One of the most scenic restaurants which served as a bar on their outdoor deck was Tide Runners. It was located on the Shinnecock canal in Hampton Bays, down two long sets of steep stairs.
Two large party umbrellas adorn the main stairwell.
The main stairs that descended was painted an off-white color. There were about 4 landings between each set of stairs. Trees adorned both sides of the stairwell. In the distance, you can see the main entrance to the restaurant.
This is the opposite view of the main set of stairs. It is from the perspective of being on the landing to the main entrance looking up to where people enter after parking their cars.
This again is from the perspective of being at the main landing before you enter the restaurant. At the top of the stairs is the parking lot.
This is the main landing painted grey when you walk down both sets of stairs. Musical groups would set up in the circular area between both sets of stairs. Behind you is the entrance to the restaurants with the large outdoor deck adjacent to the Shinnecock canal.
This second hostess stand was across from the main hostess stand. Sometimes people would greet you here, other times, it was set up as an extra bar for just beer.
This final step down off the main landing just passed the hostess stand leads you onto the main outdoor deck.
This was the large main patio with has high bar stools as well as table seating. The floor was painted bright blue. In the background there are boats and wave-runners docked at the marina. The bridge you see is the LIRR overpass which passes over the Shinnecock canal.
There was a good deal of high-top tables of blue and green colors adjacent to the outdoor tables.
The walls of the building and the bar walls were also painted bright blue. There was a nice contrast to the wood bar and to the wooded stools.
A large overhang protected the entire bar area in case of rain. A few placed TV on walls keep people entertained enough. When you sit on the water on a beautiful day, who needs a TV? The bar sat about 1o people with plenty of people wiggling between the chairs for drinks.
Is that a great white? Yes! It almost looks affixed to the ceiling fan, but alas, it is on the wall. The colored Tide Runner sign in pink and blue is above the window which is the bartenders’ entrance to the inside bar.
The shark is sinking its mighty jaws into a cute, yellow duckling. I don’t recall, but it’s possible they would put other objects inside the clutched jaws.
The entire outside deck had a view facing north of the Shinnecock Canal. The Canal was always rambling and bubbling over with tremendous force. The Long Island Rail Road bridge overpass looms above the water, as boars carefully navigate their way through the tumultuous waters.
Looking south from the deck, you can see another bridge of sorts. Its actually Montauk Highway’s overpass going over the Shinnecock Canal. The water looks calmer at this stench of aqua. The car is heading west – just 30 seconds away from it is land with the behemoth club of CPI’s looking larger than life.
The long side deck runs along the full length of the building with Montauk Highway overpass a few hundred feet away. For some reason they did not paint that part of the flooring bright blue.
Let’s open the menu and see what kind of food this restaurant on the water has. I bet it has some fish 🙂
The hallway to the bathroom had a fish tank along one side of it.
Besides the small inside far, there were a few two chair tables. A wall separated this small dining area from the main dining room. On the top ledge of the wall, Samuel Adams sailor boats were displayed.
Aside from tables and chains, this area of the main dining room had two benches nestled by each other in two corners. Very cozy and more private.
Tide Runners closed and the entire building was bulldozed to make way for condos. What I would give to be asked to sit outside one of their decks and have a drink on the same land where Tide Runners once stood.
