Outdoor Dining on the Seacoast

The Bow Street deck hangs right over the Piscataqua, close enough to wave at the tugboat crews sliding past. Seafood-forward menu, sunset light on the water. Get your name in before golden hour on summer weekends - the deck fills in about the time it takes to park.

The only true rooftop in Portsmouth, with fire pits, a view over the North End, and a cocktail list built for golden hour. Everyone in town has the same sunset idea, so we go early or on weeknights. In shoulder season the fire pits keep it comfortable well after the waterfront decks have folded up.

A snug deck perched at the tugboats where the chowder lands on best-of lists year after year. Small is both the charm and the catch - lunch is far easier to walk into than dinner. Watching the river traffic from a table this close to the water never gets old.

Four levels of decks stacked right on the Hampton Beach strip, so nearly every table gets its own slice of Atlantic. It runs from morning coffee to sunset drinks without missing a beat, and the upper decks are the calm above the boardwalk noise.

Newmarket's deck beside the Lamprey River, in the shadow of the old granite mills. Comfortable tavern food, an unhurried pace, and the kind of view that quietly turns one round into two. Our move: dinner here, then the walk up the hill for a show at the Stone Church.

Downtown Dover's brewpub, where the patio hums all summer and the kitchen cooks well above what the word brewpub usually promises. House-brewed beer, a scratch menu, and enough going on around it that the evening keeps going after the plates are cleared.

The famous Kittery bread bakers turned their dough skills to wood-fired pizza, and the crust explains the crowd all by itself. Easygoing beer-garden energy and local taps make it the natural landing spot after an outlet run or a Foreside wander.

Lobster, steamers, and corn done the old way - steamed over rockweed and eaten outdoors at long tables in York Harbor. It is the full Maine clambake without chartering a boat, and exactly where we take out-of-state guests who want the postcard version of dinner.

Half the customers arrive by boat and tie up at the dock, which tells you everything about the vibe. Fried platters, lobster, and marsh views on Sagamore Creek - Portsmouth the way it looked before the boutique hotels. Flip-flop formal, and better for it.

Opens with the warm weather and closes when it leaves, which is the most honest quality signal on the waterfront. Lobster rolls, cold drinks, and river traffic drifting past a few feet away. When locals say 'meet me at the decks,' this is one of the places they mean.