Easy Street Cantina - Best First—and Last—Stop on Isle

How about a stack of Blueberry Pancakes for a midnight snack?  Or a huge Three-Filling Burrito at 6 am before you head out on a trek to Great Point?  Looking for a bit of sustenance to keep hunger at bay till those 9 pm dinner reservations?  Easy Street Cantina offers all this and more!  They’re open and serving continuously for 20-1/2 hours a day, from 5:30 am (before the morning boat departs) until 2 am, and their extensive menu can satisfy nearly any craving!

Occupying the corner of Easy Street and Steamboat Wharf, Easy Street Cantina has an inviting brick patio with picnic tables and wide market umbrellas.  Separated from the sidewalk and street traffic by a waist-high hedge, this is a terrific spot for families with energetic little ones.  There’s no need to worry over exuberant giggles or spills, and you don’t have to choose between feeding the whole family or making your next car payment—a real treat on Nantucket!  Tacos (Bean, Chicken, or Beef) are just $3.55; Hot Dogs start at $3.50; and every single item on the Breakfast Menu is $5 or less!

Should the weather be less than favorable or if you’ve had enough sun, Easy Street Cantina also has an indoor dining room with tables and booths.  Dining is self-serve, and the counter help is fast and efficient.  Everything on the menu is available for takeout, so if you’re in a hurry to head off to the beach or back to work, call ahead.

Breakfast at Easy Street Cantina can start with a freshly brewed steaming hot (or iced) cup of Caribou Coffee, plain or hazlenut.  Tea, hot or iced, hot chocolate, frozen coladas are also offered to quench your thirst. 

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	They’re known island-wide for their tasty Breakfast Sandwiches.  Seven different versions are all just $5—and each one can be made on a grilled roll or a bagel or wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.  You can even add tomato, onion, salsa, jalapenos, or hot sauce at no extra charge!  We recommend the Steak, Egg, and Cheese Burrito, the tortilla is stuffed full of freshly scrambled egg, thinly sliced steak and plenty of melted cheese.  And it’s very handy if you’re on your way to somewhere else!
	We are also very impressed with the breakfast treat that chef-owner Bartholomew Gangemi calls his Grand Slam-wich, which is breakfast on a bun...and not just any bun, a maple grilled bun!  Bacon slices, a sausage patty, slice of ham, egg, and cheese make this the best portable breakfast you’ve had!
	If you have time to sit down an enjoy breakfast, then order the Blueberry Pancakes—they’re fluffy and full of berries.  A stack of three with a side of bacon, butter, and syrup is just $5.  For just a few dollars more, you can add hash browns, sausage, or ham.
Every Thursday is Wing Day at Easy Street Cantina, so from 5:30 am you can chow down on any number of meaty Barbecue, Buffalo, Teriyaki, or Plain Wings — they’re just 25 cents each all day, a feast for just a few dollars!  If you can’t get to Easy Street Cantina on a Thursday, then try one of their other Finger Food choices: they have more than a dozen!  We love the plump Popcorn Shrimp and their Beer Battered Onion Rings, Mozzarella Sticks, and Popcorn Chicken all make tasty snacks.
	Best of all for sharing are Gangemi’s Nachos.  The “Just the Above” (or basic nachos) are served with Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses, lettuce, olives, onions, tomato, corn, jalapenos, sour cream, and salsa.  You can also order the Nachos with Vegetarian Refried Beans or Seasoned Beef or Smoked & Spiced Chicken. Or you can order it with everything— the Nachos Grande, and that’s what we dove into!  There were five of us, and we couldn’t quite finish all the food on the heavily laden platter.  The veggies were all cool and crisp, the cheese is creamy , and the refried beans, the seasoned beef, and the smoked spiced chicken are hot and luscious.  We like that the hot toppings are served over different sections of the nachos so that if some in your party prefer beans while others prefer beef or chicken, they can just scoop from that part of the plate.
As the seasons change, Chef Ravi introduces several new dishes to tempt his guests. For summertime, he is offering a Smoked Salmon Benedict at breakfast, and for lunch and dinner, a Honey-Glazed Roast Pork Sandwich, a Buffalo Chicken Wrap, a Chicken Fajita Wrap, a Marinated Grilled Skirt Steak, a Prime Rib Caesar,...
	In addition to all-American Hot Dogs, 4 different versions of Hamburgers plus a Veggie Burger, Grilled and Fried Chicken Sandwiches, and 10 different Wraps, Easy Street Cantina also serves a delicious and filling Classic Chicken Parmesan Sandwich and the closest thing to a real Philly Cheesesteak that you’ll find on Nantucket.  Both are served on long, soft rolls with a good amount of filling and lots of melted cheese.
	Another excellent choice of sandwich is the Buffalo Chicken Wrap.  Crisp, hot, and spicy bites of chicken are rolled into a flour tortilla with cool crisp lettuce, chuncks of tomato, and a creamy dressing.  It’s got just the right balance of hot and spicy against cool and crunchy.
	Easy Street Cantina does seafood very well!  Their Lobster Salad Roll is sensational.  A true classic, it has big chunks of lobster very lightly dressed with celery and light seasonings on a bed of lettuce in a hot dog roll.  The focus is definitely on the lobster!  This is served with a heaping portion of Gangemi’s habit-forming Seasoned Fries.
	Gangemi’s Fish Tacos are also superb!  Deliciously seasoned and grilled-to-order codfish is served in your choice of a warm flour or crisp corn tortilla with lettuce, tomato, onion, japapenos, sour cream, and salsa—all for just $3.55! Another favorite is the Easy Street Cantina Fried Clams.  The clams arrive in a big pile, hot and very tender, coated with a deliciously crunchy batter, next to the Seasoned Fries we all love.
We were delighted to learn that the seasoning that makes the fries so good is available for purchase at Easy Street Cantina.  It’s Bartholomew Gangemi’s very own Island Spice, a blend of more than 16 spices and seasonings that is simply inspired!  Gangemi also harvests his own Nantucket sea salt, which you can buy at the counter to take home.  Our Yesterday’s Island food columnist swears by it!
	If you want to end your feast at Easy Street Cantina with a little something sweet, then order the Cookie Sandwich.  This is a two-fisted treat:  a pair of large, chewy chocolate chip cookies with soft-serve vanilla in between, and, of course, rainbow sprinkles all along the edge.
	They also offer several Sundaes with vanilla soft serve.  The M&M Sundae with hot fudge is very good, but we like the Banana Blast the best, with its white and dark chocolate chips, banana, ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream.

Of course, you can just end your meal with freshly baked cookies.  Inside Easy Street Cantina is The Nantucket Cookie Company.  Not only can you buy a variety of cookies, but you can also buy a Cookie Kit to take home for some fun with the family. 

What kid hasn’t tried to talk his mom into baking one giant cookie instead of a tray full?  You can bring the whole party to Easy Street Cantina and the guests can decorate a giant 14-inch Birthday Cookie that the Cantina staff will bake for you.  And while it’s baking, the kids can have fun on the patio and feast on make-your-own Tacos.

With everything on the menu available for takeout, Easy Street Cantina is the perfect last stop on Nantucket—take your own feast for the boat ride home and be the envy of everyone else munching on concession snacks.  And it’s the perfect first stop—call ahead as you dock, grab your Fried Clams, Popcorn Shrimp, Fish and Chips, Burritos, Wraps, Tacos, Subs, or your Breakfast Sandwich, and head right to the beach to start your vacation!

Easy Street Cantina

Corner of Easy and Broad Streets
508-228-5418
Open every day from 5:30 am to 2 am
Breakfast foods served all day
Prices range from $3.55 to $8.50 (lobster salad $12.95)
Indoor Dining, Outdoor Dining, and Takeout
Visa and MasterCard accepted
Party Platters available
Also the home of the Nantucket Cookie Company
www.NantucketCookie.net