A portside Restaurant Row is opening this summer. Here’s what’s on the menu.

EVERETT — Up to 10% of the boats moored at the Port of Everett can double as full- or part-time residences for their captains, Port spokesperson Catherine Soper tells me. I’ve never once harbored — get it? — a desire for my home to have ocean views quite that close; still, I can’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous. Those guys, and the landlubbers residing in the portside apartment complexes and hotels nearby, are already within swimming distance of some of the best dining Everett has to offer.

Soon, though, their menu of options will expand even further. Five new eateries are slated to open this summer in newly constructed buildings along the marina, with more planned for the near future. From drive-thru coffee and craft brews to Asian fusion and dainty pastries, you’ll want to take in more than just the crisp sea air on your next waterfront stroll.

Port VIPs broke ground on the new “Restaurant Row” in late 2021, laying out a grand vision for a mixed-use development featuring restaurants, coffee, offices and retail on Fisherman’s Harbor. The plan has been a long time coming, at least a decade, Soper said. When she started working for the Port 13 years ago, there was only fill dirt where the new dining destinations now sit against a spectacular waterfront panorama.

The development project, spanning Restaurant Row and future ventures around the Port’s waterfront property, is expected to cost up to $1 billion by the time it’s finished, with about $300 million having been spent already, Soper said. That figure is split evenly between the Port and its private partners.

Soper said Port leadership wants to bring more amenities for the growing community of boaters, residents and employees who pass by the Port every day, along with the roughly 5,000 workers at the neighboring Naval Station Everett and all those in the downtown core, connected to the Port by the nearby Grand Avenue Park Bridge. The goal is to create a place where tourists and locals alike want to take a stroll, sample the cuisine and bask in the water’s glory year-round, not just during peak boating season.

The marina is already home to a few choice casual dining spots, such as organic distillery and bistro Bluewater Distilling as well as Scuttlebutt’s family-friendly brewpub. Hotel Indigo hosts Jetty Bar and Grille, serving seafood so fresh you’d swear it was harvested only minutes earlier from the salty waters of Possession Sound. These spots are favorites for downtown office workers looking for a casual lunch and boaters famished from a long day on the waves, but the new developments will bring a whole new rainbow of choices, Soper said.

The first to open will be a second outpost of Snohomish brewpub Sound2Summit on Port Gardner Landing, facing Marine View Drive. It’s slated to start serving up cold pints in late May or early June. Co-owner Doug Milnor was supervising the finishing touches on the airy, industrial space on a sunny Friday a couple weeks ahead of opening.

Milnor said Sound2Summit had been looking to expand its reach outside downtown Snohomish for a while, and when the opportunity arose to set down roots right on the waterfront, he said it felt like a perfect fit.

“I mean, just look out from here,” Milnor said, gesturing to the view from the brewery’s breezy outdoor patio. “You can literally see all the way from the (Puget) Sound to the mountains — what better branding could you ask for?”

The new taproom will serve up melts, quesadillas and flatbread pizzas from the wood-fired oven gleaming in the kitchen. The patio is dog-friendly, too, making it a great stop for lunch and a brew after a stroll along the pier with your pup.

Next door, Bellingham-based chain Woods Coffee is setting up a cafe and drive-thru, its 20th location and the third in Snohomish County. A self-proclaimed “coffee junkie,” Soper is especially excited about this development, where she and plenty of other port employees will be able to get their caffeine fix within steps of their offices.

The new cafe is likely to open in mid to late June, Soper said, but if you’re dying to sample their salted caramel cold brew or iced tea lemonade in the meantime, you can stop by one of their other locations in Edmonds, Bothell or on Evergreen Way in Everett.

Across the marina, bright banners along the promenade announce the impending arrival of Fisherman Jack’s, an Asian fusion spot highlighting fresh seafood, dim sum and PNW-inspired noodles.

The restaurant’s new building, a sister venture to China City in Mill Creek, was planned during the pandemic and is thus somewhat “COVID-proof” due to its indoor-outdoor design, Soper joked. It features garage-style doors along the length of the dining space, allowing quick pivots from balmy summer days to unexpected downpours, and the fire pits on the spacious patio will keep things cozy if a chilly sea breeze rolls in.

Sharing Fisherman Jack’s building is local bakery South Fork Baking Company’s first retail outpost. Owner Katherine Hillman ran the bakery out of her home kitchen for years before expanding her repertoire of pastries, cookies and custom cakes to Diedrich’s Cafe in the Everett Station. Her new, dedicated storefront will serve up all those delectable treats, plus coffee and breakfast sandwiches on house-made biscuits, starting in July or August, Hillman said.

Nearby, construction crews churned up the ground for two new waterfront buildings, expected to be complete by the end of the year. One will house an outpost of frozen yogurt chain Menchie’s and luxe Anisoptera Spa, plus a new location for Lake Stevens-born Rustic Cork Wine Bar, which serves up choice vintages and small plates.

The spa’s owners were so excited to join the new development that they’ve already set up shop in the same building as Scuttlebutt and Bluewater while they await their new home, Soper said.

The Whiskey Muse, a coffee shop by day and whiskey bar by night housed in the historic Weyerhaeuser Building, has plans to open by end of summer.

The lovely Gothic-style house, a former showroom for the lumber company’s wares, has been moved three times over the course of its century-long life, most recently to Boxcar Park on the Port’s Central Marina. Whidbey restaurateur Jack Ng, who also owns Fisherman Jack’s, struck a deal last year with the Port to redevelop the historic building into a bar, meeting venue and museum.

Port officials are still seeking the perfect tenant for Restaurant Row’s second building-in-progress. Ideally, they’d find a burger concept or brunch spot to take the space and round out the palette of dining choices along the marina, Soper said.

With the long-awaited Restaurant Row finally coming to fruition, the Port isn’t slowing down yet. Work on Phase 2 of the development plan, focused on the Port’s central Millwright’s District, is anticipated to begin with its own set of retail and dining concepts by 2024, Soper said.

The next big step on the main row will be constructing a new building overlooking the Port’s commercial fishing dock, Soper said. It will house a new taproom for Lazy Boy Brewing, which closed its longtime south Everett location earlier this year to prep for the move, plus a year-round fish market paying homage to the fishermen working just below the proposed location. The grand opening is expected later this year.

“Everything we’ve done so far is about paying tribute to our roots as a boating culture, a mill town, a place that’s just deeply connected to the water,” Soper said. “I think it’s apparent everywhere you go.”

Riley Haun: 425-339-3192; riley.haun@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @RHaunID.