In Search of the Best Fried Clams in New England: A Coastal Road Trip

In July 3, 1916, an Essex, Massachusetts, man named Lawrence “Chubby” Woodman breaded some local clams and dropped them in the fryer he used to make potato chips at his Main Street concession stand. The fried clams were so good that at the town’s Fourth of July parade, Chubby and his wife, Bessie, earned an unheard-of $35. Word spread, and copycats emerged. According to Woodman family lore, none other than Howard Johnson himself learned to make fried clams from Chubby.

I tend to regard such origin stories with a pinch of skepticism. After all, most food inventions happen on such a small, domestic scale that they’re rarely recorded; their fame is often apocryphal. But Chubby and Bessie documented their story convincingly enough that it’s accepted as culinary history.

In my personal history, I am a relative latecomer to fried clams. I didn’t enjoy them as a child, then got distracted by chowder and lobster rolls for a few decades. I share this because my current love for fried clams is still in the honeymoon phase, and I’d like to think my judgment is unclouded by nostalgia, or by loyalty to any clam shack of my youth. So when the opportunity arose to travel up the New England coast tasting basket after box of fried clams in search of the best, I was ready.

All in all, I visited more than two dozen restaurants, sticking strictly to coastal towns. My original intent was to visit only true clam shacks, those rustic eateries that serve their food with a side of salt air. However, after visiting some noteworthy restaurants on the recommendation of locals, I realized I had to be more open-minded. You can visit Yankee’s website for a list of top clam shacks, but this story is really about the clams themselves.

Speaking of which: I focused solely on the whole-belly variety. Clam strips are also derived from clams, sure, but they are to fried clams what a ringtone is to a symphony. Both are technically music, but….

Before hitting the road, I spent (perhaps too much) time defining the many variables that affect the quality of fried clams: sweetness, brininess, plumpness, tenderness, crunch, seasoning, coating-to-clam ratio, oil quality, value, and, to a lesser extent, tartar sauce. In other words, the ideal fried clams should be reasonably priced, plump, tender, crunchy, and perfectly seasoned, with a good sweet-brine balance and a moderate amount of coating, and always cooked in fresh oil. If they’re served with a great homemade tartar sauce, all the better. (And in the best-case scenario, they’re premium clams dug from the rich soil of the Great Marsh on Boston’s North Shore or from similar environs on the New England coast. Clams from sandy sea beds just don’t get the same nutrient wash.)

It didn’t take much research to realize how hard it is to consistently turn out great fried clams. The delicate meat can go from tender to rubbery in seconds. Frying oil is expensive, and changing it is time-consuming and messy. Top-quality shucked clams can run around $150 per gallon wholesale, which brings up an important point: For all the places I visited, I never found an inexpensive serving of clams—a medium order cost about $30 no matter where I went—but quality varied widely. So before you order, ask where the clams come from and whether they’re large or small. If you can’t get a clear answer on their origin, or if they’re small and thus easier to overcook, consider another menu option. Don’t waste your hard-earned dough on bad clams.

But enough background—let’s get to the results. The following 15 eateries served the best fried clams I tasted on my travels. Don’t see your favorite spot? Let us know. But while there will always be new clam shacks to discover, I can guarantee you’ll eat well at any of these picks.

Best Fried Clams in New England | 2025

Best Fried Clams in Massachusetts

Woodman’s of Essex, Essex

We begin where it all began (and where third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation Woodmans still operate the restaurant today). Here, plump local clams are dunked in evaporated milk, coated in corn flour (a boon to gluten-free diners), and fried until just golden brown. Because the cooks shake off any extra coating before frying, the clams are crisp but not bready. And the kitchen’s light hand with salt allows the brine and sweetness of the clams to shine through.

Clam Box of Ipswich, Ipswich

Like Woodman’s, the Clam Box is considered by many to be the most popular and beloved fried clam spot in Massachusetts. It helps that every day at about 2:30 p.m., owner Johanna Aggelakis shuts down the line so staff can replace the day’s cooking oil to keep the seafood light and crisp. The Clam Box gets its clams locally, and their rich flavor is worth any wait you might encounter.

Mac’s Seafood, Multiple locations

There are Mac’s restaurants in Provincetown, Wellfleet, Eastham, and Chatham, each with slightly different menus. But they all make richly seasoned and not-too-greasy fried clams, which happen to be gluten-free and sourced from the North Shore. Also served at all locations is the superlative homemade tartar sauce, studded with finely chopped pickles and jazzed up with a bit of lemon juice.

The Park Lunch, Newburyport

Upon walking into this hometown sports bar near Newburyport’s waterfront, you might be a bit suspicious. There are pennants and other memorabilia on every wall, the bar scene is hopping, and the menu runs from pizza to burgers to tuna melts. But the fried clams here are legitimately excellent: sweet, plump, tender, briny, and served with an excellent homemade tartar sauce and coleslaw. What a difference all that extra effort makes on the plate.

Little Whale, Boston

Chef Michael Serpa’s Newbury Street restaurant is a stylish ode to New England clam shacks, and these fried clams are perfect. Local clams are dipped in buttermilk, coated with a semolina-flour blend, and fried until golden. Pickle-rich tartar sauce is the chef’s-kiss finish. (Watch Serpa make his clams on the new season of Weekends with Yankee; check your local PBS listings.)

Best Fried Clams in Connecticut

The Sandpiper, East Haven

Looking out over East Haven’s town beach, this recently renovated restaurant stands out for its sweet and extra-crunchy clams and its commitment to frying in fresh oil. Prices are reasonable, especially for waterfront real estate, and your seafood-averse companions can enjoy pizza or steak while you pop those golden nuggets.

Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale, Madison and Westbrook

In-the-know clam lovers favor this 46-year-old Connecticut institution for its consistently great clams. “We have people who have been coming for 20, 25 years,” says Jake Raye, who’s worked at the restaurant for nearly a decade. “Even the kids we get in seasonally, we’re really careful about getting them trained.” The other secret to success? Using wild-caught clams, fresh off the boat, from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Connecticut—whatever’s freshest.

Sea Swirl, Mystic

When Yankee put out a call on social media asking for the best fried clams in New England, Sea Swirl came up multiple times, and with good reason: Everyone loves a nice plump belly, and these bellies are the plumpest. They’re sweet with a nicely assertive brine, a thin-but-crisp coating, and great seasoning. The midcentury building, once a Carvel ice cream stand, adds a layer of retro summer charm.

Best Fried Clams in Rhode Island

Matunuck Oyster Bar, Wakefield

Owner Perry Raso’s commitment to pristine bivalves is all-consuming—he’s been digging clams since he was a kid. As you dine, admire the view of Potter Pond, where Raso’s team raises oysters and scallops. The crisp and juicy fried clams are shatteringly crisp, delicate, sweet, and full-bellied. They’re so good, in fact, that they’re justifiably served with rémoulade (the fancier French tartar sauce), plus homemade fries. (Editors’ note: On May 20, 2025, not long after this article was published, Matunuck Oyster Bar suffered an extensive structural fire. It now offers seasonal outdoor dining options while a new restaurant is being built.)

Blount Clam Shack, Warren

Yankee has hailed Warren as one of New England’s best food towns, and Blount Clam Shack is a jewel in its crown. The restaurant’s parent company is a seafood wholesaler, so the fried clams are always served close to the source. They’re juicy little flavor bombs, too, impeccably seasoned and wonderfully crisp. The tartar sauce and coleslaw could be better, but the clams are good enough to make you overlook that small disappointment. In the summer, go to Blount’s waterfront trailers on Water Street; off-season, the year-round café and market is the spot.

Best Fried Clams in Maine

Bob’s Clam Hut, Kittery

Bob’s is so devoted to its fried clams that it makes them two ways: Bob’s style, in which the clams are simply dredged in a corn-and-white-flour mix, and Lillian’s style (named after legendary employee Lillian Mangos), in which they are first bathed in an egg-and-milk wash. Both are excellent, so get a “two ways” order and decide for yourself.

The Sea Basket, Wiscasset

Though famed far and wide for its lobster rolls, Red’s Eats isn’t the only seafood spot in the charming midcoast town of Wiscasset. The Sea Basket on Route 1 (well south of the famous summer traffic jam at Red’s) specializes in fried seafood, and the big-belly clams here are perfectly crisp and lighter than most. The restaurant uses a convection frying system, which cooks the inside more quickly so the outside absorbs less oil.

Five Islands Lobster Co., Georgetown

Boasting the prettiest view of any seafood shack in Maine, Five Islands is made up of three buildings perched on a pier: the lobster building, the ice cream building, and the “Love Nest,” where the fried food is made. They use excellent local clams, just as plump as the Ipswich variety, and are wonderfully consistent in their timing: No overcooked bivalves here.

Bagaduce Lunch, Penobscot

Set on a peninsula jutting into the wide Bagaduce River, this seasonal stand does its best work in the deep fryer. Crunchy and fresh, the fried clams are standouts here; the tartar sauce is homemade. Bagaduce Lunch also offers peekytoe crab rolls and freshly picked crab meat to go (an increasingly rare find in Maine these days). Even better, you can drive your boat up to the dock.

Best Fried Clams in New Hampshire

Row 34, Portsmouth

Row 34 is known for its superior seafood sourcing, so it’s no surprise that its clams are sourced from Massachusetts’s North Shore and the fertile mud flats of Barnstable on Cape Cod. The fried whole bellies are particularly sweet, with just enough brine for balance, and bearing the dark gold color of a perfectly timed fry. The crowning touch? Lemon-rich tartar sauce, made in-house.

So, do you agree with our picks? Let us know your top spot for the best fried clams in New England!

This feature was originally published as “Belly Up!” in the May/June 2025 issue of Yankee.

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee and cohost of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with GBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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