Seacoast Seasonal Restaurants Are Opening Soon

I don’t know about you… but I’d like to be done with Winter now. I hear co-workers asking “okay… when do the seafood shacks open?”

And if your social feed looks anything like mine right now, you’ve probably seen it too… that post from the Tuna Striker in Seabrook announcing that opening day is April 3rd. The reaction on that post kinda tells you everything, people are READY.

Like… really ready.

We’re talking fried clams, lobster rolls dripping in butter, steamers, cold drinks, and those waterfront views that somehow make everything taste better. They say it’s a taste of Key West here in New Hampshire.

These spots aren’t just restaurants… they’re traditions.

Take Barnacle Billy’s in Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine. Opening day is April 3rd. I hear I’ve got to try one of Billy’s rum punches. It’s one of those “sit down, exhale, winter is officially over” kind of drinks. They’ve been doing this since 1961, which feels right… because the place just has that classic, been-perfect-for-decades vibe.

Then there’s Old Ferry Landing in downtown Portsmouth. If you know, you know. Watching the tugboats, hanging out on that deck, and grabbing a Jimmy Juice? That’s not just a meal… that’s a full-on Seacoast experience. They’ve been around for 50 years, and it makes sense, it’s the kind of place you go once and then suddenly it’s part of your routine every spring and summer.

READ MORE: 7 New Hampshire Restaurants That Serve Up the Best Seafood

That’s really what this time of year is about around here. Not just food… but the return of these places. It’s that first time you sit outside without your jacket on. The first seafood platter of the season.

It hits different and we’re officially in the countdown phase.

Now the real question is — where are you going first?