Best of the North Fork 2025

Compiled by the Northforker team

Photography by David Benthal, Adam Bundy, Madison Fender, Jeremy Garretson, Nicholas Grasso, Charity Robey, Doug Young, Lilly Parnell, Amy Zavatto

One of the great things about living on and visiting the East End is the notion that small businesses aren’t merely alive and well here—they’re an important part of your North Fork community. They add flavor (literally!), color, creativity, beauty, thoughtful gift-giving, spaces to get in shape, places to park your boat (or buy one) and pretty much anything else you can dream up. It’s not just something we celebrate here at Northforker, it’s something we live — our parent company, Times Review Media, is a small, family-owned business, too. Many of you have popped by our offices in Mattituck for a paper or a magazine, or maybe to take an ad, provide a news tip or even chat up our staff.  We get it; small businesses matter in places like this. 

And everyone’s got favorites — us included. Each year we spend months debating, discussing and visiting the possible choices of who will make it into our annual Best Of the North Fork issue. We don’t take this lightly! And sometimes, we’re even still mulling it all over right up to the last minute. But that just means we’ve got some really great choices on our hands. Each year, we make five top picks that stood out to us — and this year, to make it as fair-and-square as possible, we put all the businesses in alphabetical order. There are no top dogs here; just five fantastic options in each category. On the following pages, you’ll find our annual top picks across the North Fork, from the best places for photo-worthy waterfront dining and drinks with friends to the best hiking trails, hardware stores, gift shops, fitness spots, wineries and so much more. Let the Bests begin!