Taste of Summer

Sure, most of the snack shacks on the Atlantic Coast can slap together a pretty good grilled cheese with sand and mix a batch of powdered lemonade. But to find the very best - milkshakes made from real ice cream, fried mollusks with muscle, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and even good-for-you greens - you need an insider's guide to the very best food on the beaches and under the sun. Here it is.

MAINE

REID STATE PARK /// Georgetown
In the upper fingers of the ragged coastline north of Portland, there's an old-fashioned nameless clapboard shack that just happens to serve tasty thick grilled burgers and fluffy dough boys (you probably know the beach-and-fairgrounds delicacy as fried dough). It also has possibly the best prices in New England, but when you're on vacation, that's really beside the point. Find a table in the nearby picnic areas overlooking the lagoon or carry your lunch down past the beach roses and dune grasses to your blanket on the shore, where you can watch the waves crash and the burger's juices run down your arm.
Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends from Memorial Day until mid-June and then daily through Labor Day.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH PIER /// Old Orchard Beach
Yes, Senor Sanchez Cantina looks tacky. But it serves great Mexican food and is the pick of the unlikely pier on which it sits. Don't sniff at this cantina's North American fusion until you've tried the pulled-chicken burrito doused in a made-in-Maine hot sauce (the restaurant serves several kinds, including blueberry). You'll probably need a margarita to cool the heat. And, really, you should wait a while before getting on one of the rides.
Open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

LONG SANDS BEACH /// York
In the middle of Long Sands Beach, there is a huge cluster of the glistening dark boulders that are so ubiquitous on Maine's shores. Perched atop those rocks is Sun & Surf, the kind of snack shack that's not so ubiquitous. The fresh fried shrimp ($11.95 for a pint) are worth a special trip. They're small, especially sweet, and fried in batter light enough that you can actually taste the shrimp. Or try the fresh crabmeat on a homemade croissant, and for dessert a banana split made with local, extra-creamy Annabelle's ice cream. The patio tables have a view of the water and Nubble Lighthouse in the distance.
Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from May through Labor Day.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

OCEAN BOULEVARD /// Hampton Beach
Walking the strip at Hampton Beach, you pass a stand selling fatty, sugary food to tourists every few yards. Keep on walking until you reach Blink's Fry Doe, which makes what could be the best fried dough on any beach in New England. Blink's long stretches of dough come plain, dusted with powdered sugar (the classic), or slathered with any combo of 21 toppings - from pizza sauce and mozzarella to peanut butter and whipped cream. A word of caution: The dough is served so hot, your topping may melt and slide off. But you can always run down to the beach and rinse off in the water.
Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily in May and 8:30 a.m. until 1 a.m. June through early October.

MASSACHUSETTS

CRANE BEACH /// Ipswich
Health food makes sense on a pristine beach owned and maintained by the private nonprofit Trustees of Reservations. And much of the food at the no-name shack on Crane Beach is organic and grown locally. Try a mixed green salad wrap with raspberry vinaigrette, one of several wraps available daily from the rotating selection, or, on the weekends, when the barbecue comes out, a juicy burger. Just don't ask for fries: They don't have 'em.
Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Grilled hot dogs cost only $1.30 each at Sullivan's in South Boston. (Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene)

CASTLE ISLAND /// Boston
Boston's harbor cleanup gives us a new reason to go to Castle Island - as if we needed it. Sullivan's, our old reason, is a South Boston institution. Set close to the water, it has been owned and operated by the Sullivan family since 1951. Last year, hungry sun-seekers went through 31,000 pounds of grilled hot dogs there, all served on warm, toasted buns.
Open 8:45 a.m. to sunset from March to May and 8:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. from May to the last Sunday in November.

NANTASKET BEACH /// Hull
You can't miss the concrete expanse of Ally's at the Beach, which is set in a vast concrete pavilion that can most kindly be described as historic-looking. Don't worry. The place is actually a nice mix of classic and up-to-date, with smiling service, puffy sweet-potato fries, and lobster rolls made from huge chunks of claw and tail meat and just the right amount of mayo. It's hard to choose between that and the clam plates. Ally's offers both fried clam strips and fried clams with bellies, another New England summertime classic you shouldn't miss.
Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends from Memorial Day until the Sunday after Labor Day.

DUXBURY BEACH PARK /// Duxbury
The building housing The Black Crab sticks up high enough over Duxbury's grassy dunes so that you can see it from most of the beach. Daily fare includes ice cream, popcorn shrimp, and chicken fingers to go, but after 5 p.m. on weekends, the kitchen gets hot. Sit down at an indoor table for a steamed lobster dinner ($11.95); owners Dana and Missy Battista won't care if you're still wearing only a swimsuit, sun hat, and flip-flops or if the kids are a little sunpunchy. You'll probably see some locals here for dinner not in beach attire; they drive to the beach just for dinner after the sun sets and the parking lot clears.
Open 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday to Sunday from mid-June through mid-September.

OLD SILVER BEACH /// Falmouth
Several hundred yards separate the two Sandbar Grill shacks, run by a husband-and-wife team. It's probably wise to stay out of the water for at least a half-hour after eating their "biggest burger on the beach" (11/2 pounds of Angus beef), but the buffalo chicken wrap made with crispy chicken, chunky blue cheese dressing, and extremely hot sauce may have you rushing into the surf for cool relief.
Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from May through Labor Day.

NAUSET BEACH /// Orleans
The scent of stringy, crispy onion rings from Liam's must carry all the way from Provincetown and Falmouth, because on some nights, everyone on the Cape seems to be vying for a seat at one of the patio tables. John Ohman named the place for his baby boy 16 years ago. Now his crew peels more than 2 tons of onions each week, discarding the thick outer skins and knobby centers and breading the sliced rings - all by hand. Forget about fitting into your bathing suit tomorrow and wash down a boat of the rings with an enormous frappe. Both of these specialties are well worth the calories - and the wait.
Open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily (and until 9 p.m. Mondays) from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.

BASS RIVER BEACH /// South Yarmouth
Dianne Collatos opened Striper's Sunset Grill just last summer in a nice new building, and the place didn't stay a secret for long. Collatos had worked with Jimmy Buffet's restaurant in Key West, and it shows: Both vibe and menu at Striper's are one part laid-back hippie, one part health-nut hippie. Boaters radio in their orders for fresh fruit smoothies, Greek or grilled chicken salads, and margherita pizzas. If those don't reel you in, just try to resist the scent of baking chocolate chip cookies that wafts from Collatos's kitchen over the sand all day.
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from mid-May through September.

RHODE ISLAND

ATLANTIC BEACH /// Middletown
Grab a patio table and think for a minute or two before you order. When you get to one of the windows of Johnny's Atlantic Beach Club & Pavilion, you have a lot of choices. Consider grilled steak tips or fresh fish, a number of different salads, and open-face turkey or Reuben sandwiches. Late in the afternoon, it's easier to pick just one thing: Johnny's adult version of a classic kids' popsicle. It's called the Astro Bomb, and it's made with grenadine, raspberry vodka, lemonade, and blue curacao layered in red, white, and blue stripes.
Open 11 a.m. to sunset daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

ROGER WHEELER STATE PARK /// Narragansett
At the concession stand in Roger Wheeler State Park (it doesn't actually have a name), you'll want to sample two Ocean State specialties. First there's Del's frozen lemonade, which has been made from the same recipe since 1948; beachgoers slurp up millions of lemons every summer in the cooling drinks. Then there are the Rhode Island-style clam cakes. The unique, ball-shaped cakes are made from strips of fresh clams that are rolled in a special batter and deep-fried. Go ahead and get them with fries.
Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily Memorial Day through Labor Day.

MISQUAMICUT BEACH /// Westerly
If you're up with the gulls, visit Sam's Snack Bar for a diner-style breakfast out on the deck, which is right on the beach. The omelet, served with Italian sausage and home fries, should hold you for several hours of either rest or exertion in the sun. If you arrive later in the day - and ravenously hungry - go for the filling chicken-parmesan grinder. To cool off, choose your flavor (there are plenty) and order an enormous milkshake.
Open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Janice O'Leary is a freelance writer in Boston.