A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in Beaufort & Morehead City
Two restaurants on this waterfront publish their dockage terms outright and price them, which makes dinner by boat unusually simple to plan here.
Across the water in Morehead City, the Sanitary Fish Market & Restaurant on Evans Street publishes it in full: "We offer overnight moorage and docking for both dining and non-dining customers. We do not reserve space, it is a first come first serve dock." Dining customers pay $25.00 a night, non-dining $1.00 per foot. There is no electricity or water hook-up, and the only available dock runs along the back of the restaurant — an overnight tie-up offered by a restaurant, not a marina berth.
On the Beaufort side, Rhumbar on Front Street — the former Front Street Grill at Stillwater — runs a dedicated Dock & Dine page offering complimentary dock space for its guests, first come first served, with limited room for roughly six to eight boats depending on size, plus a "Dock & Go" takeout tie-up of 15 to 20 minutes. Check in at the host stand when you arrive.
One line on that page is worth carrying, because it is a signal rather than a nicety: it opens by citing "recent limitations on docking throughout Beaufort." A restaurant that goes out of its way to explain why it still offers dockage is telling you the waterfront is getting tighter. Plan dinner on the assumption that space is scarcer than it looks, especially in the transit months.
City Kitchen sits on the Town Creek Marina property, so arriving there means the marina rather than the restaurant: take a berth and walk.
Beyond those docks, dining here works from a berth rather than a guest slip — tie up on either side of the water and walk in. Both waterfronts are compact, and Front Street in Beaufort and Evans Street in Morehead City are each a few minutes from the dock.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Sanitary Fish Market & RestaurantA restaurant that publishes its dockage terms in full and prices them for diners and non-diners alike. Two limits stated in the same breath: there is no electricity or water hook-up available, and the only available dock is along the back of the restaurant. An overnight tie-up offered by a restaurant, not a marina berth. | 501 Evans Street, Morehead City — the waterfront | Its own words: "We offer overnight moorage and docking for both dining and non-dining customers. We do not reserve space, it is a first come first serve dock." Dining customers $25.00 per night, non-dining $1.00 per foot |
| RhumbarComplimentary guest dockage on Front Street. Worth reading the page itself, because it opens by citing "recent limitations on docking throughout Beaufort" — a restaurant explaining why it still offers a dock is telling you the waterfront is tightening. Plan on space being scarcer than it looks in the transit months. | 300 Front Street, Beaufort — formerly Front Street Grill at Stillwater | A dedicated Dock & Dine page: complimentary dock space for guests, first come first served, "limited space for approximately 6–8 boats depending on size", check in at the host stand — plus a "Dock & Go" takeout tie-up of 15 to 20 minutes |
| City KitchenSits on the Town Creek Marina property, which means you are arriving at the marina and walking rather than tying up at a restaurant. | On site at Town Creek Marina, Beaufort | Take a berth at Town Creek Marina and walk in |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.