The Starboard
The State of Delaware’s most popular and well known club/bar/hospitality/personality/bill-signing venue/restaurant is a Dewey Beach institution, a founding father of eating, partying, and reveling — in short, hospitality — at the beach. Famous for its food, drink, and fun, and attendant contributions to the Dewey Beach community, no Delmarva visit by anyone who enjoys some semblance of nightlife is complete without at least stopping by to observe the Starboard action, including the hard-working bartenders known for delivering a huge variety of cocktails, crushes, beers, and seltzers – nobody moves more food, alcohol, and action on any given summer day/evening. Starboard also has a sometimes-forgotten food menu, comprising the usual bar favorites including its well-known burgers, wraps, salads, and even a one-of-a-kind grilled cheese bar, and all of it better than the usual bar grub; indeed, Starboard also is a restaurant destination. Starboard also offers perhaps the broadest breakfast/lunch menu on the Dewey Beach strip, with plenty of omelet and egg creations, and the usual breakfast staples, all of them well-prepared and popular. Hard to believe a bar/venue that gets as crowded, wild, and messy as it does most nights morphs into a clean and sanitary, ready to serve breakfast restaurant only hours later, a tribute to the well-run entertainment and restaurant machine that Starboard has been for decades. Take the family for breakfast or lunch, enjoy the beach, and return sans family for a night of partying, only to repeat the next day, the next day, and the next day. That is, if you enjoy good food, drink, and fun, and for many other reasons, Starboard is a must-visit on any Delmarva trip, but remember on a weekend evening to arrive early because the lines grow by the minute, and every minute you miss inside is one less minute for which Starboard memories are often made.
N.B.: Starboard is a big contributor to the Dewey Beach community, presenting and sponsoring numerous events that benefit charities, community, and persons in need, and has been for decades. It may not be fine dining in the culinary sense, but is fine giving in the community sense. Starboard also offers civic lessons, serving as the venue for Delaware bill signing and other guest political appearances, including recently the bill to name the ‘orange crush,’ claimed to have been invented in Ocean City, MD, as the official state drink. Delawarians rejoice, because that wonderful Starboard classic drink you have been over-enjoying for years now has a semblance of state approval. As far as we know, there is no official Delaware hangover remedy other than returning to Starbaord the next day, and repeat.
