About Ellas of Calabash

Ella's Calabash, North Carolina "Seafood Capital of the World"!

Legend has it that local Indians named Calabash after a crooked-necked gourd shaped like the Calabash River.  Spanish explorers are believed to have passed through the region hoping in vain to establish a Spanish Colony here.  It was the English, however, who were to succeed in settling the area, establishing rice and indigo plantations up and down the coast of the Carolinas.

During the Revolutionary War, Continental soldiers camped nearby, and in 1791, President Washington passed through the region, purportedly via the Old Georgetown Road, only recently reopened and paved.  During the War Between The States, Southern Blockade Runners easily slipped in and out of the craggy Carolina coast, including the Calabash inlets. The largest fort of the Confederacy, Fort Fisher, was located at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

In 1950, after years of fishing to provide for their family,  Lawrence and Ella High built a one-room restaurant in Calabash. With the help of their children and his mother, Amanda, they began sharing their fresh catches with locals and tourists year round.  In the 1980s, their daughter, Sheryl Hardee, assumed the reins of ownership and has continued the tradition of serving the freshest seafood available in a family atmosphere, still prepared in the Southern batter fried style for which Calabash is now famous.  Today, the third and fourth generations strive together to provide you with the same quality and hospitality that has been our trademark for half a century.  We hope you enjoy your dining experience and visit to our home, the Seafood Capital of the World.

We are sure you will enjoy your next visit to Ella's of Calabash a local's and visitors favorite for generations.