Food and Fun

Getting Around the Island

By Public Transportation
Getting around is super easy with the VTA. It’s the only public transportation on the island but buses pick-up and drop-off in every town and they run on a very reliable schedule. Purchase a day pass for only $8 and tour the entire island.

By Bicycle
Need more fresh air and fun? Rent a bike! For as little as $20, you can get your hands on a bike and pedal off into the sunset. From Oak Bluffs, you could be shopping in Vineyard Haven after a 20min ride or enjoying a lobster roll at the Edgartown harbor in less than 40mins. There’s also an extensive network of bike trails through the State Forest, where you just might run into Obama and his girls.

By Taxi
The island has a pretty reliable network of taxi services. It can run $25-30 to get from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown, plus the same amount to return, so it’s not necessarily the most affordable option but it is convenient. The other nice thing about the taxi services is that the vehicles are mostly shuttle vans and large SUVs, so you can pack six or eight friends into one trip to reduce costs and increase the fun.

 

Where to Eat

Oak Bluffs
Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Co has only been open a few years but, for the past three years running, they’ve been voted best chowder in all of New England by multiple publications, including both Boston magazine and Yankee Magazine. And, get this, what sets their chowder apart is that they leave out the butter and flour thickeners but you still get a rich and creamy chowder with tons and tons of very, very local clams.

Offshore Ale Co is the most laid-back joint in Oak Bluffs. It’s a throwback tavern with a salty seadog vibe. Food is excellent; one of the best lobster rolls on the island, plus your classic fish and chips, big pub burgers, and some pretty creative wood-fired pizzas. Oh, and did I mention they are also a brew pub? I probably should’ve led with that bit but, as luck would have it, Off Shore is indeed a brew pub. Not only that but Offshore easily puts out the best lineup of brews on the island. Sorry Bad Martha fans, there’s really no debate.

So, you’ll have to visit the Oak Bluffs Harbor, right? And you’ll have to grab a lunch or a snack at one of the many restaurants along the boardwalk. We don’t want you to be disappointed with your experience, so I’ll tell you here that many the restaurants along the boardwalk are lacking the wow factor you might expect. In fact, the majority of them are simply trying to survive the season. That said, Nancy’s is definitely the best of the bunch. They have counter service, where you can get a basket of clams and watch the bustling harbor from the outdoor seating area, or you could head upstairs for a quick lunch, a pretty amazing dinner, or just a late night cocktail. Nancy’s is the only restaurant on the boardwalk that will deliver on the whole experience; great food, good service, fun atmosphere. The others are good for a quick drink and a snack.

Edgartown
The Newes at the Kelley House is arguably the best pub on the island and, the Kelley House itself, is one of the island’s most historic buildings. This Colonial-era pub is limited on space, so it can get pretty packed in the high season, but it also makes for a cozy little spot for some excellent fish ‘n chips, shrimp & grits, or authentic bangers & mash.

Bad Martha’s just opened last summer as the island’s second brewery. In my opinion, their beer is second best to Offshore Ale Co and they don’t serve food but the tasting room is still worth a visit. The space is impressive; they actually brought in a team of Amish craftsmen to raise a new barn. Needless to say, the craftsmanship is not only clean, unpretentious, and down-right impressive but those qualities also translate directly into every pint Bad Martha’s puts on the bar. As it turns out, that ain’t so bad after all.

Menemsha
The Bite is literally a roadside fry-shack but it has to be the best place on the island for takeout clams, scallops, oysters, calimari… anything fried, including zucchini, wings, mozzarella sticks, and jalapeño poppers. Best advice: pack a bottle of wine and beach blanket, grab your bag of goodies at The Bite, then walk down to the beach to catch the sunset. Menemsha is one of the few beaches on the entire east coast that actually faces west, so it sets up a sunset experience that you would have to go to California or Oregon to replicate and you can’t get fried Quahogs on any west coast beach.

Menemsha Galley is a 50+ year-old, family-run establishment, offering a great view of Menemsha Bight and the adjacent pond. The options are near endless with sandwich and salad for lunch or dinners that include meatloaf, fried chicken, or homemade crab cakes. Best of all though is the walk-up ice cream window, where you can get dip cones, frappes, frozen lemonade, or a float to beat out any hot summer day.