Greasy and overcooked. Spent $65 on 2 inedible meals. The shrimp and flounder had no flavor whatsoever. Wish I had read the reviews beforehand. This place has gone downhill.

This is a great place for good seafood and a great view of boats going by. Our server was great. The hush puppies are the best I've ever had.

We were visiting the Big Rock tournament for the day and had heard great things about the Sanitary. I ordered the shrimp/crab stuffed potato. My husband ordered flounder and calabash shrimp and my son ordered fish tacos. The price was expensive ($85 for 3 ppl)...for the portion size and the food lacked flavor. The shrimp did not taste like fresh seafood…but frozen store bought shrimp! We will not return ever!!!More

Do NOT eat here. Only 1 side and it was a bowl of wilted lettuce. $40 includes ice tea and a tiny piece of lemon pie. Sea scallops were small and tough. I do not usually complain but I did and the waitress said they...were out of carrots. Why not go to the grocery store? They need to close the doors. Such a shame for a restaurant rich with history to be run in this manner.More

For decades, since 1938, this has been the place for fish, seafood in general, in this competitive NC coastal restaurant market of fresh catches. It’s been reopened. It still is the place to go first with broiled fish the standout. And coleslaw ahead of everyone’s,...hush puppies that are excellent, vegetables like flat beans and potato salad, perfect ice tea. Broiled or fried, all the sea’s bounty of crabs, shrimp, scallops, catch of the day, blues, spots, flounder. Their menu also includes chicken, beef, pastas, chowder,salads. But it’s fish on a plate with lemon, coleslaw in a side bowl, hot hush puppies in a basket just before your plate comes: it’s what da Vinci called perfection: “Perfection isn’t when there is nothing left to add; it is when you have nothing left to take away.” It’s true of the fish; true of their simple wooden floors and walls and windows to the waterfront, true of its simple tables, chairs, wood bird collection, true of its sign-in ledgers in the entry, true of its salt water taffy, its glorious pies, its wait staff, and their greetings at the front door, like every day is the opening day. It’s huge, so you probably won’t have to wait even on July 4, but I cannot guarantee that. And before or after or both the waterfront of Morehead City fits this restaurant; they have grown up together. Free parking across the slow-car-moving Evans Street, shops, fishing boats, sea gulls, breeze. Their venerable, simple of course, free post card tells their story.More

Scollaps were fishy tasting and cold! Flounder was not cooked correctly! Trout had bones in it! The hush puppies taste like cornbread we would not eat there again

Everyone was eager to get some fresh seafood on our beach trip. Parking was difficult. Was seated in a huge room with pretty bare wooden tables. Nothing fancy for sure. I had the platter of grilled flounder, shrimp and scallops. My food was nothing special....Small shrimp and extra small scallops. Hush puppies were dry and not fresh. Was OK but it wasn't begging me to go back. The others had the fried platter. They also weren't impressed, although they said the breading was light, which they liked. They ate a couple other platters at different restaurants during the week and they did say that they thought their meal here was slightly better. Still searching for a great seafood meal. Sorry guys and gals, you can do better.More

Poor food quality. The worst calamari I have ever had, seemed like something you would buy in a frozen bag and that sat in the freezer for too long. The hushpuppies also tasted old. The pepsi was flat. The mahi tacos had horrible seasoning and...the fries were gross. My teenage boys wouldn't even eat their lunch. The service was good, waitress was excellent but not worth the money. You will leave hungry because you won't want to eat the food. Very disappointing.More

Drinks were good. food was average. I went there a couple of years ago and was unimpressed but thought I would give it a second try. Not worth it. Oysters lacked flavor, mahi was dry. Not going back.

Good up until 3 years ago. Food quality started to degrade. Then there was today….the side salad was good as well as the hush puppies. The trout was freezer burned, old and dry. The scallops were dry, old, hard and flavorless. The shrimp also tasted...old and tasted like my dog’s breath smells. The three of us made ourselves eat half of it and didn’t finish. The third guy was lucky he did not order those items. The bill was $134 and no compensation. Just a, “I’ll tell the people up front.”More

I’ve been to the Sanitary Fish market many times but not in the last 25 years. I had heard that quality was inconsistent but I still wanted to try it on a trip to Morehead City this week. We arrived around 1230 on Wednesday 8/10....The place was near empty so we were quickly seated indoors by a window. The nice waitress stopped by to take our order. My wife ordered the Mahi Mahi special and I ordered the flounder and shrimp fried combination with a baked potato. This is the meal that helped build the original reputation. A short while later she brought some hush puppies. This was the first tip this wasn’t the old Sanitary Fish market. The hushpuppies were cold, oily and tasteless. When our food arrived I was hopeful. I started by dipping the tailless shrimp in cocktail sauce. Not great but ok. The baked potato was ok . Then I turned to what should have been the star of the meal. Fresh flounder fillets. Unfortunately the two fillets oil logged and had a bad flavor. I’m 65 years old and have been eating fried flounder for more than 60 years. This was literally the worst flounder or fish of any kind I’ve ever attempted to eat. It caused me to lose my appetite. I did eat the few shrimp and the potato. I tried to scavenge some good fish but I gave up. My wife’s Mahi special was ok. I did not ask the waitress to replace the fish because I felt like there was no hope. When I took the check to pay, the cashier pleasantly asked if everything was ok. I quietly told her it was the worst flounder I’ve ever been served. She immediately went to get the manager. The manager was not very friendly. She made me feel like I was trying to get out of paying. She asked I I had told the server and I told her no that I had lost my appetite. She had some rude response and I told her that I wasn’t asking for my meal to be discounted but thought she should know. I also told her I’d never be back. She said fine, took my card and didn’t offer anything. After leaving we walked around the docks and visited a couple of non-restaurant establishments. We were asked where we had lunch and we said unfortunately the Sanitary Fish Market. Then we were told it was too bad they didn’t see us before lunch or they would have warned us off. Basically they shared that the once awesome institution of the Morehead City waterfront had been going downhill for years. This establishment has been there since 1938. They have lost their local reputation . Unless something changes they will never come close to seeing 2038.More

Went for a lunch hour meal. Not busy at all in the restaurant. Sat for 10 minutes, no offer to get anything to drink, watching waitstaff walk by. The couple next to us let their waitress know. Her response was - I'll go get someone....Waited another 10 minutes then gave up and got up to leave. Waitress finally came over as we walked by surprised we were leaving. Will not go back there.More