Because, really, doesn’t everything taste better at the beach?
See more Best Places to Eat Like a Local
Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, Amalfi Coast, Italy: Pleasure yachts from Capri and Positano drop anchor for lunch perched over the Mediterranean. The only thing fresher than the peppery wild arugula salad is the ricci (sea urchin) in the spaghetti. $$$
Hive Beach Café, Burton Bradstock, England: A chalkboard menu behind the counter tells you what’s on offer (fish pies; grilled herring; a crab sandwich with chips) at this classic holiday spot. $$
La Guerrerense, Ensenada, Mexico: Sabina Bandera has crafted complex and flavorful seafood cocktails and ceviches—pismo clam, sea urchin, octopus, mussels, and more—from her humble street stall for almost 40 years. Don’t miss her house-made salsas. 52-646/174-2114. $
Parador La Huella, José Ignacio, Uruguay: Chic South Americans congregate amid the dunes for languorous midday meals that can last until dusk. Keep things simple with sea bass cooked over coals and a pitcher of clericó. $$$
Bangpo Seafood, Koh Samui, Thailand: At this family-run shack, tables in the sand are piled high with deep-fried red snapper and irresistible khoei jii (shrimp paste, crabmeat, coconut, and spices, roasted over a fire in a coconut husk). 66-77/420-010. $
Pantelis Marathi, Marathi, Greece: On a tiny, car-free isle between Patmos and Bodrum, Turkey, this harborfront restaurant is a popular stop for the sailing crowd. Everything is impossibly fresh, from the crawfish sautéed in lemon oil to the creamy local goat cheese. $$
Marshall Store, Marshall, California: The oysters alone (from a farm up the road) are worth the hour-long drive from San Francisco to a dockside shanty on Tomales Bay. But a bowl of clam chowder feels particularly restorative on a foggy northern California day. $$
Pilu Kiosk, Sydney: Forget Bondi—at least for a bit—and head to Freshwater Beach, in Sydney’s northern suburbs. The restaurant here is known for its whole suckling pig, but the café next door has a suckling-pig panino that’s just as delicious and one-fifth the price. $
Da Conch Shack, Turks and Caicos: In three pastel-trimmed cottages right on the shore, an expat chef cooks up the freshest possible conch—harvested from the ocean moments before it’s on your plate. $
Restaurant Pricing Key
$ Less than $25
$$ $25 to $75
$$$ $75 to $150
$$$$ More than $150
