Another season, another chance to grab a table at these seasonal spots.
It’s here! Season’s starting and that means it’s time to eat. What restaurants are back for another round? Some of our favorite hot spots have opened their doors on yet another season on the North Fork. Here’s where to go now that it’s getting hot, hot, hot. Check out what seasonal spots are now officially ready for reservations. Time to eat.
Back for another season: Southold Social, Francois Payard’s Southold bistro, a fan favorite on the North Fork. The restaurant opened during Easter weekend this year, and will once again lean into local produce, fish, and homemade pastas, tracking the seasons through the vision of its legendary chef. Payard cut his teeth, first, in the French Riviera, and, later, in critically acclaimed Parisian and New York restaurants, like Le Bernadin. Southold Social runs from late March through the fall, and its opening marks the beginning of yet another fun season on the North Fork.
Just in time for the holiday, Port Waterfront Bar & Grill will reopen for the season in May. The Greenport stalwart is the ideal spot to grab a cocktail by the water — or to grab an appetizer and enjoy the greens, blues, and pinks of sunset on the North Fork. Well-known for their drinks (Port serves them in both regular and large-format sizes), regulars know, too, that this is the spot to head to for seafood, pub fare, and all manner of light snacks.
In April, Little Creek Oyster Farm & Market, Greenport’s iconic spot for bivalve consumption, reopened for the season. Oyster lovers from all over the North Fork can now return for yet another year of shucking and slurping away (the regularly changing menu always features locally harvested oysters and clams, to be enjoyed with lemon wedges and mignonette, a true Long Island experience).
Back in business as of May 3, the Claudio’s group — Claudio’s Tavern & Grill, Crabby Jerry’s, Claudio’s Pizza, and Claudio’s Waterfront — is an establishment enclave at the end of Greenport, the reopening of which always signifies the unofficial start to summer. At Claudio’s Waterfront, a casual restaurant on one of the piers, which juts out onto the water, guests can enjoy raw, chilled seafood; New England-style appetizers (steamed clams and mussels); full lobster bakes; seafood sandwiches; fried clams, fish, and shrimp; and a variety of casually served, seafood-centric entrees, like linguine with clams, lobster mac and cheese, and shrimp and grits.
Photo: Jake Rajs
At Crabby Jerry’s, of course, lobster, clams, and a convivial outdoor atmosphere is what it’s all about. The iconic bar is back for another season this May. Claudio’s Tavern, which has been around for well over 100 years, is now back to serve guests for yet another season. Elevated dishes like the fluke oreganata, lobster spaghetti with ginger and lobster butter sauce, and de rigueur baked clams (these ones offer the added umami of mushrooms) are paired with a to-die-for view of Greenport and, of course, the water. The only thing better? The knowledge that summer is only just beginning.