Hoppin' Johnz

Ed Paff Jr.

My family and I spent a few nights in Elizabeth City, NC before heading for a week at the Outer Banks on a large family vacation. My favorite meal of the entire trip was courtesy of Hoppin' Johnz, our first night in Elizabeth City. This restaurant was just a few blocks from our rental home in downtown Elizabeth City. We arrived just before their dinner rush on a Friday evening and were immediately seated at a high top near the bar. Soon after the host was letting other parties know that it was going to be a 30-40 minute wait for a table. To start we ordered the fried green tomatoes ($12). The server kindly let us know that the serving size was 3 and offered that we could add another to our order so each member of our family could have their own. There was no way my son was going to try these, so we just stuck with the standard order. Hoppin' Johnz is self-described as new south cuisine, and I think that description fits it well.  These tomatoes were fried in cornmeal and topped with country ham, pimento cheese, and pepper jelly. I have never seen fried green tomatoes presented this way, but they were extremely good! For dinner, I had the heritage farms pork barbecue topped with new south slaw and eastern NC barbecue sauce ($11 with choice of side). The pork was full of a nice smokey flavor, while the new south slaw had a welcome addition of sweet peppers that really made it stand out. On the side, I enjoyed the Brussels sprout slaw which was mostly sweet in flavor thanks to the dried cranberry addition. It was a great meal and a ton of food for the price tag! My wife enjoyed the classic Chesapeake crab cake sandwich, which is a blue crab cake, that was topped with lettuce, tomato, and remoulade ($14 with choice of side). She commented that the crab cake was one of the best she had. And she also enjoyed the side of sweet potato fries dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with apple butter. The restaurant is totally kid-friendly. I can't remember exactly what our's had, but I think there was at least pasta and a burger on the menu. That's what I remember my kids enjoying anyway. Overall this is a wonderful place for lunch or dinner and has to be among the best in Elizabeth City.

Paula Johnston

We are from Oregon and we’re happy to find this great, local restaurant! Friendly service with delicious food for the family. Thank you for a great meal with local hospitality!

Evan D

Came all the way down from Toronto, Canada for lunch with family, and had some of the best Gumbo ever and their Southern Mule is to die for! Highly would recommend to everyone and the atmosphere is one of the best in town!

Angela Blocher

Food is amazing and freshly made. The pasta of the day was incredible. Interestingly they serve soft drinks by the bottle. Unusual for such a quaint and elegant restaurant. We all loved our meals.