When I fist booked my trip to Long Island, I honestly had no idea what to expect. The words "the Hamptons" always made me think of glitz and glamour and multi-million dollor mansions on the beach, and while there definitely is that side to Long Island, I was overall struck by how small-town and old fashioned it felt there. I definitely was not expecting it to be as agricultural as it is! Some of my favorite things from my trip to the Hamptons were the beautiful farm-stands selling a wide variety of local produce and flowers, the plentiful vineyards, and gorgeous beaches. Not to mention, the restaurants were fantastic!
Whether you are planning a trip to the North Fork or South Fork, keep reading for a list of some of my favorite destinations in Long Island! Spoiler alert: it includes what may possibly be my new favorite restaurant in the entire United States!
The Best Farm Stands
(367 Main St, Amagansett, NY 11930)
Let me jsut say that if I lived in Long Island, I would probably be here everyday! Not only did they have a sprawling selection of their own produce, plenty of delicious cheeses, curated snacks, and beautiful flower bouquets, but they are also situated on a beautiful plot of land where you can pick your own flowers, have a picnic, or dine from their cafe. They also host classes for kids and teach new farmers about sustainable farming techniques. I love absolutely everything about this place! You will also see their produce mentioned on the menus of many local restaurants in the Hamptons.
(Locations in East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Montauk)
Round Swamp Farm is somewhere in between a farm stand and small, gourmet grocery store. I stopped in briefly on the way to a lunch reservation to check it out, and I wish I had more time to look around because it looked like they had a lot of delicious prepared foods, baked goods, and a wide variety of produce. It was also PACKED with people, so you can definitely tell it is a local-favorite.
(4414 Sound Ave, Riverhead, NY 11901)
This was one of the first farm stands I stopped at in Long Island, and one of the first places that made me love Long Island so much! This large farm stand had all the local produce you can imagine as well as beautiful flowers and a wide array of their homemade pies, breads, muffins, cookies, cakes, jams, and jellies. They also had some smaller, single-portion pastries which were perfect for taking on the road (I had the Rhubarb Square and it was delicious)!
(250 Main Rd, Riverhead, NY 11901)
If you want an interactive farm experience, look no further! This farm sells a lot of delicious, local produce, meats, and cheeses, but my favorite part is that you can feed the goats!!! I mean, do I have to say more?
My Favorite Restaurants
(4 Old West Lake Dr, Montauk, NY 11954)
This may possibly be my new favorite restaurant in the United States... not only was the food incredible, but the property was absolutely breathtakingly stunning! It truly feels like you have stepped into a fairytale when you go there.
I highly recommend getting there early to put your name on the list and going to the Beach Bar down by the water for a cocktail (I got a watermelon and mint mocktail) and gorgeous sunset views. If you manage to snag a table outdoors at the restaurant, you will also have beautiful views overlooking the water from the top of a hill.
We shared the raw oysters, ricotta (served with lavender honey, truffle oil, and grilled ciabatta), endive and rocket sallad (comes with shaved fennel, toasted hazlenuts, and a golden raisin vinaigrette), and the sping bucatini pasta (served with a ramp and sunflower pesto, mushrooms, fava beans, and mozarella). I honestly can't say which dish was the best because they were all so phenomenal!
(65 Tuthill Rd, Montauk, NY 11954)
This restaurant came in as close second in my list of favorite meals on Long Island, but wins #1 for best lobster roll I had on the trip! The shrimp and oysters were also fantastic! The restaurant in Montauk is located out on a pier over the water, and has several items big enough to share.
(21 Oceanview Terrace, Montauk, NY 11954)
If you are looking for a casual restaurant with great food that is right on the water in Montauk, I cannot recommend this one enough. You order your food and beverages at the counter, and once it is ready, you can bring it to any of their many ocean-front tables. I was there for breakfast and got the greek yogurt bowl with granola and seasonal fruit, and it was perfect! Their lunch and dinner menus look fantastic as well!
(231 Main St, Amagansett, NY 11930)
This is the sister restaurant to one of my favorite places to eat in NYC (il Buco), so I was so happy to see that they had a location in Long Island when planning this trip. The menu defintely has some similarities to the NYC location but with a greater emphasis on seafood. They also use produce from Amber Waves Farm that I talked about earlier! In fact, the Amber Waves salad with mustard greens, stonefruit, garrotxa cheese, and marcona almonds was my favorite thing on the menu. I also loved their tinned fish and the broccolini with lemon and chili.
(36 Main St #4811, Southampton, NY 11968)
We debated for a long time which restaurant to try in Southampton before deciding on this quaint french restaurant, which ended up being a great choice! I highly recommend the arugula salad with lemmon dressing and the mussels with ginger, lemongrass, and cilantro.
(35 Shore Rd, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965)
If you want to take a ferry to Shelter Island, I recommend stopping at this restaurant for a great meal! It really feels like you have been transported to a tropical location. Their menu changes pretty frequently, but I ordered their Linguine alle Vongole, and it was delicious!
Other Fun Things to Do on Long Island:
Picnic at Cooper's Beach, Southampton (or really any other beach)
I did a picnic on the Cooper's Beach on two different nights, and they are two of my favorite memories from the trip. The sunsets were absolutely gorgeous, and then you can take a long walk down the beach too! A permit is required to access Cooper's Beach until 5 pm, but after that, you can go for free. There is a small beach store at the entrance that sells food including a few different types of fish dips, lobster rolls, fish sandwiches, and burgers, and they also sell towels that we used as our picnic blanket. However, I would also recommend stopping at the super cute grocery store of the Hamptons called Citarella for your picnic provisions (their tuna wrap is really good!) because I will admit that the food at the beach store was not my absolute favorite. There is a Citarella loation less than a 10 minute drive from Cooper's Beach.
(139 Sagg Road, Sagaponack, NY 11962)
Even though I do not drink alcohol, I absolutely love vineyards because they are so beautiful, and the Wölffer Estate Vineyard was certainly no exception. For those who do drink wine, I hear nothing but fantastic things about them. They also had a delicious non-alcoholic Rosé offered at the vineyard and a few small food items.
Hiking in Montauk
If I were to do this trip all over again, the number one thing I would change is to save time for a hike in Montauk. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and were not able to squeeze this in, but the photos I have seen look incredible! The two hikes I have heard the most about are the Shadmoor State Park and Camp Hero. But even if you are short on time, you should definitely go and see the Montauk Lighthouse! From there, you can see a little bit of the bluffs.
Please comment below if you have any questions!
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