Waterfront Restaurants on Long Island

Waterfront restaurants on Long Island range from casual dockside bars and seafood restaurants to polished harborfront dining rooms built around sunset views, outdoor decks, marinas, and boat access. With bays, harbors, rivers, channels, ponds, and Long Island Sound surrounding the region, dining on the water is one of Long Island’s most distinctive restaurant experiences.

Use the interactive map below to compare waterfront restaurants by dining style, outdoor seating, boat access, county, region, and sunset views. The directory focuses on restaurants where the immediate waterfront setting is a defining part of the visit rather than places that simply happen to be near the coast.

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Interactive Map

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Waterfront Dining on Long Island

Waterfront dining looks different depending on where you are on Long Island. North Shore restaurants often overlook protected harbors and Long Island Sound, while South Shore restaurants tend to sit beside channels, rivers, marinas, and the Great South Bay. Farther east, North Fork and Hamptons restaurants add Peconic Bay, Shinnecock Bay, Montauk Harbor, Fort Pond, and open Sound views to the mix.

Casual Waterfront Restaurants

Casual waterfront restaurants are especially popular during warm weather. The Buoy Bar in Point Lookout, Fatfish in Bay Shore, Claudio’s in Greenport, RUMBA in Hampton Bays, Dockers Waterside in East Quogue, and On the Docks in Aquebogue combine water views with drinks, seafood, burgers, live music, outdoor seating, or a lively marina atmosphere. These restaurants are often busiest on summer weekends and around sunset.

Upscale Waterfront Restaurants

For anniversaries, date nights, birthdays, business dinners, and other special occasions, Long Island has several polished waterfront dining rooms. Prime overlooks Huntington Harbor, Louie’s faces Manhasset Bay, The Halyard sits above Long Island Sound, Inlet Seafood looks across Montauk Harbor, and restaurants such as Cowfish, Baron’s Cove, The LakeHouse, Nautilus Cafe, and The Snapper Inn pair a full-service meal with a scenic coastal setting.

Restaurants with Sunset Views

Sunset is one of the biggest reasons diners seek out Long Island’s waterfront restaurants. Western-facing or open-water locations can provide especially strong evening views, including Inlet Seafood in Montauk, The Halyard in Greenport, Prime in Huntington, Louie’s in Port Washington, Wall’s Wharf in Bayville, The Buoy Bar in Point Lookout, and several Great South Bay restaurants. Sunset conditions vary with the season, weather, and exact table location, so an outdoor table does not always guarantee an unobstructed view.

Dock-and-Dine Restaurants

Some waterfront restaurants provide docking or marina access for guests arriving by boat. Examples include Louie’s, Prime, The Buoy Bar, The Oar, The Snapper Inn, RUMBA, Cowfish, Dockers Waterside, Claudio’s, and On the Docks. Dockage policies, available slips, vessel-size limits, arrival procedures, and seasonal restrictions vary, so boaters should contact the restaurant or marina before departing.

Waterfront Restaurants by Region

The North Shore includes Manhasset Bay, Huntington Harbor, Bayville, and Long Island Sound destinations. The South Shore has large waterfront dining clusters around Point Lookout, Freeport, Merrick, Bay Shore, Oakdale, and Patchogue. The North Fork adds Greenport, Southold, and Aquebogue, while the South Fork and Hamptons include Hampton Bays, East Quogue, Sag Harbor, and Montauk.

Methodology

LongIslandGuide.com compiled this directory by reviewing the site’s existing waterfront-restaurant research, official restaurant websites, current location information, regional tourism resources, and restaurant descriptions. Restaurants were included when the dining area is immediately associated with a harbor, bay, river, channel, marina, pond, beach, or Long Island Sound and the waterfront is a meaningful part of the normal guest experience. Restaurants with only a distant water view or a coastal address without a true waterfront dining setting were excluded.

Map coordinates were checked separately and embedded directly into the map rather than generated through live geocoding. Outdoor seating, dock access, live music, seasonal operations, reservation policies, and waterfront service areas can change during the year, so visitors should confirm current details directly with the restaurant before making a special trip.

Key Facts & Details

Feature	Details
Guide	Waterfront Restaurants on Long Island
Mapped Restaurants	22 curated waterfront dining destinations
Counties	Nassau and Suffolk
Waterfront Settings	Harbors, bays, rivers, channels, marinas, ponds, and Long Island Sound
Dining Styles	Casual dockside dining and upscale special-occasion restaurants
Outdoor Dining	Available at many locations, usually weather and season dependent
Boat Access	Available at selected restaurants and adjoining marinas; confirm docking rules in advance
Popular Regions	North Shore, South Shore, North Fork, and South Fork / Hamptons
Interactive Map	Filter by dining style, outdoor seating, boat access, county, region, and sunset views
Best Waterfront Recommendations	What are the best waterfront restaurants?

Whether you want a casual summer meal beside a marina, cocktails at sunset, a dock-and-dine stop by boat, or an upscale dinner overlooking a harbor, Long Island offers waterfront restaurants across nearly every major coastal region. Use the map above to compare the settings and atmosphere, then confirm current outdoor seating, reservations, and docking information directly with the restaurant before heading out.