REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. -- If your idea of beach food is great crab cakes, french fries and salt water taffy, go to the Maryland shore. But if seared jerk mahi-mahi with lemon-pepper linguine, Caribbean citrus salsa, fried plantains and cilantro oil sound good, this quiet Delaware resort may be just the place for you.

Beach towns often have a fine-dining restaurant or two, but not many -- if any -- support the number and variety that Rehoboth does. Not to mention the ethnic places, grills, cafes, coffee shops and diners. Several of the high-end restaurants have also won Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence for their wine lists.

"I think we have more restaurants per square foot than any other town, let alone shore town," says Rocco Costello, a co-owner of the Chesapeake Landing Bed & Breakfast, with only slight exaggeration.

In downtown Rehoboth alone, which is about a mile square, there are more than 100 eateries. That catchall term, of course, includes walk-up windows for pizza as well as Chez la Mer (a French restaurant where some patrons actually wear a coat and tie -- at the beach!) and Cloud 9 (which serves what it calls "hip food" and was voted "Favorite Restaurant" by Best of Gay Delaware Awards 2001).

Hungry beachgoers can choose from Thai, Mexican, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and, yes, even some seafood restaurants. And more fusion places than you can shake a stick at. The newest kid on the block is Red Square, a Russian restaurant and caviar bar that opened this spring.

The large number of independently owned high-end restaurants is particularly surprising -- although the usual chains abound on Route 1 leading into town, and Rehoboth's main street incongruously has its own Hooters.

"The owners [of these upscale restaurants] pride themselves on food that's beautifully presented, and each one has a different flair," says Carol Everhart of the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Even though she's paid to be enthusiastic, there's a real depth of feeling in her voice when she adds, "We're just spoiled rotten."

It wasn't always that way. When the Back Porch Cafe -- the granddaddy of Rehoboth's innovative eating places -- opened 28 years ago, the other major players were traditional seafood restaurants, says owner Keith Fitzgerald. (All of them are now closed, he adds.)

Over the years, Rehoboth has become the beach of choice for an increasingly cosmopolitan and affluent population from Washington, Baltimore and, more recently, Philadelphia and New York. They bought summer homes and then retired here, and now their children are summering in the area.

Fitzgerald estimates that 80 percent of his clientele are from D.C., Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs. They come to enjoy the family-oriented beach, the nearby outlet stores (Delaware has no sales tax, which makes the bargains even better) and the artistic little shops that line the streets in downtown Rehoboth.

A lot of the people who eat out at Rehoboth may wear shorts to dinner, but they don't mind paying $25 for an entree. And they'd just as soon have a bottle of good wine as a pina colada.

While they're on vacation they want the same sort of food they're used to when they eat out at home -- at least part of the time. That means fresh ingredients, innovative preparations and ethnic influences. They appreciate great decor, something Rehoboth's restaurants have in abundance. (Check out the colorful Espuma or the unbelievably whimsical La La Land, bubble machine and all.)

The gay community, Fitzgerald says, also has a lot to do with the town's restaurant boom. "Gay men and women with disposable income have brought retail and dining to a whole other level here."

With this many restaurants to choose from, and only a short time in which to try them, where do you begin? If you ask the locals, they each have their favorites -- and each list is different.

"Yes, restaurants abound," says Craig Lurz, who lives in Baltimore much of the time but owns a house in Rehoboth. "Our favorite is Espuma at First and Wilmington. We also like Celsius on Wilmington, the Back Porch and Eden on Rehoboth, and Just in Thyme and Tutto Bene on the highway."

Someone else, like Rocco Costello, may prefer Cloud 9, Zebra (Italian food) or Blue Moon. Costello says he likes the latter -- which has been around almost as long as the Back Porch Cafe -- because it's always reliable.

Your best bet might be to take a stroll around town; many of Rehoboth's restaurants are within walking distance of each other. Baltimore, Rehoboth and Wilmington, three parallel streets, could each be considered a Restaurant Row.

Then decide what kind of food you want. Middle Eastern? Try the Camel's Hump on Baltimore Avenue. Southwestern? The locals swear by Tijuana Taxi on Rehoboth Avenue. Asian? The Cultured Pearl on Wilmington. Seafood? Jake's on Baltimore has a comfortable, down-to-earth menu if not much atmosphere.

Everyone at the beach likes to eat at least one meal overlooking the ocean. The most popular boardwalk restaurants are Victoria's in the Boardwalk Plaza, a good place for breakfast or lunch. The food is straightforward; you go for the Victorian decor and to sit on the boardwalk terrace. Solero in the Henlopen Hotel on the boardwalk specializes in "coastal Mediterranean" cuisine. Atlantic Seafood Company in the Atlantic Sands hotel offers just what the name suggests.

But have I mentioned the Thai dishes at the Yum Yum Pan Asian Bistro, or the cinnamon buns at the Sugar Plum, which opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast? Or the Ocean Club for seafood, expensive but with good atmosphere?

And there are plenty more where those came from.

Where to eat in Rehoboth

Here are the restaurants that were most often recommended to us for good, innovative dining. (One caveat: They also tend to be Rehoboth's most expensive.)

* Back Porch Cafe, 302-227-3674, 59 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Innovative American.

* Blue Moon, 302-227-6515, 35 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Casual, upscale, eclectic.

* Celsius, 302-227-5767, 50-C Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. French Mediterranean.

* Chez La Mer, 302-227-6494, Second Street at Wilmington Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Classic French.

* Eden, 302-227-3330, 122 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Eclectic American with Asian accents.

* Espuma, 302-227-4199, 28 Wilmington Ave. and First Street, Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Mediterranean.

* Fusion, 302-226-1940, 50 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Fusion cuisine. What else?

* La La Land, 302-227-3887, 22 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Eclectic.

* Red Square, 302-226-7782, 162 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. Russian food and caviar bar.

* Zebra, 302-226-1160, 32 Lake Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. 19971. New Italian.

We should add more than the usual disclaimers that this is not in any way a complete listing. You can find more, but not by any means all, of Rehoboth's restaurants listed on the Internet at these Web sites:

www.beach-fun.com/restaurantlist.html

www.rehobothtoday.com/dining/

www.beach-net.com/dining/DinerestaurantsDel.html