Clarke Cooke House

Clarke Cooke House has occupied its position on Bannister’s Wharf since 1973, and that longevity is not accidental. It does several things well under one roof: a formal upstairs dining room for serious meals, the Candy Store bar for something more casual, and the Boom Boom Room on the upper level for groups that want to extend the evening properly. The Candy Store is the most useful stop for a group at any stage of a Newport evening — it gets busy, the bar is excellent, and the energy is right whether you’re arriving for pre-dinner drinks or staying for the duration. The harbour views from the upstairs bar are among the best in the city, particularly in the summer months when the wharf is alive with sailboats and foot traffic. For larger groups celebrating something — a wedding party in the evening, a golf trip winding down after the final round — booking a table in the upstairs dining room and then moving to the bar is a reliably good formula. The wine list is serious and the cocktails are made properly. Clarke Cooke House is a Newport institution in the truest sense: the kind of place that generations of visitors have made a fixture of their trips and that still earns that loyalty. Reservations recommended for dining; the bar is walk-in and worth it.