Seafood and spectacular views.
That’s what the Nantucket has served up for decades under the Carquinez Bridge in the tiny town of Crockett.
But the kitchen will deliver the last bowls of Ray’s Seafood Pasta and New England-style clam chowder this weekend.
It’s closing time for the Nantucket, the last in a long run of fish houses dating back to 1930 on this site — and the most recent East Bay seafood restaurant to shut down.
Bartender Dan Lamb said the lease is up and the Nantucket’s owner, at age 81, isn’t renewing.
“We are sad to inform our loyal customers but the Nantucket Restaurant will be closing permanently Sunday, February 17, 2019,” reads a posted notice. “Thank you for your continued patronage.”
Dan Robertson, publisher of the monthly Crockett Signal magazine and a longtime resident, lamented the loss of a local landmark.
“People like to go down there and feel like they’re connected to the Carquinez Strait,” he said. “Considering this is the ‘Bay’ Area, there aren’t that many restaurants that are right on the waterfront like the Nantucket is.”
Eating at the Nantucket — actually, the getting there part — has always been a bit of an adventure too, as diners fondly recall. Patrons have to park in an unpaved lot, then cross the railroad tracks to reach the front door.
According to the Nantucket website, there’s been a restaurant on this site since just a few years after the 1927 construction of the Carquinez Bridge traversing San Francisco Bay. Joe Dowrelio and family built a wharf and started a fishing business in 1928, then opened a restaurant, Dowrelio’s.
Galley Seafood took over around 1945, and that later became Bouillabaisse. the site says. The Nantucket Fish Company operated from 1975 to 1993. The next year, Ken and Jackie Carver — owners of the marina since 1977 — opened their place with the shortened name, the Nantucket.
The fate of this Crockett property and nearby acreage rests with its owner, the California State Lands Commission, according to Robertson. “In theory,” he said, the state should restore the area to its “original condition.”
“It’s really a mess,” he said of the area surrounding the restaurant. “It’s got sunken boats in the harbor and an old pier that used to be open to the public.”
His vision? Ideally, he’d like to see the waterfront turned into a public park with a new restaurant.
For East Bay residents, the tally of shuttered seafood stalwarts is mounting. The Nantucket will be the fourth in the last several months. Hs Lordships pulled up anchor on the Berkeley marina last July 1 after nearly 50 years in business. Just days later, Salute E Vita on the Richmond waterfront closed. And the legendary tenure of Spenger’s in Berkeley — 128 years in business — came to an abrupt end in late October.
Still, the Bay Area’s restaurant renaissance continues, with lots of openings and opportunities.
Lamb, who has tended bar at the Nantucket for 10 years, isn’t worried about his next move. In fact, he’s already got a couple of bartending offers to consider.
“I don’t see Prohibition coming in anytime soon,” he said.
Details: The restaurant, at 501 Port St., will keep its regular hours for the next four days — that’s 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, until 9:30 Friday and Saturday — then shut the doors at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. 510-787-2233