Diamond Shoals Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Diamond Shoals Restaurant & Sushi Bar sits right on NC-12 in Buxton, the village that anchors the middle of Hatteras Island and is home to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The name comes from Diamond Shoals, the shifting sandbars stacked up a few miles offshore that have wrecked ships for centuries and given this stretch of coast its reputation as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Inside, the menu splits its attention between straightforward breakfast-and-lunch cooking and a sushi bar, a pairing that's harder to find the farther you get down the island. Hours run early morning through early afternoon only, seven days a week, which makes it a better bet for a post-beach or post-lighthouse meal than a dinner plan — worth double-checking current hours before you go, since NC-12 closures and storm season can shuffle schedules along this whole stretch of the seashore.

• Hours: Daily, 7am-2pm (breakfast and lunch, no dinner service)
• Price range: $$