RFK Rankings · Nantucket
Best Restaurants for Family-Friendly in Nantucket (2026)
Family dining · Nantucket · 6 rooms ranked · Updated August 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 11, 2026 · Updated August 17, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
On Nantucket the kids eat with sand on their feet. A lobster roll at a table in the dunes, fish tacos from a Madaket beach shack, dumplings off a food truck in a brewery yard while the parents have a beer. The island's best family rooms are the beach bars and the casual institutions, not the jacket-required dining rooms out on the moors. They run on lobster, tacos and burgers, and none of them mind a child who would rather be swimming. These six, ranked, are where to feed the whole table in season.
1.Sandbar at Jetties Beach
The open-air bar right on Jetties Beach, lobster rolls and a chicken-tender kids menu with toes in the sand. Eat between swims.
The Sandbar is the beach concession on town-owned Jetties Beach at 4 Bathing Beach Road, set in the open air on one of the island's calmest swimming beaches, which makes it about as family-ready as Nantucket gets. The lobster roll comes warm with drawn butter or cold with lemon mayo at market price, there is a raw bar and burgers for the adults, and a kids menu of chicken tenders and fries for the small swimmers. The setting is the whole point: tables on the sand, the harbour in front, and children who can run to the water between courses. It takes walk-ins and reservations and runs lunch into evening through the season. Eat here between swims, with everyone in bathing suits.
Walk in or reserve; open through the summer season.
2.Millie's
The Baja-style beach room at the Madaket end, blackened mahi tacos and a sunset take-out window. Bike out for the tacos.
Millie's sits at 326 Madaket Road by the edge of Madaket Beach, a Baja-leaning seafood room named for the island's Madaket Mystery and a destination worth the bike ride to the far end. The blackened mahi tacos with pineapple-mango salsa and the lobster quesadilla are the dishes to order for a family, with guacamole and chips to keep a child going, and a premium Maine lobster roll for a parent. There is a take-out window for a sunset on the beach and a patio when you want to sit, and the margaritas keep the adults at the table. It runs lunch into the evening and closes Tuesdays. Bike out at the end of the day, order the tacos, and watch the sun go down over the water.
Resy or the take-out window; closed Tuesdays.
3.Cisco Brewers
The brewery yard at Bartlett Farm Road, food trucks and free-range kids while the parents drink local beer. Spend an afternoon.
Cisco Brewers spreads across an open-air campus at 5 Bartlett Farm Road, where a brewery, a winery and a distillery share a yard with a rotating cast of food trucks: the Lobster Trap truck, Big Hug Dumplings, the 167 Raw bar and Millie's truck among them. The draw for a family is the yard itself, explicitly dog and kid friendly with what the brewery cheerfully calls free-range kids, live music and lawn games while the parents work through a flight of beer. The food is truck-casual and there are no reservations, you just turn up. It is the classic island afternoon hang, loud and easy, where a child who tires of the table has a whole yard to roam. Spend an afternoon here, not just a meal.
No reservations; walk in, hours expand in summer.
4.The Faregrounds
The mid-island family pub on Fairgrounds Road, a real kids menu and the island's best value. Bring the whole noisy party.
The Faregrounds works the mid-island stretch at 27 Fairgrounds Road, off the tourist core, a year-round local pub now run by Ethan and Alexis Devine, who in 2026 are bringing the beloved Downyflake doughnut and breakfast counter in-house. This is the affordable, unpretentious sit-down a family wants, with burgers, calamari, ribs and seafood, an actual separate kids menu, and nightly all-you-can-eat specials. The room is built for a big party, casual booths and noise that swallows a chatty table of children whole. It opens most of the week through the year, so it works in shoulder season when the beach bars have closed. Bring the whole noisy party and let the kids order off their own menu.
Walk in or call 508-228-4095; year-round.
5.Something Natural
The Cliff Road sandwich shop with a big shaded lawn, piled sandwiches and oversized cookies for a beach picnic. Order to go.
Something Natural has piled sandwiches on house-baked bread at 50 Cliff Road, at the edge of town, since the 1970s, an island staple that doubles as the best picnic provisioner on Nantucket. The sandwiches come oversized on bread baked in-house, the cookies are famous and the size of a hand, and a single sandwich often feeds a child twice. The draw for a family is the big shaded lawn out front, scattered with picnic tables, where children can eat and then run while the parents finish a coffee. It is counter-service, no reservations, and priced well below the seafood rooms. Order a stack of sandwiches and the cookies, take them to the lawn or the beach, and let the kids loose.
Order at the counter; daily through the season.
6.Brotherhood of Thieves
The whaling-era tavern on Broad Street, craft burgers and curly fries steps from the wharf. The go-to when town is the plan.
The Brotherhood of Thieves has poured beer and served tavern food at 23 Broad Street, in the middle of downtown a few steps from the wharf, since 1972, in a low-beamed whaling-era room that is a piece of the island's history. The craft burgers, the Social Burger and the California among them, and the curly fries are the dishes a family orders, with ten local beers on tap for the adults. It is central and walkable, the kind of place you land for lunch in town when the day is about shops and the harbour rather than the beach. The room is lively rather than hushed, so a child fits right in. It is the downtown go-to when town, not the sand, is the plan.
Walk in or book on OpenTable; open daily.
Not for the kids
Right island, wrong room
Nautilus. The buzzy small-plates room books up two weeks ahead and runs a loud, late bar scene built for adults. The pacing and the volume are wrong for young children. Keep it for a night out without the kids.
Topper's at the Wauwinet. The formal, jacket-preferred dining room far out on the moors at the Wauwinet is a destination evening for two. There is no kids menu and no quick exit. Save it for an anniversary, not a family lunch.
How to dine out with family on Nantucket
Eat at the beach and book what you can. The island runs on a short summer season, and the family rooms are the beach bars and the casual institutions, so a lunch table near the water beats a formal dinner every time. The Sandbar, Cisco Brewers and Something Natural take walk-ins, while Millie's and the Brotherhood take reservations on Resy and OpenTable that are worth holding in July and August, when the island is full and a table for a family is not guaranteed.
Plan around the season and the beach. Many island rooms open from late spring into October, so check before you bike out, and keep the Faregrounds in mind for shoulder season when the beach bars have shut. American rooms keep high chairs and kids menus as standard, tipping runs the usual fifteen to twenty percent, and a take-out window at Millie's or Something Natural turns a tired afternoon into a picnic on the sand instead of a meltdown at the table.
Frequently asked
What is the best family-friendly restaurant on Nantucket?
The Sandbar at Jetties Beach is the top pick for families. It sits in the open air right on one of the island's calmest swimming beaches, serves lobster rolls and a chicken-tender kids menu, and lets children run to the water between courses. It takes walk-ins and reservations and runs lunch into the evening through the season. Eat here with everyone in bathing suits.
Which Nantucket restaurants are good for kids?
Millie's, Cisco Brewers and Something Natural are the easiest with children. Millie's does beach tacos and a take-out window at Madaket, Cisco Brewers is an open-air food-truck yard with free-range kids and lawn games, and Something Natural has a big shaded lawn for a picnic. The Faregrounds has a proper separate kids menu and stays open year-round.
Is Nantucket expensive for a family meal?
It can be, since lobster is market-priced, but the casual rooms keep it manageable. Something Natural's oversized sandwiches feed a child twice for a fraction of a seafood dinner, the Faregrounds runs nightly all-you-can-eat specials and is the island's best value, and Cisco's food trucks are truck-priced. Skip the formal dining rooms, share plates at a beach bar, and a family eats well.
Are Nantucket restaurants open year-round?
Some are, but many run a summer season from late spring into October, so check before you go. The Faregrounds and the Brotherhood of Thieves stay open through the year, which makes them the shoulder-season choices, while the beach bars like the Sandbar and Millie's run in season. In July and August everything is open and busy, so book the rooms that take reservations.
Do you need a reservation for family restaurants on Nantucket?
For some. The Sandbar, Cisco Brewers and Something Natural take walk-ins, so they are the easy options, but Millie's takes Resy bookings and the Brotherhood of Thieves takes OpenTable, both worth holding in the busy summer months. The island fills up in season, so a reservation for a family table on a July evening is the safer plan. Walk in for lunch, book for dinner.
What should kids eat on Nantucket?
Start with a lobster roll at the Sandbar, fish tacos at Millie's, and an oversized cookie from Something Natural. The island's casual rooms keep kids menus of chicken tenders, burgers and fries, and a food-truck dumpling or lobster bite at Cisco Brewers is an easy win. The point is to eat near the water and keep it simple, so a child can swim, eat and run between courses.
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