A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in Montauk
Montauk has one dock-and-dine venue that publishes a real policy, and it is unusually precise about it.
Duryea's Montauk, on Fort Pond Bay rather than in the lake, states on its own site that there is docking for customers only, on a first come, first served basis, that "there is no overnight dockage or hanging in the slips," and that "the largest boat we can accommodate at Duryea's Montauk is 140 ft." Larger yachts, it says, drop anchor in front of the property and tender in to the dock. Come for lunch rather than for the night, and if you are over 140 ft, plan on the tender.
Everything else here is a restaurant attached to a marina you are already paying for. The Star Island Grill sits inside Sam's Star Island Yacht Club & Marina; Alba Spiaggia, Yachtys and the Pool Bar sit inside the Star Island resort marina; the Westlake Fish House and the Gin Beach Cafe are marina-side rooms on the lake. In each case the dock you arrive at is the marina's, and its terms — not the restaurant's — are what apply.
The famous names out at the inlet — Gosman's Dock, Inlet Seafood, Dave's Grill — work the way Montauk has always worked: none of them keeps a guest dock, so you take a slip in the lake and arrive on foot or by car.
So if you want to eat off the boat in Montauk, either take a slip and walk, or take Duryea's at its word.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Duryea's MontaukThe only Montauk venue publishing a genuine dock-and-dine policy, and it is unusually precise: "The largest boat we can accommodate at Duryea's Montauk is 140 ft." Larger yachts drop anchor in front of the property and tender in to the dock. Lunch, not overnight. | Fort Pond Bay — outside Lake Montauk | Customers only, first come first served — its own site: "There is no overnight dockage or hanging in the slips." |
| Star Island GrillA restaurant attached to a marina you are already paying for. The relevant numbers are the marina's: transient dockage to 170 ft, two-night minimum Thursday to Saturday. | Star Island — inside Sam's Star Island Yacht Club & Marina | Arrive as a marina guest, on the marina's terms |
| Alba Spiaggia, Yachtys and the Pool BarThe resort's own food and drink rooms. Arrival is on the marina's terms rather than the restaurant's: 12 ft to 300 ft on a 45 ft beam, Dockwa, 40 ft minimum charge. | Star Island — inside the Safe Harbor Montauk Yacht Club resort | Arrive as a marina or resort guest |
| Westlake Fish HouseA marina-side room on the West Lake shore rather than a restaurant with its own dock terms — take a berth at the marina and walk in. | West Lake shore, Lake Montauk — marina-side | Arrive from a marina berth |
| Gin Beach CafeSame shape as the rest of the lake: a room attached to the marina operation around it, so the marina's terms are the ones that decide your arrival. | Gin Beach, near the Lake Montauk entrance | Arrive from a marina berth |
| Inlet SeafoodOut at the inlet, and it works from the land: there is no guest dock, so take a slip in the lake and arrive on foot or by car. | Montauk — near the Lake Montauk inlet | No guest dock — arrive from a berth |
| Dave's GrillA long-standing Montauk restaurant that keeps no guest dock — take a slip in the lake and arrive on foot or by car. | Montauk | No guest dock — arrive from a berth |
| Gosman's DockThe waterfront complex at the inlet and a Montauk landmark, but not a place you berth: it keeps no guest dock and publishes no arrival-by-boat terms. Take a slip in the lake and go over on foot or by car. | Montauk — at the Lake Montauk inlet | No guest dock — arrive from a berth |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.