Lillian Gerson’s traveling fruit stand offers tasty, refreshing and healthy snacks. (
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This city of skyscrapers and sidewalks also has nearly 19 miles of sand and lifeguard protected water, enjoyed by 17-million beachgoers last year.
And this summer, you don’t have to drag your cooler on the subway, as even more city beaches from the Long Island Sound to the Atlantic Ocean have deliciously enhanced their food and drink options.
Shriveled hot dogs, soggy french fries and other desperation beach fare are out at Orchard Beach, Rockaway Beach (which added even more new concessions after last year’s improvements) and the two Breezy Point beach clubs. What’s in? Tasty Cuban sandwiches, mouthwatering lobster rolls and pizzas with perfectly crisp crust.
PHOTOS: NYC’S TASTIEST BEACH EATS
Coney Island is looking good, too: One block off the boardwalk, look for the new branch of Grimaldi’s (1215 Surf Ave.) — and, later this summer, for oceanside outposts of Tom’s diner, from Prospect Heights, and Zito’s Sandwich Shoppe, from Park Slope.
All this means serious food to complement seriously gorgeous beaches.
We waded through the offerings to find food worthy of your sun-splashed weekends.
*Rockaway Beach
On the Atlantic Ocean, from Beach Ninth to Beach 149th streets, Queens; 718-318-4000; rockawaybeachclub.com
Rockaway Beach already was a food destination, following last year’s overhaul by managers Andrew Day Field and David Selig of Rockaway Taco, but now you’ll find even more vendors offering yummy treats on the boardwalk. Look for an uptick in food and drink between Beach 86th and Beach 106th streets in the three large permanent stands, and along the boardwalk in the form of carts.
At Beach 106th Street, Karen Griswold, 38, from Bushwick, races against melting time with her Mexican chili chocolate cone from Steve’s Ice Cream. “You can’t get this at any other beach,” the third-grade teacher says. “It’s delicious.” Other flavors include bourbon vanilla, salty caramel and cinnamon coffee ($4).
Inside the Beach 96th Street stand, Antonia Chabrowski, 34, orders lunch from husband Tommy, who runs the wildly popular Lobster Joint, an outpost of his Greenpoint restaurant. “He’s been surfing out here for almost 10 years,” she says. Now he’s another vendor, reveling in “the really nice vibe they get from the people at the beach.”
Also new in the same space, is well-kept secret DP Pizza and Pelicans Jungle II, which offers a gooey, spiced grilled-cheese sandwich for adults ($6) and other kicked-up American fare.
And if you’re in the mood for a drive-by fruiting, catch Shore Fruit riding by. It’s a Department of Health-approved bicycle vendor with a cooler full of water ($2) and fruit skewers ($3) — watermelon-pineapple-mango is the usual.
Tasty Treats: Cool, fresh and sizable lobster-joint lobster roll, $16; lively, refreshing Pelican’s Jungle II spicy watermelon salad, $5; luscious Steve’s Mexican chili chocolate ice cream, $4, in a zippy pretzel cone, $1
Summery Sips: O Café Lemon Mate iced tea, $2.50; P&H soda, $4
Seaside tip: Check out rockawaybeach.com/calendar for special events, including DJs, bands and other fun, such as Sixpoint Craft Beer Tap Night at Beach 86th Street, on Tuesday.
*Orchard Beach
Long Island Sound in Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx; 718-885-2275, nycgovparks.org/parks/orchardbeach
You can still get onion rings and other predictable seaside fare at Orchard Beach’s three concession stands and boardwalk pushcarts, but now there are more treats to be had as the guys behind popular Havana Café (3151 E. Tremont Ave., The Bronx) — Kevin Alicea, Troy Perez and Ruben Rodríguez — have taken over the food fun at this shoreline.
Now, brightly colored signs alert beachgoers to the new Italian favorites at the northernmost stand, Cuban at the center — and City Island Seafood at the southern stand, a nod to the nearby neighborhood.
South Carolina visitor Tami Jattuso, who is visiting her son Nick in Carroll Gardens, crossed over a couple of boroughs and several states to visit The Bronx seaside — and sample a beef empanada ($3).
“I expected indigestion from a bad hot dog, but this is great, and they’re beautiful,” says Jattuso.
Nearby, the kids of Riverdale resident Katherine Mendez happily dig into children’s boxed meals — chicken tenders, juice box ($5) — at a picnic table. “If [the food] is this good,” says Mendez, “I’d get it again.”
Tasty Treats: Buttery, salty, tangy Cuban sandwiches, $8 (with fries); satisfying, fresh tomato sauce-topped chicken parm heros, $8 (with fries); flavorful large fried shrimp, $15 (with fries, cole slaw, pickle); crowd-pleasing grilled chicken wrap with romaine and Caesar dressing, $6.75.
Summery Sips: Poured from a special, super-cold tap: 26-degree Heineken and Heineken Light, $6 each.
Seaside tip: Come early for a quiet stroll and breakfast. The Havana guys taught their staff to brew the perfect cup of Cuban coffee ($1).
*Breezy Point
By the Atlantic Ocean in Gateway National Recreation Area, Queens; nysilvergull.com and nybreezypoint.com
The Silver Gull Beach Club may be best known for its role as El Flamingo in the 1984 film “The Flamingo Kid.” But the food was “boring with a capital B,” says longtime clubgoer Nancy Maloney. But now? “It’s fabulous,” she says, enjoying a pulled-pork panini.
Sitting on national parkland, the members-only Silver Gull Club (1 Beach 193rd St.) and Breezy Point Surf Club (1 Beach 227th St.) — open to nonmembers with daily fees starting at $30 per person — were taken over by Ortega Family Enterprises, a Southwest-based concessionaire. The group spent $3 million on renovations and upgrades, including cafeterias and bars.
At Breezy Point Surf Club, the food was created by the same executive chef as Silver Gull — John Donnelly — with one major exception: pizza, made heartily by veteran pizzaioli Vito Morgera.
“I have to have the pizza all the time,” says member Kristin Capozzi, 42, a freelance designer who lives in Belle Harbor, Queens. “It’s one of the best in the city, always crispy and the sauce is great.”
Marine Park resident Mike Bunnell, 39, whose wife’s family have been members for 35 years, says approvingly, “Last year it was burgers and everything fried. Now it’s wraps, salads, bagels with lox and cream cheese, and the price is right.” (The Ortegas managed to win over even change-resistant longtime members, in part by lowering prices.)
Tasty Treats: Dually delicious lobster-shrimp spring rolls, $8.95; lobster rolls with gorgeous house-made plantain chips, $14.95; decadent pulled-pork panini with onion rings, $8.95; cheese pizza, $11.95 and up
Summery Sips: Strawberry daiquiri, $7; Blue Point Summer Ale draft $4
Seaside Tip: Day passes include access to beaches and pools. Other activities — bocce, handball, mini golf, tennis, spa treatments — may have additional costs. These beach clubs are best reached by car or bike.