10 Best Restaurants in Nantucket

Topper's, the dining room of The Wauwinet inn eight miles from town, is the only AAA Five-Diamond restaurant on Nantucket and the island's clear special-occasion summit. The kitchen cooks refined New England seafood — lobster, day-boat fish, native shellfish — with a famous lobster-and-corn opener and a wine list deep enough to be a destination itself. The romance starts before the meal: many guests arrive on the inn's Wauwinet Lady launch across the harbour. Expect well over $120 a head before wine. For a landmark dinner where the journey is part of the night, nothing on the island matches it.

Straight Wharf sits literally on the harbour at Harbor Square, and its prix fixe changes nightly to follow whatever came off the boats and the island's farms that day. It is the purest expression of Nantucket seasonality — the menu in mid-July looks nothing like the one in early September. The dining room and the more casual bar both look out over the slips, and the multi-course menu runs around $95 to $125. For a dinner that tastes exactly of the island on the night you are there, with the masts swaying outside, this is the most Nantucket table of them all.

The Pearl, Seth and Angela Raynor's room above The Boarding House on Federal Street, is the island's most glamorous dining room — a cool, blue-lit space whose Asian-influenced menu has been a Nantucket fixture for over two decades. The salt-and-pepper wok-fried lobster is the long-standing signature, and the cocktail and wine programs match the room's polish. Mains run roughly $48 to $80. For a dinner that wants style and a little sophistication rather than another nautical-themed room, The Pearl is the island's most fashionable table, and the bar is a destination in itself.

Òran Mór, up a flight of stairs in a historic house at 2 South Beach Street just off Straight Wharf, is the island's quiet connoisseur's choice — three small, earth-toned dining rooms and an intimate bar where the cooking is more refined and less scene-driven than the harbour rooms. The seasonal New American menu leans on local seafood and produce with real technique, and the multi-course menus run around $90 to $130. For a dinner where the table cares more about what is on the plate than who is in the room, Òran Mór is the most serious kitchen in town.

The Nautilus, at 12 Cambridge Street downtown, opened in 2014 and built its name on a shared-plate format that crosses New England coastal cooking with Asian and global street-food influences. The crispy duck, the dumplings and the raw-bar selections are the order, the room runs loud and energetic, and small plates land around $16 to $38. It is the antidote to the white-tablecloth rooms — younger, busier, built for a group that wants to drink cocktails and order a lot of things. For a sociable, high-energy dinner, this is the island's most fun table.

Company of the Cauldron, on India Street, is the island's most intimate room — a tiny, candlelit space that serves a single set menu each evening, occasionally with a harpist playing in the corner. Because the kitchen cooks one menu for the whole room, every plate is its full attention; the menu is published in advance so you can choose your night. The prix fixe runs around $85 to $110. For a romantic dinner for two where the smallness of the room is the entire point, nothing else on Nantucket comes close. See the best anniversary restaurants.

CRU sits at the very foot of Straight Wharf, the island's social oyster bar where the boats come in and the harbour fills the windows. The raw bar is the reason to come — local oysters, a serious seafood tower — alongside lobster rolls and crudo, with plates from about $18 to $60. It is as much a scene as a restaurant, and at golden hour with a glass of rosé it is the most photographed table on Nantucket. For a sun-soaked, sociable lunch or an early dinner that captures the island's summer energy, CRU is the spot. More seafood restaurants.

Le Languedoc, in a historic house on Broad Street near the Whaling Museum, has been the island's reliable French bistro for decades — the kind of room that does not chase trends because it never needed to. The menu runs to bistro classics and local seafood done simply and well, with the famous burger downstairs in the café and more serious plates upstairs. Mains run roughly $34 to $58, and the garden patio in summer is the seat to ask for. For a relaxed, unpretentious dinner that feels like the island's old guard, Le Languedoc is the warm, dependable choice.

Dune, Michael Getter's contemporary American restaurant on Broad Street, is the lighter, brighter alternative to the island's darker dining rooms — an airy space with a leafy patio and a menu that treats local seafood with a cleaner, more modern hand. The tuna and the seasonal fish dishes are the standouts, and mains run around $32 to $52. The patio is the seat in summer. For a dinner that wants contemporary cooking and a relaxed, daylight-friendly room rather than nautical heaviness, Dune is the smart modern pick a step off the busiest stretch.

Galley Beach, on the sand at Cliffside Beach just outside town, is the only proper beachfront fine-dining room on Nantucket — white umbrellas, the water a few steps away, and the best sunset table on the island. The kitchen cooks polished coastal American food, strong on seafood and a famous lobster dish, with mains around $44 to $78. It is the island's most coveted sunset reservation, so book the early evening well ahead. For a dinner where the setting — sand, sea and sky going pink — is half the meal, Galley Beach is unmatched.