First Wilcox Lobster Boil Brings a New England Feast to Historic Charlestown Tavern
First Wilcox Lobster Boil brings Maine lobster and steamers, locally harvested oysters and clams, live music and all the traditional fixings to Caf Bar at the Wilcox on Saturday, September 19, as the historic Charlestown tavern starts what organizers hope will become a new end-of-summer tradition.
The boil runs from 3 to 7 p.m. on the Wilcox patio, weather permitting. Tickets are $85 and include the seafood feast plus a complimentary glass of wine or Narragansett beer.
And this is a serious seafood spread.
Caf Bar’s menu calls for Maine lobster and steamers, oysters from nearby Quonochontaug and Ninigret ponds, clams, corn on the cob, red potatoes, sausage and the other fixings associated with a traditional New England lobster boil.
There will also be live music and a sweet treat to finish the afternoon.
Lobster From Maine, Oysters From Right Down the Road
The menu gives the meal a nice combination of northern New England and very local South County seafood.
The lobsters and steamers are coming from Maine, while the oysters are being sourced from Quonnie and Ninigret ponds.
Those two salt ponds are part of what makes the southern Rhode Island coast particularly well suited to shellfish aquaculture.
“Quonnie” is the local shorthand for Quonochontaug Pond, the coastal lagoon stretching behind the barrier beach between Charlestown and Westerly. Ninigret Pond lies immediately to its east.
Both are protected from the open Atlantic by barrier beaches while remaining connected to Block Island Sound through breachways. That exchange of salt water creates the kind of environment in which oysters can thrive.
And Caf Bar has an especially close connection to the local product.
Quonnie Oyster Is Part of the Wilcox
The Wilcox isn’t occupied by Caf Bar alone.
The historic property now brings several businesses together under one roof, including Caf Bar, Bend Yoga Studio, The Venue at the Wilcox and Quonnie Oyster.
That makes the local oysters more than a generic Rhode Island flourish added to the menu.
Shellfish is part of what the property does.
It’s difficult to get much more South County than eating oysters grown in the nearby salt ponds while sitting outside a tavern that has been welcoming people along the Old Post Road for more than two centuries.
What Comes With the $85 Ticket
The ticket covers a complete lobster-boil meal rather than simply admission to the event.
The published menu includes:
- Maine lobster and steamers
- Ninigret and Quonnie oysters and clams
- Corn on the cob
- Red potatoes
- Sausage and traditional boil fixings
- A sweet treat
- One complimentary glass of wine or Narragansett beer
- Live music
The event itself lasts four hours, from 3 to 7 p.m., giving it more of a leisurely afternoon gathering than a timed dinner-seating feel.
Tickets are limited, and Caf Bar’s current ticket page lists September 14 at 6 p.m. as the end of advance ticket sales.
The New England Lobster Boil Is More Than Lobster
The genius of a traditional lobster boil is that most of dinner can be cooked together.
Lobsters and shellfish provide the centerpiece, but corn, potatoes and sausage turn it into a complete meal. Depending on the particular New England tradition, onions and other vegetables can join the pot as well.
The ingredients don’t all require the same cooking time, so they’re typically added in stages.
What eventually emerges is less a carefully plated restaurant entrée than a pile of summer.
Lobster.
Clams.
Corn.
Potatoes.
Butter.
Napkins.
Lots of napkins.
The meal is inherently communal, messy and informal, which is probably why the lobster boil has survived as a New England summer ritual.
The Tradition Goes Back Much Further Than the Modern Lobster Dinner
Long before lobster became an expensive delicacy, Indigenous people along the New England coast were harvesting and cooking shellfish.
The Narragansett and other Indigenous peoples of the region cooked seafood using heated stones and seaweed, traditions that helped shape later New England clambakes.
Lobster itself had a very different reputation in colonial New England.
It was extraordinarily abundant.
So abundant, in fact, that it wasn’t initially regarded as luxury food. Lobster could be eaten by working people, used as fertilizer and fed to animals.
Its status changed dramatically as transportation and preservation improved during the 19th century. Lobster could reach diners farther inland, demand increased, and what had once been commonplace became desirable.
Today, a whole lobster is practically shorthand for a New England summer celebration.
The Wilcox Has Been Feeding Travelers for a Very Long Time
The setting has considerably more history than the event.
The building at 5153 Old Post Road is historically known as both the Joseph Stanton House and Wilcox Tavern.
The house dates to the early 18th century. Charlestown’s historic-property records place its establishment around 1730, while National Register documentation identifies it as an important surviving example of 18th-century vernacular architecture.
It was associated first with the prominent Stanton family.
Joseph Stanton Jr., who was born there, went on to become a Revolutionary War officer, delegate to the Confederation Congress and one of Rhode Island’s first United States senators.
Then came the Wilcoxes.
Edward Wilcox Saw Opportunity on the Old Post Road
In 1811, Edward Wilcox purchased the Stanton property.
Its location mattered.
The Old Post Road was an important overland route through southern Rhode Island, carrying travelers between population centers including New York and Boston.
Wilcox recognized the value of serving those travelers and began operating a tavern at the property.
That hospitality function became part of the building’s identity for generations.
The National Register of Historic Places specifically recognizes the Wilcox Tavern not only for its architecture and connection to the Stanton and Wilcox families, but also for its long role as a place of public gathering and a landmark to travelers along the Post Road.
More than 200 years after Edward Wilcox began welcoming travelers, people are still gathering there for food and drink.
On September 19, they’re just adding a lot of lobster.
The Building Even Played a Role During World War II
The Wilcox property’s history didn’t stop with stagecoach-era travelers.
During World War II, the building was used to house U.S. Navy officers connected with the nearby Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station.
The former air station occupied what is now largely Ninigret Park and the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
That means the Wilcox has moved through several versions of Charlestown history: colonial home, roadside tavern, wartime lodging, restaurant and now a multi-use community and hospitality property.
Caf Bar is the newest chapter.
Caf Bar Has Given the Old Tavern Another Life
Caf Bar operates two Rhode Island locations, with its original cafe in Wakefield and the second location at the Wilcox.
The Charlestown operation is intentionally different.
By day, it functions as a cafe serving coffee and food.
By evening, the historic building shifts toward a full bar, cocktails, small plates, live music and special events.
The property has multiple rooms and fireplaces inside, while warmer weather brings events onto the patio.
Friday nights throughout the season already feature live music.
The lobster boil expands that programming into a ticketed Saturday event and, if the “first” in First Wilcox Lobster Boil works as intended, the beginning of something recurring.
A Narragansett Beer Makes Sense Here
Guests can choose a complimentary glass of wine or Narragansett beer with the meal.
Narragansett Brewing’s Rhode Island history stretches back to 1890, when the original brewery began in Cranston.
The brand eventually became one of New England’s dominant regional beers before declining under later ownership. It was revived as a Rhode Island company in the 2000s and eventually returned brewing operations to its home state.
Pairing Narragansett with lobster, steamers and Rhode Island oysters isn’t particularly complicated culinary theory.
It just makes geographic sense.
Summer Isn’t Quite Finished Yet
The event is being billed as an End of Summer Wilcox Lobster Boil, and September 19 lands almost perfectly for it.
The autumnal equinox is only days away.
South County’s enormous July and August beach crowds have diminished.
But the ocean is still relatively warm, the coastal restaurants and businesses haven’t disappeared for winter, and a good September afternoon can feel every bit like summer without peak-season traffic.
That’s the sweet spot the Wilcox is aiming for.
One more outdoor gathering.
One more lobster.
One more afternoon of live music and cold drinks.
Then fall can have its turn.
Details
Event: First Wilcox Lobster Boil
Official Listing: End of Summer Wilcox Lobster Boil
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Time: 3–7 p.m.
Venue: Caf Bar at the Wilcox
Address: 5153 Old Post Road, Charlestown, RI 02813
Location: Wilcox patio, weather permitting
Tickets: $85
Ticket Sales End: Monday, September 14 at 6 p.m., according to the current ticket page
Menu: Maine lobster and steamers; Quonnie and Ninigret oysters and clams; corn on the cob; red potatoes; sausage; traditional boil fixings; and a sweet treat
Included Beverage: Complimentary glass of wine or Narragansett beer
Entertainment: Live music
Setting: Historic Wilcox Tavern/Joseph Stanton House
Tickets: Limited; advance purchase is required through Caf Bar’s event page
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.