Atlantic Beach, North Carolina

End of the Line

January 2024

For anglers, the Tackle Box Tavern is an aptly named watering hole in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Just west of Morehead City and the angling options around Beaufort, it is a ideal location for kicking back with a cold beverage after a day on the water.

The vicinity offers easy access to the fishing for false albacore around Cape Lookout in the fall months. But at other times of year there are redfish, seatrout and flounder to be had.

The tavern is located on the “Circle” in Atlantic City, which is the town’s entertainment center just off the beach. If you haven’t been there in the last decade and half, you are in for a surprise. Back then it was a “tourist zoo” with hundreds of visitors milling about the area in the evenings.

That has changed, to the chagrin of the development folks, but now offers a more laid-back scene. There still is a great beach, some restaurants and  at the center of entertainment is the Tackle Box.

Known to locals as “the Box,” the tavern’s present incarnation was established in 2006. When owner Janice Bynum acquire the business, it had already been open for four decades, and was showing its age. She chose to replace the entire building, but hung onto “the same beachy, sand on your shoes, casual bar feeling.”

The tavern serves up bar food, cold beer and a list of cocktails from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. every day, either inside or on their deck out front. If you have Fido along on your trip, dogs are welcome up until 9 p.m.

The tavern also has daily events ranging from special pricing, to free jukebox Tuesdays and especially plenty of televisions for all the sporting events. Expect a crowd in front of those screens on fall Saturdays when East Carolina University is kicking off. There also is occasional live music. The motto here is Great Things Happen Routinely at the Box!

For more details and the exact location, visit their website.