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When it comes to eating, we are often creatures of habit. Oh, we like the hot new spot, the trendy ingredient, the expensive sauce; but we also go back to the beach with a craving for Thrasher's fries or Phillips' crab imperial or, in our case, a drink and a surprising misty eye as the sun goes down to the clamorous climax of Tchaikovsky's "1812" Overture, courtesy of Fager's Island (60th Street and the Bay in Ocean City; 410-524-5500). Here's where the regulars head first:
Among Lewes' most popular restaurants are Striper Bites, which broke out with more seating over the spring (107 Savannah Rd.; 302-645-4657) and which serves up a quirky sort of island-fusion seafood; the Buttery, which is as popular for its sweeping Victorian porches as for its solid continental fare (Second and Savannah streets; 302-645-7755); and Gilligan's, a cheery little upscale-tavern-fare spot onboard an anchored ship (Front and Market streets at the waterside; 302-645-7866). For those who crave good wood-fired pizza, Mister P (1004-A King's Hwy. in the Town & Country Square strip; 302-645-1900) is fine and budget-friendly.
Rehoboth's Blue Moon (35 Baltimore Ave.; 302-227-6515) may not be the oldest restaurant in town -- it's 24, while the relaxed and romantic modern-continental fave Back Porch (59 Rehoboth Ave.; 303-227-3674 ) is celebrating 30 -- but it was one of the first to take up the fusion style, and the stars-and-bar decor, that are still hallmarks of in-town Rehoboth culture. At 16, the glitter-glam purple haze La-La Land (22 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-3887), with its twin cottages and back bar like a mini-village, is nearly as old a cuisine queen, though its menu is a little less fantastical than in its youth (and the fortune teller is gone). The Cultured Pearl (19 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-8493) was the area's first sushi bar and has grown into a sort of enclosed Zen garden. The tapas-trendy Celsius (50 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-5767) and the one-world-eclectic Fusion (Peking duck salad, boar quesadilla, macadamia-crusted halibut and Thai shrimp-lobster curry; 302-226-1940) share an address and interest in good wines; though the wine-list crown may belong to Eden (23 Baltimore Ave.; 302-227-3330), which is busily de- and reconstructing such classic dishes as bouillabaisse and Caesar salad. Dish! (26 Baltimore Ave.; 302-226-2112) serves up pseudo-retro fare -- sort of a cross between Betty Crocker and Betty Boop. Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats (320 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-2739) is best known for its fresh beers, but the bar fare and wood-grilled pizza are nearly as good. Red Square has the advantage of being the only caviar bar in the region (162 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-7782). And if you want an old-fashioned, prime and pricey steak, head out to 1776 on Route 1 in the Midway Shopping Center (302-645-9355).
Bethany Beach's "downtown" may be small, but it boasts the best, the biggest and the brightest dining spots: respectively, the postmodern eclectic Sedona, with chef Michael Anthony Johnston (26 N. Pennsylvania Ave.; 302-539-1200); the vast Bethany Blues BBQ (5 N. Pennsylvania Ave.; 302-537-1500), with its copper water wall and Jack Daniel's barrel-fired smoker; and the tropical-shirt-colored Caribbean pub-fare Mango's (Garfield Parkway at the Boardwalk; 302-537-6621). Parkway Restaurant serves up slightly fusion-ized seafood (114 Garfield Pkwy.; 302-537-7500), and on the parkway across Highway 1 is the family Italian standby DiFebo's (789 Garfield Pkwy./Route 26; 302-539-4550) and Bootsie's gravel-lot barbecue hutch, two miles west of Route 1 in Ocean View (302-539-9529). Second best bet: Redfin Seafood Grill (one mile south of Route 26 on Coastal Highway; 302-537-0100), which takes a bolder tack toward seafood: broiled salmon with ancho glaze, fried scallops with crystallized ginger pesto, wok-roasted mussels with andouille sausage.
Fenwick Island's Nantuckets Restaurant (Route 1; 800-362-3463 or 302-539-2607) makes good white-tablecloth fare, but it's still best beloved for its quahog chowder. Also on the main drag is Mancini's Brick Oven Pizzeria and Italian restaurant (907 Coastal Hwy.; 302-537-4224) and Captain Pete's mom-and-pop Greek and Mediterranean (700 Coastal Hwy.; 302-537-5900). One of the most popular sunset-view diners along Route 54, Snappers (Tom & Terry's), is shaking down as Outriggers (302-436-4161), from the folks at Bethany's Big Easy. And Yokozuna has not disappeared: It's just moved south into Ocean City (114th Street and Coastal Highway in the Gold Coast Mall; 410-524-7411).
Ocean City's two most foodie-friendly restaurants are, not surprisingly, siblings: Galaxy (66th Street and Coastal Highway; 410-723-6762) and Nebula (92nd Street and Coastal Highway; 410-524-8090), which sends out light fare through the adjoining kitchen to the Liquid Assets wine bar next door (410-524-7037). Iguana Surf (127th Street and Coastal Highway; 410-250-8700) has a short but mod American menu and a busy restaurant-biz bar scene; ditto the Marlin Moon Grille (Route 50 in West Ocean City's Francis Scott Key Motel; 410-213-1618). Old favorites include Christopher's Tutti Gusti (3322 Coastal Hwy.; 410-289-3318); Harrison's Harborwatch raw bar, with its nearly panoramic vista of the ocean, inlet and Assateague Island (South Boardwalk at the Inlet; 410-289-5121); and the Hobbit (101 81st St.; 410-524-8100), which goes back waaay before the "Rings" trilogy. (A sentimental fave, the old Captain Bob's surf 'n' turf palace, has closed, and the famous trademark bull, the one that stood in the parking lot wearing a chef's hat, has been spotted lying on its side near Chincoteague.)
Virginia Beach standby the Jewish Mother (3108 Pacific Ave.; 757-739-0112) offers affordable comfort food -- the chicken and matzoh ball soup is called Penicillin Soup -- and live entertainment not far from the boardwalk. The cozy and contemporary H20 (3152 Shore Dr.; 757-496-2528) is a good bet for couples who want to eat at a restaurant that isn't overrun with families, while Steinhilber's Thalia Acres Inn (653 Thalia Rd.; 757-340-1156) is a rambling onetime country-club-turned-family-spot. Tautog's (205 23rd. St.; 757-422-0081), housed in an old family cottage and with much of its original wood restored, has one of the city's best wine lists. For casual waterside dining and raw bar with a little background music, there's Chick's Beach Cafe (4600 Lookout Rd. in Chick's Beach; 757-460-2580). One Fish-Two Fish (2109 W. Great Neck Rd.; 757-496-4350) at the Long Bay Pointe Marina serves more upscale seafood and has a popular bar. Other reliable spots include the Inlet Restaurant & Sandbar (3319 Shore Dr.; 757-481-7300) at the Lynnhaven Inlet; and the Duck-In Restaurant (3324 Shore Dr.; 757-481-0201), which overlooks the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
Among Lewes' most popular restaurants are Striper Bites, which broke out with more seating over the spring (107 Savannah Rd.; 302-645-4657) and which serves up a quirky sort of island-fusion seafood; the Buttery, which is as popular for its sweeping Victorian porches as for its solid continental fare (Second and Savannah streets; 302-645-7755); and Gilligan's, a cheery little upscale-tavern-fare spot onboard an anchored ship (Front and Market streets at the waterside; 302-645-7866). For those who crave good wood-fired pizza, Mister P (1004-A King's Hwy. in the Town & Country Square strip; 302-645-1900) is fine and budget-friendly.
Rehoboth's Blue Moon (35 Baltimore Ave.; 302-227-6515) may not be the oldest restaurant in town -- it's 24, while the relaxed and romantic modern-continental fave Back Porch (59 Rehoboth Ave.; 303-227-3674 ) is celebrating 30 -- but it was one of the first to take up the fusion style, and the stars-and-bar decor, that are still hallmarks of in-town Rehoboth culture. At 16, the glitter-glam purple haze La-La Land (22 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-3887), with its twin cottages and back bar like a mini-village, is nearly as old a cuisine queen, though its menu is a little less fantastical than in its youth (and the fortune teller is gone). The Cultured Pearl (19 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-8493) was the area's first sushi bar and has grown into a sort of enclosed Zen garden. The tapas-trendy Celsius (50 Wilmington Ave.; 302-227-5767) and the one-world-eclectic Fusion (Peking duck salad, boar quesadilla, macadamia-crusted halibut and Thai shrimp-lobster curry; 302-226-1940) share an address and interest in good wines; though the wine-list crown may belong to Eden (23 Baltimore Ave.; 302-227-3330), which is busily de- and reconstructing such classic dishes as bouillabaisse and Caesar salad. Dish! (26 Baltimore Ave.; 302-226-2112) serves up pseudo-retro fare -- sort of a cross between Betty Crocker and Betty Boop. Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats (320 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-2739) is best known for its fresh beers, but the bar fare and wood-grilled pizza are nearly as good. Red Square has the advantage of being the only caviar bar in the region (162 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-7782). And if you want an old-fashioned, prime and pricey steak, head out to 1776 on Route 1 in the Midway Shopping Center (302-645-9355).
Bethany Beach's "downtown" may be small, but it boasts the best, the biggest and the brightest dining spots: respectively, the postmodern eclectic Sedona, with chef Michael Anthony Johnston (26 N. Pennsylvania Ave.; 302-539-1200); the vast Bethany Blues BBQ (5 N. Pennsylvania Ave.; 302-537-1500), with its copper water wall and Jack Daniel's barrel-fired smoker; and the tropical-shirt-colored Caribbean pub-fare Mango's (Garfield Parkway at the Boardwalk; 302-537-6621). Parkway Restaurant serves up slightly fusion-ized seafood (114 Garfield Pkwy.; 302-537-7500), and on the parkway across Highway 1 is the family Italian standby DiFebo's (789 Garfield Pkwy./Route 26; 302-539-4550) and Bootsie's gravel-lot barbecue hutch, two miles west of Route 1 in Ocean View (302-539-9529). Second best bet: Redfin Seafood Grill (one mile south of Route 26 on Coastal Highway; 302-537-0100), which takes a bolder tack toward seafood: broiled salmon with ancho glaze, fried scallops with crystallized ginger pesto, wok-roasted mussels with andouille sausage.
Fenwick Island's Nantuckets Restaurant (Route 1; 800-362-3463 or 302-539-2607) makes good white-tablecloth fare, but it's still best beloved for its quahog chowder. Also on the main drag is Mancini's Brick Oven Pizzeria and Italian restaurant (907 Coastal Hwy.; 302-537-4224) and Captain Pete's mom-and-pop Greek and Mediterranean (700 Coastal Hwy.; 302-537-5900). One of the most popular sunset-view diners along Route 54, Snappers (Tom & Terry's), is shaking down as Outriggers (302-436-4161), from the folks at Bethany's Big Easy. And Yokozuna has not disappeared: It's just moved south into Ocean City (114th Street and Coastal Highway in the Gold Coast Mall; 410-524-7411).
Ocean City's two most foodie-friendly restaurants are, not surprisingly, siblings: Galaxy (66th Street and Coastal Highway; 410-723-6762) and Nebula (92nd Street and Coastal Highway; 410-524-8090), which sends out light fare through the adjoining kitchen to the Liquid Assets wine bar next door (410-524-7037). Iguana Surf (127th Street and Coastal Highway; 410-250-8700) has a short but mod American menu and a busy restaurant-biz bar scene; ditto the Marlin Moon Grille (Route 50 in West Ocean City's Francis Scott Key Motel; 410-213-1618). Old favorites include Christopher's Tutti Gusti (3322 Coastal Hwy.; 410-289-3318); Harrison's Harborwatch raw bar, with its nearly panoramic vista of the ocean, inlet and Assateague Island (South Boardwalk at the Inlet; 410-289-5121); and the Hobbit (101 81st St.; 410-524-8100), which goes back waaay before the "Rings" trilogy. (A sentimental fave, the old Captain Bob's surf 'n' turf palace, has closed, and the famous trademark bull, the one that stood in the parking lot wearing a chef's hat, has been spotted lying on its side near Chincoteague.)
Virginia Beach standby the Jewish Mother (3108 Pacific Ave.; 757-739-0112) offers affordable comfort food -- the chicken and matzoh ball soup is called Penicillin Soup -- and live entertainment not far from the boardwalk. The cozy and contemporary H20 (3152 Shore Dr.; 757-496-2528) is a good bet for couples who want to eat at a restaurant that isn't overrun with families, while Steinhilber's Thalia Acres Inn (653 Thalia Rd.; 757-340-1156) is a rambling onetime country-club-turned-family-spot. Tautog's (205 23rd. St.; 757-422-0081), housed in an old family cottage and with much of its original wood restored, has one of the city's best wine lists. For casual waterside dining and raw bar with a little background music, there's Chick's Beach Cafe (4600 Lookout Rd. in Chick's Beach; 757-460-2580). One Fish-Two Fish (2109 W. Great Neck Rd.; 757-496-4350) at the Long Bay Pointe Marina serves more upscale seafood and has a popular bar. Other reliable spots include the Inlet Restaurant & Sandbar (3319 Shore Dr.; 757-481-7300) at the Lynnhaven Inlet; and the Duck-In Restaurant (3324 Shore Dr.; 757-481-0201), which overlooks the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
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