Saunders at Rye Harbor was named after Ben Saunders, who in the 1920s worked as a lobsterman and was the town harbormaster. Saunders used to sell his daily lobster catch from the location that expanded into a fish market, which morphed into a lunch counter and eventually a full-blown restaurant operated by his daughter and son-in-law. Tourists and residents of the surrounding Little Boar's Head mansions, including the likes of humor poet Ogden Nash, would frequently dine.
The Zechel family has owned the restaurant since the early 1970s and is in the process of trying to sell the land to a development company that has plans to construct eight condominiums. Doug Zechel has said that even if the sale goes through, he plans to keep Saunders open until Labor Day. So we suggest you take a ride to the coast to take in this Granite State institution while it's still there.
We've visited Saunders several times over the last few weeks. The first time we ate at the bar, with its iconic, lei-wearing, bling-bearing stuffed hammerhead shark hovering above the bartender.
The bar, like pretty much all rooms at Saunders, has a fabulous ocean view. When we visited after a long, chilly walk on the beach, we imbibed some cocktails including a sinful Bun Warmer: Bacardi rum with hot chocolate and whipped cream, and a Nutty Irishman: Bailey's Irish Cream, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur, coffee, and whipped cream. We also noshed on Rye Harbor crab cakes Rockefeller ($9), two medium sized and flavorful cakes served over wilted spinach with a capered tartar sauce, and a magical hot crab dip ($9) that featured a high-crab content, creamy concoction baked in ramekin and served with the perfect amount of warm, crusty French bread.
We really enjoyed this afternoon snack with a great view and we love the fact that Paul Donovan plays the baby grand on Friday nights and Deborah Wyndham performs Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.
On our next visit, we came for dinner with two tweens in tow. This time we were seated in the enclosed porch portion of the dining room with a three-sided view of the ocean and Rye Harbor. It was sunny and cheery, the perfect cure for the lingering winter blues.
