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A no-frills Buxton bakery and cafe running a tight weekday-morning window on NC-12
Roots & Leaves Food Truck holds down a stretch of NC-12 in Buxton — the Hatteras Island village best known as home to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — with a straightforward morning routine: coffee, baked goods, and cafe fare from 7 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. It's the kind of stop built around getting people fed and caffeinated before the day's fishing, surfing, or sightseeing gets underway, not a late-night destination.
The name points to its roots as a food truck, and the tight, early hours still reflect that build: order, get it, move on with your day. It's closed Saturday and Sunday, so a weekend morning coffee run here isn't an option — worth building into your plans if you're staying nearby. A lot of dining on this stretch of Hatteras Island runs on a similarly compressed, season-driven schedule, so calling ahead or checking the website before a special trip is a good habit, especially outside peak summer months.
98 reviews
in the last week
Come to Roots & Leaves if you are on Hatteras Island, and come get you a delicious dirty chai with the best homemade donuts. The lemon berry and orange donuts are my favorite 😋 We come here every year and the owners are always kind to us, always greeting us with a smile. Get here early because donuts sell out fast. 10/10.
in the last week
Always the best. Get there early for the best donuts in OBX. Small batch. Made fresh every day. We absolutely love the dirty chai tea latte. Everyone we see there seems to love the iced drinks. Donuts sell out the first 2-3 hours. No joke; get there early. Natalie and Luke are super kind and put their best into everything they offer. Thanks for everything mate.
a week ago
Great service, great coffee, great donuts! 10/10
2 weeks ago
Came for doughnuts and they were sold out, that’s cool except we were probably going to get something else off the menu (definitely coffee) but the girl at the window had zero interest in us spending any money there. Suggested we go up to “orange blossom” and said she didn’t really know what to tell us. (Orange blossom closes at 11 btw it was 11:30). At that point I had no desire to purchase anything from them. We’ll take our money elsewhere. Don’t talk to people like they’re stupid and don’t suggest they spend their money at other businesses. We would have happily bought bagels, but her attitude was a no go. Just skip it.
a month ago
best donuts and coffee and donuts I've had in a really long time