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A fishing boat has docked at Hudson Yards—and this one serves lobster rolls and martinis.
Sailor’s Choice, a sprawling 200-seat seafood bar from the team behind beloved boat bars like Grand Banks and Pilot, opened yesterday at 350 11th Avenue at 30th Street. It’s the latest project from hospitality duo Alex and Miles Pincus, whose Crew group has practically defined the city’s waterfront drinking scene. This time, though, they’re doing things a little differently: Instead of floating on the Hudson, they’ve brought the boat to land.
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At the heart of Sailor’s Choice is a vintage Hinckley fishing vessel, transformed into a full-service bar and surrounded by a sunny deck with yellow-and-white striped umbrellas. “It’s a gentleman’s yacht that’s designed after a classic Maine lobster boat,” Alex Pincus told Time Out. “It’s one of the most desirable boats in the boating world—I’ve wanted one my whole life. So the idea of setting one in the plaza and building the bar around it just made sense.”
A second bar, tucked inside a retrofitted Airstream, pours spritzes and other breezy cocktails, while the main deck channels East Coast summer with none of the ferry schlep.
The menu nods to classic New England seaside fare with a polished Manhattan twist: You’ll find lobster BLTs, golden-crisp fish and chips and oysters shucked to order—available by the half or full dozen. For those who like their comfort food with a side of indulgence, the caviar-topped tots are a no-brainer. “The lobster BLT is the standout for me,” says Pincus. “It’s such a good bite of summer; it’s exactly what you want to eat when you’re by the water.”
On the drinks side, expect yacht-club classics and warm-weather crowd-pleasers: gin and tonics, martinis, watermelon-vodka spritzes and a curated wine list. But don’t miss the namesake "Sailor’s Choice," a frosty beer served over ice with lime for just $7, lifted straight from the brothers’ post-sailing ritual. “It’s what we always drink after being out on the water,” says Pincus. “A lobster BLT and a Sailor’s Choice out there in the sun brings me back home.”
Though Hudson Yards may have seemed like an unexpected fit, Pincus says the location wasn’t so far off from the team’s usual approach. “All the projects we have ever done are really rooted in place,” he says. “We took a site that didn’t really have anything on it... and tried to explore what the potential of that location is and how it engages with us in the way that we think about restaurants and experience.” Once the idea of placing a boat in the plaza surfaced, he says, “it all sort of suddenly made sense.”
Now open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sailor’s Choice offers a fresh new reason to eat and drink near the Vessel—and you don’t even have to check the ferry schedule.
