Last year, East Hampton Town celebrated its 375th anniversary. While it goes without saying that the downtown area of the village has changed quite a bit since its pre-colonial days, much of its natural charm remains thanks to the countless locals and small business owners working tirelessly to preserve it. Consider this your guide for where to shop, eat, drink, stay and play while walking around one of New York State’s easternmost hamlets.
Eat/Drink
In business for over 35 years now, Nick & Toni’s (136 North Main St., 631-324-3550) is a Hamptons institution. Serving authentic northern Italian fare, the standard-setting eatery, led by chef Joe Realmuto, focuses on simple, locally sourced ingredients. Set inside a farmhouse-style building, complete with an adjacent almost acre-sized garden that contains everything from micro herbs to heirloom tomatoes, they were farm-to-table before it was the cool thing to be. It’s both the perfect place to go for an extravagant four-course meal or to nuzzle up to the ample, lively bar for their signature zucchini misto and a killer spicy margarita.
If there’s one thing the Hamptons dining scene could use some more of, it’s diners. John Papas Café (18 Park Place, 631-324-5400) should be the paradigm. Offering a classic diner-style menu where breakfast is served all day, the eatery also boasts a slew of Greek and Mediterranean specialties like overstuffed gyros and dolmades. It’s the sort of place that’s had the same super sweet waitresses serving the same food to the same patrons for decades. Not much has changed at John Papas for the past 20 years, and that’s a good thing.
Open since 2017 by Lisa and Terry Harwood — the same fine folks behind Vine Street Café on Shelter Island — Cove Hollow Tavern (85 Montauk Highway, 631-537-7131) offers polished tavern-style food and drink in a refurbished barn that was home to Café Max for decades. The ever-changing, seasonal menu is inspired by classic comfort food with modern twists and features a playful cocktail menu, over half a dozen New York-based brews and a diverse but approachable wine list.
One of the few places that offers lunch and dinner every day, Cittanuova (29 Newtown Lane, 631-324-6300) offers contemporary cuisine within a minimalistic Milanese-style trattoria. With three large-screen TVs perched over the bustling bar that are constantly playing whatever sporting event is happening, the restaurant’s user-friendly menu contains myriad personal sized pizzas, pastas, salads, paninis and more sure to satisfy.
On the corner of the parking lot between Newtown Lane and Main Street is the Blue Parrot (33A Main St., 631-329-2583), a casual hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex dive bar meets taco joint. Relaxed and airy, offering a simple, no-frills menu, it’s the perfect spot for post-beach cocktails before you go home to clean up and grab the fancy dinner elsewhere … if you end up leaving at all.
Walking around and feeling a little peckish but don’t want to commit to a formal sit-down dinner? Fierro’s (104 Park Place, 631-324-5751) has been the hamlet’s pizza place for the past 40 years. Serving (and employing) generations of Bonackers, it’s the quintessential pizza joint, offering Italian-style heroes, wraps and salads and a dozen different options for slices.
Plush and cozy East Hampton Grill (99 North Main St., 631-329-6666) offers a just-right mix of luxury and comfort. Calling upon familiar favorites, menu items are oversized showstoppers, ranging from “heavenly” biscuits with honey to a sumptuous prime rib French dip sandwich. If you order a martini, they change out your glass for a new, extra cold, frosty one. Effortlessly executed details are what they’re all about.
Inspired by the izakaya, the casual after-work bars of Tokyo, is Kumiso (37 Newtown Lane, 631-537-7926 in the alley behind Breezin’ Up). This less-than-a-year-old concept restaurant comes from the same Tip Top Hospitality team behind Sen and K Pasa in Sag Harbor and Kizzy T’s in East Hampton. With a tight little menu consisting of ramen, rolls, salads and buns, it’s a tried-and-true celebration of Japanese street food served at a reasonable price.
Stay
As its name suggests, 1770 House Restaurant & Inn (143 Main St., 631-324-1770) has been in business for quite some time. Built as a private residence, it was converted into an inn around, you guessed it, 1770. Leading the local hospitality charge ever since as a boutique six-room hotel with a two-story carriage house in the back of the property and fine dining restaurant helmed by chef Michael Rozzi. An elegantly timeless blend of old-world charm and modern luxury, the restaurant is divided into a dining room on the ground floor, a slightly more casual tavern downstairs (serving quite possibly the best burger in the Hamptons) and, during summer, an absolutely darling outdoor patio set underneath countless white crape myrtle trees.
The Baker House (181 Main St., 631-324-4081) was first constructed around 1650 now functioning as a high-end bed and breakfast. The B&B features an on-site spa facility, private yet expansive English-style country gardens with distinctly Hamptons touches everywhere, and a popular aperitivo hour.
Across the duck pond is the Hedges Inn (74 James Lane, 631-324-7101), a 13-room hotel cozily set inside a recently renovated white shingled colonial-style home. Steps from village beaches, Hedges is well-known for their home-cooked, extensive breakfasts, while also offering Saturday yoga sessions on the lawn up until Labor Day.
Shop
While the Ladies Village Improvement Society has been keeping East Hampton beautiful through scholarships, fairs and events year in and year out, it’s through their abundant shop (95 Main St., 631-324-1220), containing gently used, well-organized men and women’s clothing, accessories, home goods, books and furniture that they’re able to do it.
Although an internationally recognized chain, Dylan’s Candy Bar (52 Main St., 631-324-6181) is a mainstay we can totally get behind. During the summer, Dylan’s offers a fresh and fun mix of old-fashioned candy and ice cream selections with cool and unusual confections found all around the globe.
Family-owned and operated for over 50 years, Park Place Wines & Liquors (84 Park Place, 631-324-2622) brings the friendly neighborhood liquor store into a whole new arena. Led by a team of sommeliers and veteran restaurant/wine and spirit industry workers, they not only pack an impressive arsenal of boozy bevs, they offer a bevy of tastings and wine classes throughout the year.
Among the few but mighty surviving small businesses is BookHampton (41 Main St., 631-324-4939), a year-round independent bookstore supplying East Enders with page turners for decades. Packed with a 5,000-strong inventory in a narrow but bright and airy 1,000-square-foot space, they also host a slew of author events as well as a monthly book club.
Gubbins (54 Park Place, 631-324-3239) specializes in running apparel and sporty footwear. With a location in Southampton as well, the active roots run deep at this village staple, as the Gubbins family has generations of top athletes and are near experts on workout wear for both adults and children.
Since 1990, The Party Shoppe (82 Park Place, 631-324-9547) has been the spot to supply a vast inventory of party supplies throughout the South Fork community. Whether you’re throwing a beach gathering or hosting a New Year’s Eve party, owner Theo Landi and her tiny but nimble team bring decades of experience to spruce up any event.
Play
A beacon of a cultural center on the East End since its inception in 1931 is Guild Hall (158 Main St., 631-324-0806), one of the nation’s first multidisciplinary cultural institutions, serving as both a museum and education center, performing arts theater and art gallery, with deeply diverse programming on offer year round.
The East Hampton Historical Society (101 Main St., 631-324-6850) assiduously preserves, presents and interprets the hamlet’s rich cultural history spanning the past nearly 400 years. Scattered about the village’s main drag into different buildings and structures, the society offers regular tours, talks and art exhibitions. Home Sweet Home Museum (14 James Lane, 631-324-0713), a salt-box style building is home to antiques, china, furniture and lusterware (among other things) dating from the 18th and 19th century.
To get your gallery fix, be sure to pop into Eric Firestone Gallery (4 Newtown Lane, 631-604-2386), White Room Gallery (3 Railroad Ave., 631-237-1481) and Halsey McKay Gallery (79 Newtown Lane, 631-604-5770).
