Come for a seat on the waterfront deck with panoramic views, stay for comforting dishes like a fried cod sandwich on brioche, mussels with marinara, and fried calamari. The year-round hangout frequently hosts live music, and serves brunch on the weekends.

One of the city’s best taco shops is located at Rockaway Beach Surf Club: a hybrid bar, surf shack, and restaurant. The move at Tacoway Beach is definitely the fried fish taco — there’s two to an order — that come topped with purple cabbage slaw, lime, and aioli (if that’s not saucy, add the salsa verde). Several vegetarian tacos, like a tofu version, are also available, while sides include elote or chips and guac. Wash it all down with a fresh pineapple mint juice.

Pastry chef Tracy Obolsky (an alum of Esca, North End Grill, Cookshop) has her own year-round bakery, where the sticky buns reign supreme. It’s the right stop before hitting the beach or for mid-morning snacks like scones, croissants, guava-cheese danishes, cookies, and quiche.

The warm hospitality and quirkiness at this Uzbek restaurant is backed up by a menu of lagman, borscht, beef goulash, and two types of dumplings (manti and pelmeni). As a sit-down experience, Uma’s doesn’t boast sprawling patios, like some other establishments on this list, but it does make it an ideal respite from the rain or during a heatwave; it’s also worth the visit during the off-season for the Rockaways. That said, when ordered to-go, compact and portable pelmeni make for a fun beach food alternative — or a snack to eat on the hood of your car, as pictured here, on the way home from a long, sandy day.

Whatstarted outas a beachside food cart selling West African food blossomed into a brick-and-mortar restaurant during the pandemic. The Cradle sells West African bowls like efo riro with stewed chicken and pounded yam, alongside a menu of smoothies with ingredients like dragon fruit — with plenty of bang for your buck. Owners Babajide Alao and Pesy Sikyala also run a nearby farm in collaboration with Edgemere Farm, where they source ingredients for their cooking.

進一步東86街的木板路,跑ers is serving always-great burgers including one called the Hard Body, a double patty with double cheese. Other Americana beach snacks on the menu include hot dogs, a fish sandwich, and soft serve. This burger favorite is set to reopen for the season on Friday, May 20.

據報道,康諾利的被賣給new owners, panic ensued amongst longtime fans of the Irish pub, which had been open since 1962. Everyone seemingly had one question in mind: What would happen to the bar’s legendary frozen drinks? Fear not, though: According toGrub Street, Mike Reinhardt and Mike Kololyan, owners of a local surf school, got the original recipe for the bar’s beloved frozen pina colada, garnished with a maraschino cherry, as part of the package deal in taking over the iconic Queens spot. Connolly’s is officially relaunching Memorial Day weekend.

Cool down with marinated raw seafood atLa Cevicheria,a stand that’s one of several beachside concessions at 97th Street, now runby new operators. The ceviches here make for tart and portable, refreshing beach bites that don’t weigh you down when you’re spending the day surfing or splish-splashing around in the water. La Cevicheria and other 97th Street concessions are reopening Memorial Day weekend.

New Yorkersfamiliar with Caracaswill find solace at this Rockaway location, which thankfully has remained despite fearssurrounding its potential closureafter new owners took over the concession stands in the Rockaways last year. The waterfront stand offers arepas, maduros, and more. It’s slated to reopen on Friday, May 20.

When a sandwich is needed after a day drinking underneath the Rockaway sun, this super simple deli is the answer. Pickles & Pies is open 24 hours, too, should you be staying past dusk for a beach party.