Great food, run by great people. Just a little claustrophobic for taller people.

My partner's relatives chose this place to dine when we visited last fall. I had wanted to eat here ever since I lived on the cape one summer. Well, I can't understand what all the fuss is about. Cramped, uncomfortable seating; friendly, yet slow, service; and incredibly mediocre overpriced food. Thank goodness I live in California where restaurants like this would not survive on their reputation alone. This fall I will pick the restaurant on our visit. All you five star reviewers can be assured that I will never take up one of these coveted (?) tables again.

Many years ago, while perusing books in the quaint used book store, I happened to overhear two younger women and an older gentleman proclaim Front Street as the one place they felt confident in suggesting to tourists and locals alike. I forced my way into the conversation and asked "Why not Esther's?" (Esther's no longer exists and Enzo now sits in its old position.) I was informed that while Esther's had a great gimmick (supposed ghost haunting) and a great location (mere steps from the nightclubs and the after-hours haunt, Spiritus Pizza), the prices and selection hardly matched the pomp and circumstance. I thought to myself that these three had to be fools, but I took the dare & booked reservations for Front Street.

To have to eat my preconceptions and my original opinion was sweet revenge. Front Street was absolutely everything these three bibliophiles said it was and more. I ordered from the specials list (a list the chef puts out weekly, which means the locals and full-season residents won't get bored, but that the day-trippers or week-long tourists can rest-assured the specials they reserved for the day before will be around the day they actually dine.)

The atmosphere is romantic, quaint, mildly claustrophobic. I got a sense of the Paris of Henry Miller & Anais Nin sitting amidst so many varied people, elbow to elbow. The bar staff make drinks properly, but I suggest foregoing the cocktails or limiting the drinks to one. The chef's wine list is applaudable: this woman has her act together. She studies food and its complementary art & science in a way I don't get as a language, but love as a result upon the palate. Her pre-dinner salad is simple and beautiful (nice use of beets for color), her portions are ample enough to fill yet not so obscene as to go unfinished. We've even had dessert there, despite not really needing another course, because we had no real desire to leave. A nice dessert wine is always fun, anyway.

Although the chef's originating menu was Italian & Italian-inspired (and you'll find all the usual suspects from Milan to Florence to Bologna to Rome to Sicily as influences on her daily menu), her specials often have flourishes that seem as though haute cuisine had a shotgun wedding with rustic country cooking. The results have always proved in her favor. I'd trust her to serve me any meal for the rest of my life.

I tend to book at least two reservations here and two at Edwige At Night whenever I spend a week in P-town. I may be less likely to wander from perfection than the more experimental diners, but at P-Town prices, I want the sure thing.

We went to Front Street on Saturday night 9/1 and were greeted with the same rudeness as the previous reviewer. And we had a reservation.

On a positive note, it was our first time there and we were very impressed with the food. Our table server was polite and attentive. I definitely recommend Front Street, so long as you can get into the restaurant and to a table without incident.