Dock & Dine Rebuilding – Again

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb

This time of year is when my sisters and I would have been making Mother’s Day reservations at Dock & Dine in Old Saybrook, CT. In fact, we brought Mom there for the last Mother’s Day we spent together before she passed away in 2010. Since then the restaurant, which is located right on the waterfront of the Connecticut River as it enters Long Island Sound, has sustained extreme damage from two storms – first from Hurricane Irene and then a few months ago from Storm Sandy, which devastated much of the United States’ northeastern shoreline. Having heard that the owners of Dock & Dine were rebuilding for the second time, we decided this past weekend to drive down and take a look.

Formerly, the main dining room.

Construction equipment was in use in the parking lot and workers atop the roof of what used to be the main

Interior of the main dining room before damage from the first storm.

dining room were busy with rebuilding and renovations. It was a gorgeous day by the water, sunny with temperatures in the high sixty to low seventy degrees as cabin cruisers made their way along the river. The view off Saybrook Point pier was beautiful; that view alone reinforced why it is worth reconstructing there – yet again.

View from Saybrook Point Pier.

Prior to the storms, Dock & Dine offered a great blend of casual elegance with large windows surrounding the main dining room and bar, where live bands generally entertained in late afternoon on weekends during the summer, nautical theme decor, a patio, banquet room and as the restaurant’s name indicates – a dock for boating patrons. It offered a good selection of seafood dinners and an option of chicken or beef. At this point, only their casual menu is posted on the Dock &  Dine website. Among the offerings listed are clam chowder, lobster bisque, appetizers such as shrimp & mozzarella and antipasto, as well as, meals and sandwiches including fried Stonington Scallops and Narragansett Calamarie, steamed mussels, lobster grilled cheese, Angus Burger, chicken wrap and smoked salmon BLT. It remains to be seen if that will be in use for awhile after the restaurant reopens, or if the expanded menu will return.

To check the rebuilding progress at Dock & Dine visit:  www.dockdinect.com

145 Cottage Street, Old Saybrook, CT 06475, 860-388-4665