Newburyport's downtown is small but dense with restaurants — well over thirty independent kitchens within five minutes' walk of Market Square. The local style leans New American with strong seafood — lobster rolls, fried clams, oysters from the Great Bay just up the coast in New Hampshire — and a good run of Italian, Asian, and Latin places to round it out.
The Grog on Middle Street has been the downtown pub since 1973 — dark wood, live music three nights a week, and a long burger list. Brine on State Street is the city's serious raw bar. Park Lunch, west of downtown, is the place for a no-frills lobster roll under fluorescent lights. Bistro Brick Alley on Pleasant Street covers the modest-special-occasion slot. Walk Pleasant and State streets reading menus — the best things change too often to list reliably.