The Port Hunter

Oh my god… HEAVEN. I wanted to order everything on both the cocktail and food menus.
We ended up ordering the buffalo brussels sprouts (I thought I had died and gone to heaven), focaccia, and burrata with snap pea pesto. The fish tacos were battered to perfection and very fresh. A friend got the chicken sandwich — it was huge and the bacon looked incredible. The French fries with rosemary and sea salt were also excellent. The space is absolutely gorgeous.

Amazing place… Best meal of our lives. Grilled Clams and the Yellowfin! Great vibe and friendly people.

Loud. Very loud. We went for dessert and a drink The waitress was visibly disappointed with our order. I order a specialty drink — sunny side up. My turn, now I was disappointed. We were rushed as they were getting ready to turn over out section to make room for the band and bar patrons.
Over priced, loud, disappointing experience not worth the effort.

Wow! This place was top notch. We visited when most of Edgartown was empty yet this place was packed. We were a party of 4 and everything was great. Their recipes are very unique.

I love this restaurant — the food is inventive and fresh. The cocktails are fantastic and the vibe is great too.

Food: 4.0÷5.0
Service: 3.5÷5.0
Value: 3.0÷5.0
Décor: 3.5÷5.0
Overall: 3.5÷5.0
Very solid dishes all around aside from an over-​marinated hanger steak, and a pretty creative menu with so so breadth. Decent drink selection including a few interesting cocktail options — I was excited to try an alcoholic thai tea, but I have to say I was just a little disappointed with the result. This spot is popular so be prepared for a bit of a wait on the busier nights of the week. I’d come back.

Good beer selection and good service. Nice atmosphere and music. Live band comes on at 10pm. Burger was overcooked but oysters and curried mussles were awesome. Excellent pace of service. Save room for an ice cream sammie for dessert! Hostess was super friendly.

In five days on the island this was clearly the best dinner we’d had. So much of the food at other restaurants was the fairly predictable seaside menu, and generally so overpriced, that this was a very welcome find. It was in none of the standard tourist information and was not mentioned by the people at the motel we stayed at. We just found it by chance. It’s on Main Street, pretty centrally located, in a big open, exposed-​brick room with reclaimed-​wood/​industrial-​looking tables, some high, some traditional height. It’s a little noisy, but not too bad, and there was at least one TV screen that wasn’t too obtrusive. It’s also a venue for live music, but we came and left before that. It was Sunday night of Columbus Day weekend and when we walked in at 7, they told us we’d have a 1:15 wait, but it turned out to be more like 15 minutes. The atmosphere was lively, the beer selection was excellent, and the service was very nice, efficient, and attentive.
But the food was what we came for, and it was fresh, tasty, and innovative. On an island where standard entrees are in the high 20s and seafood entrees often in the 30s, the menu had a number of very reasonable options. They did have two good-​looking seafood specials, raw bar options, burgers and sandwiches, and very interesting salads and appetizers.
My wife ordered the mussels which came in a kind of curry sauce and with focaccia on the side: very original and delicious. She also had excellent hand-​cut fries as a side order. I decided to order an appetizer and a very interesting salad. The appetizer was smoked blue-​fish cakes on sweet potato hash: very original and very flavorful, and a nice portion. The salad was a grilled romaine (the head cut in half lengthwise) with cheese (pecorino??), chopped boiled egg, some kind of tomatoes, and thin fried potato skins. It was amazing. The lettuce was very lightly grilled but enough to retain the smokiness of the fire. And though it was in two large pieces and you had to cut it up, it was perfectly infused with a light dressing.
We didn’t have room for anything more, but were very satisfied with the meal, and the price was really better than we’d paid most of the time on the island.
We are very happy to have found this place.

Cool little spot, good drink and food selections. Fun atmosphere. Came here on the Thursday of Columbus Day weekend and it was great fun. Way quieter on the island this time of year but PH was jamming. Great service, tasty food, not ridiculously overpriced.

Great atmosphere and service. Went just as season closed and was at the door for dinner at 5:30-no wait. The calamari app was out of this world. Fish tacos were good as well but could have used more meat. I’ll be back when I’m in town again!

Perfect place for wandering into for an early-​ish dinner (arrive after 6:30 and you’ll have a wait ahead of you). We had lovely wine and cocktails before plowing through plates of oysters, roasted fluke, fish tacos, and key lime pie. I loved the smokey mescal margarita and also thought the fish tacos were superb. Fluke and oysters were also amazing. We weren’t sold on the key lime pie — it was very tart which I liked but some people didn’t think it was sweet enough. Service was great — my mom was cold so they turned down the fans for her. Very hipster place but also totally welcoming and casual. I loved how local the food was — even the cocktails were made with many local ingredients.

My sister has lived in Edgartown for about 7 years now, and when I say, «live» I mean she is a year-​round resident and an active member of the local MV community. During a recent visit, we decided it was about hight time the two of us went out on a sister date — no husbies, no kids, no time constraints. I told her to pick anywhere she wanted, and The Port Hunter was her pick.
We walked in at about 8:30 on a Friday night, and the place was absolutely packed. The sweet hostess told us the wait would only be about 20 minutes, so we decided to put our names on the list and grab a drink at the bar. Seems simple enough, but the bar was actually the only part of the evening that wasn’t perfect. The bartenders, all four of them, were super busy and much more concerned with setting the places at the bar than making drinks for those who wait. I’ll not get into it, but I’ll just say this: a warm martini completely defies the purpose of a martini, Port Hunter.
Once we were seated, our lovely server chatted us up, helped us figure out what to order, was very descriptive about each dish and very knowledgeable about the beers on draught, which I really appreciated. Through our conversation she realized we were two new moms out on the town for the first time in a long time, so she took great care of us and made sure to get our food to us in a timely, but not rushed, manner.
And OMG… the food. Incredibly fresh tuna tartare with jalapeños, strawberries, cucumber and ponzu drizzle… dynamite elote with a mix of spices, cheese and grill marks that left us speechless… fish tacos that were so fresh I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d jumped off the place and slapped me. The one low point? The burger — it was heavy and greasy and on a weird oatcake bun that just didn’t do it for me. Even the addition of avocado couldn’t save it, and the globule of semi-​melted cheese was totally unappetizing. The fries that came with it were awesome, though.
Also, don’t miss their cocktails — The Rosebud in particular. A gin cocktail with fresh grapefruit and lime juices and a sprig of rosemary make this a perfect pick for a hot, steamy summer night. The fact that there’s no added sugar makes it even more refreshing.
All in all, we loved The Port Hunter and I would definitely come back again. Prices vary — anything from $ 15 for the tacos to over $ 30 for other entrees. Good for groups, too!

Wow — we were so impressed! Best meal we’ve had in a long time. Swordfish, fluke. Mussels. Beyond awesome. Chef Jeremy! Well done.

Been on the Vineyard for four days and have had dinner twice at The Port Hunter. Absolutely fabulous food and bar staff. From the oysters to the beet salad to the Yellowfin Tuna entrée — everything was top notch. Get there early because they don’t take reservations. Great location in downtown Edgartown.

Setting: Right downtown, and a great spot. Bar, tables for standing and drinking and/​or nibbling, standard seating, outdoor seating, shuffleboard.
Service: THE friendliest bar staff around. Period.
Vibe: THE best feel on the island. Not stuffy, not touristy, just simple cool. Relaxing. Wear your Lilly or your board shorts or your Patagonia or your flannel.
Drinks: Great choices in draughts, nice wines, tasty cocktails.
Food: Good enough to warrant a return trip within a day of out first one. Oysters great. Quinoa fritters tasty. Fish tacos light. Tiz chicken fantastic.
My advice: 1) Wholly ignore the poor reviews here. I wish there was a way to filter out the ego-​driven, self-​focused, whiny complaints. 2) Go once. 3) Go again.

First, the service was excellent — the servers were very attentive. We started with the calamari and sweet sauce, which was sweet and spicy. I had the buffalo brussel sprouts as my entrée (they are technically an appetizer) and they are AMAZING! My BF had the bluefish and thought it was delicious.
If you’re looking for a great meal, trendy atmosphere and good value, eat here.

Terrible food, even worse service. Had very bland fish tacos, really no flavor at all. Hanger steak was bathed in olive oil, no flavor except plain olive oil. Buffalo cauliflower was just ok, swimming in buffalo sauce. The two standouts were calamari with a tasty spicy sweet soy dipping sauce and the plain burger my 6 yo had.
As for the service, the waitress disappeared for large stretches of time. It took her 20 min and several requests to bring bread. And, we were able to stack 5 empty glasses in the middle of the table, which sat there through our entire meal before anyone picked them up.
Won’t be going back any time soon.

Have eaten here several times and it’s very spotty. Keep returning as I like the atmosphere, location and the music.
Wine list is horrible. I’ve tasted just about every wine by the glass and can not recommend any of them. Go to any other nearby restaurant for good wine — Détente, Chescas, Atlantic, etc.
Mixed drinks no better. Hire a mixologist with interesting mixers to amp it up and have people happily paying high prices for quality drinks.
Menu standouts include quinoa fritters, clam chowder, rosemary fries, fresh fish, fish tacos and key lime pie.
Inconsistent items include: cauliflower app (untasty sauce slopped on), wedge salad (smothered in dressing), arugula salad (ratios completely off). And, not having water refilled as needed.
Staff can be spotty. I’ve witnessed both good service and some shocking service too. It may stem from sketchy owners.
Great location. Lots of potential to tweak the offerings and have it be great.

Energetic! Fantastic food, amazing beer from beginning to Desserts!
Portion size was perfect. Calamari with Sweet Jalapeño Jam was cooked to perfection. Not soggy but crisp with a cajun pepper dredge that set the tone for a plate cleaning.
The Burrata is a fat man’s dream, although the women ordered it, I had a hard time keeping from stealing a piece every time they looked away. Sound simple but Burrata, a pouch of mozzarella enclosing cream and mozzarella shreds has been perfected by this Vermont Cheese maker. It’s a must at every cheese lovers table.
Dinner… A burger was ordered by a professional burger eater and he raved about how good it was. French fries, that I didn’t see as a side on the menu for his burger were addicting. If it’s not mentioned as a side to this it ought to be added as they are perfectly paired with the burger.
The vegetable bowl… gave you a choice of red rice or quinoa, black bean ragu with roasted vegetables and sweet potato hash. I chose the quinoa and inhaled it like a fat kid eating ice cream before it melts.
The Lazy Frog beer from Offshore Ale rocked all of my dinner selections. Good choice.
Dessert…Sublime Keylime. Crust, taste, flavor and GONE! So good.
The Port Hunter is a place I want to return time and time again. The service, the food and the company was excellent. While getting ready to leave a band was setting up and the restaurant was transformed with dancing and live tunes. Price was very reasonable and can’t wait to bring my kids back.

Came in for dinner with friends on a late Thur night. We ordered shrimp and bean tempura and fried calamari. Anytime fried calamari is on the menu, one of my friends would have to try it. Shrimp and bean tempura was good and the calamari alright. Portion size was small. I and one ither friend ordered the Poseidon Pasta ($ 28). Homemade fettuccini with seafood. It was mostly mussels, clams and shrimp. It was tasty but it felt like it was lacking something. I tasted my friends flank steak which was good but not spectacular. Never got to try the fish tacos and the eggplant dish, they said it was great.
A band was setting up while we were eating and the crowd started to come in for them. It looked like it would be a great night with some drinks and music but since we need some beauty rest for the big day the following day, we opted out.