About Us

Some restaurants are born from culinary school ambitions and business plans. Ours was born from a little chaos, a lot of heart, and a condemned ice cream parlor in Montauk.

After 9/11 rattled the Gross family's world in Tribeca, Lewis and Tracey packed up their three boys and headed east — to their summer home at the end of the island, where the ocean meets the edge of everything. Tracey had always dreamed of opening a restaurant. Lewis had always had ideas. Together, they had just enough stubbornness to make it work.

They gutted an old ice cream parlor, convinced the locals that fish tacos were actually a good idea (it took a while), and opened The Gig Shack — a Bohemian sidewalk bistro that Montauk didn't know it needed. The early days weren't exactly smooth sailing. But they held on, cooked hard, poured generously, and eventually, the town came around.

That was over 20 years ago.

Today, The Gig Shack is run by Gray — Lewis's son, who grew up in these walls — keeping the same spirit alive that started it all: good food, good drinks, and the kind of laid-back energy you can only find at the end of a very long island.

Our story is even in a book. Montauk Tango: From the Ashes of 9/11 to the Frying Pan of a Hampton's Restaurant by Lewis Gross. Pick up a copy, grab a seat on the sidewalk, and order something with a cold drink. You're exactly where you're supposed to be.