Restaurants in Amesbury

Since its founding in 2001, The Upper Crust Pizzeria has fashioned artful thin-crust pizzas in 19 storefronts with modern, architectural touches. Chefs craft specialty pies inspired by local landmarks, from the sundried-tomato cobblestones of the Beacon Hill to the pesto-painted walls of the Green Monster. Diners can opt to spread sweet sauce over a regular or whole-wheat crust or request that any pie be served white without sauce, and combine slices with crisp salads or pounce on the geometric goodness of a spinach square or half moon-shaped calzone. Restaurant interiors are accoutered with modern flourishes such as flat-screen TVs and pan-decorated ceilings, allowing one to lie down and admire their reflection before a postmeal nap.

After manning grills for 15 years as the executive chef at Plaza III steak house, Salvi Salama took the reigns at Mogador Restaurant. Since then, he has helped to design and prepare a menu that fuses contemporary American and traditional Mediterranean influences. Each dish features local produce, naturally raised meats, and sustainable seafood whenever possible, lending vibrant and fresh flavors to entrees such as lamb tagine or pesto-crusted halibut with tomato harissa sauce.

Split into a dining room and a lounge area, the restaurant keeps diners entertained by hosting live music and belly dancing throughout the week. The performances fill the earth-toned space, which incorporates rich, gleaming woods, intricate wrought-iron dividers, and cushioned banquettes.

The robust aromas of Dominican specialties float through the air inside Terra Luna Cafe's kitchen. Chefs stuff traditional quipes, or cracked-wheat fritters, with ground beef, and sprinkle plates of mofongo—smashed, fried plantains—with shrimp and crispy pork. A handful of dishes from Europe—including Italian meals such as chicken cacciatore—round out the globe-trotting menu.

On Wednesdays through Sundays, spice-laden scents from these plates mingle with the fiery melodies of musical guests in the dining room. Live bands unwind notes from Spanish classical guitars on Thursday nights, and DJs keep the restaurant's brick archways up over the weekend with an unending stream of salsa, merengue, and popular dance music.

Named a Hidden Jewel by Phantom Gourmet, The Farm Bar & Grille's rustic wood furniture and floors and exposed brick walls inform the eatery's comforting vibe. To craft a menu of comforting southern-style fare, the kitchen team doesn't skimp by pulling ingredients from the freezer. Instead, they put together entrees from all-fresh components, including some of the vegetables they grow themselves in the on-site garden and the 90-acre cornfield they fit in their endless broom closet. As baby-back ribs bask in the smoke from a hardwood fire, the kitchen crew bastes them every half hour, in between searing burgers made from fresh angus beef. Starters such as fresh beer-battered jalapeno poppers are made to order. The staff also pours a large selection of draft beers and specialty cocktails.

In the center of Minglewood Tavern's acoustic space, a bar constructed from 180-year-old barn siding rises from the ground, with posts made from the dried trunks and branches of trees holding various drink glasses overhead. Bartenders swipe those glasses to fill orders of one of the 20 beers on tap, which rotate monthly, or to mix up one of their signature cocktails. As cold sips of icy drinks chill gullets, hot entrees such as hearth oven–baked pizzas or bacon-wrapped entrees travel from the kitchen to weathered wooden tabletops, arriving just in time to catch the end of a set from one of the live bands that plays Wednesday through Saturday or a rare glimpse at the one band that plays Wednesday through Saturday.

When the stage and mics stand silent, high-definition and projection-screen TVs pick up the slack, beaming sports games across the retrofitted bar. Each weekday night boasts its own food special, such as Monday's all-you-can-eat ribs and Wednesday's all-you-can-eat sushi.

"Food is love" is one of the mottos of Leanne Cusimano, who bustles around the eatery, forging a menu designed to convey that warmth. The scents of breakfasts snapping against skillets drift from Amore Breakfast’s sand-hued cottage exterior, which conceals the gleefully mismatched tables and checkerboard accents of a '50s diner. Servers tote thick slices of french toast stuffed with cream cheese or topped with berries and fluffy omelets enfolding veggies, meats, and cheeses. Wreaths of steam from cups of the house blend coffee encircle them as they bear trays to the dining area, where patrons marvel at spotting a toaster’s face in slices of toast.