Nantucket Breakfast Sandwich Guide: 83 Sandwiches From $4.75 to $22

Let's be honest. You did not fly into Nantucket, or take the fast ferry, or catch the puddle-jumper from Hyannis, to have a sad granola bar in your room. You came to eat. And if one food threads together every corner of this island, from the fishing docks at dawn to the sun-soaked decks of Wauwinet, it is the breakfast sandwich.

I went through every published menu on the island and found 83 of them at 34 restaurants, from a $4.75 ham and cheese croissant to a $22 hotel showstopper. Here is everything you need to know before your first morning on-island.

The $4.75 Secret Weapon: Island Coffee

Before the good stuff, the play nobody mentions. Island Coffee at 4 Broad Street, open from 5:30 a.m., sells a fresh-baked Ham & Cheese Croissant with Swiss for $4.75. No egg, but on an island where a coffee can run seven dollars, this little croissant is practically charitable. Grab one on your way to the ferry and feel smug about it.

The Under-$10 Club: Where Locals Actually Eat

Yummy at 63 Surfside Road, mid-island, makes a breakfast sandwich of free-range eggs, applewood smoked bacon and American cheese on an English muffin for $6.95. Pure, honest, and exactly what you want after a bike ride. It is a morning-and-lunch spot (7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., closed Friday and Saturday).

Julie's Kitchen on South Water Street near the wharves keeps it simple at $7.99. No description online, just a breakfast sandwich at a breakfast sandwich price. Respect.

Fresh, the takeout spot at 5 Salem Street in the Historic District, offers its base sandwich, the EGGBERT (scrambled eggs, American cheese, sriracha aioli on an English muffin), for $9, with bacon, sausage or avocado as add-ons. The name alone should win an award.

Two more under ten: Stubby's on Broad Street lists egg and cheese, bacon, ham or sausage versions at $9.50 apiece, and The Surf in Surfside does a two-egg and American cheese sandwich on a toasted brioche bun for $9.95 ($12.99 with bacon or sausage).

The Sweet Spot: $10 to $14, Nantucket's Breakfast Heartland

This is where the island really shines. Most people land here, and they should.

Provisions at 3 Harbor Square makes what it calls The Original Breakfast Sandwich, a herbed egg frittata with cheddar, bacon and house-made tomato chipotle jam, for $10.05. Yes, five cents over ten dollars. It is adorably precise, and the tomato chipotle jam is the kind of thing you will be thinking about on the ferry home. The Egg White Frittata Sandwich with peppers, spinach, feta, scallions, crushed avocado and tomato is $10.51.

Out near the airport, Nobadeer Café on Miller Lane has a Breakfast Sandwich (bacon or sausage, egg, American cheese, everything bagel) for $10 and its own creation, the Nobadeer B.E.C., with bacon, egg, American cheese, red onion and spicy mayo on sourdough, for $11. It has attitude, and it has you covered before a 7 a.m. departure. Crosswinds at the Airport is the terminal-side alternative: the "One Hander" (one egg, cheddar, choice of meat on an English muffin) is $10.95.

Then there is Roastd at the airport gas station on Airport Road. Roastd has four locations on the island, but the airport is the one with the kitchen; the others pour coffee and drinks. For $12 you pick your protein, smoked bacon, smoked country ham or turkey bacon, riding on a brioche bun with two fried eggs, cheddar and tomato jam. For $14 you upgrade to the Chorizo & Egg (housemade chorizo, pepperjack, avocado salsa) or the Morning Mr. Crisp, a fried egg and crispy chicken cutlet with roasted garlic aioli and grilled onions. Passing through the airport, Roastd has you.

Millie's mACK Muffin deserves its own paragraph. Two fried eggs, American cheese, sausage patty or bacon, on a buttered, toasted Portuguese muffin: $12, at both the Madaket location (the far west end of the island, a destination in itself) and the Rotary location mid-island. The Portuguese muffin is the move. It is denser, slightly sweet, and holds up to all that egg without falling apart in your hand.

Gyp-Sea Cafe at Brant Point runs a tight breakfast menu anchored by three sandwiches: the Classic Egg & Cheese ($10.95), the Egg White Pesto with goat cheese and tomato on an English muffin ($12.95), and the Bacon Avocado, scrambled egg, cheddar, avocado, bacon, tomato and sriracha aioli on a fluffy English muffin, for $14.95. It is a proper sit-down spot with harbor light and coffee that hits.

Two more in the heartland: Island Kitchen on Chin's Way serves its breakfast sandwich (scrambled eggs, American cheese, bacon, ham or sausage on a Portuguese muffin) for $12, and Lemon Press on Main Street lists a $13 English muffin sandwich with egg, cheddar and Aleppo aioli, with a gluten-free option.

$14 to $17: Character Sandwiches

This is where places stop stacking proteins and start telling a little story.

Club Car at 1 Main Street serves its Egg Sandwich on a croissant with bacon, egg, cheese and house aioli, with hash browns on the side, for $14. A full breakfast in sandwich form at one of downtown's most iconic spots, served 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Born and Bread at 35 Centre Street earns its place with a whole lineup, each panini-pressed on classic sourdough: Egg and Cheese ($12.95), Avocado Egg and Cheese ($14.95), Bacon Egg and Cheese ($14.95), Sausage Egg and Cheese ($15.95) and the flagship BB Sandy ($16.95) with bacon, egg, cheddar, tomato and sriracha aioli. Open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday.

Casa Real near the airport lists The Classic Breakfast Sandwich at $15: bagel or English muffin, egg, American cheese, and sausage, bacon or ham.

Queequeg's adds a distinctly un-American twist at brunch: bacon, egg and cheddar on sourdough with Irish Brown Sauce and fries on the side, $16. Its sister restaurant Town serves the same sandwich at lunch. It sounds simple. The brown sauce makes it something else entirely.

Pip and Anchor on Amelia Drive goes its own direction with a Veggie Breakfast Sandwich ($15) of pasture-raised eggs, okonomiyaki, shishitos and tonkatsu sauce on PDA sourdough. It contains fish sauce, so not strictly vegetarian, but it is absolutely the most interesting breakfast sandwich on this list. The Sausage, Egg & Cheese ($16), with maple sausage, cheddar and scallions, is the safer but still excellent choice.

The Classics From Across the Island

Stubby's in the Historic District is the downtown workingman's deli, and if you are really hungry there is the Hungry Man Breakfast Sandwich: three eggs, bacon, sausage, ham and cheese on a sub roll, $14.95. It is exactly what it sounds like.

Island Kitchen has a second mode: THE ANIMAL (two panko-crusted eggs, sausage, bacon and house-made hollandaise on a brioche bun, $19) on its Signature Specials menu. It is not subtle.

Bagel Bar on Straight Wharf builds its all-day bagel breakfast sandwich to order with your choice of cheese and meats, listed at $19 to $21 depending on the menu.

The Spots That Don't Post Prices (and Are Worth It)

Some of the island's best breakfast sandwiches come from places that do not publish prices. You have to show up. That is part of the charm.

Wicked Island Bakery on Bayberry Court, mid-island, names its sandwiches like characters in a novel: The Islander (two eggs, cheddar, house-cured bacon), The Wicked Local (two eggs, cheddar), The Lorraine (eggs, Swiss, caramelized onion, bacon), The Hangover (double bacon, house-made sausage, cheddar) and The Gobbler (turkey sausage, eggs, cheddar). These are people who take the breakfast sandwich seriously as an art form.

Bartlett's Ocean View Farm in Cisco, the legendary farm stand, makes sandwiches to order: The Classic (two eggs, American cheese and bacon, sausage or ham on an English muffin), Mr. Popular (two eggs, bacon, cheddar, red onion and sriracha mayo on a bagel), or build your own. Eating one while wandering the farm stand is one of the great Nantucket mornings.

Claudette's on Main Street in Siasconset is a case study in the joy of getting up early and heading to the far end of the island. Sausage, ham or bacon with egg and cheese on an English muffin or plain bagel, served daily from 8 to 11, in a village that feels like it exists outside of time.

Toppers at The Wauwinet, the island's most remote and most luxurious inn, has the Broken Yolk Sandwich: two fried eggs, cob-smoked bacon, maple sausage or Canadian bacon, and Vermont cheddar on a croissant. No price listed. You are at the Wauwinet. You know what you signed up for.

The Premium Tier: $18 to $22

Yes, you can spend this much on a breakfast sandwich on Nantucket. Some of them are worth it.

Fresh, the downtown takeout spot that keeps showing up on this list for a reason, runs its top-tier sandwiches at $18 to $19. The MORNING GLORY (colby jack, avocado, bacon, chipotle aioli on a croissant) and the WAKE N' BACON (applewood bacon, a hash brown inside the sandwich, jalapeño cream cheese and sriracha aioli on a plain or everything bagel) are both $18. The BREAKFAST BLT, with eggs, applewood bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and parmesan aioli on sourdough, is $19. The TAUNTY CROISSANTY ($16) sits just below them. Fresh is doing things with breakfast sandwiches that most kitchens never attempt.

Easy Street Restaurant in the Historic District charges $21 for its brunch version: over-hard egg, bacon or sausage, American cheese, local bread, home fries on the side. Essentially a full brunch plate.

Black Eyed Susan's, the beloved breakfast institution on India Street, lists a Pimento Cheese + English Muffin at $21.50 among its "Bes Best." No menu description. You either know Black Eyed Susan's or you are about to.

At the top of the mountain, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel on Easton Street serves the Early Bird Sandwich for $22: two eggs any style, choice of bacon, sausage or country ham, breakfast potatoes, Portuguese muffin. Hotel breakfast at its most polished. (Kids get the $18 Whale's Tail, two eggs and aged cheddar on a toasted bolo with fruit.)

The Bottom Line

Nantucket's breakfast sandwich scene runs the full spectrum, from a $4.75 croissant grabbed at a coffee counter to a $22 hotel plate, with Portuguese muffins, sriracha aiolis, panko-crusted eggs, okonomiyaki and Irish brown sauce in between. There is a sandwich for every mood, every budget and every corner of the island.

The best one depends on where you are standing when you are hungry. If we had to pick: find the mACK Muffin at Millie's, eat it in the parking lot, watch the Rotary traffic spin by, and know that you are, in this moment, doing Nantucket exactly right.