The morning edit
Start with something good.
Coffee, bagels and a donut detour around Ocean Isle.
For coffee and a sit-down start
Drift Coffee & Kitchen on East Second Street does espresso and a kitchen menu. It's the chain's first location. Open its Ocean Isle page before you go. A multi-location business can keep different hours from one shop to the next.
For a bagel and the waterway
59 Causeway Grill is built around house-made bagels, breakfast plates and lunch. The Causeway Drive setting works when the group wants more than a coffee to go. Castaway Grill, on the mainland end of the causeway, is the other breakfast and lunch stop.
For the pier
The pier house grill opens at 7 and serves breakfast and lunch year round. Eat, then walk out over the water.
For a sweet detour
Blondiez Donuts has a storefront at 1 Causeway Drive. Plan the stop around its opening hours. It pairs well with a walk near the central beach.
Check before you go
Checked October 3, 2026. Hours, prices and rules change; the linked source is the authority.