Labor Day came and went, and the question is showing up again in local feeds and group chats: where do you actually go for a lobster roll in Nassau County? It is the right week to ask. The crowds that packed every waterfront deck in July are gone, the kitchens that spent the summer slammed have room to breathe, and the rolls themselves are as good as they have been all year. Here are six places that answer the question properly, from a working lobster dock in Island Park to a 90-year-old grill on Freeport's Nautical Mile.

Jordan Lobster Farms, Island Park

Start where the lobsters do. Jordan Lobster Farms at 1 Pettit Place is a fish market first and a restaurant second, which is exactly the order you want. The market opens at 10 in the morning every day of the week, and the restaurant runs Thursday through Monday from 11:30 to 7, stretching to 8 on Friday and Saturday nights. The roll keeps it simple: fresh lobster meat tossed in mayo, a pile of chips, a pickle. Nothing on the plate is there to distract you from the fact that the meat came off the dock you are sitting on. If one place in Nassau is worth the drive on its own, it is this one.

Peter's Clam Bar, Island Park

A few minutes up Long Beach Road sits Peter's Clam Bar, which has been shucking on the water at Barnum Inlet since 1939. Peter's is the full old-school clam bar experience, and the lobster roll holds its own on a menu where the clams are the headliner. Come for the roll, stay for a dozen littlenecks, and eat both outside while the boats go by. Two of the county's best rolls within one stretch of Island Park is a good argument for making the village a destination in itself.

Bigelow's, Rockville Centre

Bigelow's New England Fried Clams on North Long Beach Road is the counter-service institution every South Shore family already knows for its Ipswich clams. The move most people miss: the lobster roll comes hot or cold, tail, knuckle and claw on a toasted roll. The hot version is the sleeper pick in the whole county, eaten at a counter that has not needed to change in decades. Closed Mondays, open the rest of the week into the evening.

The Buoy Bar, Point Lookout

At the tip of the Lido strip, the Buoy Bar sits directly on Reynolds Channel at 72 Bayside Drive, and its classic lobster roll comes with the kind of view that usually costs twice as much out east. The room runs seven days a week from 11:30 in the morning to 9 at night, with open-air seating and live music on the calendar. September is the smart month here: the deck that required a wait all summer is suddenly yours, and the sunset over the channel does not know the season changed.

Wall's Wharf, Bayville

The North Shore answer. Wall's Wharf has spent more than 60 years at 18 Greenwich Avenue in Bayville, with tables that look out over the beach and the Sound. The kitchen poaches its lobster and dresses it lightly in mayo, then serves the roll with gaufrette chips, a small touch that tells you somebody in the back cares. It is the most scenic lobster roll on this list, and the one to pick if your idea of a proper roll includes sand within throwing distance.

Otto's Sea Grill, Freeport

No Nassau seafood list is honest without the Nautical Mile, and Otto's Sea Grill is the Mile's elder statesman. The dockside grill at 271 Woodcleft Avenue has been feeding Freeport for over 90 years, and its lobster roll comes with a side of the canal traffic that makes Woodcleft the South Shore's best free show. Plan around the calendar: Otto's closes Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and runs lunch through dinner the rest of the week.

Go now, not next summer

Every spot on this list is open right now, and most of them are better in September than they were in July: same rolls, same water, none of the wait. Some of the waterfront decks will start trimming hours as fall settles in, so the window for eating a lobster roll with your feet in the sun is measured in weeks, not months. The season did not end on Labor Day. It just stopped being crowded.