Sunrise Seafood Market, Avon, NC

Sunrise Seafood Market, Avon, NC on the OBX is located in a brilliant yellow stand-alone building on Hwy 12. The personable owner, Mark and his delightful wife, opened this seafood market four years ago. Entering this market you are immediately struck by the cleanliness and presentation of seafood, complimentary sauces and condiments, etc. The fish are laid out in perfect symmetry on ice in a display case. The glass covered case also displays scallops, clams, and oysters. As a sportfisherman from the FL Keys I am accustomed to catching and eating fish that is only hours old; this place has fresh seafood! Here is an evaluation of what we purchased: shrimp (although we are accustomed in SC to purchasing fresh heads-on shrimp) had heads off and although no heads still retained a fresh shrimp flavor attesting to its freshness(NC is the northernmost area where natural shrimp thrive); crab cakes (do not pass these up!) are some the best we have had as we traverse this country (we have uncovered in our travels five other establishments in addition to Sunrise that provide a truly fresh no cereal lump crab meat crab cake) and Mark confirmed that they only use an egg binder with a hint of Old Bay that he makes himself in-store; smoked tuna spread, made in-house, is the best we have experienced, well ground smooth with just a background of spices to underline the fresh tuna; remoulade for the crab cakes was well prepared in-house and included enough herbs and some capers to provide a mild exquisite Cajun taste; red snapper was fresh and cooked on a cedar plank on the grill with minimal spices (olive oil, balsamic glaze, garlic powder, garlic and herbs) was moist and had that unmistakable sweet red snapper taste. And I almost forgot, make sure you add the key lime pies they import from Key West, they are the real thing.


The Takeaway: a clean and fresh seafood market well worth the drive from almost any point on the OBX.  Exceptionally clean premises, locally sourced and fresh seafood purveyed by the personable owner Mark and his delightful wife. Do not pass up the housemade crab cakes nor the key lime pie imported directly from Key West. Purchased seafood July 2019. See www.rickpicks.com for other reviews, critiques and essays.