17 Incredible Restaurants in Falmouth, MA You Need to Try
Falmouth is where Cape Cod begins for a lot of visitors. Its village green and Main Street have the cafés and sit-down dinners, Falmouth Harbor has the waterfront decks, and Woods Hole, at the southwestern tip, adds lobster houses and bakeries a few steps from the Martha’s Vineyard ferry.
This guide covers 17 places, from a 1946 lobster house and a pub with a bar carved in 1865 to a French bakery, a Portuguese breakfast counter and an oyster bar in a 1920s dining car. Ratings and review counts come from each restaurant’s Google listing in October 2026. Many Cape restaurants close or cut back in winter, and each section notes the season where we could confirm it.
Landfall Restaurant
Landfall has been serving seafood on Woods Hole Harbor since 1946, and the family that started it still runs the place at 9 Luscombe Avenue. The oceanfront dining room holds 180 and is built from shipwreck timber and boards salvaged from old buildings. Look up and you may spot a Greek amphora, more than 2,000 years old, hanging from the rafters. A fisherman pulled it from the Aegean in his net.
With 4.4 stars from more than 1,200 Google reviews, Landfall is a lobster house at heart. Reviewers often single out the lobster roll, the lobster bisque and the baked stuffed lobster. The menu also covers boiled lobster, swordfish, scallops, clam chowder and stuffed quahogs, which are hard-shell clams filled with a savory stuffing. Dinner entrées come with a house salad and hot Portuguese toast with garlic butter.
Landfall is seasonal. The Woods Hole Business Association lists it as open April through November, and its website now shows a short week of lunch and dinner, Thursday through Sunday. If you are visiting in late fall, call (508) 548-1758 to confirm the closing date. You can reserve online or by phone. Luscombe Avenue is a short walk from the ferry terminal, so it works for lunch before a Vineyard boat or dinner after.
Address: 9 Luscombe Ave, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Website: landfallwoodshole.com
The Captain Kidd
The Captain Kidd, at 77 Water Street, has been a Woods Hole waterfront bar and restaurant since 1939, when it took the Cap’n Kidd name. Behind the bar stands a 40-foot mahogany and marble counter hand-carved in New York City’s Bowery in 1865, and a pirate mural painted in 1946 still watches over it. In 1973, a fun run from the Kidd to a bar in Falmouth Heights became the first Falmouth Road Race.
The Kidd holds 4.2 stars across more than 700 Google reviews, and it is a casual pub-style seafood spot. The menu runs from New England clam chowder, fish and chips, a traditional Cape Cod lobster roll and oysters shucked to order to burgers and sandwiches. For something local, try the stuffed quahog, a local hard-shell clam filled with linguiça (a smoky Portuguese pork sausage), or the Cape Cod Reuben made with fried cod.
The Kidd is a seasonal stop. The Woods Hole Business Association lists it as open April through December, so it closes for the winter and reopens in spring. In season the kitchen runs daily except Wednesday, the bar stays open late, and you can reserve through the website. Half-priced bar appetizers run from 3:30 to 5 p.m. It is a short walk from the ferry, handy for chowder before a boat or a beer after.
Address: 77 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Website: thecaptainkidd.com
Water Street Kitchen
Water Street Kitchen is a dinner restaurant at 56 Water Street in Woods Hole, right beside the Eel Pond drawbridge. It opened in 2016 in the former Fishmonger, a village fixture since the late 1960s, and from the dining room you can watch Martha’s Vineyard ferries and fishing boats pass through the channel locals call the Gut. Chef John Wilson and his wife, Molly, run it, and the kitchen leans on local farms and sustainably sourced seafood.
Rated 4.8 stars from more than 300 Google reviews, Water Street Kitchen makes everything from scratch. Start with the smoked bluefish pâté and a basket of house-baked sourdough. Then look for the seafood cioppino, a tomato-based seafood stew served with black bread and squid ink, or the duck leg confit with fingerling potatoes. The menu changes with the seasons, and a kimchi pancake has been a favorite in cooler months.
Dinner service starts at 5 p.m., and the fall schedule runs Wednesday through Sunday, with tables booked on Resy. Plan around the calendar: the Woods Hole Business Association lists the restaurant as open February through December, so expect it to be closed in January and check before a winter trip. Because it serves dinner only, it suits a meal after the ferry home better than one before the boat.
Address: 56 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Website: waterstreetkitchen.com
Pie in the Sky Bakery & Café
Pie in the Sky sits at 10 Water Street in Woods Hole, at the end of the Shining Sea Bikeway and about a minute’s walk from the Martha’s Vineyard ferry terminal. It has been baking in the village since 1982, starting in a leased kite shop that sold a local artist’s prints alongside coffee and pastries. The name comes from a Jimmy Cliff song, and today the coffee is roasted in the dining room.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 1,400 Google reviews, it is a scratch bakery with a long case. Go for the almond or dulce de leche croissants, a slice of key lime or chocolate mousse pie, or a breakfast sandwich. Pumpkin and apple cranberry pies are seasonal, and almond popovers appear on weekends. The house-roasted coffee, including nitro cold brew, is worth a cup too.
Pie in the Sky is open 364 days a year, every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. according to its website, and the Woods Hole Business Association lists it as open year round. That makes it one of the few dependable dining stops in the village in winter. The early opening suits a coffee and pastry before the first boat, and you can also order takeout online.
Address: 10 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Website: piecoffee.com
The Quarterdeck
The Quarterdeck is a nautical, below-deck dining room at 164 Main Street in Falmouth center. The building was once The Little New Yorker and was renamed when it changed hands in 1967. Much of the interior was salvaged from MacDougall’s Boatyard in Falmouth Harbor, and some of the wood dates to the late 1600s. The stained glass in the dining room once served as the front windows of a church in Maine.
With 4.5 stars from more than 1,400 Google reviews, it is a dependable Cape Cod seafood house. The seafood pot pie, with lobster, shrimp, scallops and fish in a lobster sherry sauce under puff pastry, is listed among the house favorites. The stuffed quahog comes with a stuffing the menu calls award winning, made with linguiça. Baked day-boat scallops, Portuguese kale soup and fried clams round out a good order.
The Quarterdeck serves lunch and dinner daily, so it is an easy Main Street stop for a sit-down meal. It is not on OpenTable, so call (508) 548-9900 to ask about a table. Its website shows no seasonal closing and posts a New Year’s Eve dinner menu, so it appears to run through the winter, but check hours before you go. Only service dogs are allowed inside.
Address: 164 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: qdfalmouth.com
The Glass Onion
The Glass Onion is a candlelit fine-dining room at 37 North Main Street in Falmouth center, inside the Queen’s Buyway, a row of shops and eateries built in 1926. Josh and Tally Christian opened it in 2009 and left the stunning front wall of tall windows untouched. Inside, white-beamed ceilings and chandeliers set the mood, and the staff still wear ties and pressed white shirts.
Earning 4.5 stars from more than 200 Google reviews, it is what The Infatuation calls Falmouth’s best bet for a nicer sit-down dinner. Start with the lobster strudel, lobster and mascarpone wrapped in phyllo with tarragon beurre blanc. Then consider the brined Long Island duck breast, the seafood risotto with lobster and shrimp, or the sweet potato gnocchi. The first basket of rosemary bread is complimentary, and the ice cream is made in house.
The Glass Onion serves dinner only, and reservations are on Resy, opening two weeks ahead, so book early for weekends. The website’s First Seating, a table between 5:00 and 5:15 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, takes $10 off an appetizer or dessert with an entrée. Expect a special-occasion price point and a quiet room. It appears to run through the winter, but check hours before you go.
Address: 37 N Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: theglassoniondining.com
La Cucina Sul Mare
La Cucina Sul Mare, which means the kitchen by the sea, is a family-run Italian restaurant at 237 Main Street in Falmouth center. Chef-owner Mark Cilfone and his wife, Cynthia, opened it on May 6, 2002, and added more seating and a full bar in 2011. Their three children have all worked in the dining room. The menu draws on Northern Italian and Mediterranean cooking, with lunch, dinner and a Sunday brunch.
It holds 4.4 stars across more than 900 Google reviews, and it is a good bet for classic pasta and seafood. The chef’s signature dishes include old-world meat lasagna, braised short rib cacciatore, chicken napoleon, halibut limone, seafood minestrone and rigatoni alla vodka. Reviewers also point to the lobster ravioli, the lobster bisque and the lamb shank. Desserts are homemade, so save room.
The website lists lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday, dinner only on Monday, and brunch from 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Reservations go through OpenTable on its site, or you can call (508) 548-5600. Its website lists no seasonal closing, and it was serving in mid-October, but it does not say whether winter hours differ, so check hours before a January visit.
Address: 237 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: lacucinasulmare.com
Osteria La Civetta
Osteria La Civetta is a cozy Northern Italian bistro at 133 Main Street in Falmouth center, with windows opening onto the street. Its owners, Sara Toselli and Andrea Poggi, come from Emilia Romagna and opened it around 2007. The name means little owl, a symbol of good luck back home, and owls appear throughout the dining room. The house pasta is rolled by hand daily.
With a 4.4-star rating from more than 400 Google reviews, it is the town’s pasta stop. Look for tagliatelle with Bolognese, spaghetti carbonara, strozzapreti al pesto and tortelloni filled with butternut squash. The lasagne alla Bolognese is famous enough that the restaurant sells take-home pans with a few days’ notice. Finish with torta della nonna, a pastry cream tart topped with pine nuts and almonds.
La Civetta is open year round, according to the Woods Hole Inn. Its website lists dinner from 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, service from noon on Friday and Saturday, and closed Monday and Tuesday, so check hours before you go. Book on Resy or by phone. The bar is first come, first served, and there is free public parking behind Eastman’s Hardware and at Town Hall.
Address: 133 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: osterialacivetta.com
Romeo’s
Romeo’s is a small-plates restaurant at 75 Davis Straits (Route 28), the upper end of Main Street in Falmouth, about a half mile from the harbor. Chef-owner Tommy Pontolilo named it for Romeo, a rescue dog he found roaming the streets of Boston. The idea is modern, upscale food in a casual, shareable format, so tables order a spread of plates to pass around.
Romeo’s holds 4.8 stars across more than 100 Google reviews. The menu changes, but the current one runs from togarashi cheddar biscuits with truffle honey and deviled eggs with crispy pepperoni to lobster potato croquettes, tuna crudo, Thai mussels and Berkshire pork ribs. The website suggests two to three small plates per person and recommends ordering for the table, so bring friends and share.
Romeo’s serves dinner only, and reservations are on Resy. The website lists Tuesday as the closed day, while Yelp shows Wednesday closed as well, so check hours before you go. Its website lists no seasonal closing, but it is worth a call in winter. Shared plates add up quickly.
Address: 75 Davis Straits, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: romeosfalmouth.com
Maison Villatte
Maison Villatte is a French bakery and café at 261 B Main Street in Falmouth center, across from the public library. Owner Boris Villatte grew up in the Loire Valley, trained in France, worked for baker Eric Kayser in Paris and built the baking program at the Wynn in Las Vegas before opening here in 2012. His own workday starts at 2 a.m., and the case fills with baguettes, croissants, tarts, éclairs and quiches.
Maison Villatte’s 4.7 stars from more than 1,100 Google reviews make it the town’s go-to for French pastry. The almond and chocolate croissants are fan favorites, and in summer the bakery turns out about 1,500 croissants a day. Add a quiche or sandwich for lunch and a loaf of sourdough or focaccia to go. At the holidays the bakers make panettone, the Italian Christmas bread.
The Main Street bakery stays open through the off-season, when it employs about 20 people, and since the pandemic the front tables have come out to make room for a line that is often out the door. A second shop opened in Woods Hole in 2024, across from the Martha’s Vineyard ferry on Luscombe Avenue, which is ideal for pastries before a boat. Check hours on its social pages.
Address: 261 B Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: instagram.com/maisonvillatte
Pickle Jar Kitchen
Pickle Jar Kitchen is a bright breakfast and lunch café at 170 Main Street in Falmouth center, across from Town Hall, in the historic Weeks building. Two couples who were friends at Johnson & Wales culinary school opened it in 2013, and pickles run through everything, from sides to sandwiches. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and the fried pickle chips became its calling card.
Its 4.5-star rating across more than 500 Google reviews fits a menu that works as well for a sandwich as for a skillet. Blueberry muffin French toast and the pastrami-cured salmon on a toasted everything bagel lead the breakfast list. At lunch, order the Firehouse, a smoked, chili-rubbed pork sandwich, or the Town Hall, pastrami-spiced roast beef on rye, with a side of garlic-dill pickle chips and the house garden pickles.
The cafe serves breakfast until 11 a.m. and lunch after that, Thursday through Monday, and it is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Takeout and sidewalk tables are available. In past years it has closed for several weeks in midwinter, according to its own news page, which lists breaks running from January into February or March, so call (508) 540-6760 before a winter visit.
Address: 170 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: picklejarkitchen.com
Flying Bridge Restaurant
The Flying Bridge is a big waterfront restaurant at 220 Scranton Avenue on Falmouth Harbor, serving the harbor since 1984. It became a year-round restaurant in 2017 and changed hands in 2023, when the new owner added a sushi bar. Cape Cod Life readers voted it Best Waterfront Restaurant in 2024, and the boats, the harbor views and the live music are a big part of the draw.
The Flying Bridge holds 4.4 stars across more than 2,100 Google reviews, and the menu sticks to New England standards. The fall menu has fried clams, fish and chips, a lobster roll on a toasted hot dog bun, hand-cut onion rings and stuffed quahogs. For something different, try the Portuguese fishermen’s stew, with saffron tomato broth, linguiça, scallops, shrimp, swordfish and clams. The sushi bar serves lunch and dinner too.
The dining room is open year round. Its fall 2026 schedule runs 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Long Bar, a heated open-air patio, is seasonal and keeps a limited fall schedule, and the ice cream and coffee shack is closed until spring. The website lists no reservation system, so call (508) 548-2700 about a table.
Address: 220 Scranton Ave, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: flyingbridgerestaurant.com
Seafood Sam’s
Seafood Sam’s is a classic Cape Cod clam shack at 356 Palmer Avenue in Falmouth, a short drive from Main Street. The Sam’s story began in 1974 in a tiny former laundromat with no seating, and the menu has since grown to more than 100 items, served in big portions at friendly prices.
With 4.4 stars from more than 1,600 Google reviews, it is the place for fried seafood. Order the whole belly clam roll, which is clams fried whole and the restaurant’s number one seller, or a platter of fried haddock, scallops or clam strips. The lobster roll comes cold with lemon mayonnaise or hot with butter-poached meat. Start with the original clam chowder or the award-winning lobster bisque. Daily specials rotate through the week.
Seafood Sam’s is seasonal. Its website posts a seasonal closing of November 14 and tells guests to come before it closes for the winter. It reopened on March 1 this year, so expect a return around the start of March, and check the website for the date. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily in season, and you can order takeout online.
Address: 356 Palmer Ave, Falmouth, MA 02540
Website: seafoodsams.com
Falmouth Fish Market
Falmouth Fish Market is a working seafood market and takeout counter at 157 Teaticket Highway in Teaticket, one of Falmouth’s villages. It has been a local staple for more than 35 years and has been under new ownership since 2023. The market sells fresh fish, live lobsters and local shellfish, supplies seafood to many Upper Cape restaurants, and cooks seafood to order in its own kitchen.
Its 4.6-star rating across more than 300 Google reviews makes it the pick for takeout seafood. The fish and chips use fresh cod in a light batter, and the clam belly plate comes with the market’s own tartar sauce. The lobster salad roll, the scallop plate and the fisherman’s catch of shrimp, scallops, clams and fish are other regulars. Reviewers also mention the clam chowder.
The market is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed Sundays, according to its website. The site mentions no seasonal closing, but it does not say how winter hours work, so check before a cold-weather visit. It is mostly a takeout operation, so plan to eat elsewhere. You can order online through the website or call (508) 540-0045.
Address: 157 Teaticket Hwy, Teaticket, MA 02536
Website: falmouthfish.com
Epic Oyster
Epic Oyster is an oyster bar inside a 1922 Tierney dining car at 70 County Road in North Falmouth. The car began life in Wareham, moved to this spot in 1932 and served as the North Falmouth Diner before Marc and Sarah Warner bought it in 2017. Bob Dylan stopped in during his 1974 Rolling Thunder tour, and a photo of the visit hangs on the wall.
Epic Oyster has 4.5 stars from more than 300 Google reviews, and it puts oysters first, shucked at the bar. The signature is the clams casino, eight littleneck clams (small hard-shell clams) shucked fresh, topped with bacon and seasoned crumbs and baked. The menu leans on Portuguese-inspired flavors, and a winter-only Portuguese cod has loyal fans. Reviewers also single out the crab roll and the lobster bisque.
The website lists Tuesday through Saturday, opening at 5 p.m. most nights, 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, with Sunday and Monday closed. Those hours are still labeled summer 2026, so confirm winter hours before a cold-weather trip. The owner said in 2023 the restaurant would stay open through the winter after closing during COVID. Parties of five or more should email, and replies can take 48 hours.
Address: 70 County Rd, North Falmouth, MA 02556
Website: eatepicoyster.com
Mary Ellen’s Portuguese Bakery
Mary Ellen’s is a no-frills Portuguese bakery and breakfast counter at 829 Main Street in Falmouth, behind the Dairy Queen, with the entrance at the back of the building. It has been a Falmouth habit since 1992, and regulars sit at the counter over coffee. The mix of old-fashioned diner breakfast and Portuguese baking makes it one of the area’s more distinctive morning stops.
With 4.5 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, it is the place to try Portuguese specialties. Malasadas are Portuguese fried doughnuts rolled in sugar, and reviewers praise the fresh ones. Portuguese sweet bread, a soft, slightly sweet bread, turns up as French toast and as griddled Portuguese muffins, a sweeter cousin of the English muffin. Breakfast sandwiches and omelets come with linguiça, the smoky Portuguese pork sausage.
Mary Ellen’s appears to be open year round, with early morning hours every day and reviews posted in the off-season, but check hours before you go. It is cash only, according to reviewers, so bring bills. The room is small and the counter fills up, so expect a wait on summer weekends. There is parking on site. It serves breakfast all day.
Address: 829 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540
Moonakis Cafe
Moonakis Cafe is a little white building on Route 28 at 460 Waquoit Highway in East Falmouth, and it has been serving breakfast since 1989. Bob Sigel and Jenn Bohnenberger took over in 2020 and added an in-house bakery, while the menu stayed rooted in homemade comfort food. Breakfast is served all day, and lunch joins it in the late morning.
Moonakis earns 4.6 stars from more than 800 Google reviews, and it is known for pancakes and hash. Try the homemade corned beef hash with eggs, the cranberry-pecan or blueberry pancakes, or the cinnamon bun French toast, made from sliced house cinnamon rolls. There are several eggs Benedict, including one served over the corned beef hash. The Portuguese sweet bread French toast is a nice local touch.
Moonakis is open year round, seven days a week, January included, according to its website. It takes no reservations, so expect a line on weekend mornings that moves fast. Takeout is ordered by phone at (508) 457-9630 and is usually ready in about 20 minutes. Parking is free on site. Lunch starts at 11 a.m., and Sunday is breakfast only. Check hours before you go.
Address: 460 Waquoit Highway (Route 28 diagonally across from Cumberland Farms Gas, East Falmouth, MA 02536
Website: moonakiscafe.com
Final Thoughts
Timing is everything on the Cape. From late spring to early fall, book dinner ahead and expect lines at the clam shacks. From late fall to early spring, several Woods Hole spots close and others shorten their hours, so check before you go. Pie in the Sky, Moonakis and Maison Villatte are your safest bets in winter.
Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to the best things to do in Falmouth, MA.
Main photo, from left: Monika Borys, Mitili Mitili and Paul Einerhand / Unsplash
