About The Port of Call
There is no room in Mystic quite like The Port of Call. Built out by the same team behind Oyster Club and the 85th Day Group — with executive chef Renee Touponce consulting across the kitchen — it opened in 2022 to immediate recognition, landing on Esquire Magazine's list of the 24 Best Bars in America. In 2026, the James Beard Foundation named it a semifinalist for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. It earns both distinctions in different registers: the bar program is inventive and global, while the food offers a deliberate collision of cuisines that should not work and emphatically does.
The physical space borrows its soul from maritime history: mahogany panels salvaged from historic vessels, bar-top sections cut from the Charles W. Morgan — the last surviving wooden whaling ship in the world — and leather chairs pulled into a horseshoe around a skylit room that feels simultaneously clubby and theatrical. The downstairs Dive Bar offers a more casual counterpoint with draft beer, wine by the glass, and a stripped-back menu. Upstairs is where the evening builds.
The menu reflects Port of Call's global-port-city conceit: in 2026, the concept shifted toward Paris, bringing cassoulet-adjacent dishes and French-inspired cocktails alongside familiar signatures. Past chapters have included Hawaiian pork musubi, Korean-inflected hot dogs, and carne asada from the Mexican coast. The curry lobster has been a throughline. The cocktail list consistently earns its James Beard recognition — technically precise, conceptually ambitious, and still fun enough to order a second.
Weekly programming adds another dimension: live jazz-funk on Fridays, the Sea Queens drag show on select Sundays, a Vintage & Vinyl Brunch on the first Sunday of each month. For a birthday that needs to feel like an event, there is no better choice in Mystic.
Best For: Birthdays & Team Dinners
The Port of Call rewards groups more than almost any other restaurant in Mystic. The horseshoe bar makes it easy to hold a loosely assembled group in one room without requiring everyone to arrive at the same moment. The weekly programming — jazz, drag, themed brunches — gives a birthday dinner a backdrop that requires no additional planning. Solo diners find the bar genuinely welcoming: the staff are knowledgeable and engaged, the cocktail list rewards curiosity, and the rotating global menu gives you something to talk about with whoever is sitting next to you.
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