9 Best Restaurants in The Eastern Shore, Maryland

Consistently rated the top restaurant in Easton, The Bartlett Pear Inn Restaurant calls itself an "upscale Amerian Bistro." However, its roots are European and the menu features truffle butter paparadelle, braised snails, and paella. The decor and service are impeccable, as is the inn.

This fine-dining restaurant, adjacent to and operated by the same owners as the Lighthouse Club and the Edge hotels, gives you white-linen treatment and views of soothing wetlands and the Bay, and stunning sunsets through its large windows. In addition to ubiquitous fresh-catch seafood, Fager's is renowned for its prime rib. There's an outside deck for more informal dining and a raw bar with lighter fare. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is played every evening, with the tumultuous finale timed to coincide with the setting of the sun.

This unusual watering hole is a welcome breeze of creative cuisine. Appetizers are light and delicate, like seared foie gras and asparagus shrimp risotto. Equally innovative mains include homemade manchego cheese gnocchi, seared duck with sun-dried cherries, and a pistachio-encrusted rockfish. The second and third floors open up to outdoor seating and views of the Bay. The cosmic Star Bar is a hot spot for local celebs and those looking for creative cocktails in a dark hideaway—and it serves tapas until midnight.

On the mainland side of Kent Narrows, this family-friendly institution serves fresh catch directly from local watermen, some of whom are Harris family members. Nautical decor prevails in the large dining room, including an intriguing collection of oyster cans from an adjacent abandoned oyster house. Views over the shallow, twisting northern end of the Narrows toward the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge can be stunning. Cream-of-crab soup and back-fin crab cakes are among the best around—the cakes are spicy enough to promote plenty of beer drinking.

A whimsical red, white, and green color scheme; painted vines climbing the walls; and polished wooden floors distinguish this bistro. Weather permitting, you can eat outdoors at wrought-iron tables in a brick courtyard. The creative and diverse menu changes twice a month, with such dishes offered as veal fettuccine Montrachet topped with goat cheese and a tomato cream sauce, and sauté of seafood including lobster, shrimp, and scallops.

A family-run landmark for more than 30 years, Mason's uses fresh ingredients from its own garden. The chef brings bold flavors like pan-seared crab cakes topped with a corn and soybean succotash, crispy-skin red snapper surrounded by braised artichokes, and gentle rockfish stuffed with lump crab meat, a local delicacy. Sip a classic martini in the swanky lounge while waiting for a table—make sure to ask for one on the porch in warm weather. Next door are a coffee bar and a food store that sells hard-to-find cheeses and meats, wonderful handcrafted chocolates, and all manner of esoteric edibles.

This is the place to mingle with C'town residents as well as with Washington College students and local pols, for good conversation—indoors or alfresco—over fresh coffee (including excellent espresso) or fine wine, by the glass or bottle, to accompany hearty, healthy soups, salads, and sandwiches. Friday night is "wine night" with complimentary hors d'oeuvres, often accompanied by live music. Wi-Fi's in the air here.

Join regulars at this casual waterside restaurant and bar on the edge of town that has a wide-ranging menu with a Southwestern flavor. Mexican quesadillas are a Snappers specialty, but there is also an array of burritos, enchiladas, and fajitas. Jamaican jerk spices enhance burgers and crab cakes. From waters close to home, there's shrimp, stuffed or simply fried. Sandwiches, wraps, and pasta also satisfy the local lunch crowd.

Inside a former chicken barn about 15 mi from Salisbury, inverted bushel baskets now serve as light fixtures at this down-home crab house, where hammering mallets rival the beat of piano and banjo sing-alongs. The Red Roost gets rave reviews for its seafood specialties and ribs, as well as its meaty steamed crabs.