Mexi-Cali Brewz restaurant and bar is a local favorite in the Outer Banks. The casual, cantina-style restaurant serves Tex-Mex lunch and dinner, including tacos, enchiladas and burritos with fresh ingredients. Fantastic fish tacos are a great choice, made with fresh catch! The laid back atmosphere is just the place to stop during a day at the beach with friends.

Mexi-Cali Brewz is a great restaurant for the whole family. Kids will love the fenced in backyard and a chance to play corn hole, a popular backyard game involving a bean bag toss. Live music is set up outside in the yard during late afternoons and early evenings several nights a week. This is one of the best spots on the beach to gather and mingle with other visitors as well as locals while breathing in some fresh ocean air.

Mexi-Cali Brewz is the sister restaurant to Mama Kwans. At both places, you can try the Outer Banks’ famous Bushwacker, an alcoholic milkshake type beverage that is creamy, refreshing and delicious. Bushwackers can be purchased with collectable mugs that make great souvenirs to take home.

Several days a week Mexi-Cali Brewz is a hot spot for nightlife, especially Saturday nights when a DJ sets up and tables are cleared for a dance floor. The popular spot comes alive at the midnight hour, and during the summer, there can even be a line to get in. The wait is worth it. The backyard becomes a happening mingling spot for locals and visitors.  

Seasonal hours and open dates vary.



Is this your business? Update your listing by messaging us

Kill Devil Hills
252-480-0069
Hours
*Off-season hours may vary*
Call 252-480-0069 for current hours.
  • Tuesday2:30pm-2:00am
  • Wednesday2:30pm-2:00am
  • Thursday2:30pm-2:00am
  • Friday2:30pm-2:00am
  • Saturday2:30pm-2:00am
  • Sunday2:30pm-2:00am
Categories
Restaurants
Brew Thru

Brew Thru

No trip to the Outer Banks is complete without cruising through Brew Thru, the Outer Banks’ original drive thru convenience store. Whether you’re looking for a refreshing cold beverage of Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks on the go, stocking up your cooler with refreshments to enjoy at the beach or piling up on beer and wine for a party, Brew Thru is a fun and unique experience all vacationers need to see for themselves.

Drive-Through Beer & Gear

Brew Thru is Your One-Stop Shop at the Beach

The year was 1977, and Dana and Becky Lawrentz were chatting with friends over brews in their hometown of Akron, Ohio. They got to talking about a gas station convenience store in the area that had built a makeshift drive-through. Everyone agreed it would be pretty great if you could actually drive through a convenience store and pick up everything you needed without getting out of the car. But what would you call a place like that?

Well, you’d call it a Brew Thru.

It was an idea they couldn’t shake, so the Lawrentzes moved to the Outer Banks and built the first Brew Thru with the help of a partner. The idea was that people could come buy everything they would need for their trip to the beach—beer, wine, soft drinks, snacks, ice—without getting out of the car. That same year, a t-shirt salesman visiting the store and talked them into adding t-shirts to their product line—and 44 years later there are now more than five million Brew Thru t-shirts out in the wild.

The Lawrentzes’ daughter Brandy and her husband Philip Foreman purchased the business from them in 2002, and they now operate five locations across the Outer Banks.“We love being the one-stop shop for folks on the way to their beach house,” Foreman says. “Our car tenders are the friendliest people at the beach. We’re here to greet you, get you everything you need for your trip, load it up in the trunk for you, and have you leaving with a smile on your face.”

The store is quite expansive, featuring more than 100 brands of beer, dozens of wines and even a vast selection of cigars—not to mention all the snacks, t-shirts and other gear. To make ordering a little easier, customers in line get a menu—fondly known as the Summer-y—that outlines everything available at the store. These Summer-ies are also available in many of the beach rentals, which allows vacationers to decide what they want before driving through.

For customers who would like to get out and stretch their legs, there’s the Brew Thru Shop in Kill Devil Hills, where you can find their world famous t-shirts and other gifts. New t-shirt designs are created each year, making a yearly Brew Thru t-shirt a favorite of locals and annual visitors to the Outer Banks.

The Foremans both grew up in the Outer Banks, and they love that Brandy’s parents’ vision for a friendly and convenient place for people to grab their brews and other beach stay essentials is continuing to flourish.

“Our family has been welcoming people to the Outer Banks since 1977,” Foreman says. “We love this beautiful place, and we want everybody to get to enjoy it.”

(More Locations)