Best of Boston

2003 Best Bar, North

The Rockmore Dry Dock

A yacht club aura sets the tone for the lively crowd that comes here to nosh on lobster, steak, and fried seafood in the Yardarm Saloon while admiring the view of Salem Harbor. Live and DJ-spun music keeps things playful, as do the bar games and irreverent signature drinks such as the “fearless margarita” and “Woody’s relaxer,” a potent vodka, rum, and fruit juice concoction. The best part about the restaurant isn’t dry at all: the Rockmore Floating Restaurant, which consists of a tent-covered bar atop two tied-together barges moored in the harbor. Access is as simple as hopping on a launch from either the restaurant or Village Street dock in Marblehead. Gives new meaning to the term “wet bar.”

94 Wharf Street, Pickering Wharf, Salem, 978-740-1001, pickeringwharf.com/rockmore.html