F&W Bucket List: Best Summer Restaurants

Among so many seasonal highlights in Maine, what makes Lobster Shack a standout? Scenery (the namesake lighthouses and the craggy coast just below), history (lobster has been sold here since the 1920s) and blueberry pie. And of course, there's the classic lobster roll, recipient of too many awards to count, served with mayonnaise on top—rather than tossed throughout—so diners can mix it in to their liking. lobstershacktwolights.com

Northpoint is a throwback burger joint run by a serious restaurant group (Joe Bartolotta and Bartolotta Restaurants). Located right on the beach, Northpoint has a clear view of Lake Michigan. "The building had been there for many years," says Bartolotta, "and the county approached us to do something creative with it. Real estate like that doesn't come around often." The venture they came up with has a menu suited to beach visits and picnic tables, including charcoal-grilled burgers and Wisconsin favorites like fried cheddar cheese curds and superlatively creamy frozen custard. Open May through October. northpointcustard.com

On the East Coast, you don't often see the sun set into the sea. One spot that's an exception: the village of Menemsha, whose position on the west side of Martha's Vineyard features spectacular harbor views. Find a front-row seat among the plastic chairs and lobster-traps-turned-benches at Larsen's Fish Market. The retail shop serves raw clams, oysters and steamed lobsters to eat right outside, and it's BYOB. Open May through October. larsensfishmarket.com

This institution specializes in the sno-ball, the Crescent City shaved ice treat that features finely shaved ice that dissolves instantly on the tongue. Hansen’s, a John Besh favorite, uses a motorized ice shaver developed by founder Ernest Hansen in the 1930s. His wife created many of the syrup recipes and their granddaughter, Ashley Hansen, still runs the shop. Among the selections, nectar cream (almond and vanilla) is particularly popular, as is adding condensed milk to fruit flavors like strawberry, wild cherry and peach. Open March through mid-October. snobliz.com

Cross a camping trip with a clambake, and you've got something like this outdoor restaurant just off I-95. Staff roast lobsters, clams, corn and more in a roaring 18-foot fire pit: "Shrimp, steamers, everything," says Vaughn Knowles, co-owner with his brother Gary. Diners perch on tree stumps around red tabletops, and all order from the single menu nailed to wooden uprights. There's waiter service, but the atmosphere is pleasantly informal; bring your own wine or beer, and cash to pay the bill. Open late April through October. theplaceguilford.com

The obscure regional food known as "Michigans"—hot dogs with chili-like "Michigan sauce," plus onions and yellow mustard—aren't found in Michigan at all, but in far upstate New York. The Michigans at Clare & Carl's are some of the best, with long buns that house the whole tasty mess, served from a squat clapboard shack that’s more than 70 seasons old. Sit inside at the counter, outside at the picnic tables or, for the real throwback experience, take advantage of the car-hop service. Open mid-March through early-October. 4731 Lakeshore Rd.; 518-561-1163.

A proud son of St. Louis, Ted Drewes started making frozen custard in 1929, opened his first Missouri shop in 1930, and soon became a local icon. The two shops in his name are still in the family, run by Ted Drewes, Jr. While the newer flagship takes only a short winter hiatus, their older location on South Grand Boulevard keeps summer hours. (Both locations open in the weeks before Christmas, when their parking lots turn into tree markets.) Creamy, mouth-coating vanilla custard is the single flavor, but it gets dressed up with toppings or mixed into concretes and blended, with add-ins, for a treat so thick that it'll keep a spoon standing upright. Original location open early May through Labor Day. teddrewes.com

Nicknamed "Lunch," as reads the sign out front, Lobster Roll Restaurant is a Hamptons staple on the stretch of Highway 27 from East Hampton to Montauk. The namesake sandwich is of course worth an order, but so are the puffer fish, when available: a Long Island specialty, thumb-length fish battered and fried, served with an anchovy-spiked remoulade. lobsterroll.com

Run from the ground floor of a Logan Square townhouse, Miko's is about as no-frills as you can get: a single walk-up window, a hand-painted "OPEN" sign, and sometimes a few plastic chairs scattered around. But it serves some of the best Italian ice in Chicago. Lemon is the most popular, but don't miss any flavor with seasonal fruit—each starts with fresh ingredients, not frozen mixes. This location closes up in the off-season; a second location in Bucktown converts to a sandwich shop called Miko's Flipside in winter. mikositalianice.com

At Bowpicker in Astoria, fish and chips means albacore tuna. Beer-battered, it crisps up golden and, once bitten into, gently separates into meaty, steaming flakes. Served with steak fries, vinegar and tartar sauce, it's all you'll find at this fishing-boat-turned-kitchen—a former gillnet trawler that almost looks like it ran aground. Bowpicker stays open through the winter, but given the picnic-table seating and the near-constant threat of bad weather in cooler months, warmer times are the better bet. bowpicker.com

This food-focused flea market, held on Saturdays and Sundays in warmer months, brings together nearly 100 vendors, many of whom sell exclusively at Smorgasburg. Participants range from the conventional (hot dogs from Brooklyn Bangers, ice cream from Blue Marble) to the obscure (fried anchovies at Bon Chovie, original Jewish-inspired deli sandwiches at Scharf & Zoyer) to the crazily specific (turkey legs from Crazy Legs, pigs in a blanket from Brooklyn Piggies). smorgasburg.com

In a graying shingled building with views out onto Lobster Cove, two stars of F&W's America's Greatest New Cooks, Amelia O'Reilly and Nico Monday, bring the obsessively local mentality of Chez Panisse (where they met in the kitchen) to the North Shore town of Gloucester (O'Reilly’s hometown). Also reminiscent of Alice Waters, their daily changing menu has a strong southern-French influence, with dishes like chickpea puree with flatbread, shaved fennel and black-olive relish. Open June through September. themarketrestaurant.com

"My husband catches my halibut, and I fry it up," says Diana Simpson, who, along with her husband, Jim, runs this school-bus-turned-seafood-shack in Hyder, Alaska. They're known for fish and chips, but look for daily specials, including Dungeness crab in season. The bus is the culinary highlight of a tiny town, a former mining village of fewer than 100 residents that embraces its tagline, "The Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska," with tongue-in-cheek pride. Open May through September. hyderalaska.com/thebus.html

A proper blue-crab feast, in Maryland, is as much an event as it is a meal. Diners attack piles of crabs that have been steamed with Old Bay and heaped onto sturdy brown paper. The process involves lots of mallet-smashing, shell-cracking and meat-picking. Beer is essential, as are wet-naps. Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn, on the waters of Mill Creek, serves blue crabs in this manner year-round. But summer is the real season, when the screened-in patio offers optimal seating, boaters can pull up and dock for free and the crabs are pulled right out of the Chesapeake (by November, they're coming from farther south). cantlers.com