After PTown's Memorial Weekend Fire at Lopes Square, The Coffee Pot is Back!

It's so nice to see Linda's friendly face behind the counter at The Coffee Pot
once again. That smile is real, and all of her customers feel it. Welcome back!

Yippeee! The Coffee Pot is open once again, following the fire that ripped through the Red Shack, next door, and damaged several other adjacent businesses over Memorial Day weekend.
The three-alarm fire devastated two restaurants, leaving questions about their ability to rebuild before the summer season is over, and damaged two others. It shut down every restaurant on the eastern strip at Lopes Square.
Through the amazing efforts of the Provincetown Fire Department, and firefighters who rushed here with extra equipment from other towns, the fire was kept from spreading beyond the center of the long, narrow building that housed all four of these popular restaurants and takeouts.
The Coffee Pot sustained heavy water and smoke damage, and the roof was singed a little, but they're scrubbed, repaired and restocked, and they're up and running again in full summer mode. They open daily from 5:30 AM till about 10:30 or 11:00 at night.

Slices of ham are grilled, giving extra flavor to this Coffee Pot breakfast sandwich,
one of several choices. The roll is split and grilled as well. These little touches, and
generous servings, make for great flavor and extra value in everything they make.

Linda and Nelson opened The Coffee Pot in 1989 in Small's Court, just around the corner from the Lopes Square location they moved into the following season, where they've expanded their business and menu offerings a bit in every summer since.
One of the secrets to their success is that they simply give you more value for your money. They seem to charge a little less for most items than many other restaurants do, but at the same time their servings are often more generous than most.

The Coffee Pot's hot lobster roll is 6 ounces of lobster meat drizzled with melted
butter, served on a big, grilled sub roll with a bit of  lettuce;  great bargain at $17.99.

Case in Point: The Coffee Pot sells lobster rolls made with 6 ounces of lobster meat, served hot or cold, for $17.99.
With the cost of lobster on the East Coast taking a serious jump this year, this is not only a good price, but you get about 50% more lobster meat than offered by most other restaurants.
Fish & chips, fried clams, scallops and shrimp are all available, along with several daily soups on a rotating basis. Today's soups just happen to be all of the local favorites: clam chowder, of course, along with lobster bisque, and kale soup, which hails from Provincetown's rich Portuguese heritage. Each served by the cup or bowl, they start at just $4.85. There are also 7 great salads on the menu, too.

I love the Gyro at The Coffee Po, made with the classic Greek tzatziki .
I order mine with the traditional lamb, but it can also be ordered with chicken.,

The Gyro (say yeer•oh) is a Greek sandwich which starts with the traditional lamb, or you can choose chicken, on a grilled pita. It's stuffed with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and topped with tzatziki, the classic Greek yogurt sauce. Excellent!
They make about 30 different rolls, wraps, sandwiches,  and paninis, not to mention burritos and burgers. And their fries are among the very best in Provincetown.
Also the absolute best in town are their real fruit smoothies, in eight different flavors, or make up your own. I like mine a little less sweet, so I combine raspberries and blueberries with pineapple, for just $5.65. Add protein or Red Bull, if you'd like, for $1.50.

Real fruit, not flavorings, go into these
smoothies. This is strawberry/raspberry.

I haven't yet mentioned the muffins, bagels, brownies, scones, croissants, cinnamon rolls and giant cookies that come fresh from their ovens every day; perfect with a cup of great coffee. I'm partial to the dark roast, especially if I have it iced rather than hot.
I usually call ahead, at 508•487•2580 for any of 8 great breakfast sandwiches, starting at $4.10, ready to go by the time I get there for pickup. But I also like a sit-down meal in the dining room or out on the patio. Whether I want brioche French toast or one of 7 omelets for breakfast, or a traditional lox and bagel, there's some fine "people watching" to be done here, right at the edge of Lopes Square. By the way, a plate of eggs, toast and home fries is a real bargain at just $5.99.
OK, writing this and sorting through a couple of thousand photos of food I've eaten all over PTown has got me really hungry, so I know where I'm heading for something to eat. I've been jonesing for a sausage, egg and cheddar croissant ever since the fire. I'm gonna go help these folks make up a little of their lost income, and I hope you'll all get out and do the same. I'm sure the tip jar could use a little bump as well, since all the employees lost their usual income while they were closed down for three weeks.
We're so glad to have the restaurant running again, and we heartily welcome back Linda and Nelson and the gang, and wish them all the best!

Box Lunch Celebrates 40 Years Serving Hungry Cape Codders, 35 Years in PTown

This A-frame style sign lists just a few of the specialty
sandwiches, salads and soups offered by Box Lunch.

It was good to see recently that Box Lunch is open again, tucked away just off Commercial Street, down a wide, sloping, red brick walkway. It's right across from the Provincetown Public Library.
It's worth the effort to find this great little sandwich shop. Julie and her crew are among the friendliest folks in town. They truly do go out of their way to serve their customers in any way they can.
And the food is not only terrific, but it's different from any other sandwich shop or deli in town. Box Lunch is home of the Rollwich, a name that is copyrighted, to perfectly describe the roll-up style sandwiches invented in Wellfleet by a school teacher during summer break, back in 1977.
That's right… This spring Box Lunch is celebrating its 40th anniversary, making unique, delicious, rolled sandwiches that are easy to eat on the go. These have also proven to be some of Cape Cod's all-time favorite sandwiches, winning multiple awards from Cape Cod Life magazine and others.
There are four Box Lunch shops, from Provincetown to Eastham. Sandwiches start at just $5.49, with dozens to choose from, or you can come up with your own combination. Kids have a menu of their own, too, with a choice of six Kidwiches. Gluten free, vegetarian and vegan folks will also find plenty of choices.
Owen MacNutt created his sandwiches by rolling his fillings up tightly in big, round, thin discs of fresh Syrian flatbread. That way you can easily carry them with you, to the beach or on the bike trail, without the sandwich suffering in transit. These are easy to eat while you're working, or walking down the street, or through the forrest, without all the spilling and dripping that can tend to make a conventional sandwich too difficult and messy to eat while you're doing something else. You can eat a Box Lunch Rollwich with one hand, without all the filling falling out.

Julie told me about a customer who comes in every day for the Gilded Lobster,
above: Succulent lobster, melted Swiss, avocado and a bit of mayo. Perfection!

My first sandwich from Box Lunch was more than 25 years ago, at the original Wellfleett location, which is still run by Owen and his wife, Kathryn.
I remember I had a hard time choosing from their huge menu that day, but finally settled on Porky's Nightmare, made with ham, three melted cheeses, tomatoes, onions, mayo and Durkee's mustard vinaigrette. It was so good that I don't remember ever trying anything else in all these years. Turns out it's their number one seller. Except in Provincetown…
Here, the best-selling sandwich at Box Lunch is the Gilded Lobster, pictured above, which Julie got me to try a couple of days ago, on my first visit there this year. It's stuffed with plenty of fresh lobster, mild, melted Swiss cheese, avocado and a little mayo. I'm not normally a fan of Swiss cheese, but this inspired combination was really good!

This excellent version of a hearty tomato soup, made with fresh basil and
crumbled feta cheese, was one of three great soup choices offered on this day.

Another unusual thing about Box Lunch's PTown location is the tremendous number of salads they sell; far more than the Turo, Wellfleet or Eastham branches, and again, a gazillion choices.
I was there on a cold, drizzly day, so to warm up a bit, I had one of three soups offered that day. Clam chowder is always on the menu, with other favorites popping up on a daily basis. Each is made right there, in the tiny kitchen at Box Lunch, from scratch, just like everything else they make. That chilly day, I ordered the tomato/basil/feta soup, which was perfect on that blustery afternoon. Those bright flavors make me want more of this hearty potage as I am writing this.
Provincetown, by the way, was the second Box Lunch location to open, and celebrates its own 35th anniversary in PTown this year. After five years of hard work, with the popularity of MacNutt's Rollwiches steadily growing as more people discovered them, he opened a new Provincetown location in 1982, at the Pilgrim House complex. It later moved to the old Whalers Wharf, then it moved to its current location in 1998, when the Whalers Wharf burned to the ground. Oddly, the Pilgrim House had also gone up in flames in 1990, in a suspicious, four-alarm blaze. Happily, the third incarnation of Provincetown's Box Lunch has been thriving for nearly 20 years in its present spot.
Box Lunch does breakfast, too, for under $5. They open by 8 AM. Right now they stay open until late afternoon, and hours are bound to be extended as the summer season gets into full swing, so you'll be able to get a quick, tasty, inexpensive supper, not to mention a great breakfast or lunch.
The Provincetown location is nestled under the trees in a little courtyard, down that wide, red brick walkway at 353 Commercial Street. Choose the sunlight or shade with relaxed, comfortable outdoor seating at tables or benches, or you can take your food with you. If you're in a hurry, or dashing between jobs, you can call ahead at 508 487-6026 to have your order ready to pick up.
This spot is only a few steps off Commercial Street, but you could walk right by without seeing it. Look for their bright red, A-framed blackboard sign, shown above, to lead you to this unusual, award-winning little PTown eatery, popular for all the right reasons.

The Hot Lobster Roll at The Coffee Pot Warms This Cool Provincetown Weather

In PTown, The Coffee Pot's hot lobster roll is a delicious lunch time bargain.

This big, hot lobster roll at The Coffee Pot really hits the spot as PTown weather begins cooling off with the changing season. I added an order of their terrific French fries, too. Fresh from the fryer and still sizzling, these are some of the best in town.
This very generous lobster roll starts with a big bun that's split open and grilled a bit, face down. The tender inside gets warm and toasty, and the outside is just a bit crusty, and perfect for the delicate filling that's coming…
It's lined with a leaf of fresh iceberg lettuce, then stuffed with 6 ounces of succulent, warm lobster meat doused with melted butter. This great sandwich is so simple, but sooo good! It has about 50% more lobster than most others in town, and the textures of the bun and filling are great together. Add a little crunch from an order of fries and this satisfying lunch or supper has got you covered, all for a price that's less than most others as well. You just can't beat it.
Find the Coffee Pot at Lopes Square, in the heart of Provincetown, where Standish Street crosses Commercial and heads down toward the pier. Eat-in or takeout, or carry your meal out to their patio seating for a little people watching while you eat. You might get one of their fresh baked goodies for dessert, too.

Last Call at the Coffee Pot

The coffee Pot's lobster rolls, hot or cold, are a great value at $13.95!

Tomorrow will be your last chance to gobble up favorite meals at the Coffee Pot, the last hold-out of the great seasonal eateries at Lopes Square, as usual. They'll close their doors for the 2014 season on Monday, December 1st.
I may have to dash over for another 6 ounce hot lobster roll drizzled in butter on a toasted roll for just $13.95, one of the best deals in town. Or maybe one more gyro before they close, or one of their famous paninis, or their fabulous fresh fruit smoothy, which stands among the best in town.

This will likely be my breakfast tomorrow, one last time for the season.

In the summertime I can seldom get away from work for lunch, so the meal I have most often at the Coffee Pot is my breakfast. I'll call ahead so my order is ready when I swoop in and grab up my breakfast sandwich to go, like my favorite eggs and cheese with grilled ham on a toasted roll, or if I'm seriously hungry, I'll order the Rescue Squad, made with three eggs, bacon, double sausage and double cheese on a toasted sub roll. Wow! Fresh baked goods and pastries and a great cup of coffee are found here, too, beginning at 5 AM daily all season long.
I'll likely be there for breakfast tomorrow, for one last visit before they close up until very early spring, when they are always the first to open for the new season, to the delight of hungry Townies and those hardy souls who visit us in that chilly early season.

PTown's Best Lobster Roll, Chapter Four

This week's trek takes us to four sit-down restaurants that each serve more of a lobster salad type of roll, a little sloppier, perhaps, than those served with only the barest touch of mayonnaise, and with a bit of celery or other ingredients added. Each also includes an accompaniment, like chips or fries.

Sage's toothsome lobster sliders are perfect for sharing.

The "Lobster Knuckle Slider" at Sage is about 5 chunky ounces of fresh lobster claws and knuckles mixed with a little mayo, a bit of diced red onion and roasted sweet corn kernels, served on a pair of warm sesame-seeded brioche buns that have been basted with a touch of melted butter. These tempting little lobster rolls are served with about a half-dozen or so house made chips, cooked just a bit dark and tasty. This dish sells for $16, which makes it a better bargain than many others, too. I generally like my lobster fairly unadorned, but I  liked this dish quite a bit.
Find Sage tucked away at the end of a little alley that will lead you just a few steps off Commercial Street, at number 336.

Frozen lobster just doesn't float my boat with great fresh lobster available. 

Bayside Betsy's looks out over the harbor at 177 Commercial Street, with new owners since the spring, serving a lobster roll only on their lunch menu, which calls it a "Maine Lobster Roll, simple and delicious."
When I asked the waiter why Maine lobster instead of local lobster, he said it was because Maine lobsters are the best. So I was a bit puzzled when I bit into it and found it was made with frozen lobster. To be fair, I have one friend who actually prefers the texture of frozen lobster over fresh, but that opinion is certainly in the minority around here.
It's made with just a tiny bit of mayo and just a hint of celery, but what puts it in the slightly sloppier "lobster salad" category is the extra moisture inherent in frozen lobster. My waiter told me there were 6 ounces of lobster in this brioche bun lined with lettuce, but having eaten about 40 lobster rolls for this series over the last couple of months, I find I can ballpark it pretty accurately on sight, and this looked light. Thinking that the extra water content might raise the weight a smidgen, I called later to inquire, and was told that "there's 6 to 8 ounces of lobster" in this sandwich. An 8 ounce lobster roll would be double the size of the average lobster roll served in any Provincetown restaurant. Look at the photo and draw your own conclusions...
Their lobster roll is $19.95, served with some very good fries.

Tin Pan Alley's lobster roll makes a nice lunch.

Tin Pan Alley, new this year at 269 Commercial Street, serves a "traditional lobster salad" roll at lunchtime, made with about 5 ounces of fresh local lobster, with a little dollop of mayo, some finely diced celery and a dash of salt and pepper stirred in.
This makes a slightly creamy lobster salad that sits on a bit of chopped iceberg lettuce in a brioche roll that has been toasted over the flame of the grill.
This tasty sandwich is $17, served with your choice of a side salad, some barely salted hand cut fries, or coleslaw, which is not their forte, so stick with the salad or fries. They also serve a Lobster Quesadilla with jack cheese, mango salsa and guacamole for $15.

The Purple Feather's lobster roll is a bargain for lunch or supper. Check hours.

The Purple Feather, at 234 Commercial Street, serves 4 ounces of fresh lobster mixed with finely chopped celery and a minimum of mayo, on a grilled New England style frankfurter roll lined with leafy green lettuce and sliced tomatoes. What makes this roll a little sloppy is probably the juicy tomatoes in the sandwich, and there are extra tomatoes and a couple of pickle chips on the side, along with a small bag of Cape Cod potato chips. At $14.95 this is a bargain, at a better price than many others.

There are still a few lobster rolls in town that I haven't gotten to yet, so there's more to come. Next week we'll be off to the Post Office Cafe, among others. If I haven't mentioned your favorite, let me know where it is, and I'll taste it and feature it.

The West End Racing Club's Annual Fundraising Raffle is Underway in PTown

Kids socialize while learning to swim and sail at the West End Racing Club.

Over about the last 60 years or so the West End Racing Club has offered local kids and summer visitors from 8 to 16 years of age the opportunity to learn to swim and sail safely. Once they learn the basics, they race against each other in small sail boats, with pairs of kids in each boat teaching and learning from each other as well.
Read my August, 2012 post to learn how Provincetown's West End Rcaing Club started out, and how it has grown over the years, thanks to contributions from the public.
The major annual fundraisers for the organization have been the sale of their T-shirts and raffle tickets. Prizes have been donated by local businesses and individuals and have been known to include dinners in local restaurants, paintings by local artists and many other sorts of prizes for lucky ticket holders.
So when you meet these kids on the street, help this great community resource continue to serve our youngsters, simply by forking over a few bucks for a T-shirt and a couple of raffle tickets. Whether you win a prize or not, the real prize is the reward our community gets by providing equipment, instruction and a safe place for our kids to learn skills, develop confidence and make a tremendous difference in their lives.

PTown's Best Lobster Roll, Chapter Two

As I mentioned in chapter one of this series, choosing the best lobster roll from all of the dozens available in Provincetown is quite subjective, and depends on individual tastes. So I'll continue to describe them, and you can see which ones look and sound the best to you as we make our way around the town.
This week's chapter on lobster rolls is written entirely at The Red Shack, a little walk-up counter service joint at Lopes Square. It has no seating of its own, but you can usually find a seat on the benches that surround the square, or sometimes I'll carry my meal to the far end of the municipal parking lot adjacent to Lopes Square, and find a spot beneath the trees on the benches that span the width of a tiny town park that runs right along the edge of Provincetown Harbor, stretching between MacMillan Pier and Fishermen's Wharf. I'll watch all the whale watch boats, the ferries, and the Long Point Shuttle coming in and out of the harbor while I enjoy my meal sitting right at the edge of the water, with a seagull or two waiting to see if I drop anything.
Each of the lobster rolls in this week's chapter comes from The Red Shack, serving it five different ways, each one having 4 ounces of choice lobster meat, mostly the claws and knuckles. Each sandwich sells for $13.95, and each is served on a large Portuguese roll, made daily at the Portuguese bakery, right around the corner at 299 Commercial Street. That's a great spot to stop for a little dessert after your lobster roll, too.

We'll start with The Red Shack's Classic Lobster Roll, simply lobster dressed in a just a little mayo, with a bit of chopped scallion, served with leafy green lettuce and sliced tomatoes.

Next is The Connecticut, served hot with just the naked lobster, drizzled with melted butter on a toasted bun, plain and simple, one of their best selling lobster rolls.

The Californian has a bit of mayo and crumbled bacon mixed in with the lobster, served on leafy lettuce and sliced tomato, and topped with sliced avocado.

The Moroccan has a bit of mild, yellow curry and a touch of mint mixed in with the mayo, along with a few chopped scallions and a bit of pineapple. This one's served on a toasted bun, and a tasty way to have your lobster if you're a bit adventurous.

The Mexican has a mild salsa and a bit of cilantro along with leafy green lettuce and sliced tomatoes. It's just a bit of spice, and different from any other lobster roll in town.





The Red Shack is open daily in season for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they sell a lot of lobster rolls, with some choices that are very different from others in town, so stop in and give them a whirl.

PTown's Best Lobster Roll, Chapter One

There's some pretty stiff competition for best lobster roll in Provincetown, with some surprising differences between some of them, and the title of "best" is pretty subjective.
It may take four or five installments to taste our way around the town on a quest for the best. We'll start our odyssey with five of them, each served with a side dish, and three of these are among the largest lobster rolls in PTown. Here we go…

Pepe's serves a tasty, BIG lobster roll and excellent fries.

The lobster roll at Pepe's Wharf
is nearly the biggest in town, weighing in at 5 1/2 ounces of choice lobster meat, mostly the claws and knuckles, dressed in a tiny bit of lemon aioli and just a hint of Old Bay seasoning, and it's delicious, with a slightly different flavor than any other in town. No lettuce, just a sprig of parsley, on a roll that's been toasted a bit in the oven.
It's served with a lemon wedge and a mound of fries that have been barely dusted in a bit of flour, making them extra crispy on the outside with insides that kind of melt in your mouth. They're finished with a sprinkle of kosher salt, and are some of the best fries in PTown.
This plate filled me up, which doesn't always happen with the average lobster roll, which generally has 4 ounces of lobster, so at $21, this is a strong contender for the title of best lobster roll, at a good price for a filling meal. Open seasonally for lunch and dinner at 371 Commercial Street, Pepe's Wharf has table service indoors and out, on two decks right at the edge of magnificent Provincetown Harbor.

The Canteen's lobster roll on brioche bun, with slaw and pickle.

The Canteen makes their lobster roll with 4 ounces of impeccably fresh lobster meat mixed with a little mayo and a bit of chopped celery, served on a brioche roll, sprinkled with fresh chives snipped from their garden. It's served alongside their herby Asian slaw and a house made pickle spear. They'll also serve it hot, just the naked lobster meat drizzled with butter.
You can taste how fresh the lobster is. At the height of the summer, The Canteen has been known to have live lobsters delivered to them twice a day, steaming and shucking a batch in time to keep up with demand for this popular plate, which will cost you $18.99. Many folks name this one as their favorite lobster roll. Read my first blog about The Canteen on their opening day last year. The Canteen is a walk-up, counter service restaurant with seating indoors and out, with a new deck looking out over the harbor, open seasonally 11 AM till about 11 PM daily at 225 Commercial Street.

Mac's lobster roll has the barest little bit of dressing so far.

Mac's makes their cold lobster roll with 4 ounces of hand picked lobster dressed with barely any lemon aioli, a little shallot and a little celery. It's served on a crisp lettuce leaf in a hot dog style brioche roll, which you can have toasted or not. This is one of the least dressed lobster rolls found in Provincetown, and sooo fresh. It comes with a lemon wedge, a pickle spear, and a pile of their medium-thin, crispy fries for $19, and it filled me up.

At $27, this is still not the costliest lobster roll in PTown.

Mac's also makes a hot version of their lobster roll, with a whopping 6 ounces of lobster sautéed in garlic butter with lemon and parsley. It comes with that huge pile of fries and will set you back $27, not quite the most expensive lobster roll in town.
Mac's has a firm policy of buying as much of their seafood as possible from small, independent, local fishermen who each practice sustainable methods of harvesting the catch, so they're likely to spend a little more to bring you seafood of this quality and conscience.
Mac's is found at 85 Shank Painter Road, with table service indoors and out, and a busy takeout window as well. I got each of these orders to go. Mac's has plenty of free parking, open daily for lunch and dinner all summer.

Vorelli's great lobster roll is big, and a bargain at $18.95.

Vorelli's makes their excellent lobster roll with 5 ounces of lobster chunks tossed with a lemon infused mayo. It's served on crisp lettuce leaves in a big fluffy roll that's been toasted in the oven, with a pickle spear and a bag of chips for $18.95.
This sandwich has 25% more lobster than the average 4 ounce serving, and somehow more flavor than others I've tried. The texture of the bun is also part of the reason that this is among my favorite lobster rolls in PTown. Vorelli's is located in a charming, historic building at 226 Commercial Street, open daily for lunch and dinner in season.

So there's the first chapter in our search for PTown's best Lobster roll. Next week we'll visit The Red Shack, which serves lobster rolls five different ways. Call TheYearRounder at 424•23P•TOWN, or e-mail me at theyearrounder@gmail.com with your favorites, so I can try each one for future chapters. Soon we'll also make the rounds for PTown's best breakfast sandwiches, so call, textl or e-mail with your faves.

Great Seafood and Friendly Faces Welcome You at John's Footlong

 Marian, Shirley and Jeremy at John's Footlong turn out some of the best fried seafood on the Cape.
I'm having the scallop roll, piled so high with John's excellent scallops that you can't see the bun.

For more than 50 years John's Footlong hot dog stand has been feeding hungry PTown visitors and Townies, too. This is a favorite eatery for many, and part of what makes it special isn't just the great food and reasonable prices; it's the people behind the counter. Marian and Shirley have each been working at John's for about 25 years or more, and Jeremy has grown up here, working on the fryer and the grill for the last ten years. It's great to see these friendly faces reappearing behind the counter each spring as John's opens up for the summer season.
John's Footlong is found at Lopes Square, near he corner of Standish and Commercial Streets, where the giant anchor sits in the square amidst the benches and all the people who have stopped to rest for a moment, or who are eating something from one or more of the little takeout joints that line the street there. John's customers will also find seating on the roof deck above the takeout windows, reached by the stairway at the South end of the building, and a view of the harbor from some of those tables.

John's terrific lobster roll is a PTown favorite, and a Best Bite.

I've written about John's before, and their great fish sandwich for about $6, their Portuguese kale soup, and their lobster roll, which I believe might just be the best in all of Provincetown. In fact, I gave it TheYearRounder's Best Bite award for its excellent quality and bargain price.
Stop by John's, have something great to eat, and enjoy the friendly service and these smiling faces behind the counter. We're happy to have them back at Lopes Square for another summer.

Red Shack's Stuffed Clam is a 'Best Bite'

The Red Shack's gigantic baked stuffed clam is the best I've found in PTown.

When I heard that Mylan and Pamela had sold The Red Shack, my heart dropped perceptibly. But it perked right back up again when I learned that the new owner wasn't some out-of-town rich guy swooping in for a quick buck, but a local man who's been here for years, and working hard all the while, who's finally gotten the chance to own and operate a business of his own.
Scott Munson bought the business, and he's been working alongside Mylan to learn the secrets of The Red Shack's recipes. Mylan, a hometown boy who was a personal chef and cooked for various country clubs in California before returning to Provincetown, is happy to pass his knowledge on to Scott.

Scott and his ever-present skateboard in Lopes Square.

We're happy, too. I stopped in last week for my favorite dish there, the enormous baked stuffed clam, and it was as good as ever; full of tender clams, linguica and chourico, and a nice bread stuffing with a little spice to it… I went back again for another one a few days later.
Having tried nearly every stuffed clam in all of Provincetown, I name this humble Portuguese peasant dish, served up in style by The Red Shack, as my first Best Bite of the season, and talking with a friend the other day, neither of us could think of a better one we'd ever had. If you have a different nomination, please let me know. I'm always happy to find, and taste, something new.
If you don't know The Red Shack, it's at Lopes Square, across from the Chamber of Commerce and John's Footlong (also a recipient of TheYearRounder's Best Bite award for their lobster roll,) near the corner of Commercial and Ryder Streets. In the height of the summer season The Red Shack makes breakfast, lunch and supper, with a wide and varied menu of seafood, burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and lobster rolls served 6 different ways.
Stop in, try the stuffed clam, or dozens of other choices, like their homemade lemonade, and wish Scott good luck in his new endeavor. Call ahead, at 508 487-7422, and he'll have your order ready for pickup.

Happy 25th Anniversary to The Coffee Pot

The Coffee Pot's ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich is a PTown favorite.

The Coffee Pot, at Lopes Square, opened April 1st for its 25th season in Provincetown. I was there on opening day for my first ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich of this chilly spring. It’s one of my very favorite quick breakfasts anywhere in PTown. I like this one served on their toasted bulky roll. Another favorite is made with sausage on a croissant fresh from The Coffee Pot ovens.

You can get just about any kind of breakfast sandwich you want, served however you’d like it. You can even get shaved steak with grilled onions and cheese served on a roll, croissant, bagel, sweet bread English muffin, or on wheat or white Bread. There’s also a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese and salsa rolled into a tortilla, and, of course, you can add any meat, if you’d like.

Fresh pastries, brownies, cookies, bagels, croissants, muffins and countless tasty treats roll out of the oven each morning during the height of the summer season, perfect with a dark roast coffee or a vanilla chai, or hot chocolate, cappuccino or a latte. Maybe you’d rather have juice. Whatever you’d like is ready to grab and go, and if you call in your order at 508 487-2580 they can have your meal ready for you to take out. Or you can relax with your breakfast in the dining room and watch the people going by this busy little spot. I ran into a woman there early on opening day who said she wasn’t even hungry, but couldn’t help coming in for breakfast at her usual table looking out on Lopes Square, the very heart of Provincetown.

Of course, you can get lunch as well, with a variety of sandwiches available, including a big lobster roll with more morsels of lobster by weight than you’ll find anywhere else in town. And as the season picks up, there will be fruit and yogurt parfaits, and a variety of salads and daily specials for lunch or supper as their hours begin to extend into the evening once the summer crowds are here.

For now The Coffee Pot is open just for breakfast and lunch, but it gives us a sense of the season’s beginning, and a favorite spot to chat with friends as we start the day. We’re happy to see Linda and Nelson back at it, starting off the 2014 season in Provincetown, and we wish them a happy 25th anniversary.