Best Date Night Restaurants in Westport 2026
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The Westport date-night pick for 2026 is Casa Me, the Milanese-run Italian on Sconset Square. Editorial runners-up: Kawa Ni, La Plage, The Whelk, Nômade.
Bill Taibe opened The Whelk on the Saugatuck in 2012 and Kawa Ni two years later; the river has anchored Westport's best tables ever since. Fifteen tables sit in our directory; six of them earn a date.
Six Westport Tables for Date Night
Mario Fontana, a Milanese chef who built the Bodega restaurants in Fairfield and Darien, opened Casa Me with Pina Ferlisi on a corner of Sconset Square in November 2022. Ferlisi spent a career directing fashion, and the room shows it; the mafaldine al limone is the dish that defines it. Westport's most polished Italian, and its best date.
Bill Taibe opened Kawa Ni in 2014 in a sliver of Bridge Square where the traffic crosses the Saugatuck, and named it for the water. An izakaya was an odd bet for a Connecticut commuter town and it worked immediately: crab fried rice, skewers, and a rare-whiskey list. Low-lit and loud in the right way, a date for couples who would rather talk over the noise than under hush.
Frederic Kieffer opened La Plage on the lawn between the Inn at Longshore and Long Island Sound in August 2021, Adirondack chairs, gin and tonics, a raw bar by the water. Copps Island oysters shucked to order and a $29 lobster roll are the order; the kitchen owns the property's best hours. The sunset date on the Sound.
Bill Taibe built The Whelk around a horseshoe raw bar on the Saugatuck River in early 2012, cooking New England seafood provenance-first, fire and acid second, ornament last. The smoked-trout dip, about $21, is the dish regulars order before they take their coats off; oysters open every meal. The Fairfield County room that taught the county to eat this way.
Zoltan Kovacs trained at Hungary's Aranybika institute, cooked in Budapest's Michelin rooms, and staged at Café Boulud and Le Bernardin before taking the kitchen at 150 Main Street in 2022. The result is fine-dining technique at $34 steak-frites prices, with a patio for the warm months. A low-stakes, high-skill date in the middle of town.
Chef Eric Sierra runs a French bistro in the full sense at 299 Riverside Avenue, where the Saugatuck is visible through the windows. Dark wood, burgundy leather banquettes, a fireplace that anchors the room in the cold months, and classic bistro cooking, steak frites, moules, the things the form does best. A warm, riverside date with none of the noise of the Bridge Square rooms.
Three more in town: Gabriele's of Westport dry-ages prime beef by the Country Playhouse, Hudson Malone is Doug Quinn's Manhattan tavern on Main Street, and Allium Eatery cooks Laura Smalley's farm-to-table menu by the train station.
How to Book
Casa Me and Kawa Ni want one to two weeks for a weekend table; both are small and fill fast. La Plage's lawn books out through the warm months, so reserve early for a sunset table on the Sound. The Whelk, Nômade and Rive Bistro take reservations a few days out.
7pm. For La Plage, go earlier in summer to catch the light on Long Island Sound; for the Bridge Square and Riverside rooms, the river is the view, so ask for a window or the patio.
Frequently Asked Questions
The editorial pick for 2026 is Casa Me on Sconset Square, where Milanese chef Mario Fontana cooks Northern Italian, the mafaldine al limone is the signature, in a room styled by a former fashion director. For waterfront dates, La Plage on the Longshore lawn and Kawa Ni on the Saugatuck both seat two for a slow evening.
La Plage is the most romantic table in town through the warm months: a raw bar on the lawn between the Inn at Longshore and Long Island Sound, best at sunset. Casa Me's polished Sconset Square room and Rive Bistro's fireplace-anchored riverside dining room are the year-round, all-weather alternatives for an intimate date.
Plan on roughly $60 to $95 a head at Casa Me, Kawa Ni, La Plage and The Whelk, before wine; oysters and dry-aged plates push it higher. Nomade is the value pick, with $34 steak-frites from a Le Bernardin-trained kitchen. Rive Bistro lands in a similar mid-range at the $$$ tier.
Book Casa Me and Kawa Ni one to two weeks out; both are small and fill on weekends. La Plage's Longshore lawn books out through summer, so reserve early for a sunset table. The Whelk, Nomade and Rive Bistro take reservations a few days ahead, busier on Friday and Saturday nights.
Smart-casual clears every room here; Fairfield County runs polished but rarely formal. A collared shirt or a dress reads right at Casa Me and Rive Bistro. Kawa Ni, The Whelk and La Plage are relaxed enough for good denim, and La Plage is outright casual by the water. No room on this list requires a jacket.