Navy Beach at the end of treasure hunt

Searching for Montauk’s Navy Beach is like going on a treasure hunt.

Once off the highway, visitors follow wooden arrows tacked up on telephone poles to find the restaurant. Several turns later the second obstacle is to make it over the railroad tracks where drivers can’t see the other side of the road—or the expanse of blue water in front of them—until they are flat on the tracks.

Third is finding the bungalow, nestled in the sand between two housing complexes.

But inside the restaurant located on Navy Road visitors will find what general manager Franklin Ferguson calls a “casual and approachable” atmosphere, where East End residents are encouraged to sip a drink at the bar, enjoy the view of Fort Pond Bay and beyond, or eat in the dining area.

Boaters are also welcome to drop anchor and dine.

“Locals make you or break you,” said Mr. Ferguson, 31, a Montauk resident.

Several locals crowded around the bar on a recent Friday afternoon watching Portugal take on Brazil in the World Cup. “We’ve had hundreds of people coming in to watch the games,” said Mr. Ferguson as he stood in the indoor dining area.

The decor stays true to the nautical theme, with porthole windows letting in sunlight behind the 35-foot bar, vintage bathing suits in patriotic colors decorating the dining room wall and wooden floors and overhead beams adding to the feeling of being inside a ship’s hull.

“It started with a navy theme because of the road and the history of the area with the navy,” said Kristina Davis, creative director and wife of co-owner and founding partner, Frank Davis. The United States Navy was based in the area during World War II and two Navy piers are still in evidence.

The entrance to the dining area is lined with bathing suits that Ms. Davis ordered on Ebay from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s from England, Australia, Ireland and other parts of the world.

Mr. Davis is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration.

Mr. Ferguson, now a sommelier, started his restaurant career as a dishwasher at Burger King but switched paths while attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he studied biology and psychology. “I was originally going to study medicine,” he said, standing close to white picnic tables and navy blue umbrellas on the 200-foot stretch of private beach outside the restaurant.

“I had a vision of what Montauk is missing,” Mr. Ferguson, formerly of Sushi Samba, said. He explained the area could use a little more sushi on its menus and more restaurants lining the water.

The “raw and cebiches menu” includes $14 salmon tartare served with wakame, ginger miso, crispy wontons and tobiko caviar.

As for the unusual spelling of cebiches—it’s usually spelled with a ‘v’— Mr. Davis said it was intentional. “It is deliberate, we’re taking more of a South American approach with raw fish.”

The menu displays a New American influence in regional coastal cuisine that includes fresh seafood and local produce. Appetizers include $10 Montauk clam and corn chowder and $15 jumbo lump crab cake served with green apple fennel slaw.

Entrées include $22 buttermilk fried chicken served with cheddar jalapeño cornbread; $23 pan seared sea scallops served with sweet corn and fingerling potatoes with golden raisin caponata; and a $38 New York strip steak served with roasted shallots, wild mushroom ragout and roasted garlic demi glace. Turf lovers can choose a $16 Navy burger dressed in onion bacon marmalade and Cabot cheddar and served with hand-cut fries and house pickles.

Patrons who still have room for dessert can order a $9 chocolate truffle mousse cake, or $9 key lime custard served in a coconut crust with mango coulis.

The restaurant is running summer specials that include half-off all rosé wines after sunset each Sunday evening, and lobster basket nights every Tuesday that include two lobsters, a basket of fries and four beers for $50.

The restaurant is also pairing up with Surf Craft on Saturday nights so guests can drop their kids from off from 5 to 7 p.m. for an evening of arts and crafts while they dine.

For an extended celebration of Bastille Day, the restaurant will host beach bocce ball from noon to 6 p.m. through Sunday, July 25, along with drink specials.