At The Barley Neck on Beach Road, a small sign inside the restaurant says it is an Ocean Friendly establishment, a designation from the Surfrider Foundation. The Cape Cod Chronicle ran a photo of that sign in August with its story on Orleans applying to become the first Ocean Friendly Community in the country.
Orleans' path to the national designation depends on how many local restaurants and inns earn a sign like that one. Right now only four restaurants in town hold the certification. One of them has closed for the winter. On November 9, Town Hall is hosting a breakfast to recruit the next group.
What the sign on the wall certifies
Surfrider's restaurant program comes with a short list of rules. According to the Cape & Islands Surfrider chapter, every certified restaurant has to meet seven requirements:
- Only reusable foodware for customers dining onsite
- Paper straws given out only on request
- No expanded polystyrene
- No plastic takeout bags
- Single-use accessories such as utensils given out only on request
- No beverages sold in plastic bottles
- Proper recycling
Each restaurant also has to pick at least three optional practices. The choices include discounts for customers who bring reusable items, regular vegetarian or vegan dishes, approved seafood or no seafood at all, energy efficiency, composting, and avoiding single-use or bio-based plastic takeout containers.
Certification has to be renewed every year. On its national program page, Surfrider says it can remove a restaurant it finds out of compliance. The chapter also notes that a listed restaurant may not meet every rule at every moment, so the list describes current members rather than a permanent honor roll.
Four names on the list, three kitchens in November
The chapter directory currently lists four Orleans restaurants: Las Chidas, The Rail, The Barley Neck, and Town Cove Taphouse. Here's how each one looks heading into November, based on the schedule each posts on its own website:
| Restaurant | Where | What it serves | November status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Chidas | 34 Route 6A | Tacos, burritos and plates | Posted hours are daily, noon to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday |
| Town Cove Taphouse | 22 Main Street | Craft beer and wine garden | "Fall" hours are Wednesday through Friday 2 to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday noon to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday |
| The Barley Neck | 5 Beach Road, East Orleans | Tavern fare, raw bar, seafood, pizza | Off-season Tuesday Spanish tapas and wine, 4:30 to 8 p.m., and a Holiday First Friday on December 4 |
| The Rail | 222 Main Street | Breakfast and brunch | Its website says "Closed for the season. See you in the spring!" |
Some of those posted hours carry no date, and off-season schedules on the Cape change with little notice, so check with each restaurant before you head out. The Rail points customers to its Instagram for updates.
Las Chidas calls itself a taco-centric hangout rather than a conventional Mexican restaurant. Its menu includes fish, jerk chicken, pork-and-pineapple, carne asada, shrimp and birria tacos. The owner describes a from-scratch kitchen that uses fresh, local ingredients whenever possible. The Barley Neck's dinner menu runs from Wellfleet oysters to local-catch fish and chips and house pizzas. The Rail will be back in spring with its corned-beef hash, pancakes and Benedicts.
Two of these four restaurants were the first. The Chronicle's June feature on The Barley Neck reported that The Barley Neck and The Rail were the first Orleans restaurants officially certified. Both had been working with the town on composting, water and energy conservation, and eco-friendly takeout containers.
Why four restaurants is a starting point
Restaurant certification is tied directly to the town-wide bid. Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Orleans campaign page sets a year-one goal of certifying 60 percent of eligible food-service businesses and 60 percent of eligible accommodations, rising to 75 percent later in the plan. The Chronicle reported the three-year target as 75 percent participation among restaurants and hotels by fall 2029.
Measured against those goals, four certified restaurants is an early count. The town is planning to grow it in the off-season, when owners have time to rethink their supplies and equipment before next summer.
That's the purpose of the Orleans Hospitality Breakfast on Monday, November 9, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at LCTV, 5 Namskaket Road. The Town of Orleans has invited restaurants, hotels, inns, B&Bs and rental property managers. The pitch focuses on business costs. Cape Light Compact offers free energy assessments and can pay up to 70 percent of recommended upgrades for eligible businesses. Heat pumps and efficiency upgrades can keep guests comfortable past summer. Restaurant certification under the Ocean Friendly program costs nothing. Orleans restaurants that are already certified are scheduled to talk about what it took.
The invitation ends with a line that explains how the town plans to grow the list: "Bring a manager, a chef, or the business next door." Amanda Converse, the town's economic development coordinator, is the contact for anyone who wants to attend.
The pieces Orleans already had in place
Restaurants are the newest part of the effort. Much of the rest was already in place. In its August 3 press release, the town lists existing restrictions on single-use plastic bags, polystyrene food containers, balloons and single-use plastic water bottles. It also cites pesticide and fertilizer controls, wastewater investments, native planting and municipal food-scrap composting.
Select Board member Michael Herman described how those efforts came together in comments quoted by the Cape Cod Chronicle: "Orleans has spent years building the pieces of this without necessarily calling it a single initiative."
The effort is coordinated by the Community that CARES Coalition, which CARE for the Cape & Islands started and which meets with the town. Partners include Surfrider Cape & Islands, town committees, business groups and residents. The town names three founding businesses: The Barley Neck, The Rail and Terra Firma.
Terra Firma is the only one of the three that isn't a restaurant. Its website describes work in agroecology, regenerative agriculture and permagardens. You can see its contribution on School Road. The town's May 2026 Town Talk newsletter thanked Surfrider volunteers from across New England for helping plant the Ocean Friendly Garden there with native species, after learning ocean-friendly landscaping techniques from Peter Jensen of Terra Firma. The town's August release describes the garden as New England's first publicly accessible Ocean Friendly Garden.
A race with Laguna Beach
The designation hasn't been awarded yet. As of the town's October 20 notice, no town in America had earned Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Community designation, and Orleans was "in the running to be first."
Orleans has competition. Isabella DeFrancesco, Surfrider's northeast regional manager, told the Cape Cod Chronicle that Orleans approached the foundation itself, and that Orleans and Laguna Beach, California, are competing to be the first Ocean Friendly Community. She said the national recognition is "what made the town excited about this process." The Chronicle also reported that the official designation would follow the plan's year-three milestones but could come sooner.
The Select Board endorsed the effort this summer, and Surfrider wrote about it in July as a big step toward the first Ocean Friendly Community. The board's vote and the town's existing bylaws were the first steps. The milestones still ahead count businesses. The plan's five pillars cover waste reduction, clean water, community engagement, measurable data, and a pillar for ocean-friendly businesses and tourism. That last pillar comes down to whether a kitchen on Route 6A or Main Street stops stocking plastic bottles and starts giving out straws only on request.
In November, three certified Orleans kitchens are posting hours: Las Chidas every day, Town Cove Taphouse Wednesday through Sunday, and The Barley Neck with its Tuesday tapas. The chapter's directory at capeandislands.surfrider.org is where any new Orleans certifications will appear.
At Cape Laurie, we watch closely as Orleans' restaurant scene changes from season to season, and we're glad to share which kitchens are open and which are joining the Ocean Friendly list as winter goes on. If you'd like to talk about Orleans with someone who follows it all year, schedule a consultation with Laurie.
