"It will be fun to have people experience both sides of The Buoy, from the beach to the mall," Meghan Protasi told the Cape May Star and Wave this spring. She had just opened a second Buoy Coffee Shop at 315 Washington St. In the same interview she named a real limit of beach-town business. She said holiday-season energy is harder to capture on the beachfront as it gets colder and windier, and she wanted the new location to build a year-round clientele.
That one remark lays out the town's fall and winter. From now through the end of December, the busiest parts of Cape May City's calendar take place a few blocks back from the ocean, on the Washington Street side of the historic district. The 2026 newcomers that say they're staying open through winter chose that side too.
One Owner, Two Addresses, Two Seasons
Protasi's businesses show how the Promenade and the Mall run on different clocks. She has managed Pete Smith's Surf Shop for her family since 2010. Her aunt and uncle opened it in 1983. She opened The Buoy Coffee Shop on the Promenade in 2023 and added Stockton Place Beachfront Eatery in mid-summer 2024. She told the paper she grew up on the Washington Street Mall at her family's business, and that opening a shop of her own at the top of the Mall "feels full circle." Her coffee and food ventures, though, started on the beachfront.
The Washington Street shop is different. It took over the former Out There Coffee space in the Washington Street Commons at the start of April. Protasi said it would extend Buoy Coffee's season, with longer hours for local workers, residents and neighbors. She also tied the move to her staff: "It's also important to me to grow in a way that creates more consistent opportunities for our staff, especially during the quieter winter months."
A second 2026 arrival sits a block away. Il Riccio, a coastal Italian BYOB at 311 Mansion St., says on its website that it is "just steps away from the iconic Washington Street Mall" and is open year-round, with lunch on weekends. Its menu runs to handmade pastas, raw oysters and grilled Spanish octopus. The dining room is described as quiet and geared toward adults. Flip-flops and beachwear aren't permitted, and reservations go through OpenTable.
Neither business has published a week-by-week winter schedule. But both have said publicly that they plan to be open in January, and both are on the side of town where the cold-weather calendar takes place.
The Calendar, Date by Date
Laid out in order, the next three months of events are almost all inland. Each one below is confirmed for 2026 by its organizer.
- Victorian Weekend, October 9 to 12. Cape May MAC lists a vintage baseball game on Saturday, October 10, at 11 a.m. and a Beer Trail from 10:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day. On Sunday, October 11, there's a craft show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a lecture at 5 p.m. The Greater Cape May Chamber's calendar lists the weekend as October 10 to 12. If you're planning around Friday, check with MAC first.
- Halloween Happenings, all of October. The free Department 56 Halloween exhibit is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through October 31. Trick-or-treating at the Physick Estate is Saturday, October 31, from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Cape May Restaurant Weekend, November 5 to 8. This Thursday-to-Sunday event offers three-course, fixed-price menus starting at $38 per person. Organizers recommend reservations where restaurants take them.
- Holiday kickoff at the Physick Estate, November 21. The holiday-preview craft show opens at 4 p.m. Strolling musicians play from 5 to 5:30, the band starts at 5:30, and Santa lights the tree at 7 p.m.
- Congress Hall Winter Wonderland, November 27 to December 31. Posted hours are Thursday 3 to 8 p.m., Friday 2 to 9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Special hours are possible on some dates. Congress Hall's own tree lighting is Friday, December 4.
- Christmas Candlelight House Tours, December 5, 12 and 19. Each Saturday tour runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
None of these takes place on the sand. The anchors are the Physick Estate, Congress Hall and the historic houses on the Candlelight route. Protasi's comment about the beachfront getting colder and windier fits that calendar closely.
What's New on the December Schedule
This year's most concrete change ties a restaurant directly to the holiday tours. Cape May MAC is offering dinner packages with the Washington Inn for the first time. Guests have a three-course dinner at 4 p.m. and then take the Candlelight House Tour from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The package is offered on December 12 and 19 only. The December 5 tour has no dinner option, so anyone who wants the package has two dates to choose from.
The Washington Inn, at 801 Washington St., has long been listed as a year-round restaurant. That directory listing is old, though, and it tells readers to check the restaurant's website for current hours. The dinner package is the one firm date on the books there.
Restaurant Weekend has a timing detail of its own. Participating chefs plan their menus around what's available, so menus usually go up at least two weeks before the event. For the November 5 start, that means menus around October 22. That's about when the participating list becomes useful for making reservations.
What Has Actually Been Posted About Winter
As of early October 2026, no Cape May City restaurant, café or bar has published specific winter 2026–27 closure dates or a reduced-hours schedule. Hours on websites and directories describe the present, and they may not hold for February. Here is where the main names stand right now.
| Business | Address | What's been stated | How firm it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buoy Coffee Shop Downtown | 315 Washington St. | Aiming for year-round customers and longer hours | Owner's stated goal; no hours published |
| Il Riccio | 311 Mansion St. | Open year-round, lunch on weekends | On its site; no weekly hours given |
| Blue Pig Tavern | 200 Congress Place | "Open Daily," with breakfast, lunch and dinner | Current posted hours |
| The Ebbitt Room | 25 Jackson St. | Dinner nightly, bar open daily | Current posted hours |
| The Washington Inn | 801 Washington St. | Listed year-round; check site for hours | Older directory listing |
The two long-standing names in the table have the most detail posted. Blue Pig Tavern lists breakfast Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. and weekends from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner runs Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. The Ebbitt Room posts the same dinner hours. Its bar opens at 2 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and at noon Thursday through Sunday. Both are listed in CapeMay.com's directory of year-round restaurants. The posted hours could still change after the holidays.
Coffee Tyme's directory entry lists Mall hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 414 Washington St. and weekend-only hours at 315 Beach Ave. That entry dates from October 2025, so it doesn't confirm anything for this winter. Even so, the Mall location is listed for every day of the week and the Beach Avenue location for weekends only.
Some Beach Avenue businesses did invest this year. Carney's Restaurant & Bar at 411 Beach Ave. went through a major renovation over the winter, with a reopening planned for March 13, 2026. Surfside Grill opened in the Promenade space at 730 Beach Ave. with a preview period from March 28 through April 12. Those investments came in spring, ahead of the summer season. Of the 2026 openings, the ones whose owners have spoken publicly about winter are on Washington Street and Mansion Street.
Planning the Season From October
Seen as a whole, the season has a few clear anchors. Victorian Weekend starts this Friday, or Saturday by the Chamber's listing. Restaurant Weekend is the next big food event, and its menus should post in the second half of October. The Physick Estate tree lighting on November 21 opens the holidays, a week before Congress Hall's Winter Wonderland opens on November 27. The two December Saturdays with the Washington Inn dinner package, December 12 and 19, are the newest addition. The 2026 newcomers that say they're staying open, Buoy's Washington Street shop and Il Riccio, are each a short walk from the Mall.
Lisa Bassett at Seashore Realty has watched Cape May's calendar shift each fall for more than three decades. If you're thinking about where you'd want to be in December as well as in July, whether that's walking distance to the Mall, the Physick Estate or the Candlelight route, Lisa would be glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
