You may have left Rehoboth for Irene, but you know you’ll be back. And when you do, check out these superstars. Just a few of the comments from Rehoboth in My Pocket app owners, who can now write reviews directly in the app.
“Great app! I haven’t been to RB in 5 yes. We had the 411 on some great places to eat which we probably would never tried! Annie’s [Bannanies] and Green Man were fantastic! We went there everyday! My daughter mapped out everywhere were we should shop, eat and check out!”
(Atlantis Hotel) “Great hotel in a great location. Very friendly staff. Have stayed there five years in a row in September with our dog and will be back again this year!”
(Beach View Motel) “The Beach View now offers wine, pretzels, and gold fish during their manager’s welcome. Later fresh baked chocolate chip cookies are available for their guest.”
(Stoney Lonen) “Had 1/2 lobster stuffed with crab imperial! Amazing! Service was good!”
(Kilwin’s Ice Cream) “Great friendly service! Really good ice cream. ”
(Go Fish!) “Fish and chips, large portions, and ummmm the Key Lime pie.”
(Funland) “For Adults you can join in the “Bumper Cars”, and let the kids have fun with Mom, Dad, Grandparents, et all. These are some of the fastest cars I’ve driven. ”
(Annie’s Bannanies) “LOVE Annie’s Bannanies! Such a unique product! There are endless combinations if banana deliciousness. We will make it a destination with every beach trip since discovering the shop this spring.”
View "After Irene, check out these Rehoboth stars" on its own page.
It’s not just a brewpub; it’s an empire
No doubt you’ve seen Dogfish Head brews in your grocery store? Well, Rehoboth is where it all started, back in 1995, with the opening of Delaware’s first brewpub.
Now brewing 20 different styles of beer – including some very esoteric offerings (Palo Santo Marron aged in Paraguayan wood tanks, anyone?) – Dogfish Head is a true local success story, selling in more than 25 states.
The Rehoboth Avenue brewpub is a nice, comfy spot for a beer and a burger. Dark wood dominates the interior, with wood booths lining one wall and a long bar covering the other. The booths, the bar, and all the tables in between are usually packed with music-loving beer drinkers starting at 10:00 pm on most Fridays and Saturdays. If you go, pick your spot carefully if you’re thinking of having a chat with tablemates; the stage is small but the band members can be many, and loud.
Try the excellent woodgrilled pizzas (try the Canary for One, with chicken, caramelized onions, roasted red pepper & scallions), or the burgers and sandwiches, like the Olde School Salmon Sandwich served on a grilled baguette with bleu cheese, roasted garlic aioli and marinated red-onion salad.
Kids choose from five meals for $6, including drink and dessert.
Wine drinkers: don’t expect a whole lot. This is a brew-centric establishment. Happy hours Monday-Friday from 3-6 gets you $1 off house-distilled spirits, select pints, and appetizers.
DFH fans will be interested in the free tours of the Milton, DE brewery (yes, samples!) Tuesday – Saturday afternoons. Make reservations online.
Or take a free tour of the Rehoboth experimental brewery where Brewpub Exclusive beers are created. Just show up at the DFH Brewing and Eats at 4:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Or if you live in Virginia, you can find Dogfish Head Ale Houses in Fairfax and Falls Church, and Marylanders have one, too, in Gaithersburg.
Price: Pizzas $10-13, sandwiches $7-11, entrees $16–23
Open: Open every day at 12:00. Live music starting at 10:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Phone: 302-226-2739
Address: 320 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
See more lodging, dining and activity recommendations in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Photo courtesy of Rehoboth Main Street (rehomain.com)
Here at Rehoboth in My Pocket, we’re all about beach, food, fun, and fireworks!
Living life to the fullest! Celebration!
So, in celebration of July 4 weekend at the beach, we’re lowering the price of our app – the Rehoboth in My Pocket travel guide for iPhone and iPad – to just 99 cents!
Here’s the scoop: One day only, on Wednesday, June 29, download the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for only 99 cents! (A 75% savings over the usual $3.99 price!) *Important note: Buy the app early in the day – Apple resets the price rather randomly, so no guarantees the price stays at $.99 until midnight. Just sayin’.
Buy apps for your beach-loving friends and your vacation-loving parents (just choose “Gift this App” when you buy it, and enter your friends’ email address!).
Then, head out to Rehoboth and raise a ruckus. And don’t miss the Rehoboth fireworks on July 4!
Here’s what’s new in the app:
✔ All entries updated for 2011!
✔ New categories, including Events, Hidden Gems, Eating Out-Outside!, Pet Friendly, and Open Year Round!
✔ 35 new entries, including handy lists for vacationers – such as Grocery Stores and Beer/Wine/Liquor Stores – plus dozens of events in Rehoboth, Lewes, and Dewey Beach
✔ More internal and external links to help you find what you need
✔ 160 pages and 700+ photos!
View "Rehoboth in My Pocket app just 99 cents June 29" on its own page.
Hello, Romance
Eden is a shoe-in for any restaurant competition that includes a “most romantic” category, and there is certainly romance to be had here.
Food, also, is a standout. The menu changes constantly, so it’s hard to make recommendations, though there’s usually a little of everything, from chicken to veal to scallops to tuna. The Grilled Caesar Salad is a regular, with sun dried tomato/olive tapenade for $9, as is the Mac n Cheese pasta with goat cheese, parmesan reggiano, grilled chicken, spinach and roasted peppers ($25). Both are excellent, and we’ve tried to duplicate the grilled Caesar at home, but I can tell you it’s harder than it seems.
Entrees are pricey – this is the second most expensive restaurant in Rehoboth on average – and portion sizes are a third to half of what most restaurants are piling onto our plaste these days. (That’s actually a relief.) At Eden, it’s all about the quality, the presentation, and the service. If you’re looking for a simple steak or a sub-$15 pasta, this isn’t the spot.
A couple of deals to watch for include a three-course $35 prix fixe menu on Wednesdays (year round), with a half price bottle of wine in the off-season. January through May, every Friday is Classic Night. Signature Eden dishes are discounted 50%, including Grilled Caesar salad, wedge salad, pork polpettes, organic chicken breast, wasabi/sesame ahi tun, and the Eden mac-n-cheese pasta.
If you don’t mind dining in the (cozy & friendly) bar, you can eat well for less. Bar food menu items might include open-faced meatball sandwiches with a salad of mint, pecorino and olive oil salad ($8) or a braised short rib manwich with house pickles (also $8). You can also get selected $5 glasses of wine at the bar; recent entries included a Ferrari Carano fume blanc and a Granacha de Fuego granache.
The wine list includes a wide selection of styles and prices. Whites have ranged from a $22 Chateau St. Michelle Gewurztraminer to a $120 Kistler “Les Noisetiers” chardonnay from the Sonoma coast. Some nice albarinos and verdejos are on offer, as well.
Reds have ranged from several $24 offerings, such as a Bogle Petite Sirah, to a delirious $494 for a Blankiet Paradise Hills Vineyard from Napa. A number of affordable and tasty malbecs are offered, too.
Use OpenTable.com to make online reservations, or call.
Price: $24 – $33 entrees. Bar menu $8 – $15.
Open: Serving dinner from 6 pm daily in season, Tuesday – Saturday off season
Phone: 302-227-3330
Address: 23 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Kids, reservations, reasonable: a holy trinity of family dining
Choose Adriatico because the prices are reasonable, kids are welcome, it’s right in town, an easy walk from the boardwalk, and it has an outdoor patio.
Still not convinced?
The garlic bread is great, and the salads that come as part of the entrees are fresh and dressed with a classic Italian (ask for it on the side) and a little cup of blue cheese. The linguine with white clam sauce is redolent of garlic and tasty, and sausage and peppers are nice. Though entrees will not win any innovation awards, it’s a relief to have entrees under $20, pastas for $10, and kids meals for $6 in downtown Rehoboth. (Adriatico also promotes a “Home of the $1 Kids Pasta” special, everyday 4:30-6:00pm.)
Call or stop by for reservations.
Price: Entrees $10 – $27. Choice of 5 kids meals for $6.
Open: Daily in season
Phone: 302-227-9255
Address: 1st Street & Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Here’s a great testimonial I just came across on Trip Advisor…
Friends of mine and I were in Rehoboth for a few days over Easter this year and read about the piano bar Sundays at the Seafood Shack. What a friendly and welcoming atmosphere! Not only were the drinks good, service was prompt and the customers friendly! John Flynn at the piano added immensely to our night playing great fun songs that really got the crowd up! I would definitely put this place on my ‘to do’ list for a Sunday night extravaganza! Keep up the great work Seafood Shack! (note: we didn’t try the food, but those eating did seem to be enjoying it.)
Piano bar Sundays from 7-10:30, featuring $12.75 dinner special. Live entertainment also on Fridays & Saturdays from 8:30 – midnight.
Seafood Shack offers outdoor patio dining. Pets welcome on the back patio.
Price: Po’ Boys $8.75 to $12.75, Entrees (grilled, fried, blackened) $16 – $26, Baskets o’ Fried seafood & fries $9 – $14
Open: Daily for lunch and dinner (closed Tuesday and Wednesday)
Phone: 302-227-5881
Address: 42 1/2 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
Directions here
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Upscale Italian on the porch
“They pronounce it the Italian way: zebra. Like Debra. Which makes you feel just a tiny bit continental when you tell your friends that you’re having dinner at Zebra (Debra).
They have one of the rare dining porches in Rehoboth, so it’s a tough call: porch on a balmy summer evening? Or safari room inside, with giraffe or leopard print walls – which somehow manages to not look goofy, but instead romantic and kind of restful?
Delaware Today critics voted Zebra “Best Upscale Italian,”" and they deserve it. They serve a perfect Caesar salad, and the homemade black & white pasta with scallops is so fresh you can taste the flour in the pasta (in a good way). The pappardelle pasta with mushrooms is spectacular, as is the carbonara (it’s the sauced kind – not the dry, purist kind). The rigatoni Bolognese, and any of the risottos, are also worth a try. And you can get the pastas in “small plates” as a main course (they are plenty). Most in the $11 range, they help save a little money – and a few calories. Service can be extraordinary, or extraordinarily slow.
Our one big constant complaint is the by-the-glass wine prices – around $10, and up. That adds up fast, and has made us head to less lofty restaurants on more than one occasion.
Definitely make reservations.
Price: Entrees $20 – $30+
Open: Daily for dinner in summer. Also serving dinner on weekends starting in April, and fall through December 31.
Phone: 302-226-1160
Address: 32 Lake Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
Directions here
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Crab cakes for the connoisseur
Big Fish Grill is an extremely popular place – same owners as Summer House (another line-out-the-door place), and they don’t take reservations.
You’ll find several big, bright dining rooms with lots of wood, stuffed marlin overhead, tuna and barracuda and smaller fry on the walls, and a fair amount of noise bouncing around.
Voted Best Appetizer, Best Crab Cake, AND Best Dessert in Delaware Today’s “Best of Delaware,” there’s much gastronomic happiness here. Seafood is the specialty, of course, with most entrees under $20, including a big choice of seafood pastas and fried platters, plus daily specials offering up the fresh fish choices.
Carnivores have a few choices, such as pork chops, grilled chicken, and a couple of steaks, and kudos to these guys for doing their best to cater to the allergic among us: specialty menus offer entrees free from dairy, egg, garlic, nuts, or shellfish, as well as gluten.
New for 2011: Big Fish now has a Raw Bar in their remodeled tiki room, featuring fresh shucked oysters and clams, plus other raw bar delicacies. The raw bar is open daily.
A Little Fish menu for kids ranging from $5.50 for pasta or meatloaf to $9.95 for tuna (gotta love a tuna-eating toddler), and that includes a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
Happy hour at the bar Monday-Friday 5-7 and Sunday 4-6, with $2.50 domestic beers and other cheap-o beverages, plus a nice selection of $4 appetizers, including fried oysters and four sliders – pulled pork or cheeseburger.
Rates: Entrees $12 – $25
Hours: Summer hours: Open daily for lunch at 11, dinner from 4-9:30 Monday through Friday, and 3:30-9:30 weekends. Winter hours: Lunch daily at 11, Dinner Monday-Thursday 5-9, Friday 4:30 – 9:30, Saturday & Sunday 4-9
Phone: 302-227-FISH
Address: 4117 Route One, Rehoboth Beach
Directions here
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Special times deux
For nearly 40 years, the Back Porch Cafe has charmed locals and visitors who are lucky enough to investigate the tucked-away restaurant. From Rehoboth Avenue, all you see is a little entryway and a few tables, but beyond, the cafe opens into a cozy, romantic indoor dining room, and then flows into a back courtyard with two level seating.
Delaware Today critics voted this best restaurant in Rehoboth, saying, “The place that put Rehoboth dining on the map, the Back Porch Café continues to lead the charge on progressive bistro dining. International ideas and seasonal produce find their way onto a menu that might include thyme-braised veal cheeks one night and venison schnitzel the next. The porch, of course, is one of the best seats in town.”
The Back Porch makes everything but the baguettes in house, including the jam offered at Sunday brunch, the ginger beer made fresh for the Dark and Stormy’s, the lemonade and so on.
See the long, thoughtfully designed menu here. Entrees ranges from $28 to $36.
The reasonable wine list off-sets the pricey menu, with more than half of the sixty wines offered by the glass at $5.50 to $10.
An “Apres Surf” menu, served daily from 3 to 5:30, features light fare such as Smoked Maine Lobster “Roll”, with Beet Root, Orange, Haas Avocado Crepe and Tarragon Aioli ($16), and Peppercured Yellowfin Tuna with Corn Blinis and Salsa ($14).
Price: Entrees $28 to $36, Lunch $11 to $16, Sunday brunch $11 to $16
Open: April through October-ish, for lunch 11-3, dinner 6-10, and Sunday brunch 11-3
Phone: 302-227-3674
Address: 59 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth, DE
See more dining options in Rehoboth in the Rehoboth in My Pocket app for iPhone and iPad, just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Whoever came up with this idea should be rewarded…or at least toasted.
Coming up this Friday evening in downtown Rehoboth, fifty retailers will pair up with 50 restaurants for the new event, Get Down in Town. It’s shopping AND tasting, at the same time! And some locations will also feature wine tastings and special cocktails!
Retailers will offer special 1-night-only sales on new spring merchandise, and their restaurant partners will serve free desserts or appetizers inside each store.
“Certified Kid Friendly” Zones will keep the kids happy with story times, free pizza, balloons, and facepainting, and the Rehoboth bandstand kicks off the season with live music on both Friday April 1st and Saturday April 2nd.
Pick up a “passport” from the retailers, get 10 businesses to initial them, and you can enter a drawing to win $2,000 in gift cards. Head to Fins Raw Bar at 9pm after shopping to enter the drawing and toast your shopping conquests. Drawing at 9:30!
On Saturday, April 2 you can pay for your sins during the “Outside the Box” fitness challenge at The Firm fitness center. Sign up at Azura or The Firm. Here’s the Challenge..are you up to it?
• 5 min body squats
• 1 minute rest
• 5 minutes Jump Pull uPs
• 1 min rest
• 5 miniutes Push Ups
• 1 min rest
• 5 minutes Ball Slams
• 1 min rest
• 5 min Row
View "Get Down in Town shopping/tasting event this weekend" on its own page.
The thorny debate about commerce, noise, and neighbors is no stranger to Rehoboth. Over the winter, it appeared as if evenings during 2011 beach season would become a little quieter for downtown residents and renters, and a lot less lucrative for restaurant and bar owners with outdoor patios and late-night business. (Think curtains blowing in the breeze atop Cultured Pearl, the deck high in the trees at Porcini House, the friendly patio at Cloud 9.)
The code required outdoor food service to end by 10 p.m. and patios to be cleared by 11 p.m. After recent debate, a new city council vote suspends that time limit until December, allowing restaurants to use their outdoor spaces until their normal end of business. Safe for now.
Here are a few spots where you can (still) have a drink or a meal outdoors in downtown Rehoboth:
Outdoor dining in downtown Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
View "Late night, outdoor dining in Rehoboth Beach: safe for now" on its own page.
So much great stuff going on at Hobos
. Natural, organic, local foods. A warm welcome to special diets (call ahead for gluten, peanut, or other sensitivities or special requests). Lots of lovely design touches, front porch seating, cozy bar, and a romantic lounge space in the back that can be reserved for groups of up to 10 or 12.
The head of the kitchen is Executive Chef Gretchen Hanson, who describes her culinary style as Global Eco-Fusion, a “celebration of the subtle simplicity of street food from around the world.” Gretchen’s menu focuses on the cuisines of Mexico, Europe, and the Mediterranean with a focus on locally grown produce.
Here’s the SWAG: Hobo’s Restaurant and Bar invites you in for a FREE NOSH with purchase of lunch entrée OR FREE NOSH or DESSERT with dinner entree. The Nosh menu changes, but usually includes Bruschetta and Artichoke Tapenade, Summer Goat Cheese Dip, fresh Pico de Gallo and Guacamole, and more.
Limit one per table. Just show them this listing to claim your freebie! Expires October 31, 2010.
56 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-2226, www.myhobos.com
View "Try a Nosh! Savor a Dessert! From Hobos Restaurant" on its own page.
Porch at Hobos Restaurant
(See the Rehoboth in My Pocket travel guide/iPhone app for more on all of these great spots. Are we missing somebody? Let us know!)
Adriatico – large covered porch right on the busy corner of 1st Street and Baltimore – good for people watching
Aqua Grill – Massive deck for one big party
Arena’s Deli and Bar – Several tables on the sidewalk in an attractive shopping “alley”
Blue Moon – A unique design lets Blue Moon roll back the roof in the back dining room on nice nights or sunny days for brunch
Café Papillon – Casual, shaded seating in a shopping alley courtyard, self-serve
Cloud 9 – A quiet, elegant restaurant in front; a hopping bar in the middle; an enclosed, laid back patio out back.
Cultured Pearl – Magnificent rooftop deck with wooden gazebos, soft lighting..and fish ponds
Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats – Enclosed patio with several tables
Eden – Few cozy tables fronting the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, plus some balcony seating on the second level
The Gallery Espresso – Lower level courtyard just off the Avenue with several tables for relaxed (self-serve) seating
Hobos Restaurant – Large, romantic covered porch opening onto Baltimore Avenue (pets welcome)
Lori’s Oy Vey Café – Casual, self-serve seating for breakfast or lunch in a shady courtyard
Porch at Mariachi
Mariachi Restaurant – Big third-floor covered deck strung with white lights and in sight of the ocean
Pig & Fish – Small sidewalk seating area with patio umbrellas
Planet X – Eclectic porch seating with built-in banquettes and tables squeezed in around a big old tree, very romantic
Purple Parrot – Cozy “alley” of covered seating along the side of the restaurant, with a new “sand pit” bar out back.
Rigby’s Bar & Grill – Dogs are welcome on the small garden patio out back
Royal Treat – Two screened porches, for breakfast or ice cream
Victoria’s (in the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel) – Lovely restaurant and pub seating directly on the boardwalk with ocean views
Zebra Ristorante – Romantic, low-light porch wrapping around the front and side of this restaurant, overlooking quiet Lake Avenue
Zoggs – Tucked into an alley just off the Boards, big open area with very casual seating and – listen to this – 70 different kinds of rum!
(c) Rehoboth In My Pocket, 2011
View "…Outdoor Dining in Downtown Rehoboth?" on its own page.
Hobos Restaurant & Bar on Baltimore Ave is busy! Tomorrow night they’re hosting a Georgetown SPCA fundraiser with live music by Cathy Gorman from 6 – 11, and then on Saturday it’s their first ”Meatout” dinner, celebrating a day of plant-based food choices. They’ll feature an open buffet with all you can eat meatless dishes. Catch up on your veggies! $25 per person. Call Gretchen to make your reservation at 226-2226 or email info@myhobos.com.
We had some in-cre-di-ble cream of crab soup at Hobos recently.
And some sweet ‘n spicy hog wings (yes, hog wings) at Pig & Fish that were fall off the bone fatal…
Oh, and some absolutely authentic Fish and Chips at Go Fish!…
And then there was that tasty little BBQ pork sandwich ($2.95!) and the blackened chicken quesadilla ($4.95!) off the bar menu at Summer House during the blizzard…
Who can forget the light, crispy flat bread appetizer at Rigby’s, with the sprinkle of arugula, prosciutto, pecorino, pine nuts, and a few golden raisins?
…the pan-fried rockfish at Salt Air Kitchen…
…French onion soup at Nage…
And we wonder why we can’t lose the baby fat.
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