Food Seen: Comfort Food Classics & Dining Out 7 Days a Week

There’s no shortage of restaurants on the East End with menus that remind one of congenial and convivial gatherings with friends and family. Here are a few of our top picks:

On the North Fork, Barrow Food House in Aquebogue is the pinnacle of restaurants that make you feel at home. Set in an actual house, co-owners and husband-and-wife team Amanda and Kyle Romero make every dish is entirely from scratch, and much of their produce comes from their own farm right around the corner. The squash latkes will bring memories of family holidays, with house-made applesauce and sour cream! Pop in for breakfast and dig in to a delicious upgrade of a classic—the BEC. Bacon, two fried eggs, cheddar cheese, Hollandaise sauce and crispy onion on a fluffy brioche bun. If you’re there for lunch or dinner, you’d be remiss to not try the curry bowl. A vegan option, it’s made with chickpeas, oyster mushrooms, sweet potato, swiss chard and yellow curry. Yum!

A newcomer to the Amagansett food scene, Main Street Tavern has taken the space of the former Indian Wells and is serving up similar comforting pub food. Stop in for a heaping bowl of chili served with saltines, sour cream and onions, or a classic chicken parmesan sandwich. The Thursday night special is a throwback to mom cooking for the family on cold nights—pot pie! If you’re not super hungry, they offer a side of mac and cheese that will bring you the same feeling of comfort it did when you were a kid.

Rowdy Hall in East Hampton provides the atmosphere of an old English pub, which brings a special feeling of comfort and warmth. With a combination of French bistro and English pub fare, there’s an abundance of comfort food items on the menu. Plus, they have a FIREPLACE! Start with a bowl of French onion soup, topped with toasted baguette and Gruyere cheese before digging into a childhood classic, meatloaf. End with a brownie sundae or brioche bread pudding for a sweet treat that will make you feel good as new. Did we mention they have a fireplace?

It’s the off season, so it’s always good to know who’s open 7 days a week! Check out Pierre’s in Bridgehampton (get their homemade ice cream). LT Burger in Sag Harbor is open daily and has a killer happy hour Monday to Thursday from 5–7pm. Also in Sag, Cappelletti’s, Cromer’s Market (get beef ribs—OMG!) and Sag Pizza. In East Hampton, old reliable John Papa’s Café is open daily and only closed Wednesday p.m.

Did You Know … That Kelly Ripa ordered a catered Thanksgiving dinner feast from Art of Eating Catering yet again… That Bostwick’s was originally located on Gann Road in Springs in 1996. In 2010 they opened Bostwick’s Chowder House on Rte. 27 and in 2019, reopened Bostwick’s on the Harbor at their original Gann Road location … That you can get the Duryea’s famous lobster cobb salad at Lulu Kitchen & Bar in Sag Harbor in the off season.