Bronx
City Island
A fishing village at the end of the Bronx, breaded, fried, and eaten over the water.
Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
City Island is a mile and a half long, one bridge from the mainland, and nothing like the borough it belongs to. One avenue runs the island's full length, from the bridge down to Belden Point, past Victorian houses, sail lofts, and antique shops. The place built yachts and harvested oysters for a century; America's Cup defenders came off these ways. It still smells like salt and outboard fuel.
People make the trip for the seafood, and the seafood is a specific genre: enormous, breaded, fried, and carried on a tray to a waterside table. Johnny's Reef at the island's southern tip has been the standard-bearer for generations — order at the counter, defend your fried shrimp from the gulls, and watch the planes drop toward LaGuardia over Long Island Sound. Sammy's Fish Box has fed families on the avenue since 1966.
The rhythm here is seasonal. Summer weekends bring lines down the block and a slow parade of cars with the windows down. Come on a weekday or in the shoulder months and the island reverts to what it has always been: a working waterfront town that happens to have a Bronx zip code, with sunsets that run the full width of the Sound.
One avenue running from the bridge to Belden Point
Fried-seafood trays carried to tables at the water's edge
Masts, sail lofts, and yacht-club burgees between the houses
Victorian porches a short cast from Long Island Sound
Local notes
Johnny's Reef
The open-air fried-seafood hall at Belden Point, the island's southern tip, serving shrimp, scallops, and whole fish from a long counter to acres of outdoor tables. Cash, trays, gulls, and a panorama of the Sound. It runs seasonally, roughly spring through late autumn — confirm before a cold-weather trip.
Sammy's Fish Box
A family seafood restaurant on City Island Avenue since 1966, known for portions that arrive like a dare: lobster tails stacked over rice, combination platters that feed a table. Where Johnny's is a counter and a tray, Sammy's is a sit-down occasion, open year-round.
The Lobster Box
A long-running lobster house near the island's southern end, with dining rooms facing the water and a menu built around whole lobsters done a dozen ways. One of the anchors of the avenue's old guard of seafood rooms.
Through the lens
Golden hour is the island's whole show: the light comes low across the Sound and the moored boats do the composing for you. Shoot the avenue's storefronts and porches in the morning before traffic builds. In summer, the crowds at Johnny's are a subject in themselves — trays, gulls, and all.
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.