The 2023 Guide to Cape Cod Restaurants

No, the “Gallery” in “Harvest Gallery” isn’t there to just sound cool: the Dennis Village restaurant is also a working art gallery … though you may want to postpone any art-buying propositions until you’ve properly sated your appetite with a menu of shareable dishes like Thai chicken lettuce wraps, duck confit quesadillas, and local haddock cakes. Harvest Gallery also boasts a robust cocktail menu stocked with house creations such as the Herbivore (gin, green Chartreuse, cucumber, basil, mint) and the Juice Box (mezcal, red wine, lemon, agave, sea salt.).

Proving that there’s a place on the Cape for broths that are not clam-based, Tiger Ramen serves bowls of chicken miso or spicy pork ramen. But as it is, after all, Cape Cod, visitors can still treat themselves to a lobster mazeman or a pair of cold lobster bao.

Harwich may be littered with 18th century captains’ homes, but only one of them happens to be the Cape Sea Grille. And finding it (just off of Route 28) is important, as it’s your ticket to a night defined by grilled lamb loin with a toasted curry-tarragon risotto cake, oven-roasted cod with grilled chorizo-kale couscous, or a pan-seared whole lobster in a saffron reduction.

What was once a little cottage in Orleans is now the Beacon Room, which is small in stature but provides a seafood-focused menu of coastal classics including spicy seafood fra diavolo with linguine or pistachio-crusted, pan-seared sole. Or swing by for a more casual lunch stocked with fish and chips or fried cod Reubens.

Osterville’s Five Bays Bistro falls squarely into what we’d consider “Cape Cod Special Occasion.” Aka, the dinner you schedule when you’ve already had your fill of lobster rolls and fried clams and instead wish to partake in swordfish with butternut risotto or red wine-braised short rib amid a dining room with white tablecloths and tufted leather banquettes.

The Red Inn takes its views seriously — and should, as its fireplace-having dining room provides unobstructed views of Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, the lighthouses along Long Point, and other local landmarks. But more important, in our view, is a dinner menu stocked with chilled local lobster tail, Creole-style shrimp and grits, and pepper-crusted filet mignon with truffle mashed potatoes.

Mews, which opened in Provincetown in 1964 and has been under the same ownership for the last 40 years, offers a quiet respite from the P-Town party scene. Amid a dining room with ocean views, you’ll sample a menu that mixes American seafood classics and Asian flavors, resulting in dishes like lobster dumplings in lemongrass broth or pan-seared bay scallops in fettucine.

When you’ve had enough fun in the sun, consider a trip downstairs to Jimmy’s Hideaway. Within its subterranean — but charming — space, you’ll be treated to a menu of hearty seafood classics with a Portuguese touch, like the Provincetown Fisherman’s stew that piles scallops, shrimp, cod, and local clams in a spicy piri piri broth with potatoes and chorizo.

Boston may have thrown all its tea in the harbor, but the piping-hot good stuff is still flowing at Sandwich’s Dunbar House. During the day, it serves a traditional tea service that might include freshly baked scones, deviled eggs, and cucumber sandwiches, accompanied by dessert and your choice of a pot of tea (or a half-bottle of Champagne). Return at night to discover of menu of adventuresome small plates like pork rillettes with housemade pickles or five-spice tuna and lobster fried rice, plus wines by the glass and a menu of tea-incorporating cocktails.

The Fox and Crow happens to occupy the oldest tavern in Wellfleet — no mean feat in a town incorporated in 1763. But not content to simply coast on the ye-olde charms of its space (did we mention the working fireplace?), the F&C serves 2023 a menu of Mediterranean-inspired shared dishes including Portuguese-style baked oysters with smoked chorizo butter, lollipop lamb chops with parsnip puree, and cioppino in a spicy tomato broth with grilled focaccia.