Ever wonder where to eat on vacation? Outer Banks Restaurant Tours takes the guesswork out of the equation. Terry Bell, the owner and operator of Outer Banks Restaurant Tours combined her passion for food and her experience as a teacher to create a foodie field trip for adults; a winning combination! Learn about local eateries from the chefs and owners themselves. Get a behind the scenes tour of local budding culinary businesses and learn where to eat on vacation.
Read about my firsthand experience on the Kitty Hawk tour.
From the moment I heard about Outer Banks Restaurant Tours, I was just dying to experience one. My main concern was my allergy, I figured there would be no way they could accommodate me. I contacted Terry ahead of time and she made special accommodations so that I too could be included in the tour!
We met in the parking lot of Coastal Provisions Wine Bar and Café to kick off the tour. As I walke
d towards the green Outer Banks Restaurant Tours van, two more cars arrived and out popped a group of friends and family from New Jersey. They knew the routine since they had been on Terry’s Corolla Tour the year before. Their tour experience was so great last year that they signed up for another area this year and brought some friends along.
Terry greeted us all, and after a brief overview of our itinerary, she wasted no time in starting our tour.
Our first stop was Coastal Provisions Wine Bar and Café. We bustled our way in and took a seat at the reserved seating at the wine bar, where the chef and owner, Daniel Lewis, greeted us. Chef Daniel Lewis truly entertained us with the stories of his cooking process, how he created the concept of his restaurants, and even taught us about the pairings of food and wine; all while delighting our taste buds with a savory crab cake and duck bacon wrapped scallops paired with two tastings of wine.
This was the first test on the tour. Would they be able to accommodate me? Yes they did; with flying col
ors. I received the same thing as everyone else only made to the required specifications, gluten-free, and it was delicious! That was the last time I thought about my allergy while on the tour. Considering there wasn’t a crumb left on anyone else’s plates, confirmed my suspicion that theirs had been just as good as mine.
We said our goodbyes and were shuttled to our next stop.
Only a short jaunt down the road was our next stop, TRIO. Jennifer Minnich, part owner of Trio, greeted us when we arrived, and she showed us around her home away from home. TRIO is one-of-a-kind on the Outer Banks. Their creative concept and unique space offers guests a plethora of wine, beer, and artisanal cheeses. It is a wine bar, tap house, bistro, and retail space for wine, beer, and specialty cheese. TRIO offers over 250 beers and 50+ artisanal cheeses hand cut to order, as well as 24 self-serve wine tasting stations and the Outer Banks’ largest selection of craft brews with 24 rotating beers on tap.
After our tour, we were escorted upstairs to the tasting room, where Kenneth Hyman, Jennifer’s partner in the business, offered us a choice of appetizers from their bistro downstairs. Kenneth wined and dined us, pouring us wines with a story while educating us on how to pair the wines with the tasteful bites on our plates. We finished our tasting with time to spare before our next stop, much to our delight. We wandered around exploring all the unique features of TRIO. 
When it was time to go, we piled into our van eager to reach our next stop.
Next stop was Bad Bean Baja Grill. On our way over, Terry told of a little about the award-winning chef we were about to meet. When we arrived, we sat at a long table with margaritas and water already on the table! We had the restaurant all to ourselves and Chef Matt Payne came out to chat with us. He brought us fresh made tortilla chips and not just one or even two, but four different types of salsa for us to try. After sampling the chips and salsa, Chef Matt brought out some of his award winning pork belly tacos that we devoured while he opened up to us about his background, passion for food, and friendly competitive nature of the local chefs on the Outer Banks. He also gave us the inside scoop on those amazing tacos. You won’t find it on the menu, but you can still order them anytime! He likes to offer items not on the menu, allowing him the opportunity to be creative with the cuisine, so be sure to check the specials board for new items.
We had two more stops to go, so we said our goodbyes to Matt, and hit the road.
Our fourth stop was Ocean Boulevard, which was the fine dining restaurant on the tour. We were seated upstairs in a space with beautiful ocean views, often reserved for special occasions. Our hostess brought us water and we were also able to select from a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Donny King, the owner and chef of Ocean Boulevard talked with us while we dined on a wide selection of bite-sized appetizer version of entrees you’ll find on the menu. It was a fun time with great conversation, and great people over delicious food and drinks. Ocean Boulevard certainly lives up to its reputation as fine dining.
Everyone was pretty full by the time we reached our final stop, the Good Karma Kitchen. On our short drive over, Terry informed us on how the Good Karma Kitchen was created. 
Three different businesses share this commercial kitchen, and we were going to meet two of the woman associated with Good Karma Kitchen. The first one we met was Brynne Waite; the spunky owner of Karma Krunch, a growing all-natural granola, baking mix, and snack company. Full of vibrancy and can do attitude, Brynne served up samples of some of her granola for us to try. Her product will soon be on the shelves in China and Whole Foods!
Next, we made our way to the back of the kitchen to meet Crystal Swain;the passionate entrepreneur of Enlightened Palate and Zen Pops, specializing in organic ice creams and all natural fruit based popsicles. Her frozen treats had some in the group fighting over samples.
It was a little bitter sweet saying goodbye to Crystal and Brynne.While we were leaving full and happy our tour was coming to an end. We headed out to the tour van and back to Coastal Provisions Wine Bar and Café to pick up our cars and go our separate ways. We all had a delicious afternoon that delighted our taste buds. Along the way, we had 
the pleasure of meeting chefs and owners whose unique flavors were as distinct as their personalities. Outer Banks Restaurant Tours is a lot like having your very own Food Network show. You get to experience true culinary gems while talking with local chefs and owners.
Outer Banks Restaurant Tours offers guided walking tours, and driving tours aboard a tour vehicle, Brewsday Tuesday Brew Tour, Thirsty Thursday Winery Tour, Blue Crab Kayak Tour, and Cooking Class and Dessert Tour. If you are interested in learning more about Outer Banks Restaurant Tours, please visit http://www.outerbanksrestauranttours.com/ . Hopefully, your experience will be as delectable as mine!