Nantucket Restaurants?
Jun 9th, 2007, 07:16 AM
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I've noticed that you haven't received any replies to your post, so I'll give it a try....
First, there's a lot of information already on this board if you do a search under "Nantucket Restaurants" in the Massachusetts section of the board. Here are a few suggestions (my husband and have been visiting the island for a long time):
Casual dining: The Atlantic Cafe (good pub food and nice, convivial bar atmosphere); ditto for The Brotherhood (the upstairs bar is more open while the downstairs bar and restaurant has the feel of an English pub).
More upscale dining: Lola 41 (this is a unique concept restaurant that opened last season and quickly became a hot spot - good sushi, great hamburgers albeit expensive and also a good bar scene); Straight Wharf; The Rope Walk (at the end of Straight Wharf on the water - good bar as well)
Fine Dining - The Pearl is our favorite (wok fry lobster is delicious - reservations as far in advance as possile are strongly advised); 21 Federal (a classic and also very good); 29 Fair (also wonderful - very intimate and antique feel); The Summer House in Sconset (we have not eaten there but a great place for drinks - we understand from friends that the food is delicious)
Breakfast/Lunch: Black Eyed Susans is our favorite breakfast spot (great omelets and the line does move fast - they also serve dinner, which is good food but a limited menu); Something Natural a short walk outside town for sandwiches (best lobster salad and great BLTs among other terrific sandwiches); Tacos Tacos on Steamboat Wharf (good burritos and roll-ups); Pronto (also on Steamboat Wharf) for paninis and lobster rolls.
This should get you started and hopefully other posters (where are you Ackislander and Escargot?) who are also familiar with the island will join in....
Have a great time!
First, there's a lot of information already on this board if you do a search under "Nantucket Restaurants" in the Massachusetts section of the board. Here are a few suggestions (my husband and have been visiting the island for a long time):
Casual dining: The Atlantic Cafe (good pub food and nice, convivial bar atmosphere); ditto for The Brotherhood (the upstairs bar is more open while the downstairs bar and restaurant has the feel of an English pub).
More upscale dining: Lola 41 (this is a unique concept restaurant that opened last season and quickly became a hot spot - good sushi, great hamburgers albeit expensive and also a good bar scene); Straight Wharf; The Rope Walk (at the end of Straight Wharf on the water - good bar as well)
Fine Dining - The Pearl is our favorite (wok fry lobster is delicious - reservations as far in advance as possile are strongly advised); 21 Federal (a classic and also very good); 29 Fair (also wonderful - very intimate and antique feel); The Summer House in Sconset (we have not eaten there but a great place for drinks - we understand from friends that the food is delicious)
Breakfast/Lunch: Black Eyed Susans is our favorite breakfast spot (great omelets and the line does move fast - they also serve dinner, which is good food but a limited menu); Something Natural a short walk outside town for sandwiches (best lobster salad and great BLTs among other terrific sandwiches); Tacos Tacos on Steamboat Wharf (good burritos and roll-ups); Pronto (also on Steamboat Wharf) for paninis and lobster rolls.
This should get you started and hopefully other posters (where are you Ackislander and Escargot?) who are also familiar with the island will join in....
Have a great time!
Jun 9th, 2007, 02:03 PM
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The Wauwinet.........
http://www.wauwinet.com/
The Chanticleer..........
http://www.nantucketfoodandwine.com/...r_lunches.html
http://www.wauwinet.com/
The Chanticleer..........
http://www.nantucketfoodandwine.com/...r_lunches.html
Jun 10th, 2007, 03:11 AM
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Company of the Cauldron has really good prix-fixe dinners at reasonable (for the island) prices, but they are set meals, and substitutions can be difficult. Menus are available a week in advance so you can pick your meal. This and 29 Fair are both very romantic.
All the suggestions are good (haven't eaten at LOLA 41) but I would add American Seasons, the Galley at the Cliffside Beach Club for excellent but expensive food in the island's only beachfront high end restaurant), Centre Street Bistro is reasonable and we always eat there with pleasure. Many people like Oran Mor, but I found it expensive for the quality. Toppers at the Wauwinet has superb food in very small portions, but I have never left it feeling hungry since what you get is very rich.
I haven't eaten at Chanticleer since the new owners took over (same people as Black eyed Susan's) but I will try to fit it in this summer.
Real bargain: the restaurant at the Miacomet Golf Club. YOu don't have to be a member. Note: this is not the Nantucket Golf Club or the Sankaty Head Golf Club. This is the one near Bartlett's Farm.
All the suggestions are good (haven't eaten at LOLA 41) but I would add American Seasons, the Galley at the Cliffside Beach Club for excellent but expensive food in the island's only beachfront high end restaurant), Centre Street Bistro is reasonable and we always eat there with pleasure. Many people like Oran Mor, but I found it expensive for the quality. Toppers at the Wauwinet has superb food in very small portions, but I have never left it feeling hungry since what you get is very rich.
I haven't eaten at Chanticleer since the new owners took over (same people as Black eyed Susan's) but I will try to fit it in this summer.
Real bargain: the restaurant at the Miacomet Golf Club. YOu don't have to be a member. Note: this is not the Nantucket Golf Club or the Sankaty Head Golf Club. This is the one near Bartlett's Farm.
Jun 10th, 2007, 08:02 AM
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We were there last weekend and had a great meal at Straight Wharf -- expensive, but worth it. Brant Point Grill is not recommended -- the service was very bad and many customers were complaining -- they forgot one of our appetizers and never noticed, forgot to bring glasses of wine that we ordered, etc. For lunch we loved Something Natural on Cliff Road -- big sandwiches that you order and then bring outside to eat on picnic tables. For lunch we also like Even Keel on Main Street -- they have a garden out back that is very nice.
Jun 10th, 2007, 12:49 PM
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We were there for a long weekend last Summer, in a shorts and sandals mode, no dressy eating. We really liked Straight Wharf, the Atlantic Cafe, Brotherhood of Thieves, The Tavern (love eating outside there), and even Tacos, Tacos just as you get off the ferry ... really everywhere we ate for about three days. I don't think there is a bad place to eat on Nantucket! 
Jun 11th, 2007, 04:06 AM
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Well, for shorts and sandals mode, you can add Arno's on Main Street and the takeout Jamaican food at Stubby's on Steamboat Wharf.
We used to go to the Ropewalk about three times a month, but they started changing the menu last year and have dropped two of the three things we always had, so pfui on them! But great location on the water at the end of Straight Wharf.
For any restaurant above the shorts and sandals level, you will absolutely need a reservation made as early as possible.
Elsiemoo, you are very nice about our restaurants, but there are some bad ones. Usually the food is good -- if pricy -- but a lot of places have hostesses chosen for their ability to look good in a microskirt and not for their ability to handle a room; equally, some of the waitstaff are distinctly amateur for the amount of money you will be paying, though nothing like as bad as the waiter who sat down at our table in Naples, FL, to take our order because his feet were tired!
Also -- be sure to hit the Juice Bar across from the Whaling Museum shop for delicious ice cream and pastries called "Chocolate chubbies". A great excuse for an evening walk!
We used to go to the Ropewalk about three times a month, but they started changing the menu last year and have dropped two of the three things we always had, so pfui on them! But great location on the water at the end of Straight Wharf.
For any restaurant above the shorts and sandals level, you will absolutely need a reservation made as early as possible.
Elsiemoo, you are very nice about our restaurants, but there are some bad ones. Usually the food is good -- if pricy -- but a lot of places have hostesses chosen for their ability to look good in a microskirt and not for their ability to handle a room; equally, some of the waitstaff are distinctly amateur for the amount of money you will be paying, though nothing like as bad as the waiter who sat down at our table in Naples, FL, to take our order because his feet were tired!
Also -- be sure to hit the Juice Bar across from the Whaling Museum shop for delicious ice cream and pastries called "Chocolate chubbies". A great excuse for an evening walk!
Jun 11th, 2007, 05:30 AM
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Chocolate Chubbies - I did a quick search & they are either chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream, or chocolate chip pretzels with ice cream or walnut,pecans & choc chip ice cream - put me out of my misery & tell me what I will be looking forward to.
Jun 11th, 2007, 11:55 AM
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A Chocolate Chubby from the Juice Bar (foot of Broad Street, not to be mistaken for Juice Guys) is like a puffy dark chocolate brownie: crisp almost hollow outside shell and a soft, not-quite liquid interior with chocolate bits partially melted into it. You won't be sorry!
My wife fakes them pretty well with Ghirardelli Brownie mix with an extra egg white whipped like meringue and stirred into the batter, but the commercial oven makes a puffier, crispier outside and other brownie mixes don't work as well.
My wife fakes them pretty well with Ghirardelli Brownie mix with an extra egg white whipped like meringue and stirred into the batter, but the commercial oven makes a puffier, crispier outside and other brownie mixes don't work as well.
Jun 11th, 2007, 12:19 PM
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Ackislander, have you tried Pi Pizza yet? We'll be on island in a couple of weeks and wanted to try it. Curious if you've been there, or have heard anything about it. Also, last time we were at Arno's (Stroll Weekend) we thought it wasn't that good. We thought the same about AK Diamonds, too. It is hard to find some less expensive places these days!
Jun 12th, 2007, 03:46 AM
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First, my wife says to forget the recipe I gave for Chocolate Chubbies. It is a great recipe, but it is not the way she makes Chocolate Chubbies. It makes something more like a molten chocolate cake.
Second, I have not eaten at Pi Pizza, though I have seen the menu, and it looks good. You need a car to get there, though.
Third, Arno's is highly variable. We had a good meal there early in June after avoiding it for the last two years. I mention it because you can often get in there when you can't get in anywhere else, and I think people will be fine if they stick to the simpler items.
Fourth, I am attracted by the menu at Kitty Murtagh's, but the noise is overwhelming. The Hen House, formerly owned by the same guy, has incredible breakfasts, good lunches, and surprisingly nice dinners at reasonable prices. By turning the lights down low and changing the music, they turn what is basically a cafe/dinner into quite a pleasant dinner spot. A better atmosphere, I think, than Black-eyed Susan's but less trendy food. Not easy to find, it is behind Sfoglia, across the street from the Stop and Shop.
The great advantage of Blackeyed Susan's remains the fact that they don't have a wine license, so you can bring your own.
Second, I have not eaten at Pi Pizza, though I have seen the menu, and it looks good. You need a car to get there, though.
Third, Arno's is highly variable. We had a good meal there early in June after avoiding it for the last two years. I mention it because you can often get in there when you can't get in anywhere else, and I think people will be fine if they stick to the simpler items.
Fourth, I am attracted by the menu at Kitty Murtagh's, but the noise is overwhelming. The Hen House, formerly owned by the same guy, has incredible breakfasts, good lunches, and surprisingly nice dinners at reasonable prices. By turning the lights down low and changing the music, they turn what is basically a cafe/dinner into quite a pleasant dinner spot. A better atmosphere, I think, than Black-eyed Susan's but less trendy food. Not easy to find, it is behind Sfoglia, across the street from the Stop and Shop.
The great advantage of Blackeyed Susan's remains the fact that they don't have a wine license, so you can bring your own.
Jun 14th, 2007, 03:36 PM
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Reporting back for the island, and what a fabulous time we had. Don't want to shout our adoration of the Boat Basin Cottages to loud, lest they become unavailable to us in the fall, when the rates drop back down!
It's a great eating island. Off the boat we shared a fish sandwich from the fish store on the harbour. Decent if not pricey.
- Queequeg's - been here before. Tuna app just ok, but the beet rissotto with asparagus, goat cheese and crisped shallots was brilliant
-LoLa41 - fantastic vibe and excellent fried clams and unagi - fun happening place.
-Waiwanet - don't order the painkiller if you are thinking of remembering bareboating BVI.
-Bartley's Farm - great place to make a picnic!
-Pearl - tuna martini, treating tuna the way it should!!! Fantastic bartendar - Ian, friendly and on the top of his game.
-Cauldron - always wanted to try this place. great food, service, trio of seafood cakes were good, ribeye was fantastic, goatcheese dessert was powerful but I understood the choice more than enjoyed it, and a coffe mouse rounded out the night. Fun, but may be like a luau - been there, done that. Although when we return in the fall, the menu and the autumn air may call me.
-Water Street - another fantastic bartender upstairs, completely on his game mixologyst.
Plenty of great food and change of atmoshpere to be found on this wonderful island!
It's a great eating island. Off the boat we shared a fish sandwich from the fish store on the harbour. Decent if not pricey.
- Queequeg's - been here before. Tuna app just ok, but the beet rissotto with asparagus, goat cheese and crisped shallots was brilliant
-LoLa41 - fantastic vibe and excellent fried clams and unagi - fun happening place.
-Waiwanet - don't order the painkiller if you are thinking of remembering bareboating BVI.
-Bartley's Farm - great place to make a picnic!
-Pearl - tuna martini, treating tuna the way it should!!! Fantastic bartendar - Ian, friendly and on the top of his game.
-Cauldron - always wanted to try this place. great food, service, trio of seafood cakes were good, ribeye was fantastic, goatcheese dessert was powerful but I understood the choice more than enjoyed it, and a coffe mouse rounded out the night. Fun, but may be like a luau - been there, done that. Although when we return in the fall, the menu and the autumn air may call me.
-Water Street - another fantastic bartender upstairs, completely on his game mixologyst.
Plenty of great food and change of atmoshpere to be found on this wonderful island!
Jul 7th, 2007, 06:19 PM
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Ackislander,
we are planning a trip to the island in early August as well as early october. We will be staying for three nights each time. We currently have reservations for Company of the Cauldron, 21 Federal and Brant Point Grill for our August trip. We have been to all of these restaurants before, and have enjoyed all of them. Although, I ahve to say that the last time we were at Brant Point Grill the food was not as good as the last time that we were in town. Do you think that we should ditch one of the reservations we have already and go to The Galley on cliffside while the weather is still warm? We're so confused! Too much good food, too little time!
thanks!
we are planning a trip to the island in early August as well as early october. We will be staying for three nights each time. We currently have reservations for Company of the Cauldron, 21 Federal and Brant Point Grill for our August trip. We have been to all of these restaurants before, and have enjoyed all of them. Although, I ahve to say that the last time we were at Brant Point Grill the food was not as good as the last time that we were in town. Do you think that we should ditch one of the reservations we have already and go to The Galley on cliffside while the weather is still warm? We're so confused! Too much good food, too little time!
thanks!
Jul 8th, 2007, 02:50 AM
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If you did not have a terrific meal at Brant Point Grill last time and have not eaten at the Galley, I would certainly change my reservation. If you can't get in there, I strongly recommend American Seasons or 29 Fair.
Jul 8th, 2007, 05:59 AM
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Thanks so much! We can't wait to come out. Counting down the days!
Just curious - do you happen to know offhand which restaurants are open in the off-season? We are thinking of coming out in Jan/Feb but arent sure if it would be worthwhile.
Thanks!
Just curious - do you happen to know offhand which restaurants are open in the off-season? We are thinking of coming out in Jan/Feb but arent sure if it would be worthwhile.
Thanks!
Jul 8th, 2007, 06:46 AM
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The restaurants open in January and February tend to be more casual places like Brotherhood of Thieves. Centre Street Bistro is open all winter, and others are from time to time, but last winter was pretty poor pickings if you wanted more than casual food. Otherwise, it is wonderful here in the winter if (1) you don't mind what can be cold and blustery weather and (2) you can live with the possibility of being cut off from the mainland for a couple of days. That said, we are usually 10-15 degrees warmer than in Boston just as we are 10-15 degrees cooler in the summer owing to ocean currents.
Most shops are closed, but our two fabulous independent bookstores are open, our wonderful public library is open, there are movies at the Starlight Theater, there is usually at least one cultural activity a week -- concert, lecture or the like, and real estate people will be happy to show you houses!
Most shops are closed, but our two fabulous independent bookstores are open, our wonderful public library is open, there are movies at the Starlight Theater, there is usually at least one cultural activity a week -- concert, lecture or the like, and real estate people will be happy to show you houses!
Jul 9th, 2007, 10:33 AM
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I appreciate the information. We have been in the fall several times already. We are coming in August and wanted to come in the winter and spring times as well - just to get a feel for the island at all different seasons. I dont mind much that the shops are closed. I am just as happy to hole up in front of a fireplace and read a good book. Maybe take the occasional stoll outside for some fresh air.
Comfyshoes - did you put a bookmark in that I missed? Or are you bookmarking this formum for yourself? If you ahvent made it out to the island yet - GO GO GO!!!! It's wonderful!
Comfyshoes - did you put a bookmark in that I missed? Or are you bookmarking this formum for yourself? If you ahvent made it out to the island yet - GO GO GO!!!! It's wonderful!
