42 | Winter
•
2009
Started in 1997, and owned by Robert Bland, The 316 Oyster Bar has served
thousands of fresh seafood dishes, prepared fried, broiled, grilled or blackened. It
doesn't matter if you are in the mood for a lighter fare of shrimp or something more
filling such as crab cakes - which are loaded with crab meat - the menu's choices are
wide and varied.
"We get most of our seafood fresh from Morehead City," says Horne. "We might
not make a trip every day, but we are getting fresh seafood several times a week."
Seasonal favorites include wahoo, mahi-mahi and grouper. Tangy coleslaw - it's the
pickle chips - is one of the several sides offered with dinners. Crisp hushpuppies arrive
warm enough to melt the honey butter served with them. "We have a somewhat
different recipe when it comes to hushpuppies," is all Horne will say about that.
The restaurant's décor reinforces the at-the-shore feeling. The Formica tables with
