Chowder Anniversary

George’s of Galilee overlooks the Salt Pond Harbor, and if you sit on a second-floor stool, you can spend all day watching the fishing boats float past. The vista is pure New England: a flat beach, a rocky shore, and a row of Cape-style houses. Two hundred feet from George’s back door, the Atlantic sprawls.

For 71 years, George’s has stood in the heart of Galilee, serving both sailors and tourists waiting to board the Block Island Ferry. George’s has survived hurricanes and hard times, and to celebrate its resilience, the restaurant is serving cups of chowder for 71 cents, all through the month of January. The chowder is usually served in the “clear” Rhode Island style, but you can ask for a creamier version as well. While you’re there, you might grab one of George’s famous Clam Cakes or a Seafood Pot Pie.

George’s has come a long way over the past seven decades. The establishment started as “George’s Lunch,” purchased by Norman and Edna Durfee in the 1930s. The counter only seated six people at a time, most of them fishermen and dock workers. Nowadays, the restaurant can serve five hundred.