Hoppin’ Johnz

Reviews

• Alana C.

  star star star star star 20 July 2026

  Completely random find but happy to have stumbled upon this place. We ended up in E. City for a quick errand and figured we would find a place to grab a bite since we were in town. Yelp to the rescue and we ended up at Hoppin' Johnz! First impression: super cute place! Really neat vibe inside and very well decorated.
  
  Service was great; our server was attentive and personable.
  
  The menu all looked fantastic and we had a hard time deciding what we wanted. Although we wanted to try the signature Hoppin John, one of the daily specials caught our eye so we decided on that since we could try the signature any time (guess that means we'll be back lol). The risotto on our place was perfectly cooked as well as the fish. We kept eating and looking around like "are we really in Elizabeth City?!" Not something we expected to find in this area but happy we did.

• Jen K.

  star star star star star 17 July 2026

  Was craving some seafood and this place was highly recommended by some locals. We were seated outside which was perfect in the little alley they have, nicely decorated with plants and string lights. Very chic. The A/C inside was too cold to be comfortable, so the outside seating was great.
  
  I opted for the day's catch, which was salmon with honey mustard sauce & (roasted?) okra, beets and carrots. Very savory & perfectly cooked salmon. I loved the honey mustard and all the vegetables! It was the perfect portion too.
  
  I ordered the southern mule, which is peach schnapps & ginger beer & something else I forgot. While it was good, it was a little too sugary for me.
  
  Overall the food was amazing, though service was a bit slow even though it wasn't very crowded on a Tuesday evening. Still, would highly recommend!

• Tim S.

  star star star star star 16 July 2026

  This place should be on your short list for places to eat in Elizabeth City.  Nice restaurant in a historic building.  It doesn't look like much from the front but it has a lot of space in this narrow building.
  
  Bar seating right as you walk in.  Good size bar.  Craft cocktails, decent wine list and lots of draft beer on tap.  Main seating for the restaurant is in the back.  There is also outside seating in the alley.  
  
  Hoppin Johnz is very well decorated.  Food is excellent.  This place would be a solid 4 to 5 stars in Charlotte, Winston-Salem or Raleigh.  Elizabeth City is very lucky to have this place.
  
  We went full throttle while here.  Got two appetizers, Oysters Rockefeller and wings.  I have never had Oysters Rockefeller like this before.  The oysters were breaded and fried, and the dish was more of a deconstructed Oysters Rockefeller.  It was very good.  I did not enjoy the wings as much.  You get the whole wing, not cut up.  I found it difficult to eat and it needed more sauce.  
  
  On to the entree, the fresh catch of the day was the Rockfish in grits.  This was damn good.  Mrs Tim got the Smokehouse burger and really enjoyed it.
  
  The complementary biscuits with apple butter......damn good!  Too bad we only got two.  :-)
  
  We were on foot so we boozed it up.  Like I said, full bar here.  Craft cocktails very tasty.  Wine pours were not stingy at all.  Hoppin Johnz coffee for dessert......excellent.

• SandiKast T.

  star star star star star 28 June 2026

  There was a very romantic setting outside where we ate the most amazing meal. A $18-$25 range but well worth it!

• Terry K.

  star star star star star 27 June 2026

  Holy smokes!! We have been putting off going here for nearly a year, we saw it on Yelp but we just kept going to our normal restaurants... Wow!! Our mistake, this place is now the first places we think about when we are in the area... We went twice in the same week because it was that good!!
  
  Our first night was a quiet evening after the dinner rush so there were only a few tables taken, we were seated in a booth... We ordered the "Tobacco Onions", a fried sweet onion cut in very thin, kind of like little danglers and served with a smoked pepper mayo, a very nice start to truly outstanding main course of the French cut pork chop served over a creamy pimento cheese grits, spinach, bacon, and a devine red onion pepper jelly compound butter... The chop was so juicy and tender, I cut it with my fork and the mix of pimento cheese and compound butter was out of this world!!
  
  Our second visit was started with the fried green tomatoes with a small dollop of that wonderful pimento cheese and pepper jelly, a great southern starter to the darn tasty shrimp and grits, made with red onion, peppers, roasted garlic, Tasso Yam, blistered tomatoes, cream, black eyed peas, porta bella mushrooms, and Carolina gold rice grits... The shrimp were dusted with a Cajun spice but over spiced so you could still taste the shrimp itself...
  
  You have to try this great jem in downtown Elizabeth City, NC