Holt Lake Bar-B-Que and Seafood

This place has great location, great staff also phenomenal food. I visited from Buffalo Ny got the seafood dish the fryed oyster are a must.

Stop here for lunch whenever I’m heading north on I-​95. About 5 minutes off the highway. Great BBQ and cheeseburgers. Great iced tea. Fast and friendly service.

Can not recommend at all. Poor atmosphere. Bug on the menu. Employees ignored me when I walked up to pay, bitching to each other instead. No one greeted us when we walked in. Chicken was pretty good.

This place is phenomenal. I chose this place based on reviews here and my hunger for good fried chicken.
We showed up around 8 pm with a group of 20. After a little scurrying around, they sat us in one of the back rooms. We all had the family style barbeque and fried chicken (no seafood). This is the way to go. $ 8.80 per person for all you can eat barbeque (very good, fresh, and nicely sauced), fried chicken (perfectly cooked with very little grease and a nice, crispy skin — probably the best I’ve ever had), hush puppies (really good and just sweet enough to eat for desert with a little butter), slaw, brunswick stew (very good), fries (didn’t waste space on these), boiled potatoes (excellently cooked and seasoned), and I know I’m missing something else.
My family of four adults had tea (in pitchers on the table) or soda. We walked out for $ 42 before the tip. Everyone in our group of 20 left extremely happy with this find. We will all be back when we’re in the area.
I had really high expectations for the chicken when I walked in based on reviews here. I was not disappointed in the chicken and the quality and taste of everything else was a bonus.
I’m looking for reasons to go to Smithfield now.

Love to eat here. They have good country cooked vegetables. If you like your seafood fried, they are really great. They are known for their seafood, barbecue and chicken, but they have other choices that are really very good, too. I recommend everyone living close by or traveling by, give them a try.

One of my favorite spots to go for lunch! The staff is very friendly and the service is great. Love their lunch specials and when I had them cater for me they did an amazing job. The veggies are always really fresh and their stew beef with rice is on point! Delish!!!

I am in love with this place!!! The staff is friendly and it offers a down home atmosphere. The food is amazing and I have never been disappointed. They have the best bbq that I have tasted so far. I would recommend this place if you want a large choice of good food (everything is good) that won’t break the bank. I have a family of picky eaters and I have yet to hear any complaints about this restaurant.

Delicious North Carolina style barbecue close to 95 and the outlets. What a hidden gem. We got the family meal and loved the pulled pork, hush puppies, fried chicken, and cole slaw. No complaints from the kids who are usually picky eaters.

The BBQ sandwich was great service was great they all you can eat around there was also excellent with highly recommend stopping. Brunswick stew was really good.

Food was excellent. Hush puppies okra pulled pork fried chicken and coleslaw were all fantastic. I left off one star just because of the cafeteria like atmosphere. Definitely worth a stop though.

What a find! We are in town for the weekend. We drove past the restaurant last night & decided we should try it. We love to try local dining spots when we travel and often rely on Unilocal for guidance. To the couple people who posted negative comments about Holt Lake, you have lost your flipping mind! There were four of us and got the Seafood Family Style: shrimp, fish, BBQ, fried chicken, cole slaw, fried okra, Brunswick stew, French fries, boiled potatoes. OH MY YUMMY! The Q needs no sauce (although I tried the vinegar base & it is delicious). The okra is 2^nd only to grandma’s, the shrimp was perfectly battered, our waitress (Regina) was awesome & we are stuffed. We have decided it’s a good thing we don’t live close-​by or we’d all gain too much weight & have cholesterol problems. Great food, great service, great prices.

Wanted oysters one more time before May and these did not disappoint. Very tender and not overly fried – tasty with fried shrimp.

This is not what I expected when we drover here off the interstate. I was thinking some smoking old wood shack with great BBQ. Instead, it’s a modern, newish building on the outside with a formica table inside that felt like a 60’s diner. Very spacious though, so you’re not sitting in your neighbor’s lap.
I had the BBQ and fried chicken combo with slaw and Brunswick stew. BBQ is vinegar based and I liked it, but it was maybe a little overcooked. Fried chicken was excellent, slaw was excellent. I don’t know what to expect with Brunswick stew and it was tasty, but the sweetness of the dish was a little odd to me. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be prepared?
This is more of a place to go after church on Sunday or with the kids on a Friday night.

Only good thing about this place is the fried chicken. Hush puppies are also good. Fish and shrimp don’t have flavor. Shrimp is very small. Brunswick stew had consistency of a purée as well as the boiled potatoes, it was like food you blended for your grandmother without teeth. Coleslaw was sweet. The BBQ is not BBQ its… i don’t even know what. I would come back for the fried chicken for sure but that’s it.

Fried chicken was good but not crispy, like it had been sitting in a hot box for a long time. The pork was pretty bad. Had a off smell and a strange soft texture. Fired okra was good as were the hush puppies.

I hate to say it, but we won’t be back.
I walked in with my 2 kids & tried to get someone’s attention. 3 waitresses, the guy behind the counter watching the game. I got eye contact – ignored. In the meantime, the patrons stared at us like we were from Neptune. I had no idea that 2 cute little blonde kids & a brunette in jeans & a striped shirt would be looked down upon.
My husband walked in & he was acknowledged, then we were told to pick any table.
At the table, an old guy stared at me. A large woman seated against the wall stared at me. Wtf? I stared back. They kept staring. I hugged and kissed my children tighter. I had no clue people found such behaviour remotely acceptable – staring is rude, didn’t their mothers teach them properly?
Eventually a waitress came over & we ordered – catfish, fried chicken, 2 bbq sandwiches, fried okra, glass of milk.
The hush puppies came out & were awesome, as expected. The food was almost as good as remembered, but we had to ask for a plate so each of my kids could eat (were they supposed to share a plate of 2 sandwiches across the table?). The fried chicken also didn’t have a plate but was given to us in a to go bag. The woman bringing out the 2 extra plates scowled at us. Needless to say, we were not made to feel welcomed. I hate to admit that I was worried someone might have spat in my food.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve had interesting treatment like this, but I’m not enough of a fool to subject myself to it again. Bless their hearts.
$ 27 after taxes, before tip.

Wow! I have been coming here since I was a kid and still a great experience. Great seafood, fried chicken and side items. BBQ is acceptable and prepared Eastern NC style. For parties of 4 or greater you can opt for family style service offering a great cross section of the menu with all you can portions.
Oh yeah… did I mention the 100 health grade? How about the down home service? This place is worth a special visit or detouring off Interstate 95 for a break and a great meal.

I’ve had BBQ and chicken all over Johnston county and I’d say this is the best! The seafood isn’t bad either. Some of best hush puppies ever eaten and aren’t overly fried like a lot of places. The Brunswick stew was good but just a little too much ketchup for me. BBQ chicken, fried chicken, fried okra and fried oysters, fried flounder all very good.

Great place to stop in for dinner while traveling on I-​95 (and you already ate at Chick-​Fil-​A today). They’re very fast, very reasonable, VERY clean, and it’s bright enough in there to wake you up for the rest of your journey.
First things – do not get the broiled shrimp. I ordered that thinking it was going to be, you know, big Carolina shrimp with a bunch of spices, sizzling in butter. What ended up coming out were more like overgrown salad shrimp with a little bit of seasoning dashed over them. There were a lot of them, however! Portions are generous here and you may be able to get away with splitting an entrée if you’re not such a big eater.
My fiancé got the BBQ, like a sensible person. He was sort of so-​so about it until I pointed out that there was a bottle of sauce on the table (vinegar-​based, as they do here); after he added it, he loved it.
The cole slaw is great. The hush puppies they give you when you arrive are pretty fantastic and you may find yourself struggling with your dinner because you’ve scarfed too many down. They bring you more if you eat your whole basket.
They’re friendly and did I mention that it’s spic and span?

We took advantage of a drive by opportunity to grab a BBQ sandwich and a Chili Dog at the drive thru window of this long time BBQ and country cooking restaurant — all dressed up in their relatively new digs.
Frankly, I was very disappointed in both. The barbecue tasted old, stale, like it had been refrigerated for awhile. This is the first time I’ve encountered that here. The Hot Dog was simply bad — weak, thin chili was the main reason.