Cambridge, MA • Est. 2000
Our Story.
Fresh seafood. No tablecloths. No attitude.
Since
2000.
“The best lobster roll is the simplest one.”
Jasper White opened Summer Shack in May 2000 in a building near Alewife Station that used to be a Polynesian restaurant. The idea was straightforward — serve the same quality seafood he'd been cooking at Boston's best restaurants, but lose the tablecloths. Lobster from Maine, clams from Ipswich, oysters from the Cape. Crack them at the table.
Twenty-five years later, that's still exactly what Summer Shack is — a seafood restaurant that takes the food seriously without taking itself too seriously. The menu changes with the seasons and the catch, but the commitment to fresh, honest New England seafood hasn't changed since day one.
Jasper White
James Beard Award winner. Author of Lobster at Home, Fifty Chowders, and The Summer Shack Cookbook. Jasper settled in Boston in 1979 and spent over four decades dedicated to New England seafood. He passed away in May 2024, but the standards he set — fresh catch, honest cooking, no shortcuts — remain the foundation of everything here.
His philosophy was simple: start with the best fish, don't mess it up, and let the ocean do the work.
The Rules.
If it's not fresh today, it's not on the board today.
Buy from the boats, not the warehouse.
No tablecloths. No attitude. Just good fish.
Let the ocean do the work.