John's Drive In

John's is up there with that now-defunct Tastee Freez in Coraopolis, PA as the best ice cream I've ever had. I came here in the late-80s and it was great then, and is just as great today. The ice cream is easily 5+*, with my favorite being vanilla soft serve with cherry topping + malt powder (don't knock it til ya try it!)The reason I gave it only 4* is because we were charged $25 for a crab cake boat which wasn't very good. These were t lump crab cakes at a fancy restaurant, they were very basic ones from a corner drive-in with a few hushpuppies. I could understand $12 or even $15, but $25 was straight highway robbery.

Classic place, used to go here when I was a kid. Glad to see it's still here and thriving.

Bottom Line: An old fashioned drive in serving seafood, burgers and milkshakes.My husband and I decided to give John's Drive In a try after seeing it featured in the July 2022 edition of Our State magazine. John's originally opened in 1977 and in true drive-in fashion you order at a window, food is delivered through a window or door and there is only outdoor seating at picnic tables. After combing through Yelp Reviews my husband and I ordered two of their signature items - fried Dolphin (Mahi) boat (a styrofoam container with big pieces of battered and fried Mahi, hush puppies and a side) and a milkshake. We also ordered the blackened tuna boat. All of our food was very good but I particularly enjoyed the tender blackened tuna. It wasn't too spicy and had the perfect amount of flavor. In hindsight we could have split a basket as they both offered plenty of food.We arrived at John's about 10:45am on a Sunday in August and we were surprised that the line was already forming for the 11am opening time. We were fortunate to get the last legit parking spot; otherwise, I'm not sure what we would have done.

Came here as a quick lunch stop on our way out of OBX. The drive in area was convenient but had only a few parking spots so luckily we didn't come at too busy of a time. We ordered at the window and then went around the back where there were picnic tables and umbrellas to wait for our food. It was really hot out and an employee was so nice and brought our dog a small ice cream cup!Ordered the mahi sandwich and NC bbq sandwich. I liked my mahi sandwich, the white fish was meaty, not too greasy, and sauce was well portioned. My partner said the bbq sandwich was just alright. I don't think we'd go out of our way again but the location is super convenient and walkable from the beach so a great spot to get a quick bite and not have to interrupt your day soaking up the sun!

Great Dive place, Dolphin bites are insane and the crab cakes are tasty! The fries are well seasoned and they have massive portions. The milkshakes are great and are some of the best ones I've ever had. The service is fast and efficient. They have many places to sit and enjoy the food when it comes out!

We had a great fish sando here (dolphin fish, AKA mahi-mahi, for the uninitated). We were told this little food stand is reminiscient of how OBX used to be. If that's the case, we're big fans.One minor nit- we wish the fish didn't taste quite as fishy (all in that skin). But the sandwich was still good...And don't sleep on their soft serve either.

Tried to stop here for lunch but there are only about six parking spaces and no parking allowed on the road so we struck out despite making two passes by it. It worked out okay, though. They only have outdoor seating and it was blazing hot. We ended up coming back at 4:30 right before they closed at 5 pm and parking was no problem. We got two root beer floats and they hit the spot on the hot day we had. They gave us the cans of root beer along with our floats since there was some soda left. Thought that was a nice bonus. Friendly staff and was served quickly.

Arrived at 9:10 with a 9:30 closure time- unwilling to take our orders and only had ice cream.If you are only offering certain menu items after a certain time- advertise it

John's has the best chocolate, peanut butter, banana milkshake ever! And their cheeseburger sub is not bad either!

Good food. Polite employees. Food is always fresh and the line moves quickly. Great for families too with plenty of outdoor seating in the rear.