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It was all about location for Robbie Gillin and his business partners when they opened Saltwater Grill at the Dune Deck Hotel on Dune Road in Westhampton Beach last summer.
“The overwhelming appeal for the Dune Deck location, and the spot within it, is the location,” Mr. Gillin said in a telephone interview this week.
“There are only a handful of restaurants on the East End that are on the ocean,” he said, “And there are maybe five or six spots that are actually oceanfront.”
Mr. Gillin, who is also a co-owner of John Scott’s Surf Shack—“up the road,” he said, from Saltwater Grill in Westhampton Beach on the bay side of the street—said he and his partners had been interested in the property long before the site was on the market.
“My partners and I are involved in a bunch of different establishments in Westhampton, New York City and Westchester,” Mr. Gillin said.
“We had our eye on the spot for a while,” he said. “When the previous owners vacated, we jumped at the opportunity.”
Mr. Gillin said he and his partners— who are involved in such New York City restaurants as The Wharf, Mad River Bar and Grill, Rathbones, Opal Lounge, and Tin Lizzie, among others—wanted customers to be able to sit “on the dunes” and eat oceanside at Saltwater Grill.
“The previous owners went for the higher-scale dining experience, with white linen tablecloths,” he said of Passion Fish and Patagonia West, the restaurants that formerly occupied the Dune Road site.
“We’re
aiming for a more family-friendly dining experience,” he explained. “We’re basically trying to achieve a casual, oceanfront dining experience.”
Live, nightly music Thursdays through Sundays adds to the casual, comfortable atmosphere, he said.
Last winter, the restaurant underwent renovations to upgrade the outdoor lounge, which includes an outdoor bar and a variety of seating options, from white wooden tables with blue-and-white-striped seat cushions to teak, lounge-like booths.
The menu was also amended during the winter months, and now includes an assortment of “main fare” offerings in addition to its “light fare” choices.
Light fare includes caprese skewers with mozzarella, basil, tomato and basil reduction, $8; hummus with grilled flat bread and seasonal vegetables, $9; steamed mussels with white wine, leeks, garlic and fries, $12; and pear and gorgonzola pizza, $14.
Manhattan and New England clam chowders are offered for $7.
Salads include watermelon and feta with field greens, red onion and a light vinaigrette, $12; salad pizza with field greens, tomatoes, gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette, $12; and chicken wasabi with spice-rubbed chicken and mixed greens, $15.
Main fare dishes include Baja fish tacos filled with seasoned talapia and tequila-lime aioli, $16; seared ahi tuna, $18; Alaskan halibut with mango and red pepper salsa, $23; and petite sirloin with gorgonzola and onion strings, $24.
Sandwiches, served with fries, include the Saltwater burger with steak sauce, bleu cheese and onion strings, $14; Cajun chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion, grilled flat bread and spicy aioli, $14; Caribbean halibut with coconut crusted halibut and key lime tartar sauce, $16; and “what we’re known for,” Mr. Gillin said: lobster roll on a toasted bun, $18.
A children’s menu for diners age 10 and under is offered for $9. Dishes such as hamburgers, chicken fingers and hot dogs are all served with fries.
“Our desserts are off the charts,” said Mr. Gillin. Choices range from Snowball in Hell, served with vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut on a bed of hot fudge, topped with whipped cream, $6, to brownie fudge sundae, served with homemade brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream, $9.
Other desserts include Dune Deck peanut butter pie with chocolate crust and a creamy peanut butter filling topped with chocolate fudge and caramel, $7; and chocolate chip mint pie, $8, with mint chip ice cream in a chocolate crust, topped with hot fudge and whipped cream.
Saltwater Grill also boasts an extensive drink menu, including signature martinis priced at $14. These range from “Buoy #5” with citrus vodka, cointreau, pomegranate juice, fresh lemon juice and soda water, to the “rip current” with bourbon, elder flower liqueur, muddled watermelon and fresh lemon juice. Bar manager Bobby Parilla recommends the “high tide” with Prosecco, elder flower liqueur, and pineapple juice.
Specialty drinks, $12, include the hurricane, with citrus vodka, elder flower liqueur, fresh watermelon, fresh lemon juice and soda water, and the gale force lemonade, with Jack Daniels, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice and lemonade.
Specialty drinks also include classic mai tais, with Bacardi light rum, Myer’s dark rum, amaretto, fresh lemon juice, pineapple juice and grenadine, and Long Island iced tea, with vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, fresh lemon juice and cola.
An additional martini menu features appletinis, limontinis, melontinis and pomegranate martinis, all for $12.
Frozen drinks, including daiquiris, margaritas and piña coladas are served for $8. Mr. Parilla pointed to the mud slide, also $8, served with Hershey’s syurp, as a customer favorite.
The menu features wines by the glass, including among the whites pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc, both $9, and chardonnay and sparkling wine, both $10, as well as reds, merlot, $9, and pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon, $10. A pitcher of sangria is available for $28, and white, rosé and red wines are available by the bottle, ranging in price from $28 to $90.
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