Normally bustling Montauk restaurants are suffering a dramatic drop in activity as rising hotel prices send inflation-hit Hamptons guests seeking cheaper destinations, Side Dish has learned.
A wine and spirits distributor to Montauk restaurants said “drinks” sales are down about 20% this year.
“That’s a really big number,” said a full-time East End salesman, adding that while hotel guests are “low” during the week, they are still “high” on weekends.
The soaring prices are partly due to private equity firms in recent years buying up the few modest inns that dot the area, traditionally a working-class haven.
Some hotels have been converted into luxury resorts, with weekday rates exceeding $1,000 a night.
“It’s cheaper to buy a ticket to Europe than to vacation in Montauk,” said Jayma Cardozo, owner of the 20-room Surf Lodge, Montauk’s most popular nightlife spot.
“People who used to come for a month might now only come for a week or a weekend.”
Donnie Evans, a restaurant consultant and founder of several Hamptons food festivals, was among those leaving Southfork this summer after decades of living there.
Instead, he’s renting a house on the North Fork.
“Money is getting more valuable,” he says. “People are getting fed up with the prices and spending less.”
Of course, Montauk has its exceptions: The classic spots for great sunset views remain popular, from Crow’s Nest to Duryea’s, where Jennifer Lopez was recently spotted.
But Piero Zangarini, owner of popular establishments such as Sí Sí Mediterranean Restaurant and this season’s new favourite, N’AMO, said he is seeing a shift in spending habits.
“Instead of going out three times a week, I’m now going out two times a week,” he said. “There aren’t as many people there during the week.”
One of Montauk’s most popular spots, Cell Rose, will not be opening this summer, instead renting out its space to East Hampton wellness store Daily Dose for a pop-up “kitchen takeover.”
It closed at the end of July, and Sel Rose owner Christine Vincent said she might be open on weekends through August.
As Side Dish previously reported, the restaurant has been a frequent target of East Hampton’s notorious noise enforcement police since it opened in 2019, similar to the conflict that Zero Bond owner Scott Sartiano faced this summer at his namesake restaurant at the neighboring Hedges Inn in East Hampton Village.
“As restaurant owners, we are under so much pressure from all sides, but there is a limit to the pressure we can exert,” says Vincent, owner of a stylish oyster bar and restaurant named after the female alter-ego of artist Marcel Duchamp.
“We are only open a few months a year. There is very little room to make a profit. If we increase our prices any more, we will lose customers.”
