City Island
Happy Hour

The only happy hour on City Island that puts cheap shellfish on a seafood strip: oysters at $1.50 each, plus $10 tacos, sliders and guac. The drinks are the bigger saving. The frozen drink is $17 at regular price and $10 here, and margaritas and mojitos drop from $15 to $10. Beers are $6 across ten bottles and drafts. The Verdict: the best happy hour on the island. The Local Move: a dozen oysters and a margarita for $28. The Honest Caveat: the menu says noon, but Google lists the restaurant opening at 4pm on weekdays, so count on 4–7pm.

Five-dollar beer, six-dollar wells, seven days a week. That schedule beats almost every happy hour in the Bronx, which mostly stop on Friday. It’s a plain local bar that books live bands, a long way in spirit from the lobster platters up the avenue. The Verdict: the cheapest drink on City Island, and the only weekend happy hour. The Honest Caveat: the IPA “deal” is $1 off, and its site lists it open 12pm–11pm every day while Google shows it closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

ATIK calls its weekday happy hour L’ora D’Oro, and the list is the most grown-up on the avenue: oysters, PEI mussels, eggplant croquettes and fried calamari, with a spritz and a Spanish gin and tonic instead of a frozen drink. The Verdict: the right menu, an unknown price. The Honest Caveat: no prices, and Google lists the dining room opening at 4pm Monday to Thursday.

The most interesting kitchen on the island: Detroit pizza, chicken and waffles at $25, crab mac and cheese, and a fall cocktail list at $18 to $22. Five drafts, from Allagash White to Narragansett, are $11 each. The Local Move: weekend brunch, from 9am Saturday and Sunday. The Honest Caveat: closed Monday and Tuesday, and nothing gets cheaper early.

The best reason to skip the fried platter. Clam pies, rice balls at $14, linguini with white clam sauce at $24, and a wine list from an owner whose two decades in hospitality ran from Marriott to the wine and spirits trade. Any pizza can be made gluten free. The Verdict: worth it, at fair prices for the island. The Honest Caveat: dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday.

The real value play on City Island isn’t a happy hour, it’s this: ten fried shrimp for $18, a dozen steamed clams for $18 and a half dozen baked clams for $10, eaten at a picnic table on the water. It says it’s open all year. The Local Move: a piña colada from the bar and a seat outside. The Honest Caveat: cash only, and it’s cafeteria style.

More than 60 years of fried clams at the very end of the island, ordered at counters and carried to picnic tables facing the Sound. The bar is a counter of its own. The Verdict: go for the setting, and for the tradition. The Honest Caveat: no prices on its site, and it’s closed Monday and Tuesday.

A deck over Pelham Bay, a private marina and nearly a century on the island. The only casual price on the menu is a $3.95 Blue Point. The Verdict: a dozen oysters on the deck, not a cheap night. The Honest Caveat: no drink prices posted.

Portions over prices. The fried combo platter is $53.95, and whole fried fish run $32.95 to $54.95. The Verdict: the latest sit-down dinner on the island, until 12:30am Friday and Saturday. The Honest Caveat: the menu lists food only, so there’s no drink price to judge.

The first left off the bridge, which means you skip the weekend crawl down the avenue. Whole lobsters, crab legs and oversized tropical drinks, on a deck over the marina. The Verdict: a big-group lobster dinner. The Honest Caveat: nothing is discounted, at any hour.

Brisket and ribs instead of fried fish, with $8 beers and cocktails from $14.95. The Verdict: a sit-down barbecue dinner with parking. The Honest Caveat: the $24.95 margarita is not a happy hour drink.

A seafood restaurant since 1977, in a building that was a silent movie theater and then the island’s post office. It takes all major credit cards, which not every place here does. The Verdict: a family seafood dinner in the middle of the island. The Honest Caveat: no current prices on its site, and weekends are first come, first served.

A quieter room in the middle of the island, open Wednesday to Sunday from 4pm, with a Sunday brunch buffet. The Verdict: a neighborhood dinner, not a destination. The Honest Caveat: no menu or drink prices posted.