Where should I eat in Cape Cod

Any suggestions to casual seafood eats in Cpe Cod? I'm sure there are tons of good places, but any suggestions are appreciated.

Clem and Ursie's in Provincetown. (I don't know the exact address, I just walk until I find it.) It's an excellent combination of the clam shack food that the tourists expect and the Portuguese-influenced things that the real Cape Cod locals eat.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had not really thought about it, but I had heard of the Portuguese influence in the area, and the use of some kind of sausage that starts with an "L". I will definately investigate.

Linguica -- pronounced "lin-gweesa." Imagine a cross between andouille and Chinese sausage and you're most of the way there. The local delicacies also use a lot of tomatoes and salted cod.

Eastham Lobster Pool, 4380 Rte. 6, great lobster and other fish. Also Moby Dicks,Rte. 6,Wellfleet, (508) 349-9795. Great seafood, cheap, big barn of a place, very casual, not exactly elegant dining but with the quality of seafood there, who cares? Marion's Pie shop, 2022 Main St. (Rte. 28), Chatham, MA 02633-1016, 508-432-9439. A little hard to find but worth it. Great chicken pot pies as well as dessert pies are wonderful for a picnic. There's a really nice beach near there if you turn right out of the parking lot and then left off of 28.

Post office cafe in Provincetown was also very good. Reasonably priced too, unlike many places in Ptown which tend to be pricey.

boulderben: Where ya headin' on Cape Cod? I've summered there for over 20 years! (I'm from MA)Can help you out but just point me in the right direction! Happy eating! KokomoJoe

arnold's , in eastham is a tresaure . sit on the porch , and hope there is a red sox game on the radio . be sure to have some fried oysters

And don't forget Cobie's, right off the Rail Trail in East Brewster near Nickerson State Park.
Delicious typical shack fare, good ice cream. If you bike there, you can shed some of the guilt that inevitably accompanies dining there!

boulderben: Where will you be going on Cape Cod???????????

Some of our favorites are The Land-Ho in Orleans for Kale soup,stuffies,and my personal favorite of Knockwurst boiled in beer served with sauerkraut baked beans and brown bread. Capt. Elmers in orleans is wonderful seafood, they have a fish market attached to the restaurant or vice versa, always happy to eat there. Another in orleans is the Old Jailhouse. The lobster Hut in Wellfleet serves lobster in the rough and usually has a good raw bar. Sir crickets in Orleans again is great seafood in a small shop. And next door is a Fabulous fish market. We tend to shop at the fish market for fresh tuna / swordfish / clams / oysters / scallops and cook for ourselves while enjoying some beefeater on the rocks and watching the sunset.

Kokomojoe, I will be in Chatam for a wedding, so i'll be on the look out for Marion's Pie shop. Chatham looks to be a central location, so finding any of the above suggestions shouldn't be too hard. I will definately be visiting Wellfleet, as Wellfleet oysters are my favorite, and I just have to see the source. I've also been told that Monomoy Island steamers are really clean, so steamers and fried whole belly clams are on my to-do list. Thanks All.

boulderben: The BEST place for Wellfleet Oysters is called "The Bookstore Restaurant" in Wellfleet!!!! My husband LOVES fried oysters and has had them MANY places including New Orleans! But he says "The Bookstore" has the BEST!!!!!!!!!!! ALL of their food is great and reasonably priced! Their service is generally good and the food ample! I've had the fried clams (whole belly is the only way to fly!!!) and they were excellent! I'm not sure where they are from! Now if you are going to the "Lower Cape (ie Wellfleet) you may as well go into Provincetown! This is a not to be missed place believe me! And if you stay for sunset go all the way down RTE 6 and go to "Herring Cove Beach" and watch the sunset. When you enter the driveway of the beach (this is National Seashore BTW) go to the "right" parking lot! You park right on the edge of the beach and Gives me goosebumps!! Oh well...back on track...go into Provincetown and go the the "Lobster Pot" for LUNCH and have their fried calamari and/or their clam chowdah!!! The chowdah is on the thick side but delicious! The fried squid is outstanding! If you get there at noon there might not be a long line to get in but the view of the harbor is nice too! Lunch prices are affordable! It's a bit different in the evening for dinner! Of course all of us being "Road foodies" we know lunch is usually your best buy anyway!Also in Provincetown is one of our favorite restaurants in the world: Nappi's on Freeman St. Not exactly "Roadfood" but one of the best dining experiences we've EVER had! Now Nappi's you WANT to do dinner!! They take reservations so try that route! Go after 7 PM then maybe you'll miss the kids! (NOT a kids place either!)Also ask to be seated in the room where the bar is! Fun things to look at!!! They have a full sized carousel horse in there! The back of the bar is decorated w/ stain glass windows from a church etc. etc.!! The food is outstanding,the bread homemade and the service is impeccable! If you get into town just look at their menu outside! If you like bouliabaise this is THE place to go!! They also have good martinis according to my husband! We've also gone in their for JUST dessert and coffee!! Their appricot mouse is unbelieveable!!! Their chocolate desserts are great too! Now for REAL Roadfood we have to back up to North Truro (just before you get to Provincetown)! On Friday nights ONLY starting at 5:30 PM in the "Top Mast" Motel (RTE 6A)"Fish Fry"... they have a restaurant attached to it called "Harbour Lights"...a hole in the wall! Now I have it from a VERY good source this place is closing it's doors after this summer (2004) so GO there for Friday Night Fish Fry! For $9.00 you get the best fried Cod so fresh it's still jumpin' and the best french fries and slaw!!! It's NOT AYCE...but you won't go away hungry! For dessert try the homemade grapenut pudding if there is any...or the strawberry shortcake (frozen berries but delish!) Yummy! Last summer we were there EVERY Friday night!!! The "Jailhouse" in Orleans was mentioned in previous post! Also VERY good for lunch! I always get the "Sweet Pea Salad" (spinach) and their quiche of the day!Request to sit out in the sunroom...nice!Now for "Roadfood" in Orleans you MUST go to "Homeport"! They have excellent meatloaf and primerib and one day we had to ask for BBQ ribs and they were great! They weren't on the menu but you could order them! Real homecooked food here! Again lunch is great! Drive down rte 6 until you get to the Orleans Rotary. Get off rotary at rte 6A. Go up to the 2nd set of lights and take a left. Homeport is on your right about a hundred yards. There's a grocery store there too called "Friend's MKT" next door and the restaurant is right there on the corner of a building! Look carefully...easily missed! Sets back too! Well I've written a book and could write more!Hope this helps! LOL Happy eating! KokomoJoe

KokomoJoe, I love reading your entries, but if you could take a little suggestion?

Please split your threads into small paragraphs. I have a lot of trouble (my eyes are going, I guess) in such large blocks of print.

Honest, it won't take away from what you say! It will just make it easier for me, and I'm sure, others!

Just split on your ideas. Simple as that.

Pwingsx: Thanks for the suggestion on writing paragraphs! I will TRY!!! I guess you haven't figured it out yet but I've tried to DO paragraphs and it just won't happen on this end! I don't know why but I'll keep trying and figure it out!

OOOOOOps ...there it goes again!!! Speaking of paragraphs??? I realize paragraphs are easier to read AND that's the proper way to write! LOL BUT...the last time (right above) I tried doing that and ended up "finished"!! I will keep trying! Perhaps I'll figure it out w/ this one! Happy eating! KokomoJoe
OK so I guess you DON'T use a "tab" key? It still isn't coming out right?
Am....making progress...!!! But in the past I would write a decent paragraph and then LOOSE the whole thing! VERY frustrating! So that's when I decided to just keep blurring one paragraph into the next!
Still am NOT getting these indentations in the right place!! But that's BETTER anyway!!! If anyone has any ideas I'll read and try! Again...Happy eating! KokomoJoe

Hey folks,

I hate for my first post to Roadfood to be a warning of where not to eat, but I thought it was my duty to give folks a heads up. I am originally from Mass, and spent a lot of time in Falmouth on the cape, but it has been a few years and my roadmemory has faded a bit as far as giving suggestions of where to eat. Betsy's diner in downtown Falm has great breakfasts and it is a real diner which is a plus, I would have recommended Shaws on the rotary- you ordered at the counter and picked up your tray full of fried and it was just great, but alas my sister tells me it is not like that anymore (see below) -- I WILL give her the link to this forum so hopefully she can find someplace redeeming next time she is down there!

As far as the warning goes, I just received this email from my sister Pam who spent some of Memorial Day Weekend down the Cape. The weekend ended on an extremely sour note because of their experiences at the restaurant below, so I thought I would give a heads up to anyone who might consider eating there. Don't!

To add to the story, my mother and her Sweet Adeline pals went to the same restaurant 2 days after Pam (she had not seen the email) and they too had a miserable experience, slow and clueless service and a truly surly attitude from everyone - especially the MANAGER. (Pam, who had been in the food/bev industry for a long time was going to alert the management to the fact that they were losing tables full of folks, only to be informed that the rudeness was stemming from the manager himself.)

We are not really a complaining family, but wanted to give a heads up to folks so they do not ruin their visits to Cape Cod this summer!



She writes:


Dear Friends,

As a service to you all, we are warning you to steer clear of the Pilot House Restaurant in Bourne (at the Rotary). It used to be Shaw's restaurant (which was great), located next to the big tugboat with "Grandma's Pies". We had the unfortunate experience of eating here this past Sunday evening, May 29.

Not only was service SSSLLLLOOOWWWW, and disorganized, they were uncaring and rude. We almost walked out twice, but decided to stick it out - our mistake. Every table around us was suffering, too - we all bonded in misery.

I won't bore you with all the details (it'd take 5 pages), just imagine the worst and you're only half way there. The icing on this cake was the so-called "manager"... instead of trying to please his guests, he yelled at them when they complained and told them they were "wrong" ... He was absolutely the most unprofessional restaurant worker I have ever encountered (and having worked in the business for quite a few years, I speak from experience).

As I know you are all people who may spend some time on the Cape this summer and may have occasion to eat out ... I felt the need to warn you to stay FAR away from this place. It'll ruin your day.

In addition to the 20 or so friends this email is going to (BCC'd for your privacy), we are cc'ing the restaurant.

Thanks for listening, and pass the word ...


PS - I still don't know the answer to the simple question I asked, "Do you have ice cream?".

One of our favorite "RoadFood" style places in the 'Cod was Kreme and Kone, in Dennis. Last time I was out there K&K suffered a devastaing fire and had to be rebuilt. So it probably lost it's original late '50's charm. I can only hope the food is still the same.

We'll be heading to the upper Cape this month for a week of:
Clem and Usrie's,
Mojo's, (good grilled chicken)
Box Lunch, (first place I ever had a wrap sandwich)
Mayflower Cafe (check out the old characitures)
and picking up provisions at the Atlantic Spice Company.
o yeah, The Snack Bar at the Wellfleet Drive-in is FANTASTIC!
This is not the Snack bar in the lot, but a little Road food joint just outside the admission booth. Great burgers and the best onion rings!!!! Wonderful movie motif atmoshpere. Go during the weekend while they hold a flea market (one of the best fleas) don't miss it. And they still show movies there!!!
http://www.wellfleetdrivein.com/

We've been going to the 'Cod for 30 years, and still have a great time up there.
Any Cape Cod regulars remember Bahama Mama's in shack in Wellfleet/Truro? I only been there once about 25 years ago but i still remember that Great BBQ!

omigod I'm starving now. My parents should be arriving in Wellfleet TODAY for the summer, while I'm stuck in Houston dreaming about oysters.

Gotta agree with Arnold's and Moby Dick's. Arnolds is on the right hand side going towards Provincetown, Moby Dick's is on the right leaving. Crossing over Route 6 is a pain, so that's how I would do it.

Check out this Arnolds image of fried clams, tuna roll (my wife... she just doesn't get it...), and the famous onion rings from June 2001.

Kokomo, yo,

maybe if you just hit enter twice, so it double-spaces?

Keep on postin'.....

Pwingsx: Guess I'll just have to double space! Thanks for the suggestion! By the look of everyone else's posts that's what you do!

Edwaste: We haven't tried that snack bar outside of the Wellfleet Drive In!! Sounds like we'll have to!

We just arrived in (central) MA...literally at 5:00PM from our trip from Florida!! Tomorrow (Monday) we head for the Cape and Truro and Provincetown...for 4 months!!! We'll be indulging in some of these spots over the summer!

So where on the Cape does everyone go???? Happy eating! KokomoJoe

My wife and I just take the ferry over to P-town from Boston and stay at one of the B&Bs. That way you don't have to deal with the Sagamore Rotary.

Any recommendations near Hyannis for a family with teenagers? Where do you stay and eat before heading to Nantucket or Martha's vineyard?

Is it worth a ferry trip for just a day or should we explore more of the cape and it's dining? We will be there only 2 days in August as a side trip from NYC.

Also near the Wellfleet drive In is Big Al's hot dog stand. Great dogs and a menu that is fun to read. He has named his dogs for different personalities. With all the add ons and condiments these dogs can be filling, I get baked beans on mine!
Others we have enjoyed include the Lighthouse in Wellfleet , Chatham squire in Chatham , Mildreds chowder house in Hyannis , There is a good brewpub in Hyannis as well! Cookes in Orleans for fried foods. Lots of good Eating on the Cape , also miles of great beaches to walk it off.

I also tried the Marconi Station BBQ. Great BBQ sandwich, but I skipped their usual side offerings and went for the baked sweet potato with honey cinnamon butter instead. :P

hi mod*betty,
sorry you and your family had such an unfortunate experience. I've been to shaws / the pilot house many times myself, and have always enjoyed it. I know that the switch to using waitstaff (instead of picking up a tray and self-seating) was brand new on memorial day weekend, and I bet that's the main cause. they seem to have ironed things out from what I can tell (last visit 7/17/2004). the service was friendly and everyone around us seemed happy too.

I used to go to shaws before the change in ownership, and it's definitely a change for the better. it's a lot classier, the food is every bit as good as it ever was, and it's cleaner. also it's turning into a real music venue for the region, with some great local talent (like five to the face and bill downs).

maybe it's just a matter of expectations. it used to be a self-service "crank out seafood and put it on a tray" kind of place, but it's transforming into a happening sit-down restaurant and music venue.
it's not going to be fast food, but it's well worth the wait.

considering they've got good live music, awesome seafood, nice casual ambience, a great bar (not to mention grandma's pies which is still running strong), I think it's a mistake to pass them up.

I didn't mean to write this much but yours was the only viewpoint on it out there, and it seems only fair to show its other side.
people should judge for themselves.

regards,
chris

Reading the post about cape cod restaurants and hit a few in the past months based on the recommendation of the Providence Journal including; Baxter's Fish & Chips, Moby Dick's and the Pilot House formally Shaw's Fish and Lobster(in my opinion, the better of all the restaurants visited). Here's the article:

COVER STORY - Chowing Down on Cape Cod:[All Edition]
MICHAEL JANUSONIS Journal Arts Writer. The Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Jul 8, 2004. pg. L.24
Full Text (4818 words)
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Jul 8, 2004



* Fried seafood, clam chowder, even oysters pesto -- here's an ocean of great food, from Buzzards Bay to Wellfleet

* * *

From Buzzards Bay to Wellfleet, we traveled the length of Cape Cod in search of the kind of food that made New England clam shacks a culinary tradition.

Fried clams, fried scallops, fried calamari, fried shrimp, fried oysters, even fried lobster passed our lips for several weekends, along with gallons of New England clam chowder, fried onion rings and cole slaw.

Occasionally we took a break to order other things, such as steamed lobster, baked scallops, Cajun popcorn shrimp, even a delicious oysters pesto. As you can see, clam shacks have gone way beyond the Fry-olator.

The thing we learned from all these visits was that each restaurant had its own way of battering fried onion rings, concocting clam chowder and tossing together cole slaw. Who knew?

Here are some of our favorite places and dishes.

The Pilot House

At least once every summer for the past several years, we'd phone in a takeout order from the car to the big Shaw's restaurant anchoring the rotary at the Buzzards Bay exit off Route 28, pick it up and devour it a couple of miles away at the picnic tables along the Cape Cod Canal. With the Sagamore Bridge as a backdrop and sailboats, motorboats and even the occasional ship passing by, it's the best of times on a warm summer night.

But it was far from warm when we pulled into Shaw's in late May, so we decided to eat inside.

Shaw's had been a rotary mainstay for years. You couldn't miss the enormous tugboat permanently docked at the end of the exit ramp. Nearby, the restaurant's exterior was designed to look like a New England fishing village, complete with wooden gull perched atop a peak.

So we were surprised to discover that although the outside sign still read Shaw's (so did the register receipt), since May it has been The Pilot House, a full-service restaurant with hostess seating. We weren't the only ones surprised. Seated near the entrance, we watched as nearly everyone who arrived did a double take. (As of last weekend, the Shaw's sign was down, though a new sign hadn't yet gone up.)

The menu had undergone some changes, too, with many more beef and poultry items alongside the seafood. Fortunately, many of the same seafood items remain -- many at the same prices, though a few have been lowered and others raised by as much as $4.

There was a gas fire in the fireplace. Most of the fast-food style booths had been replaced by tables with captain's chairs. But I missed the bustle of the old Shaw's, where people stood in line for 15 minutes or more to place an order, then chose a table and waited until servers carrying overburdened trays of food shouted out your number.

Gone was the old serve-yourself unlimited-soft-drink station, replaced by a table with wine selections and several of Grandma's Pies. (The pies are sold by the slice in the restaurant or bought whole in the adjoining pie-ice cream parlor.)

But the dishes we tried showed that much was the same in the kitchen -- good-quality items well prepared. Happily, too, there's still takeout for canalside dining.

Our clam fritters (six for $6.95) were wonderfully crispy on the outside, moist, chewy and loaded with clams on the inside, some of the best we've had outside of homemade. We liked them even better without the accompanying tartar sauce.

My clam chowder ($3.50) wasn't as thick as some, but it was one of the best tasting, softly creamy with lots of clams and sliced red potatoes. The lobster bisque ($4.95) was light, with a surprising sweetness and a good flavor of the lobster, which was shredded into teeny bits.

While my companion liked the stuffed quahog with linguica ($4.50) -- "moist and full of flavor" -- I found it gluey and disappointing. A nice presentation, though, with the stuffie on one side of an opened clam shell, a piece of lettuce and slice of lemon on the other.

We both agreed on the Pilot House onion rings ($4.95), whose crunchily light batter was falling off the onions. They didn't have the sweetness of the onions at other places, but good enough.

My fried seafood platter ($15.95) also had a delicate batter. There were lots of tender little bay scallops, smallish shrimps and two good-sized chunks of moist, flaky fish. (I prefer sea scallops, but the bay scallops have always been part of the fried platter here. Manager James Hegarty says large native sea scallops are served on the broiled plates.) The star of this dish were the Ipswich clams which were lightly fried to perfection, though I wished there had been more than the four or five on the plate.

The seafood wasn't at all greasy. It was accompanied by large- cut French fries and chunky, sweet cole slaw.

My companion's lobster roll ($13.95) spilled out of a crusty baguette, a bargain for the price. Made in a light mayonnaise base and sitting on a lettuce leaf inside the bun (a frankfurter roll is an option), the lobster salad was delicious, and made fresh daily, says Hegarty, from some of the many lobsters swimming in pools at the restaurant entrance.

Is Baxter's still around? We used to spend our summers in Hyannis, at a place called the Breakwaters, and we got great fried clams and scallops at Baxters.

Haven't been up there in years, though. Maybe a trip up to the Cape is in order.

My vote is for Moby Dick's Seafood in Wellfleet! We have often spent several days on the Cape and have eaten there every night....it's that good. The owners are great people, too....always checking to make sure that you are happy with the food....no problem with that!

I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of food at Moby Dick's. From the reviews in guide books and from the first look at it I thought it would be a big fun noisy place that was good for families but just had average food. It is a very casual order at the counter type place but the food was excellent. I believe we had swordfish once or twice when we were there and it was really good. The prices were great too. Cheaper than I would expect for fish of that quality.

quote:

Originally posted by Mavlily

My vote is for Moby Dick's Seafood in Wellfleet! We have often spent several days on the Cape and have eaten there every night....it's that good. The owners are great people, too....always checking to make sure that you are happy with the food....no problem with that!