Dine: Waterside Market and Cafe 

Waterside Market is a year-round, locally owned family business right at the top of Main Street in Vineyard Haven. Waterside offers all-day breakfast and lunch options. The restaurant is part of the Just One Bite Restaurant Group complex, along with Fish and the Attic. It’s also an Island institution — a quick stop for those getting off the ferry to grab some coffee, and for locals, it has been an integral part of the Island fabric.

My co-worker Nicki Galland and I went to Waterside for lunch recently. Aside from diverse lunch and breakfast menus, they have a large cooler filled with a variety of beverages to go, a long table of delectable treats, like cookies and muffins, and even some merchandise that included beautiful woven baskets. Folks can eat inside, or outside on the deck, or order takeout. 

Waterside has been around awhile, and serves as a wonderful gathering place for the community. “For years, when we were rehearsing things at the Playhouse, Waterside would be our go-to place during a lunch break, so my perception is that it is the workhorse of Vineyard Haven,” Galland said. 

Waterside’s breakfast menu has several options, including breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg, Cabot Cheddar and choice of meat or avocado on toast or an English muffin. There are Eggs Benedict, and Lobster Benedict with two poached eggs over English muffins and home fries. For those who crave a sweet breakfast, you can order Cinnamon French Toast, with thick sliced cinnamon bread that’s grilled and served with powdered sugar and maple syrup, and more. 

The lunch menu has a nice variety of choices, like the Farmhouse sandwich, with

sliced roasted chicken, baby spinach, balsamic onion jam, uncured nitrate-free bacon, and maple-pecan goat cheese on toasted ciabatta; the John Alden, with house-roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, greens, and mayo on toasted ciabatta; and the Lucy Vincent, with 

harissa-roasted cauliflower, vegan garlic aioli, spinach, pickled red onions, and smashed garbanzo beans.

Galland and I both got the Lucy Vincent. “This is proof that cauliflower is not boring,” Galland declared. “It was rich and flavorful and textured without being tough, and the ciabatta was incredibly light and fluffy, which is necessary given the fullness of the cauliflower. The red onions were a perfectly satisfying sassy tang to brighten the overall effect.”

I concur. Delicious. We ended our meal with our usual treat — a chocolate chip cookie, which was a definite winner. “This chocolate chip cookie was fantastic — the dough is pretty much just a chocolate delivery system,” Galland said. 

Check out Waterside Market and Cafe, 82 Main St., Vineyard Haven, watersidemarket.com.