Route 12 Steak & Seafood

This had previously been one of our favorite restaurants in Corolla and looked forward to returning after a few years away from the Outer Banks. Service was good, but food was average. The seafood platter was bland. The crab cake was average and the potatoes were served cold. With all the dining options available in Corolla, I don’t think we will be returning.

From the outside I would say this place probably gets overlooked, especially since it’s connected to a gas station but the service and food here was incredible. The seafood and the steaks were all delicious, from the ribeye to the crab cakes, cooked perfectly and full of flavor. We had a part of 9, they got us in within the hour and we all had a wonderful dinner to celebrate the end of a great week in obx. Definitely suggest trying this place.

Excellent lunch on a rainy day! Fresh mahi on my fish and chips, delicious clam chowder and tuna salad sandwiches. All fresh catch!

This place was pretty good. All the food was tasty. Only reason for four stars is the fact we were the only party and it took what I thought was a little long to get our food but overall I’d go back.

Nice bar, great seafood, good service. Had the #2 Combo, Mojito (quite good) and shrimp appetizer. The shrimp were MASSIVE and well seasoned with Old Bay. However they were out of Oysters and Scallops. I was definitely looking forward to the scallops. Pricing was okay, nothing great. Crab legs were great. I’d definitely say they are worth stopping in.

During our last trip to the Outer Banks we visited this little spot 3 different times, we loved this place! We were shopping and stumbled upon this place and decided to go in. It was right in between lunch and dinner and relatively dead, but we decided to go in in anyway and give it a go. We started off with a bacon wrapped shrimp appetizer that was served with a sweet chili sauce. These were pretty good, shrimp tasted fresh and bacon was crisp, it was a good start. I ordered one of their seafood platters that included raw oysters, steamed stream and clams. The oysters were clean and grit free, clams were good and cooked well. Shrimp was cooked well, however could have used a bit of extra attention with cleaning, as they were not deveined 100% well, but not a deal breaker for me. My platter came with melted butter, cocktail sauce, horseradish and coleslaw.
My wife ordered their fried fish sandwich, which I tasted and it was really good. The fish was crispy, not oily and nice and flaky. We both had soft drinks and I believe for all of this it was around $ 40 something, very affordable. We live in Pennsylvania and at a restaurant around here it would have easily been $ 80-​$ 100.
We would definitely recommend this place and will definitely be back!

It’s open year round… that is the highlight.
The food is ok.
The prices for «ok» food make no sense… it is expensive… you expect more.

My husband and I thought we would try this restaurant and it turns out it was a little pricey. It cost 45.00 for both. We ordered the fried shrimp platter and the broiled shrimp platter. My husband got the French fries and I got the mash potatoes for our sides. I was so disappointed. The red mash potatoes were brown in color. And very peppery. We got 10 little shrimp. Needless to say we won’t be back. First time I ever wrote a bad review on a restaurant.
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Not your normal gas station food. From the outside it looks scary but inside is wonderful. We had the calamari, shared the surf and turf and ceaser salad. Pomegranate martini was the best! A true gem.

I ordered the crab cake dish, it was by far the worse I have had, shells galore. They proceeded to tell our party that it was normal. The prices are too high for little choices. I will not be coming back. I do not recommend this place at all unless you want below average quality food for a high price.

The food was ok. But very small portions. My friend says the crab bisque left a lot to be desired. Don’t think we’ll come back. The bread was good.

Stop!!! Do NOT eat here!!! Service is slow, food is even worse. Flys all over the place… Just not good. Don’t get the crab soup, it’s horrible, same with the cheese quesadilla… Ugh!!!

I can’t speak for more than the seafood. Initially I had no great expectations as it was a steakhouse and seafood restaurant connected to a gas station and brewthru. Opening the menu you’ll immediately notice a fair selection of options and pretty pricey entrees. However, the Big Kahuna is highly recommended for its price/​value. The shrimp were cooked perfectly, which is easily overcooked in restaurants. The raw/​steamed seafood dishes were all superb, the calamari was good, but nothing spectacular. Service was good, our waitress checked in every now and then, refilled drinks and cleared shells/​plates. The best was at the end of our dinner heading out the bartender Jordy wished us a good night and informed us of their daily half off seafood happy hour. From 2−4pm when you get a drink from the bar you can get the raw/​steam bar for half off! We came back the next day for lunch and Jordy was back and was excellent, even remembered our preference for horseradish with our oysters. Very friendly and great service running the bar and tending to us, not to mention he shucked about 3 dozen oysters for us! Apparently he only works weekends to help out, but he is the best. We’ll definitely be back, we had only good things to say leaving the place both times. Don’t forget to get a scoop of ice cream a just across after you finish!

Don’t go we waited two hours the only saving grace was we had 3 hours to kill. Food terrible service terrible. I’d rather die then go here ever again

I can’t comment on the food as ours never came. We stopped in for breakfast and ordered an omelet and a breakfast burrito. After 40 minutes, we got up and left. The one star is for the bartender was kind enough to comp our coffee because never got food.

Came here with a large party including 9 kids. Service was quick but food definitely nothing to write home about. If you’re in a hurry but don’t really care about how good the food is, then this will do.

Really mixed bag, mostly disappointing. My mom’s biscuits and gravy were pretty inedible– the gravy was almost tasteless and had way too much flour in it. It was all you could taste and when you put your finger in it the dent stayed there. My chicken quesadilla was edible but the cheese and chicken seemed like they had been sitting out a bit. The filling basically only made it halfway up each quesadilla wedge. My friend ordered a side of toast and received one smaller-​than-​normal slice of toast with no butter. The crab bisque was basically just melted butter once you got to the bottom of the bowl.
Other members enjoyed the things they got from the raw bar (oysters and clams) and the crab, but overall the experience was really disappointing.

Part of a group of 17 that made reservations for 8pm, we sat at 8:05 I would say good planning on their part. The bartender offered soda to the kids while we waited. The restaurant manager seated and thanked us for our business. They assigned a server to just our table and she was very attentive to our group. She filled our drinks before they were out and was very friendly. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food from the salmon, stuffed shrimp, crab legs, and steak. I would certainly eat here again!

very basic décor but delicious food! empty plates decorated our table after an hour. seafood combo, Alaskan snow crab, oysters, bacon wrapped shrimp and even chicken Parmesan were all delicious!

We all know the saying… ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’! Yes –Its a restaurant at a gas station. But its actually pretty damn nice. My wife and I have always disregarded this restaurant mostly because of its external appearance. We finally made it in on our last trip to Corolla and we were glad we did.
The restaurant smelled like a good steamer joint when we walked in the door. it was full and surprisingly spacious. We were seated immediately and promptly greeted by our server. The server was friendly and helpful.
We skipped the starters and ordered dinner directly. My wife had a steak and I had the stuffed shrimp. My wife’s steak was cooked perfectly and well seasoned. My stuffed shrimp were enormous and the filling was really good. Both came with tasty green beans and nice thick mashed potatoes.
We were happily suppressed that this joint provided one of the best meals of our entire trip! We will gladly return.