The complete culinary guide to Nantucket
The tiny island 30 miles off the Massachusetts coast is home to local oysters, legendary lobster rolls, and a destination dining scene.
Arriving on Nantucket is best by boat. It’s not the fastest mode — a flight from Hyannis, Massachusetts, to the tiny island 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod takes as little as 15 minutes. But to savor the full experience, board the ferry. The slow boat takes about two hours; the high-speed an hour — and somewhere on the water, when the coastline recedes and the salty sea air hits, the rest of the world starts to feel far away.
As the ferry approaches Nantucket, rounding past Brant Point Lighthouse — petite and white, one of the oldest lighthouse sites in the country — bobbing sailboats and grey-shingled houses come into view. The pace of life slows before you've even stepped off the ship.
The island's name comes from the Wampanoag, the Native Americans who lived here for thousands of years — in their Algonquian language, it means "faraway land." English settlers arrived in 1659, and by the late 1700s, guided heavily by Wampanoag hunting knowledge, Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world. The industry eventually collapsed, and the island was nearly forgotten — until the summer crowd arrived.
 The view from Straight Wharf FishCredit: Photo by Matt Kisiday The view from Straight Wharf Fish Credit: Photo by Matt Kisiday |  Lobster rolls at Straight Wharf FishCredit: Photo by Matt Kisiday Lobster rolls at Straight Wharf Fish Credit: Photo by Matt Kisiday |  Food at 167 RawCredit: Photo by Lawson Builder Food at 167 Raw Credit: Photo by Lawson Builder |  Inside Via MareCredit: Photo by Daniel Krieger Inside Via Mare Credit: Photo by Daniel Krieger |  Food at Via MareCredit: Photo by Daniel Schwartz Food at Via Mare Credit: Photo by Daniel Schwartz |  Credit: Courtesy of Born & Bread Credit: Courtesy of Born & Bread |  Cisco BrewersCredit: Courtesy of Cisco Brewers Cisco Brewers Credit: Courtesy of Cisco Brewers |
What they found, and keep coming back for, is a mix of rich history and slow-paced pleasures that make Nantucket more than just another New England resort town. And while the whaling ships are long gone, the sea still takes center stage — including when it comes to what’s on the plate. The island's waters produce some of the finest oysters on the East Coast: local varieties like Pocomo Meadow and Grey Lady shaped by the cool, clean currents of the Atlantic. There are legendary lobster rolls and sweet bay scallops in season. And Nantucket's food scene has grown beyond the classics. These days, alongside the time-honored fish shacks and waterfront raw bars, you'll find ambitious kitchens, well-edited wine lists, and a bounty of perfectly executed baked goods.
Start the day at Black Eyed Susan’s, an island institution for more than 30 years, for a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, housemade corned beef hash, and egg scrambles. At night, it shifts into one of Nantucket's most charming dinner spots, still BYOB, where the seasonal menu might run from tuna tartare to monkfish tonkatsu. For something sweet, make a beeline for Wicked Island Bakery — the morning bun is made with Vermont butter, Tahitian vanilla bean, and the bakery’s own spice blend. Born and Bread is another standout morning stop, especially for breakfast sandwiches on house sourdough and whatever variety of cruffin’s in the pastry case.
Biking to Something Natural — which has been serving sandwiches on Cliff Road for more than 50 years — remains a rite of passage. Order one on the housemade Portuguese or herb bread, add a giant cookie, and eat outside on the lawn. Out in Madaket, Millie’s is another essential stop, especially if you time it for a late-afternoon meal that slides into evening — it’s a stone’s throw from one of the island's prime beaches for sunset viewing. The menu features tacos and cocktails, including the iconic Madaket Mystery — a delightful rum punch, its recipe a closely guarded secret. 167 Raw is an enduring seafood market and food truck that makes the island’s best lobster roll. For lunch on the beach, Bartlett’s Farm — the island's oldest family farm, established in 1843 — and Fresh downtown both turn out excellent sandwiches, salads, and other picnic provisions.
For dinner, Straight Wharf remains one of the classic Nantucket nights out, a harborside dining room with decades of history and a menu spotlighting seafood and local ingredients. Its newer sibling, Straight Wharf Fish, takes a more casual route, reworking clam-shack standards with dishes like bluefish pâté and onion rings topped with caviar and crème fraîche. The Nautilus is buzzy and boisterous, tables filled with plates of blue crab fried rice and a Peking-inspired whole roasted duck. Inside Greydon House, Via Mare is known for Venetian-ish small plates, an eclectic wine list, and one of the prettiest dining rooms in town. To really splash out, book a table at Topper’s at the Wauwinet. The restaurant inside the swish hotel, about nine miles from town on Nantucket Bay, is lovely in its own right — and the evening starts before you even arrive. In season, the 20-passenger Wauwinet Lady departs from the dock at sister hotel White Elephant, and the 50-minute cruise across the bay, glass of bubbles in hand, is half the fun.
Hit The Club Car — housed in a landmark 19th-century railroad car — for a cocktail and live piano. If it’s a more casual scene you’re after, head to Cisco Brewers, which has been brewing on Nantucket since 1995. Order a Whale’s Tale pale ale on the patio, where you’ll usually find live music and a food truck.
And no visit is complete without a cone from The Juice Bar. Opened in 1978, it remains one of the island’s defining summer rituals, thanks to its homemade ice cream and the smell of fresh waffle cones drifting down Broad Street. Expect a line — on Nantucket, there’s no reason to rush.
