Your Local Guide to Things to Do in Mattituck This Weekend

Drive Route 25 through Mattituck on a Saturday in August and you might mistake it for a pass-through town, a strip of farm stands and shop signs between the ferry crowds of Greenport and the tasting rooms further east. But look closely at what four long-standing local businesses have spent this year building, renovating, and planning, and a different story shows up. The maze, the marina upgrades, the mill renovation, and the monthly street party on Love Lane are among the changes taking shape in Mattituck.

The Friday Nights That Grew Up Without Growing Cold

According to Northforker, First Fridays on Love Lane began in 2015 when a handful of shop owners on the strip decided to keep their doors open late one evening a month and turn the block into something closer to a party. The Mattituck Chamber of Commerce took over organizing it in 2017, and eleven years after that first casual gathering, it now runs every first Friday from May through October, 6 to 9 p.m., with Love Lane closed to car traffic.

This year the event grew in scale without losing its shape. Organizers added more vendors, more food trucks, and a raised stage so the bands are easier to see from the back of the crowd. The 2026 lineup runs through the whole season:

What has not changed is the pricing on at least one Love Lane institution. Michael Affatato, who has run the Village Cheese Shop since 2015, still sells his First Fridays "street fondue" for the same amount he charged the year he took over the shop. "We've always maintained the same low price of only $5 per bowl," he told Northforker.

Eight Years For One Afternoon In September

The most significant new attraction in Mattituck this year is not a restaurant or a shop. It is a maze made of hedges.

According to The Suffolk Times, Shamrock Christmas Tree Farm on Main Road has operated as a Christmas tree business since 1989, an extension of a family tree operation that goes back to the mid-1970s. Starting next month, it opens what is believed to be the largest evergreen hedge maze in the continental United States, a 2.3-acre layout made entirely of arborvitae that has been growing since before most visitors will realize it existed. The land was cleared in 2018. The hedges went into the ground the following year. The maze opens to the public on September 26, eight years after the first shovel hit dirt.

Owner Jonathan Shipman told The Suffolk Times: "I wanted to do something different, not something cookie-cutter like everyone else." The design also includes pathways wide enough for golf carts.

Renovations at Strong's Water Club and Marina

Strong's Water Club and Marina sits at the base of Mattituck Inlet, a 135-slip, nine-acre property that has been part of the Strong family's boating business for 75 years across four generations. Among the updates, slip holders and boat club members now have access to newly renovated restrooms and showers, and the on-site restaurant, Windamere, runs live music four nights a week from May through September.

The Mill That Took Longer Than A Renovation Usually Does

Down on Mattituck Creek, the Old Mill Inn occupies a building that started as a tidal grist mill in 1821. After a multi-year renovation, it reopened as a bar and restaurant, a project that by its own description took years rather than months to complete.

Love Lane's restaurant scene keeps adding to itself without erasing what came before. Fiche is the newest name on the block, drawing enough attention that longtime visitors have started posting about it online, while Love Lane Kitchen and the Village Cheese Shop keep doing exactly what they have always done a few doors down. New arrivals are filling in around the anchors, not replacing them.

Other Local Businesses and Community Events

A few other local details this season include:

• This past Sunday, Rose Hill Vineyards on Oregon Road hosted a Mahjong lesson and open play session, welcoming experienced players and beginners alike over a glass of wine, the kind of low-key gathering that depends on the same neighbors returning.
• This week, the Mattituck-Laurel Library is hosting the Mattituck Historical Society for a talk on James Madison.
• Strong's Marine, the boat sales and service side of the same family business as the Water Club, has been on the water for four generations.

What This Means If You Live Here

None of this is dramatic news. A hedge maze, a marina bathroom renovation, and a street party that has not raised its fondue price in a decade are not headline material anywhere else. Together, these details offer a snapshot of Mattituck's local businesses, amenities, and community events.

If you already live in Mattituck, that is worth knowing. Love Lane on a Friday night, the creek-side building that has stood since 1821, and Strong's marina are part of Mattituck's landscape.

If you are watching this town from the outside and wondering what it would mean to put down roots of your own here, Lauryn Koke can walk you through what buying on the North Fork actually looks like, from Love Lane to the water. Request a complimentary, confidential home valuation to start the conversation.