Restaurants in Dover

At Nage’s cozy dining room and wine bar, guests share small plates of truffle mac-n-cheese, mussels, and ricotta gnocchi paired with glasses of wine or specialty cocktails. The chefs use seasonal, local, and organic ingredients in their tapas and entrées, such as sirloin steak frites and Chesapeake crab cakes, making popular modern dishes with a tip of the hat to tradition. Exposed brick walls, low-hanging lights, and a chalkboard specials menu sets the scene at the eatery and wine bar. Nage features live acoustic music every Friday night, as well as weekly wine tastings and ladies’ nights on Wednesdays.

Under the watchful eye of owners Jose Perez and Yolanda Pineda, Mariachi Restaurant's culinary team builds homemade Mexican, Spanish, and Latin American cuisine from a catalogue of authentic and fusion-based recipes. The hearty dishes run the gamut from grilled chicken breast resting atop homemade durango sauce to charcoal-broiled pork marinated with imported Mayan spices that singe the true date of the apocalypse into the meat. Barkeeps man the restaurant's two watering holes, keeping fine wines and spirits flowing as feasts unfold in a dining room ornamented with white linens and paintings on the wall. Mariachis amble through semiprivate dining rooms to enliven soirees, and on the second-floor outdoor patio, guest sup alfresco overlooking the beach and boardwalk below.

Though it sits on a bayside spot in Ocean City, de Lazy Lizard serves dishes evocative of the Caribbean islands. The Restaurant Association of Maryland's Favorite New Restaurant in 2012 spears fiery island shrimp splashed with orange and ginger and jerk-chicken salad with Caribbean-mango vinaigrette. That’s not to say the Lizard ignores its East Coast roots—the menu also boasts scallops spiced with Old Bay, Maryland crab soup, and center-cut new york strip.

Patrons can approach the Lizard by land or sea, getting assistance from the dock master to park their boats or gargantuan seahorses. Beyond a row of dockside Adirondack chairs, potted palm trees frame tables scattered across a sand-strewn patio. Indoors, diners can breathe in ocean breezes that float into the dining room through large, open windows.