Mahi Mah’s Seafood Restaurant

Sand under the table, the Atlantic over your shoulder, and a Crab Ripper in hand, Chix does casual boardwalk dining without cutting a single corner on the seafood.

The resort strip gets polished the further you walk, and The Shack on 8th is the honest exception: cold beer and fresh seafood with the kind of neighborhood loyalty that survives the shoulder seasons.

Three generations of the Standing family have run this boardwalk institution since 1981, She Crab Soup and the original Orange Crush at the southern end of the strip. CrushFest turns into a full Mid-Atlantic pilgrimage every year.

Big Sam’s still does the raw bar the old way, cold oysters by the dozen and zero interest in the polish that has crept into the rest of the strip.

The Calypso name makes a promise, frozen cocktails and reggae energy on the VB oceanfront, and it actually delivers instead of just decorating the walls with parrots.