Restaurants in Newburyport

Newburyport is a historic coastal town offering an excellent selection of restaurants with a broad range of food and drink styles ranging from high end dining, to casual dining, as well as high quality quick service dining options too.  The majority of the restaurants in Newburyport and surrounding towns are privately owned businesses run by local entrepreneurs from the area, and most of the shops are as well.  All of the Greater Newburyport restaurants featured on Newburyport.com are part of a community based loyalty program that helps raise money for 23 local nonprofit organizations in the local area, and rewards customers by offering discounts.  Click here to learn more about The Best of Newburyport VIP Program, and view discounts available to Newburyport App and VIP Card holders.

As you would expect of a coastal town, there are many restaurants in Newburyport and surrounding towns that offer fresh local seafood options.  The question is, what type of seafood experience are you looking for as you choose a restaurant?  Sea Level Oyster Bar offers an excellent selection of fresh local seafood, lively atmosphere and has the premier downtown Newburyport location. The front of the restaurant allows customers to experience the action in Market Square and the back looks over Waterfront Park offering exceptional views of the Merrimack River and frequent live entertainment during the warm weather. If your preference is fresh local seafood with casual New England lobster shack atmosphere, then a visit to Bob Lobster is a must.  Bob Lobster is located on Plum Island on your way out to the beach.  Order your lobster, fried clams, chowder and other New England favorites and enjoy them at a picnic table while you watch the Sunset over the Plum Island Marsh and BYOB, if you choose.  Just down the road, The Plum Island Grille has been a local favorite for many years offering an excellent selection of fresh seafood with your choice of pure simplistic preparations or more creative options to indulge and delight foodies.  The Plum Island Grille is also a very popular destination to enjoy a drink and the sunset over the Plum Island Marsh.  If we head back into town, The Starboard Galley is a traditional, family friendly seafood restaurant located on Water Street between Market Square and The Tannery.  The focus of the Starboard Galley is seafood but they also offer a variety of other options, helping to easily satisfy a large group.

Are there fine dining restaurants in Newburyport?  Newburyport is a casual coastal town so none of the restaurants in Newburyport would necessarily categorize themselves as formal but we certainly offer a handful that feature high quality farm to table cuisine, top notch service and upscale atmosphere and decor. Brine Oyster Bar is the perfect choice for folks with a refined palate and a strong appreciation for fine wines and creative cocktails. At Brine we recommend a glass of champagne to complement the oysters before you indulge with your choice of fresh fish, select prime cuts or butchered chops.  When considering top restaurants in Greater Newburyport, a visit to Crave: Wine • Kitchen • Tap in Amesbury is a must.  Crave is a modern American bistro serving hand cut steaks, local produce, fresh seafood and an excellent selection of wines, craft beers and cocktails.  Pay a visit to Seaglass Restaurant & Lounge on Salisbury Beach and enjoy fresh local seafood and local cuts of meat with elegant décor and floor to ceiling glass windows, offering picture perfect views as the waves crash down below you.  Does Newburyport have an upscale steak house?  There are certainly many restaurants in Newburyport where one can enjoy a great steak, but The Mission Oak Grill is the Newburyport destination for high quality steaks.  The décor features traditional dark wood that you would find in a classic steak house and the open kitchen concept gives The Mission Oak Grill an upbeat lively feel.

Which Newburyport restaurants do we recommend for Italian cuisine? Newburyport has two very popular family friendly Italian restaurants that are quite different from each other.  Oregano Pizzeria is located on Pleasant street in downtown Newburyport and known for their exceptional brick oven pizza, as well as popular Italian favorites such as: Chicken Saltimbocca, Scallop Risotto and Chicken Parmesan.  Oregano also serves many delicious Lebanese dishes as well. Just a short drive away you can enjoy excellent Italian food in Amesbury at Ristorante Molise or at Capri Seaside Italian Grille by Salisbury Beach.  Both are family friendly restaurants that treat their customers well and take pride in serving high quality Italian food.

Do restaurants in Newburyport offer options for folks who enjoy  different types of ethnic cuisine?  Yes it certainly does.  Starting with Asian Cuisine, we recommend Brown Sugar by the Sea for delicious Thai food and Hana Japan for Japanese food.  There are two Indian restaurants in Newburyport featuring different styles of Indian food.  Jewel in the Crown offers dishes from Northern and Southern India and Mr. India serves modern Nepali/Himalayan Indian food.  If your craving Mexican food we recommend Metzy’s which is located in the beautifully renovated train station building next to the commuter rail station. Enjoy high quality fresh Mexican food and an excellent selection of local craft beers, wines and cocktails.

What do we recommend for pubs, taverns and other cool casual restaurants?  The Paddle Inn is the definition of “cool” and the food, service are what you expect in a high end restaurant. Serving customers for over 45 years, The Grog is one of the oldest restaurants in Newburyport and well known for excellent live music and casual cuisine.  If you’re in search of a casual locals hang out, we recommend heading out towards the beach to The Plum Island Beachcoma.

There are so many excellent restaurants in Newburyport and surrounding towns that it is difficult to feature them all in one write-up.  We encourage folks to check out some of our other food and drink stories such as:  Greater Newburyport Breakfast & Brunch Places, Greater Newburyport Pizza Places, and Greater Newburyport Sandwich Shops, Deli’s and Café.