The Hamptons Restaurants

Breakfast at Sant Ambroeus on Saturday mornings is, for many Upper East Siders and West Villagers, a standing order. When those same crowds descend on the Hamptons for the summer, not much changes.

Make a reservation at Showfish for a celebratory meal, an engagement, a birthday…any excuse to be extravagant and order the showstopping Fruits de Mer Showfish platter.

Rosie's is set to become a mandatory all-day spot in the Hamptons. And indeed, après a long, salty day on the sand and in the water, mussels in a cider broth, blistered chicken, and chilled rosé set us straight.

Produce from their own nearby gardens, sangrias on tap, and an extensive margarita menu with bold flavors like prickly pear are on the menu.

Nick & Toni's is a Hamptons institution: the kind of place you go every Friday night for dinner, where you've devoured everything on the menu a million times and still aren't sick of it, where you know the other diners and are on smile-and-wave terms with the chef.

The laid-back, slightly dive-y, kitschy-in-a-fun-way tiny cantina is terrific for a group looking to stay half the night drinking margaritas and getting through basket after basket of chips and addictive salsa plus plates of very tasty—and organic—chicken quesadillas and fresh-off-the-boat shrimp tacos.

In a shingled cottage on a leafy street in Sag Harbor directly facing the water, this little gem is one of our go-to Italian restaurants in the Hamptons. Sure, the setting is almost perfect (we love the tucked-away patio for alfresco dinner on warm evenings, and walks along the marina afterwards), but it’s really the food that keeps us coming back over and over again. The pasta dishes are almost without equal on the East End, and our favorites include the tagliolini (squid ink pasta with bay scallops, shrimp, calamari, chili, and tomatoes) and the ravioli with wild mushrooms and ricotta. It also happens to be our neighbor—the goop pop-up is right next door, for some pre- or post-lunch browsing.

Although it’s been a Montauk staple for decades, the buzz around Duryea’s has grown lately, thanks to a sleek makeover a couple of years ago. Instead of rustic picnic tables and a BYOB policy, there are now bottles of Provençal rosé, white banquettes, and clean-lined, bleached wood tables and chairs that create a setting that wouldn’t look out of place on Mykonos—especially with its waterside view of Fort Pond Bay. The steamed lobster and lobster rolls are a no-brainer, but also consider the perfectly grilled skirt steak, the small plates (baked cherrystone clams and steamers), the lobster club salad, and oysters from Orient Point, just across Gardiner’s Bay.

As the name suggests, this quirky, dive-y restaurant sits a few steps away from one of the main fishing docks in Montauk and serves hearty, straightforward dishes of the kind you want after a day on the open water (many of the regulars are fishermen). There’s clam chowder, soft shell crab sandwiches, grilled tuna steaks with coleslaw and fries, and a peanut butter and chocolate pie that’s probably the most decadent dessert in Montauk. The décor, meanwhile, is an eclectic mix of taxidermied geese and deer heads, Halloween-worthy masks, and vintage model sailing ships.

At the entrance of Montauk Harbor, Gosman’s (which opened in 1943) epitomizes a kind of classic, unfussy seafood restaurant visitors have come to associate with the town. A bright, airy dining room looks out over passing fishing boats, and the menu is dominated by regional comfort food like Atlantic cod fish and chips, baked stuffed clams, steamed lobster, and Maryland-style crab cakes with a corn and jicama slaw. There’s also a walk-up window for those who don’t want a full sit-down meal, where you can order huge lobster rolls and plates of crisp, fried calamari to take to the water for an impromptu picnic.