Cape Cod Restaurants New Year's Eve: Five places to kick off 2022

Gwenn Friss, Cape Cod Times
·4 min read

You can welcome 2022 with a bar pizza and college football on a giant TV or standing at the gaming tables, eating caviar and sipping bubbly, while adorned in your most glamorous gown or tux.

Yep, Cape Cod has got that.

There are still spots open on the peninsula for celebrations from one end of the New Year’s Eve spectrum (a $12 pizza at Portside Tavern) to the other, a $295 per person casino evening at the Chatham Bars Inn with a buffet that includes lobster flambe, steak Diane, three types of caviar, oysters from three Cape towns and four dozen other delicacies.

Celebrate New Year's Eve on the Cape

There are also some experiences between those extremes. Scargo Cafe is keeping one of its five outdoor dining greenhouses, as well as some tables inside, available for walk-in guests.

At 9 p.m. The West End (formerly The Paddock) is opening its entire 160-seat restaurant and back bar for a casual cocktail party with dancing and a DJ.

“We have a huge restaurant so there will be plenty of room to social distance while enjoying the party,” said Jen Villa, who owns The West End with her husband, Blane Toedt.

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Here are details for some of the restaurants we found serving and celebrating on New Year’s Eve:

The West End

The West End owners Jen Villa and Blane Toedt are hosting a cocktail party, using all of the spaces in their 160-seat restaurant to ensure plenty of room for social distancing.
The West End owners Jen Villa and Blane Toedt are hosting a cocktail party, using all of the spaces in their 160-seat restaurant to ensure plenty of room for social distancing.

Address: 20 Scudder Ave, Hyannis

Contact: 508-775-7677; westendhyannis.com

Of note: The celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday with a passed appetizer followed by a four-course chef’s tasting dinner that has a different wine for each course. There are only a few seats left. The cost is $125 and includes admission to the cocktail party that starts at 9 p.m. and runs through 12:30 a.m. Cocktail party tickets, at $40 each, include passed appetizers, a champagne toast and music with a DJ.

“You can feel like you went far away without having to take on too much,” Villa said.

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Chatham Bars Inn

An original Norman Rockwell painting hangs over the fireplace in the STARS dining room, which will be the setting for a New Year's Day brunch buffet at the Chatham Bars Inn.
An original Norman Rockwell painting hangs over the fireplace in the STARS dining room, which will be the setting for a New Year's Day brunch buffet at the Chatham Bars Inn.

Address: 297 Shore Road, Chatham

Contact: 508-945-6871; chathambarsinn.com

Of note: James Bond will want to know about this party, where guests aged 21 and older are invited to “dress to impress.” Running from 7:30 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. on Saturday, the evening includes music, a lavish buffet, a champagne toast and $1,000 in “fun money” for the casino tables. There is no cash involved, but those winning the most at the tables will receive prizes at evening’s end. Tickets for the event are $295 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

If you are more of a “day” person, you can welcome 2022 with brunch, served from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at STARS restaurant at Chatham Bars Inn. The brunch is a buffet that includes a seafood and smoked fish display, prime rib carving station, Belgian waffles, egg stations, dessert buffet, bubbly and Bloody Mary station and more. The cost is $95 for adults and $40 for children aged 5-12.

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Portside Tavern

Address: 72 North St, Hyannis

Contact: 508-534-9600; theportsidetavern.com

Of note: If you want to be with people for New Year's Eve, but are not up for a big party, Portside Tavern will be open as usual starting at 11:30 a.m. "We don't have a party planned, but if people come in for dinner and want to stay until midnight, we'll stay open," said tavern owner Jason Murphy.

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Harborview Restaurant & Bar

Address: 235 Ocean St, Hyannis

Contact: 774-470-4731; harborviewhyannis.com

Of note: The party begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday with a "welcome cocktail" and includes a four-course dinner with a choice of prime rib or lobster. There will be dancing upstairs and a midnight toast. Tickets are $99.22 and are available through a link on the restaurant's website.

The Pelham House Resort

Director of beverages Chris Celli makes a martini at the Pelham House Resort, which is hosting both an early and late dinner in its ground-level restaurant and a cocktail party with a dozen desserts in its rooftop restaurant.
Director of beverages Chris Celli makes a martini at the Pelham House Resort, which is hosting both an early and late dinner in its ground-level restaurant and a cocktail party with a dozen desserts in its rooftop restaurant.

Address: 14 Sea St, Dennis Port

Contact: 508-398-6076; pelhamhouseresort.com

Of note: For New Year's Eve, Pelham House Resort is serving up options, with an early four-course meal from 5 to 7 p.m. and a late seating from 8 to 10 p.m. in the resort's ground-floor dining space. The four-course meal is $130 and includes a one-hour cocktail party in the Pelham House's rooftop restaurant. Also, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., there will be a dessert bar and cocktail party ($50) in the Pelham's rooftop restaurant. The dozen desserts include a pizzelle cannoli with orange mascarpone cheese, praline and passionfruit rice pudding as well as chocolate espresso cheesecake. Visit the website for tickets.

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Email Gwenn Friss at gfriss@capecodonline.com; find her on Twitter @dailyrecipeCCT. For more dining talk, join the free Facebook group: Good Stuff at Cape Cod Restaurants.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Celebrating New Year's at Cape Cod restaurants casual to formal