

Went to try something different in the area and the food was less than ok. Stay away from their steamed shrimp, they are the worst I've had, well I only ate 2 and left the rest. By far, their best plate is the the fish and chips. Not worth the $100+ spent. Definitely go a some where else. The only reason I'm giving the 2 stars is because the views are spectacular, our waitress was nice and the fish n chips were ok.

I always come here after a day at the beach. Great fresh seafood and beautiful view of the ocean while dining. Have brought several friends to buddy's and its become a tradition. Always great service! Get the seafood bucket, it will fill you up!

Good for a quick beer / drink. Mostly fried foods. Nice view from outside although the railing blocks a lot of your view if you are sitting down. Nice staff.

Sat down and after 20 minutes of others being seated around us, waitresses coming up to all of them. No one came up to us in the 20 minutes we were sitting there even though they all looked at us.

We have been going since 1998, we stopped for sometime because it wasn't the same service or food. Today was fantastic!! Welcome back Buddys and thank you!

We came here one evening because the wait at Daddy Mac's was too long. There were plenty of seats, but the process here is lacking. The wait staff did not seem organized and did not check on us often enough. We could see food sitting in the window and stacking up, just waiting to be delivered. It took a long time to receive our food, which was lackluster but acceptable. I think that with such a prime location and beachy setting, if they could figure out their kitchen and service process to provide a better experience to customers, this restaurant has potential to be a great beach destination!