Restaurants in Hampton Bays

Like chili popsicles and videos of grizzly-bear ballerinas, the simple, authentic Italian food at John's Restaurant & Pizzeria has been enjoyed for nearly 40 years due to its versatility and heartiness. Start with an order of baked clams ($9 for eight), bruschetta ($4.95), or fried zucchini sticks ($7). John's pizza starts with freshly made dough, 100-percent real part-skim mozzarella, and a fresh sauce made from California and Italian tomatoes. Try a pie topped with artichokes and sundried tomatoes ($17) or the sauce-less tomato and basil ($18). Meaty slices include the buffalo chicken ($21) or the chicken parmigiana ($21). Calzones, pastas, and heroes both hot and cold round out the menu.

Ahi seared tuna over soba noodles. Teriyaki chicken skewers. Oriental chicken dumplings. Items like these aren’t found at the typical Mexican restaurant, but they fit right in at Agave’s Tequila Bar & Lounge, where a quick glance at the appetizers makes the eatery’s culinary twist clear: Mexican food, with an Asian influence. There’s no shortage of traditional south-of-the-border favorites, but on the whole, Agave’s chefs turn things up a bit when it comes to their tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, offering customers fillings beyond the usual ground beef and grilled piñatas—for example, fried Montauk flounder, sautéed tiger shrimp, and grilled sesame tuna. The house specialties deliver as well, with everything from traditional seafood paella to tuna bronseado splayed across rice beneath a crown of Asian slaw.

However, there's no mixing of cultures when it comes to Agave’s drinks. As a tequila bar, the eatery is, of course, known for flights of Don Julio, Partida, and Corzo, and bartenders also muddle fresh margaritas on the spot. Patrons can enjoy their sips amid the glow of NFL games every Sunday and Thursday, or head upstairs and dance to live salsa and reggae music.

Sushi Ichi Japanese Restaurant's seasoned chefs recruit fresh fish and sticky morsels of rice to build a menu stacked with more than 50 types of maki rolls. The culinary team fills seaweed-wrapped cylinders with predetermined combinations of snow crab, tuna, and salmon, as well as custom-builds sushi rolls to incorporate diners' favorite ingredients. Thai and Chinese dishes also abound and include classics such as spicy kung pao chicken, shrimp pad thai, and green and red curries flanked by rich coconut rice.

One glance at the Bonsoirée menu and it becomes clear that the chic, minimalist décor is pretty much the only thing minimalist about the place. Each dish in chef/owner Shin Thompson and chef de cuisine Luke Creagan’s "exquisitely crafted" four- ($58), seven- ($85), and 13-course ($150) flavor symphonies draws inspiration from a range of cultures and blends traditional Japanese presentation with classic French techniques. A new menu is introduced monthly, but a recent four-course line-up kicks off a night of gourmandizing with a salad of crispy Suzuki, grilled-haricot vert, and pickled ramp with lotus root drizzled in genmaicha vinaigrette and rhubarb sorbet. A fava-bean and spring-pea soup spiced with curried artichoke and green garlic then drum-rolls the curtain-raise on the meal’s centerpiece: a roast of grass-fed spring lamb from Mint Creek Farms, served with potato-and-chickpea confit, shochu Japanese–barbecue sauce, fried potato skins, smoked shimeiji mushrooms, and death mustard, a mysterious savory substance. A dessert of gingerbread ice-cream sandwich sided with ginger-cinnamon-bark ice cream and sprinkled with pecans helps quivering taste buds waft gently back down to earth. If you’re afraid that talking will destroy the food’s delicate interplay of complex flavors, you and your dining companions can entertain yourselves by watching Chef Thompson work his magic and occasionally subdue a cutlery-wielding octopus in the open kitchen window. Also, make use of Bonsoirée's new wine program: call Provenance Food and Wine, Cellar Rat, or Randolph Wine Cellars ahead of time, and get a bottle of wine delivered to Bonsoirée free of charge in advance of your reservation at no extra cost.

Who doesn't like Figaro's delicious subs and deli sandwiches? It turns out there is only one person who doesn't: the peace-hating North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il the 3rd. Everybody else can't get enough of their affordable Italian concoctions like The Pavarotti (imported prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil & extra virgin olive oil), the Al Capone (steak 'n cheese with pepperoni, peppers, onion, & sliced hot peppers) and Nonna's Meatball (traditional meatball with provolone cheese & marinara sauce). Or if you think you know yourself and your needs even better than the amazing Figaro sub chef (like if you're a Buddhist monk who has contemplated the self for centuries in a cave), you can create your own sandwich or sub with whatever meats, cheeses, bread, and veggies you like. Otherwise, please accept that the Figaro sub chef knows you best. Her name, by the way, is Rosie, and everybody loves her. She's super fun and welcoming, and her equally fun-spirited crew make Figaro's a local favorite hang-out spot. If you are an orphan, you should come hang out at Figaro's because Rosie will feel like the mother you never had. Or that you once had but now she's gone. Rosie can fill the void in your soul and your stomach. That's 2 voids being filled with today's Groupon for the price of 1.

The Savant Project's menu boasts exquisite lunch or brunch bites like the half-pound Angus burger stuffed with Vermont cheddar cheese and topped with crispy applewood bacon ($11), and surf-and-turf omelettes ($9.50) stuffed with chicken, salmon, chorizo, roasted veggies, cheddar, and mango salsa. Lunchtime loungers can savor Savant's signature specials such as Savant steak frites (marinated filet mignon, yucca fries, caramelized onions, and herbed parmesan, $21.50) or beer-battered fish tacos with smoky slaw and guacamole ($15). Lighter, more-social appetites can tip-toe among the tapas with a few plates of beef sliders with ginger, cilantro, and cucumber ($9.50) and raw tuna sashimi in a lime, sesame, and wasabi vinaigrette ($9.50)—it's like the sushi gods cried a salty-sweet tear in the shape of tuna sashimi right into your mouth.