The Resy Guide to Cape Cod Restaurants for 2024

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 including twice-baked duck fat steak fries, Thai peanut soba noodles, and Novia Scotia-style fish cakes with green tomato chow-chow. Harvest Gallery also boasts a robust cocktail menu stocked with house creations such as The Farmstead (green chile vodka, tomato juice, fire cider, lime, salt, and pepper).

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 18^th century captain’s 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 housemade falafel, pan-seared sea scallops in a carrot-coconut purée, or a pan-seared whole lobster in a Calvados-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 crab cake-crusted cod loin or a scallop, shrimp, and lobster seafood scampi. All of which may be best enjoyed with an It’s That Thyme (gin, grapefruit juice, thyme syrups) or a smoked pineapple daiquiri.

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 spring pea risotto, or filet mignon in a red wine demi-glaze, amid a dining room with white tablecloths and tufted leather banquettes.

This East End standby has no shortage of charm, whether you’re seated within a main dining room overlooking an outdoor garden, a wine cellar centered around a brick fireplace, or the aforementioned garden itself within a heated gazebo. And before we get too carried away with scenery, here’s where we mention that dinner may consist of Italian delights including baked oysters with pesto and Parmesan, calamari piccata, or a 16-ounce bistecca Fiorentina.

The Red Inn takes its views seriously — and should, as its fireplace-enabled 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.

Provincetown’s DNA as one-part Portuguese fisherman’s village, one-part vacation party spot may be best encapsulated by Liz’s. The delightfully named establishment meshes a nautical, ye-olde interior with a menu heavy on local seafood — think salt-and-pepper calamari or cod Florentine — plus creative cocktails like the Beet It, made with fresh beet juice, olive oil, and mezcal.

Freeman’s gently suggests that its patrons not dine in flip-flops and tank tops: a bold move in a vacation town, but the coastal European restaurant strives to create a more cultivated attitude. It does so with an elegant interior featuring old-timey Yankee oil portraits, plus a menu that includes foie gras torchon sandwiches, oven-roasted littleneck clams, and curried lobster with pickled pearl onions.

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.

What was once a blacksmith’s shop on the outskirts of Truro has instead been converted into Blackfish. No offense to the blacksmithing trade, but we’d argue that it’s a better use of the brick-walled space, as patrons can now sit down to a rustic, locally-focused menu with buttermilk-fired Wellfleet oysters, heritage pork chops with vinegar potatoes, or tuna Bolognese over freshly-made pappardelle and mascarpone cheese.

Boston may have thrown all its tea in the harbor, but the piping-hot good stuff is still flowing at the Dunbar House in Sandwich. 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). Alternatively, you may sit down for a lunch of more substantial fare including mini beef Wellington or crispy duck confit.

Locally-caught fish from the Cape Cod Canal supplies the kitchen at Fisherman’s View, which serves an ever-changing menu known to feature Jonah crab melts or spice-crusted ahi tuna with lobster fried rice. What may take you by surprise are its stellar, unimpeded views of Cape Cod Bay.