Great menu and terrific staff! The food and drinks are loaded with flavor. Don't miss the Crab rice and the steam bun duck! There is a line for reservations for a reason. We always try to go as early as possible and beat the crowd.
Kristen Las
This was our second time dining here. We enjoyed the poke bowl (favorite dish of the night), pork buns, oyster tacos, bay scallop ceviche and crab fried rice (second favorite dish of the night). The cocktails were delicious and the service was attentive. The restaurant is a little loud but everyone (customers and servers) were all having fun!
Our hotel highly recommended the Nautilus and we were excited to try it. We secured reservations for the week after Christmas, our first time on the island. We arrived and there was a line outside. Atmosphere was nice, music was pretty loud and lights dimmed with a happy energetic crowd. Menu options were either tapas or 'large entree' - we went with tapas.The food was good. A nice selection of asian, vegetarian, complex offerings (like delicata squash with blue cheese and pepitas). The squash dish was not quite sweet or soft enough. Contrasting flavors normally would have been good, but not cooked enough/too firm. It wasn't quite the complex ingredients or technically cooked dish we were expecting. The poke bowl was good, pork buns were ok (we had better ones in Newport RI). Did the food blow our minds? No. The gingerbread creme brûlée dessert was delicious. Service and overall experience was really good. Will we return? Maybe. Stay tuned for our next restaurant, tomorrow.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tuna Poke
Buzz Polchinski
We loved it all. Food was well prepared and very tasty. Sam, our server, was wonderful. She handled a couple of menu questions with ease and was very thorough. Chef Sarah and her team worked magic with the food and flavor profiles. Pricing was well online with the quality of the meal.I, and the rest of our party, would recommend this restaurant to anyone.Thank you!!!Wheelchair accessibility: This restaurant is wheel chair accessible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Five Spice Pork Riblets, Pork Belly Buns, Blue Crab Fried Rice
Elizabeth Watson
Couldn’t get a reservation but got there 20 minutes prior to opening and got a seat at the bar when they opened! Great cocktails! Fun staff! Best food we had on the island!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Belly Buns, Blue Crab Fried Rice
Briana M.
Truly just a fabulous spot! I was in Nantucket for the first time over the summer and the Nautilus truly stunned.
A Confoey
Stopped in for some late night food and beverages. The staff were amazing. Food and drinks were delightful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tuna Poke, Japanese Hamachi Crudo
Laura T.
This is notorious for being one of the hardest to come by reservations on the island and we were able to snag one! Only down side is that the restaurant is pretty small so the table for 2 that we were going to sit at was squished in between two other tables - I mean literally could hardly fit between the two and I'm a small sized person. Fortunately, we asked to go to the bar and they were happy to accommodate so I was grateful for that! We ordered the pork belly buns, Szechuan style Dan Dan noodles and the blue crab fried rice. The buns had excellent flavor - the slightly sweet sauce with the tangy pickled veg and then the bun was perfectly textured. The noodles were also pretty delicious - not too spicy, and very soft and chewy. The crab fried rice is very well known and the truth is, it actually wasn't my favorite. There are large chunks of crab which is nice but the rice was mushy and the whole thing was a little too salty. Overall, it was a good restaurant and yummy with good presentation and flavor. Is it worth the impossible reservation? I don't think so, but I'm glad I got to try it.
Chips T.
If heaven had better food, God wouldn't have standing six o'clock reservations on Thursdays.
Given how difficult it was to obtain a reservation, we expected a great dining experience. We were sorely disappointed. My Old Fashioned cocktail was the worst I have ever had in a restaurant. It was so watery that I think the bartender must have been so busy that he mistakenly substituted water for simple syrup. All of the food was overly salty including the Shishito peppers, mushrooms a la plancha, scallion pancake and the blue crab fried rice. The service was poor - when the food was delivered the plates were slammed on the table and accompanied by a grunt. The atmosphere was horrible. The music was too loud and the tables were too close together. It was difficult to hear what the waitress was saying to us and it was difficult for my wife and I to carry on a conversation. We have spent the last week on Nantucket and this was our worst dining experience. Every other restaurant that we ate was markedly better including The Pearl, American Seasons, Cru, Toppers and Ventuno.Parking: We parked in a public lot a few blocks away from the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Fat Kid-Diarys
Most creative and exciting food dishes on island. Team and menu are top notch. Nauting touches this
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tad O.
This has always been one of our favorite places to go. I'm not sure if it's under new ownership but quality has deteriorated significantly of late. Our food was under seasoned and took 45 minutes to come. The drinks lacked flavor and service was very inconsistent. I will try again next year and it lives up to our previous meals.
T J.
Food is excellent, mixed report on the vibe. We had a 9:30 Rez on Friday night. Seated late, rushed to order, and generally a staff that was indifferent - in a " you are lucky you are here" way. But beware - small, jammed in and a room with six major speakers and a large sub woofer cranked such that you can not hear the folks you went to dine with. Clocked in at 95-120 db. Maybe the staff is indifferent because they are suffering from cumulative hearing loss. And hoping for an OSHA visit . How much better this would all be if you could enjoy the excellent food and the company you are with?
Dagny T.
Poor customer service; we didn't have dinner here. I usually disregard reviews where people don't even eat at the place but how this place treats customers is so bad it merits a review. They gave us a 2 hour wait time - not a big deal - we said we would walk around. Hostess said nope you have to wait here. Excuse me?!! No way - there's no space to sit or even stand. The bar was full and we had a baby. There is zero reason why they can't put our name down and call us when our table is ready. Or if they don't want to bother with calling people - then if we don't happen to be around then they could move to the next party on the list. (we would have come back and checked on our place in line multiple times) Their complete disregard for customer's time or comfort is outrageous. I don't care how good their food is - I'm sure it isn't that good - we won't be coming back.
Gets packed buy great food.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 4
Great menu and terrific staff! The food and drinks are loaded with flavor. Don't miss the Crab rice and the steam bun duck! There is a line for reservations for a reason. We always try to go as early as possible and beat the crowd.
This was our second time dining here. We enjoyed the poke bowl (favorite dish of the night), pork buns, oyster tacos, bay scallop ceviche and crab fried rice (second favorite dish of the night). The cocktails were delicious and the service was attentive. The restaurant is a little loud but everyone (customers and servers) were all having fun!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tuna Poke, Pork Belly Buns, Blue Crab Fried Rice
Our hotel highly recommended the Nautilus and we were excited to try it. We secured reservations for the week after Christmas, our first time on the island. We arrived and there was a line outside. Atmosphere was nice, music was pretty loud and lights dimmed with a happy energetic crowd. Menu options were either tapas or 'large entree' - we went with tapas.The food was good. A nice selection of asian, vegetarian, complex offerings (like delicata squash with blue cheese and pepitas). The squash dish was not quite sweet or soft enough. Contrasting flavors normally would have been good, but not cooked enough/too firm. It wasn't quite the complex ingredients or technically cooked dish we were expecting. The poke bowl was good, pork buns were ok (we had better ones in Newport RI). Did the food blow our minds? No. The gingerbread creme brûlée dessert was delicious. Service and overall experience was really good. Will we return? Maybe. Stay tuned for our next restaurant, tomorrow.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tuna Poke
We loved it all. Food was well prepared and very tasty. Sam, our server, was wonderful. She handled a couple of menu questions with ease and was very thorough. Chef Sarah and her team worked magic with the food and flavor profiles. Pricing was well online with the quality of the meal.I, and the rest of our party, would recommend this restaurant to anyone.Thank you!!!Wheelchair accessibility: This restaurant is wheel chair accessible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Five Spice Pork Riblets, Pork Belly Buns, Blue Crab Fried Rice
Couldn’t get a reservation but got there 20 minutes prior to opening and got a seat at the bar when they opened! Great cocktails! Fun staff! Best food we had on the island!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Belly Buns, Blue Crab Fried Rice
Truly just a fabulous spot! I was in Nantucket for the first time over the summer and the Nautilus truly stunned.
Stopped in for some late night food and beverages. The staff were amazing. Food and drinks were delightful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tuna Poke, Japanese Hamachi Crudo
This is notorious for being one of the hardest to come by reservations on the island and we were able to snag one! Only down side is that the restaurant is pretty small so the table for 2 that we were going to sit at was squished in between two other tables - I mean literally could hardly fit between the two and I'm a small sized person. Fortunately, we asked to go to the bar and they were happy to accommodate so I was grateful for that! We ordered the pork belly buns, Szechuan style Dan Dan noodles and the blue crab fried rice. The buns had excellent flavor - the slightly sweet sauce with the tangy pickled veg and then the bun was perfectly textured. The noodles were also pretty delicious - not too spicy, and very soft and chewy. The crab fried rice is very well known and the truth is, it actually wasn't my favorite. There are large chunks of crab which is nice but the rice was mushy and the whole thing was a little too salty. Overall, it was a good restaurant and yummy with good presentation and flavor. Is it worth the impossible reservation? I don't think so, but I'm glad I got to try it.
If heaven had better food, God wouldn't have standing six o'clock reservations on Thursdays.
Restaurantji Recommends
Given how difficult it was to obtain a reservation, we expected a great dining experience. We were sorely disappointed. My Old Fashioned cocktail was the worst I have ever had in a restaurant. It was so watery that I think the bartender must have been so busy that he mistakenly substituted water for simple syrup. All of the food was overly salty including the Shishito peppers, mushrooms a la plancha, scallion pancake and the blue crab fried rice. The service was poor - when the food was delivered the plates were slammed on the table and accompanied by a grunt. The atmosphere was horrible. The music was too loud and the tables were too close together. It was difficult to hear what the waitress was saying to us and it was difficult for my wife and I to carry on a conversation. We have spent the last week on Nantucket and this was our worst dining experience. Every other restaurant that we ate was markedly better including The Pearl, American Seasons, Cru, Toppers and Ventuno.Parking: We parked in a public lot a few blocks away from the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Most creative and exciting food dishes on island. Team and menu are top notch. Nauting touches this
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This has always been one of our favorite places to go. I'm not sure if it's under new ownership but quality has deteriorated significantly of late. Our food was under seasoned and took 45 minutes to come. The drinks lacked flavor and service was very inconsistent. I will try again next year and it lives up to our previous meals.
Food is excellent, mixed report on the vibe. We had a 9:30 Rez on Friday night. Seated late, rushed to order, and generally a staff that was indifferent - in a " you are lucky you are here" way. But beware - small, jammed in and a room with six major speakers and a large sub woofer cranked such that you can not hear the folks you went to dine with. Clocked in at 95-120 db. Maybe the staff is indifferent because they are suffering from cumulative hearing loss. And hoping for an OSHA visit . How much better this would all be if you could enjoy the excellent food and the company you are with?
Poor customer service; we didn't have dinner here. I usually disregard reviews where people don't even eat at the place but how this place treats customers is so bad it merits a review. They gave us a 2 hour wait time - not a big deal - we said we would walk around. Hostess said nope you have to wait here. Excuse me?!! No way - there's no space to sit or even stand. The bar was full and we had a baby. There is zero reason why they can't put our name down and call us when our table is ready. Or if they don't want to bother with calling people - then if we don't happen to be around then they could move to the next party on the list. (we would have come back and checked on our place in line multiple times) Their complete disregard for customer's time or comfort is outrageous. I don't care how good their food is - I'm sure it isn't that good - we won't be coming back.