A breakfast platter and a fully dressed Bloody Mary can be a perfectly reasonable way to start a day at The Starboard, a longtime Dewey Beach stop where the restaurant, bar and nightlife scene all occupy the same lively orbit. The setting is casual and coastal, with indoor tables, booths, counter seating, a bar area and outdoor patio or deck space.
The Starboard has room for different versions of a beach-town outing. A family can come in for breakfast, friends can settle into lunch and drinks, and a group can stay as music, DJs and dancing begin to take over later on. The mood is not fixed; it changes with the hour.
Breakfast with some serious range
Morning food here goes well beyond a quick egg sandwich. The breakfast and brunch lineup includes omelets, pancakes, skillets, platters and crab-forward dishes that make sense near the Delaware coast.
Crab can turn up in eggs Benedict, served on an English muffin, and in an egg-and-crab skillet. Fresh blueberry pancakes offer a sweeter route, while the Happy Cow omelet provides a vegetarian-leaning choice among the heartier plates.
The Hangover Helper has the name and scale of a post-night-out breakfast, a notably large order that can be more than one person wants to tackle alone. An acai bowl, with fresh ingredients and generous toppings, gives the menu a lighter-looking counterpoint.
This is a useful place for a mixed brunch table. One person can go for pancakes, another can order crab and eggs, and someone else can put together a more straightforward breakfast plate without everyone having to agree on one style of meal.
The Bloody Mary bar is its own project
The Starboard is especially associated with its expansive Bloody Mary bar, where the appeal is building a drink around your own tastes rather than accepting a standard garnish lineup. At a busy weekend brunch, people can take their time with the choices while breakfast makes its way to the table.
A customized Bloody Mary fits the substantial food particularly well, but it is not the only house-style drink to know. Crushes are another recurring specialty, including orange, Bacardi lemon and chili-mango versions.
The chili-mango option brings a little more spark to the lineup, while an orange crush is a natural coastal-day standby. The drinks carry through from brunch to the deck and into the later entertainment hours.
Crab, shrimp and familiar bar-food comforts
Seafood remains a major thread once the breakfast menu gives way to lunch and dinner. Maryland-style crab dishes, steamed shrimp and crab cakes share space with burgers, wings, sandwiches, salads and nachos.
The crab cake puts its emphasis on lump crab rather than a filler-heavy approach. Lump crab also appears on an avocado toast preparation, a nice middle ground for someone who wants the coastal ingredient without committing to a large seafood entrée.
Maryland crab soup comes in both red and cream versions. That small choice is useful on a menu that otherwise ranges broadly: a table can split steamed shrimp and nachos, then still leave room for a bowl of soup or a more complete sandwich meal.
Pretzel bites arrive with tangy mustard that has a slight kick. Old Bay-seasoned fries bring another regional note, the sort of side that works just as well beside a burger as it does with an afternoon drink.
Burgers and wings for the non-seafood crowd
Nobody has to order crab to eat well here. The Black and Blue Burger is a substantial choice, and the menu also makes room for classic burgers, including simple versions suited to children.
Spicy wings, chicken tenders, sandwiches and nachos keep the food firmly connected to the bar-and-grill side of The Starboard's personality. These are useful orders for a table that is more interested in sharing, lingering over drinks or catching music than staging a formal dinner.
From deck drinks to a louder night
The outdoor deck suits the daytime side of the place, with drinks and live music providing an easy bridge between a meal and the rest of an afternoon. Inside, the bar can also be a comfortable holding spot for a drink and music before a table opens up.
As the day continues, The Starboard can move from conversational dining into a much more energetic party setting. Live bands, DJs and dancing are central to its later-day identity, and the volume and pace can rise considerably when the venue is crowded or entertainment is underway.
Classic music has been part of the brunch atmosphere, and DJs can appear during brunch as well as later in the day. The effect is less a rigid day-versus-night split than a gradual change in energy.
The calendar has also included big recurring occasions such as Opening Weekend during St. Patrick's season, Running of the Bull and Dewey Goes Pink. These are the kinds of events that reinforce The Starboard's role as a communal Dewey Beach gathering point, not just a place to stop for lunch.
A few useful Dewey Beach realities
The Starboard sits in Dewey Beach, roughly one block from the beach by one account. During a busy beach period, that closeness can make a wait feel less confining: people may have a drink at the bar or take a short walk toward the sand before coming back for a table.
Brunch and in-season visits can bring substantial waits. Street parking can also be difficult, and paid street parking has been noted around the area.
For dining, the atmosphere has been especially accommodating to families earlier in the evening, before 8 p.m. Later hours tend to tilt more decisively toward music, crowds and nightlife, which is useful to know before choosing the timing for a quieter meal.