The Banks Grill

One of my favorite breakfast spots in the Crystal Coast area here in NC is The Banks Grill. They are always busy so that means I’m not the only one who feels this way. The locals refer to it as “The Banks”. Referring to the island chain The Bogue Banks that runs along our coastline here at the Crystal Coast.

It is a surfer themed restaurant with a large mural at the corner table featuring a scene highlighting some local flare. All along the walls of the restaurant are different pieces of beach themed art. One of my favorites are these large fishing lures with treble hooks. The bar where we often sit if there is a long wait for a table has a couple of surf boards inlayed into it.

I have lived here for 6 years now, and The Banks showed up 3 years ago. We used to always struggle with finding a place to take our families when they were in town visiting or a nice place to go for a lazy morning meal. The Banks solved this problem.

They have awesome daily specials like giant glazed donuts with maple bacon glaze. Breakfast tacos with homemade pico. They also make their own home made marmalades which are delish!

My favorite thing to order is the Grande Breakfast burrito which comes with scrambled eggs, hash browns, your choice of meat, sautéed onions and peppers, cheese, and a homemade green chile salsa. If you visit The Banks be sure to order the burrito the “old school way” which will deliver the burrito with the hash browns on the outside and a generous portion of the green chile salsa poured over top.

Another “must have” item is the Island Style French Toast which is a healthy bread made into french toast then topped with a rum-fried banana and smothered in a homemade maple honey sauce. In a tradition of southern US please order the southern fried chicken strips. The combination of the fried chicken with the sweet toast and banana is to die for.

The restaurant is open until 2pm and will serve breakfast for all that time. They do also serve lunch, but don’t bother… it’s pretty terrible.
They have the breakfast thing nailed down though.