The Pelicatessen - Southport

Best food for the price in the island. Great for take out. Pizza and sweet and spicey shrimp are personal favs. Service can be slow during the season, so relax and enjoy surroundings. In the season, be sure to sit on the perch for ocean and pool views. UPDATE: our recent experience was a mixed bag of service quality. There is one employee who is rude and seems to add no value while others hustle. Hopefully it isn 't the manager...

The Pelicatessen tries hard to serve the vacationers flocking to Bald Head Island from all regions of the country. It serves up an incredible array of menu items, from breakfast burritos, panini sandwiches, pizza, po boys, fish tacos, gyros, hot dogs, wraps and salads in addition to a kid's menu and ice cream. Therein lies the problem, the kitchen staff must be a jack of all trades to cook all these items, but end up being a master of none of them. However, if you are looking for a looking for a casual dining spot to enjoy the view of the ocean while sipping a cocktail while the kids swim in the pool, this is not a bad option. But keep your expectations in check when it comes to the food. Service moves along at a glacial pace at the Pelicatessen. With lots of tables, too few servers and a small kitchen, you will need the patience of Job while dining here. While our server was polite, she disappeared for long stretches, so getting a refill on beverages required us to mosey down to the bar. Our server left the check, but never returned to pick it up, requiring another trip to the bar to cover our tab. Pro tip: For a great view of the ocean, get a seat under the shaded section of the upper deck and take advantage of the cooling ocean always breeze blowing across the island. The food is definitely on the casual end of the dining spectrum, despite the premium prices. While the menu promised my po boy $12) would be served on a hoagie in reality it sadly sat atop a rather doughy hot dog bun. The tender, lightly battered fried shrimp were excellent, but were overpowered by the greasy, salty fried oysters that cried out for some lemon juice to balance out the salinity. My other comment about the sandwich was the use of bland grocery store style tomatoes in late July in Carolina instead of a juicy, farm fresh version that would have gone a long way to counteract the salty fried oyster. My daughter's cheese flatbread for $8 was nothing special, but there was good balance between the crust, sauce and cheese. Poor quality ingredients doomed my wife's ham and Swiss panini $8) from the start. There's not much the kitchen can do when you try to assemble a pile of bland ingredients boiled ham, Swiss cheese that could double as a sheet of plastic, doughy bread, mayo laden mustard). The exterior of the sandwich had no crunch since it spent far too little time in the press and was bathed in mustard. The one redeeming feature of the sandwich was the crunchy, smoked bacon that provided some much needed texture to this otherwise gloppy meal. In spite of serving up mediocre dining offerings, the place is always packed. Despite the multitude of flaws with the food and service, my three star rating for The Pelicatessen is primarily a function of the lack of decent casual dining options on the island and for the wonderful view from the upper deck.

I enjoy coming to the peli for a couple of drinks and to relax in the sun. I occasionally have the food but I think the atmosphere is moreso its strong point.

Slow slow slow slow.......... We came here for a quick lunch. They took our order quickly. However, receiving it was another story. We waited nearly an hour for a pizza and a burger. I can't imagine what took so long. The restraint was 90% empty. The ingredients on my pizza were excellent. However, for a $1.50 extra per topping should include more than 7 bits of mushrooms and 7 pepperoni. The crust was also soggy. The flavors and sauce were very good.

When it comes to BHI, there are few places to go for a reasonably priced meal that doesn't taste like cardboard. This is one of them. I've never been for breakfast or dinner, but their sandwiches and salads at lunchtime are always good, so I can only anticipate the same for other meals. Their prices are reasonable *for an island where you have very few choices unless you want to swim/fish/ride a boat to get your food* but beware their service is SLOW, so be prepared to wait. A good tip, if you can plan for it, is to call your order in, then show up about 20 minutes later and it will be close to ready. Also, if you can get a spot on the Peli Perch, you can score a great view of the pool and the ocean, with a nice breeze since you're up so high!