Minding Your Business- Barley Neck

The Rail and the Barley Neck dominate the dining scene in East Orleans. Now with the acquisition of the Polka Dot Panini food truck and its summertime residency at Nauset Beach, the brothers behind the culinary empire are looking forward to an epic summer ahead.

Cam and Tyler Hadfield opened the Rail in 2021 and soon after took over the Barley Neck after growing up in Harwich and working in the dining scene over the years. While Cam runs the front of house operation, Tyler heads up the kitchen, and together they are dedicated to putting out consistently fresh fare and keeping things as local as possible. 

“We have benefitted tremendously from a really supportive town here in Orleans,” Cam said. “The wider community, the regulars, our summer crowd that comes in, they've all been super supportive.”

The Barley Neck offers a vast array of entrees, appetizers, raw bar and nightly specials, as well as a kids’ menu, full bar and wine menu. Popular dishes include The Rail burger served with their famous sidewinder fries, braised short ribs, clams casino pasta and seafood casserole. The Barley Neck pizza menu is also a huge draw with several innovative selections and with gluten free crust as an option.

Chef Tyler is devoted to keeping ingredients as local as possible, sourcing the finest product as possible on Cape Cod. He recently unveiled his new summer menu, which featured a number of new and inventive items.

“We adjust the menu seasonally, usually about two or three times a year,” Tyler said. “With this particular menu we did emphasize a more local flavor, which is exciting for us. We always try to highlight local and fresh. This season I went a little more seafood heavy than I usually do and also some nouveau ethnic mashups. We have Moroccan style tagine on the menu right now and a Jamaican style curry which I am very excited about. These have been going pretty well so far. We try to be a little more eclectic!”

Tyler is also very excited about spearheading a newer, less commonly seen type of fish on this summer’s menu: local monkfish. 

“We are doing some promotions with the Fishermen’s Alliance,” he said. Monkfish is “a little more difficult to work with than something like cod that comes in trimmed and ready to go. But using local monkfish keeps all the money in our local economy instead of importing, which is really expensive nowadays. The tourists hear Cape Cod and see cod on the menu and assume that it’s from around here, but it’s not. It’s being brought in from Europe. I only work with fresh fish and that’s why we are using fresh local monkfish now. Our beer battered fish and chips is now coming with monkfish. I think it was a bold move and I was nervous to do it at first, but so far it is working!”

Fun fact: you can look up Chef Tyler on YouTube to see videos of him prepping and working with monkfish.

The brothers have also spearheaded a plan of being the first establishment in town with a composting initiative. In partnership with the town of Orleans, the Barley Neck and the Rail are also working toward being “ocean-friendly.” In fact, both restaurants were the first to become officially certified as just that. Having particular water and energy conservation practices in effect as well as simpler features like eco-friendly takeout containers are helping put Orleans on the map to being recognized as ocean-friendly. 

“It’s kind of fun,” Cam said. “The Orleans movement towards ocean friendly is something the town took on first. And if it’s something we can all move forward and put on the map - that is the goal.”

The Barley Neck features live music Friday and Saturday nights all summer long. Every Tuesday night out on the lawn is their “Summer Sampler Series” featuring new and exciting breweries and liquor companies handing out samples and merch. 

"Meet at the Polka Dot Panini at Nauset Beach for the day, and then stop at the Barley Neck on your way home for oysters and a drink,” said Cam. “Don't worry...if you have one too many cocktails, we'll hook you up with a great breakfast the next morning at The Rail." 

Details:

The Barley Neck Inn

5 Beach Rd., East Orleans

barleyneck.com

The Rail

222 Main St., Orleans

therailorleans.com

Polka Dot Panini

Nauset Beach and Pop Ups

therailorleans.com/polkadotpanini