The Halyard Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Southold

My husband and I visited recently for the first time at an event with family and friends.

From the fantastic service, fresh, well-balanced food, incredibly unique drinks (that Halyard Gin - I can’t even say what I want to because it would be considered inappropriate) and our overnight stay at the Sound View, all I can say is wow, every aspect of our visit was spectacular and fully surpassed my expectations.

The moment we arrived we were greeted with smiles, warmth and hospitality. The valet graciously loaded our luggage on a golf cart and gave us a ride to our room. As soon as we crossed the threshold I was floored by the beautiful, yet simplistic decor. You could see the thought and care imbued in every detail of the room’s design and fixtures. The Malin+Goetz toiletries were a phenomenal and comforting surprise considering I use the products at home. The mini bar had a generous selection of local beer, snacks and water. The bottles of Halyard x Mercari Vineyards wines and the bottles of the Halyard’s Gin, Vodka & Spiced Rum were an exciting addition. The Halyard Gin is my new favorite thing in the world so it makes me feel so depressed that I live out of state. I will cherish and slowly savor the bottle I purchased in the room. I am so inspired by the botanicals and hope to purchase more in the future so I can create some new drinks and dishes to enjoy at home. The espresso pods made my day. The view from the back window was gorgeous. The insanely comfortable bed mixed with the sound of the ocean ebbing and flowing over the rocks below made for one of the best nights rest I have had in a long time. Truly, you could not have picked a better name.

The waitstaff and bartenders did such a great job. They were very professional and went out of their way to make sure everyone was able to enjoy themselves.

Let me tell you, from one Chef (I work in the country club circuit) to another, you guys threw it down in that kitchen. The food was amazing and obviously fresh. The flavors were perfectly balanced. I had the house made pasta with truffle cream sauce, my husband had the short ribs with potato purée and brussels sprouts. We had had to share because they were both so delicious. The parsnip soup course made my eyes cross in ecstasy, the parsnip is my favorite root vegetable and it is nice to see such an underrated, overlooked ingredient brought to the spotlight and not overpowered by the other components. That blueberry mascarpone gelato was the perfect end to such an amazing dinner. I can’t wait to return and see what else you have to offer!

As a side note to anyone who is planning to visit, make sure you go out on the back deck at the Halyard to check out the faces carved into the railing. There was something so calming about seeing them as you enjoy the ocean air.

You guys gained a fan for life in me, so, thank you all for such a beautiful experience. Until we see...

The theme here is flexibility. Everything from the staff to the grounds was accommodating and there's always a little something extra around the corner.

One of my friend groups decided to make the trip to The Halyard and some vineyards from New York City (The BX & BK). When we arrived for lunch, the hostess was nice enough to check on which tables were available by the water per a request from one of the members of our party. She was able to offer us one of those. I observed her to be efficient and professional as she moved about the restaurant. I mention this because sometimes restaurant staff sacrifice warmness for expedience. This wasn't the case at The Halyard.

We ordered several drinks from their cocktail menu (forgoing the wines because we were visiting vineyards afterwards). The "Garden Party" and "Paid Time Off" seemed to be that top two choices for the table. For appetizers we started with a dozen oysters and the Summer Truffle Tartine (The Tartine's taste was just fantastic!). We also tried the seared "Hudson Valley" Fois Gras (there are a lot of textures and tastes in that one which might catch some people off guard). For mains, the table went with the Lobster Fra Diavolo and The Bear Battered Fish & Chips both great options!

After lunch we took a look around the restaurant. On the exterior, on the Eastern end of the restaurant there's a little porch, the entrance to which is adorned with flowers. The area could easily be mistaken for restaurants I've seen in other countries like Italy! The sound of the ocean made the scene feel romantic and magical! When you're done with that side of the restaurant, continue walking the outer perimeter until you reach the westernmost corner. If you did everything right, you timed your dinner to coincide with the sun setting in the west.

If you and your dinner companion don't want to go home yet, come back around to the front of the restaurant. Walk down the path, past the hotel rooms and look for a stairway down to the beach. To the east you'll find a spot called "Low Tide Beach Bar." Maybe you just want to sneak in a romantic moment. In that case, find a couple beach chairs and get comfortable on the beach. Let the ocean waves be your music. ...

(You're welcome).

Need to know:

The parking lot is across the street. So don't do two U-Turns like I did trying to park at the restaurant itself. Also, I was a little disappointed that the hostess didn't check vaccination status. It might be a good idea to sit outside until they catch up to the...

Terrible service, when you order a bottle of sparkling water the staff shouldn’t be coming every 5 mins to refill your glass with tap water! Pay attention when there is a bottle of sparkling water on the table please-terrible training on the managers part. Also, ordered a bottle of white wine and came out room temperature the waiter put it on ice but it didn’t chill fast enough and made the wine undrinkable during our meal. Had to wait 10 mins for a steak knife to cut my steak, manager and staff were hanging out by the bar not paying attention to the tables. Ordered 3 appetizers and was rushed through them because our food came out immediately after the 4th time a bus boy came to clear our plates. We had to politely tell them 3 times prior to that we are still working on our appetizers. What’s the rush the Restaurant was empty! Food all around was terrible, salad was drenched in dressing making it so soggy and inedible, soup was cold and served in the wrong bowl. Bread biscuits which you are charged an extra $4 for came out COLD! My scallops were undercooked, and slimy. My husbands NY strip steak was a terrible cut and over cooked and rubbery, looked like it had been sitting under the heat lamp which would explain why they rushed everything out to us. We couldn’t finish any of the food, we couldn’t wait to get out of there $200 later and what a waste of money and our time. There’s so many better dining options on the North Fork with much better and locally sourced food and service. The only thing the Haylard has going for them is the sunset view. The new chef and manager have ruined this place since it opened in 2016. Used to be such a great experience dining here. Looked forward to it every weekend on our visits including the ice cream sundae which disappeared off the menu with new chef and manager. I only gave one star for the views everything else is sketchy eat at...