Oak Bluffs entered the summer season Tuesday with heated debate over issues from one end of Circuit avenue to the other. At the upper end of the avenue, unfinished construction on the Edgartown National Bank’s new building was a central point of contention. Later, selectmen grappled with whether to allow a stationary food truck on the lower end of the avenue.

The Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs, famed for its traditional fine dining amid strung garden lights, and a favorite of vacationing President Barack Obama, will have new owners this season.

Kevin and Suzanna Crowell, owners of Détente Restaurant in Edgartown, have purchased the business.

Yankee Magazine’s 2013 Travel Guide to New England special issue awarded the Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company Best Clam Chowder in New England. The Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company’s trademarked chowder is gluten free with no butter or flour. Co-owner and executive chef Alex Nagi created the gluten-free chowder. “The first time I tried the chowder Alex created it was so good I knew we needed to name the restaurant after it,” said JB Blau, the company’s owner, “It took about two bites to realize his chowder was a game changer.

When it comes to food, language is never a barrier for Aaron Oster. It’s the reason he became a chef and it’s what has drawn him to Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard. “Everywhere in the world there is a Slow Food group of people who want the same thing.

There are two televisions at Tropical restaurant in Vineyard Haven, one tuned to CNN, the other to Brazilian soccer. Construction workers pack the place around noon, load up their plates with veggies from the salad bar and barbecued steak and chicken. Parents bring their kids, who like the idea of deciding what to put on their plate, even with the usual parental guidance.

“I like talking to people,” Tropical co-owner Johnnatans Costa said. “I love my job.”

Just as many dining options across the Island are beginning to close up shop for the season, a new restaurant in the former David Ryan’s space on North Water street opened last month with every intention of serving the year-round population.

The goals for new Edgartown restaurant Eleven North are simple: keep it local, keep it fun and keep it open year-round.

With a “casual downstairs” and “a little more chic with more New York city and Miami” upstairs, the restaurant hopes to please a broad spectrum of patrons for both lunch and dinner.

Now is always a good time to market a quality product, say a number of Island entrepreneurs opening new businesses this summer.

"Our idea ... was to kind of seize the moment," said Frank Pellegrino, opening a Mexican restaurant where Lawry's seafood restaurant used to be in Edgartown.

He said that he and partner Denise Page didn't want uncertain economic times to deter them from taking the lease to a valuable piece of property: Not many businesses come with parking lots attached, he said.

An investor group headed by principals in Conover Real Estate has signed an agreement to buy the landmark Navigator Restaurant and Boathouse Bar in Edgartown from its longtime owners, the Young family.

Michael Lieberman has taken over ownership of the Mememsha deli on Basin Road at an interesting — not to say daunting — time.

With fuel prices spiking, the number of boats moored at the harbor town were down in the preseason months and food costs were up. Mr. Lieberman has found himself swallowing some of the costs since buying the place in February.

The West Tisbury zoning board of appeals on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow well-known restaurateurs Mary and Jackson Kenworth to expand the footprint of the former Deon’s restaurant on State Road, approving plans for a new 2,170-square-foot year-round restaurant.

The board earlier this month cited a town bylaw which restricts commercial use in a residential zone to 2,000 square feet and expressed concern about the viability of the plan submitted by the Kenworths, who own and operate the popular Slice of Life Café in Oak Bluffs.