Southold Social and A Lure seafood restaurant close

This month sees the shuttering of two Southold dining stalwarts: A Lure served its last meal on Oct. 11 and Southold Social will close after dinner on Oct. 31.

Partner Adam Lovett said that sales at A Lure this year had been off by 15%. "In an industry where margins are so tight," he said, "that is just not sustainable."

He cited 2024 as the year that business started declining and conceded that "I don’t know when it’s coming back. It could be years." Attributing the downturn largely to the general economy, he noted, "I’m getting the same good reviews, I am seeing all the same customers, I just see them less."

Worse, even regular customers are spending less money. "They are eating less, sharing entrees." And, not only are food sales down, but so are liquor sales, especially among young customers, he said.

Lovett has been a fixture on the North Fork scene since he and chef Tom Schaudel opened A Mano in Mattituck in 2008. That restaurant is staying open as is their catering company, By Hand. "Catering was always supposed to be where the big profits were for us," he explained, "but, for the last few years it’s been subsidizing the restaurants."

 The catering division of Southold Social, Social Catering, will also continue; it will operate out of A Mano. 

Lovett and Schaudel opened A Lure Chowder House & Oyster-ia in 2011 in what had, for decades, been The Seafood Barge in Port of Egypt Marine. Lovett said that when Hinckley Yachts took over the marina earlier this year, "there was no time left on our lease. We could have negotiated with the new landlord, but we just didn’t see the point."

Lovett was part of the team that opened Southold Social in 2022 in what had been Caci North Fork (2014 to 2018). Initially the chef had been Francois Payard (the celebrated pastry chef who, at the time, also ran the kitchen at Southold General) but he left in 2025 and his shoes were filled by Schaudel, a one-time titan of Long Island dining who, in addition to his North Fork ventures is also executive chef at Mill River Club in Oyster Bay.

 While Lovett is no longer associated with Southold Social, the lease holder retains the name and may reopen in the spring. 

Down but not out, Lovett declared, "We’ll regroup, and we’ll come back."