Trifecta!

First of all: what's better on a hot summer night by the ocean than to go get takeout, walk over to the docks and eat overlooking the harbor?

That's right, nothing! And that's exactly what we did.
Three times, three nights.
Trifecta!

Quarterdeck Takeout

First night, for great takeout burgers that won't cost a vacation arm and a leg, we headed to the Quarterdeck, a few nights ago.

A nice warmish night, no need for sweaters, just comfortable. The thing to get at the Quarterdeck are their burgers and their soft-serve ice cream. We added an order of onion rings - thick, crisp, cornmeal-style crunch - and made our way over to a bench near the Mad Maxx sailing dock. Being Saturday, the Edgartown Yacht Club was at full mast, regaled to the hilt and so much fun to watch. It was simple, it was fun, and it was relatively inexpensive for island food.


Second hit - the kitchey gourmet takeout,  open late nights till 2am, Artcliff Diner's Silver Food Wagon, Vineyard Haven near the Bend In The Road. Usually owner Regina Stanley is behind the culinary wheel, with a bassline beat drumming in the background.

Lagoon at Night

Things to try (at least once in your lifetime): fresh-cut parsley garlic french fries - think the garlicky wonder of the sauce on escargot!), Turkey burger loaded, with chipotle mayo, the Pig sandwich and any of their hot dog combinations.

Although you can eat in their tiny garden area, playing ping-pong till your order's ready, we chose to do take-away and moved to the Lagoon Public Landing overlook.  Quiet, "islandy," and we watched a long line of adult ducks move into the marshy area for evening while we ate.

Third and final - Giordano's Takeout Pizza. True Italian, throw-it-up-in-the-air-before-your-very-eyes pizza. It comes out of the ovens doughy edge, thinner in the middle, but packed with ooey, gooey, cheesy topping over a melloishious (my own word - mellow tomatoey delicious) sauce. Eat it folded in two lengthwise like everyone else up from NYC does. Even just a plain cheese pizza slice to walk is worth the wait. This, we drove the 2 miles back home and ate in peace at our dining room table; but you could just as easily (which we have done frequently) head up to the Steamship Dock and Town Beach to eat overlooking the Oak Bluffs Harbor entrance. Heaven.


Also-ran: Nancy's Snack Bar in Oak Bluffs - If it's good enough for the President, well then....

MVTimes

This Calypso-Bar-Meets-Tourist-Hangout offers up those stringy, crispy onion rings you hanker for on vacation since to eat them at any other time is probably a sin.  Their scallops are huge, deep-fried to perfecton, but not greasy, and really anything we have ever had there has been good. You can sit on their open-air deck and people-watch harborside in Oak Bluffs. Honestly, it's a toss-up between Nancy's and Gio's.



Of all the food experiences on the Vineyard, the ones we've come to enjoy most are the simplest.



Have a good one. :)