The Pawnee House restaurant occupies a historic corner of Oak Bluffs history – a portion of the what remains of the four-story grand Victorian Hotel from which it draws its name.

The original Pawnee House opened in the summer of 1872. As the area became increasingly popular as a summer destination, the Pawnee House expanded several times to accommodate vacationers seeking a seaside holiday with all the amenities. According to local historian Chris Baer, the Pawnee House was famous for “its reasonable prices, spring beds, good food and lofty views” of the surrounding land and water. Able to accommodate up to 200 guests nightly, it was one of the largest of the grand hotels that once lined Circuit Avenue and surrounding areas. The hotel attracted families and summertime sweethearts who spent the days strolling the sandy beaches and dancing the night away at the nearby Tivoli dance hall. 

Cottage City, which would be renamed Oak Bluffs, also attracted its share of less savory folks and the Pawnee House was not immune. Again, according to Baer, hotelier and restaurateur Russel Sturgis, usually credited as the first owner of the Pawnee Hotel, was murdered at his Hyannis home during an attempted assault of a piano tuner he had hired in the year following the opening of the hotel. In August 1874, a team of frightened horses pulled up in front of the hotel sans driver but with a wagon full of bloody feathers and tar. Authorities soon discovered Caleb Smith, Tisbury farmer, fatally wounded outside a cottage on Tuckernuck Avenue owned by Samuel Elliot. Smith and his gang had been hired by his brother-in-law to tar and feather Elliot, a Worcester realtor and ex-con, and a friend who had been canoodling with the ringleader’s two sisters while their husbands were away at sea. In the ensuing struggle, Elliot shot his assailant. Three years later, a roving group of “pickpockets and thieves” targeted the island over several days in late August. In his book Martha’s Vineyard Tales: From Pirates on Lake Tashmoo to Baxter’s Saloon, Baer writes that the Pawnee “suffered severely” when clothing and jewelry were stolen from its guests. The thieves also picked the lock of a trunk owned by a Sea View Hotel guest and made off with diamond jewelry valued at $3,000 and picked pockets near the Tabernacle as well.

Unfortunately, time took its toll and the top three floors of The Pawnee House would be deconstructed in the mid-1950s, leaving just the remaining ground floor that is home to Ben and Bill’s, Nautilus, Eastaway, Island Outfitters, Slight Indulgence, B-Strong --  and now the Pawnee House restaurant. In another nod to local history, the corner housing the new Pawnee House has been a destination for food lovers dating back at least to 1930 when it was the original home for Giordano’s.

Alex and Debbie are a husband and wife team. Together, they boast more than 50 years in the restaurant and catering business. They met while working at a four-star hotel in Orlando, Florida in 2005. Soon, thereafter they relocated to New York City and worked in the industry for the next 14 years.

They’ve also worked in Colorado, Alabama and New Hampshire, but Martha’s Vineyard always felt like home although Alex was born in Scituate MA and Debbie was raised as a Navy brat. They married below the Gay Head Light in 2013.

Martha’s Vineyard kept calling to them. Alex’s parents live year-round in a cottage in the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association and Alex and Debbie came home to pursue their dream of opening a restaurant in the same building where Alex’s grandfather and uncle, Ben and George Cohen, ran a clothing and furniture store.

Debbie’s love of cooking come from her mother, Gloria Lane, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Creating food as beautiful as it tastes runs in the family as her siblings share this gift.

When not working, Alex and Debbie have a real passion for traveling. They will draw on their experiences traveling around the world to create unique and delicious dining experiences for their guests.