CITY GUIDES | NEW YORK
The 12 Best Restaurants Across Suffolk County
The county’s best restaurants stretch from Bay Shore and Patchogue to the vineyards, farms, and fishing villages of the East End.
By Maria Rodriguez | Sept. 9, 2026
Mavericks Montauk
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.
I grew up in the city, and like most New Yorkers, I have always treated Long Island as my playground—a place close enough for a last-minute weekend escape yet sprawling enough to feel like a real departure. Over the years, that has meant countless train rides and long drives east, sometimes for the beach or a vineyard and sometimes solely for a favorite lobster roll or a new tasting menu that would command a month-long wait in Manhattan. The best restaurants in Suffolk County reward that instinct, stretching from lively downtowns near the city to the farms, fishing villages, and oceanfront towns at the island’s far edge. These are the 12 best restaurants in Suffolk County right now.
The 1770 House
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East Hampton has changed considerably since this timber-framed inn went up in 1770, yet the dining room still feels removed from the seasonal commotion outside. Chef Michael Rozzi takes a disciplined approach to ingredients from nearby farms and waters, turning out dishes such as Montauk fluke tartare, local scallops, and duck with the quiet confidence of a restaurant that has nothing left to prove. Downstairs, the tavern loosens its collar with meatloaf, burgers, and one of the better excuses around for ordering another glass of red.
Best for: A civilized Hamptons dinner far from the scene
Carissa’s the Bakery
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The James Beard Foundation named Carissa’s a semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery in 2025, confirming what anyone carrying away a box of pastries already suspected. Carissa Waechter’s naturally leavened breads have crackling crusts and deep flavor, while the pastry case beckons with croissants, raisin snails, and sculptural cakes covered in edible flowers. Breakfast and lunch bring jambon-beurre sandwiches, seasonal tartines, and, in my humble opinion, the island’s best lobster roll. Buy something for tomorrow morning; it probably will not survive the ride home.
Best for: Pastries that turn breakfast into an event
eatMOSAIC
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Choosing dinner here requires one decision: showing up. The St. James restaurant serves a frequently changing five-course tasting menu, leaving the kitchen to determine what lands on the table. Courses move freely among cuisines and techniques, often pairing familiar ingredients in ways that sound improbable until the first bite. The small dining room and leisurely pace make the evening feel closer to a dinner party than a standard restaurant reservation, particularly with the optional wine pairings. Control freaks may squirm; everyone else can enjoy the surprise.
Best for: Surrendering dinner to the kitchen
The LakeHouse
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The LakeHouse occupies an enviable spot beside the Great South Bay, but Matt and Eileen Connors have never relied on the water to do all the work. Chef Matt Connors builds polished American menus around seafood, seasonal produce, and thoughtfully prepared meats, with a pastry program that gives dessert proper attention. Large windows and a waterside patio keep the bay in view, while the cooking gives diners a reason to return after sunset. It is romantic enough for an anniversary and relaxed enough for Sunday brunch.
Best for: Waterfront dining when the food matters too
Léon 1909
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Nearly everything at Léon 1909 seems to pass close enough to the open hearth to pick up a little smoke. Chef Armand Joseph draws from Provence and coastal Italy while working with Shelter Island farms and East End fishermen, producing fire-roasted chicken with shatteringly crisp skin, dry-aged beef, whole fish, and vegetables blistered at the edges. The high-ceilinged dining room is handsome without becoming precious, and the cooking captures the primal pleasure of putting excellent ingredients over flame and knowing when to leave them alone.
Best for: A ferry ride rewarded with dinner by the fire
Maroni Cuisine
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Maroni built its reputation on an Italian tasting menu that arrives as a procession rather than a polite sequence. The kitchen chooses the courses, which may include baked clams, pasta, seafood, ribs, and the restaurant’s celebrated meatballs, all delivered with the generosity of a family determined to send you home full. The experience has survived founder Michael Maroni, whose larger-than-life spirit still defines this Northport institution. Come hungry, surrender the rest of the evening, and abandon any belief that a tasting menu must involve tiny portions.
Best for: An Italian feast with no brakes
Mavericks Montauk
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Montauk has plenty of restaurants selling the view; Mavericks gives the sunset serious competition. Chef Jeremy Blutstein recasts the steakhouse around ingredients from Long Island fishermen, nearby farms, and New York producers, with dry-aged beef sharing the menu with wood-fired seafood and vegetables. The dining room overlooks Fort Pond, letting dinner unfold against one of the East End’s better sunsets. It is a thoroughly Montauk restaurant, only with cooking substantial enough to remain memorable after the sky goes dark.
Best for: A Montauk sunset with serious steaks
Nick & Toni’s
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East Hampton has no shortage of places where the crowd threatens to become the entire story. Nick & Toni’s has spent decades making sure dinner still matters. The wood-burning oven anchors an Italian menu built around East End farms and fishermen, with roasted vegetables, local seafood, pizzas, and seasonal pasta. Much of the produce comes from the restaurant’s own garden, and the dining room hums with the practiced energy of a place accustomed to famous faces. The celebrity sightings are unpredictable; the cooking is considerably more dependable.
Best for: A Hamptons institution where dinner outlasts the gossip
North Fork Table & Inn
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North Fork Table & Inn helped establish this stretch of Long Island as a dining destination, and the historic farmhouse remains one of its defining restaurants. The kitchen draws heavily from nearby farms, vineyards, and waters, sending out local oysters, seasonal vegetables, seafood, and carefully sourced meats. Its wine list provides plenty of room for Long Island bottles while looking well beyond the county line. Lunch from the food truck out back is appealing, but dinner inside shows how polished North Fork cooking can be.
Best for: A destination dinner in Long Island wine country
Shands General
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Shands General gives Patchogue a restaurant capable of taking dinner seriously without making everyone sit up straight. The kitchen ranges widely but purposefully, moving through local seafood, Korean fried chicken wings, French onion and short-rib soup, dry-aged beef, and a fried chicken sandwich brined with yuzu and buttermilk. The handsome space inside the former BrickHouse Brewery supplies plenty of energy, particularly around the bar. It works equally well for a date or a group that cannot agree on anything except ordering another round.
Best for: A big Patchogue dinner without the formalities
Southold Social
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James Beard Award-winning pastry chef François Payard brings formidable dessert credentials to Southold Social, but the savory side earns equal billing. The Mediterranean-minded menu changes with the North Fork growing season, making room for local fish, crudo, vegetables, and dishes such as Montauk black sea bass and polenta with summer truffles. Payard’s influence becomes unmistakable at dessert, when precise French technique meets the abundance of Long Island farms. Skipping that final course would qualify as a profound failure of planning.
Best for: A North Fork dinner that demands dessert
The State Room
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Hidden above Shands General inside Patchogue’s historic former BrickHouse Brewery, The State Room pairs a cocktail bar’s energy with a menu designed to roam. The kitchen offers roughly 15 to 20 selections, moving from oysters, crudo, and steak tartare to cacio e chili, steak frites, and a nightly roast meant for sharing. Brick walls, low lighting, and limited seating create a welcome sense of separation from Main Street below. It is a date-night restaurant for people who would rather assemble dinner from several plates than stare at one entrée apiece.
Best for: Cocktails and shared plates above Main Street
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