Six Best Clam Shacks in Connecticut

When most people think of great clam shacks, they think about Cape Cod or the coast of Maine. But some of the best, and the original, clam shacks are located along the coast of Connecticut. Yes, Connecticut. Along the state's southeast coast - from New Haven east to the Rhode Island state line - are clam shacks that can hold their own with any in New England.

Here, moving east down Route 1 and Interstate 95, are Connecticut's best clam shacks.

Guilford

How could you resist a place whose motto is "put your rump on a stump?" The Place in Guilford features outdoor picnic tables made of plywood and seats made from sawed-off tree stumps. The menu is a bit different too. There's nothing fried on the menu at this clam shack. Instead, there's an 18-foot fire pit where the food is cooked. The clams - as well as lobsters - are roasted or steamed. It's like a giant, informal clambake every day.

Old Saybrook

If you had to build a roadside clam shack for scenes from a movie, you'd construct something exactly like Johnny Ad's. This stereotypical gray shack on Route 1 overlooks the busy highway rather than the Atlantic - but Johnny Ad's has been serving up light and crisp fried clams for over 50 years. The whole belly clams are nearly perfect all by themselves. But don't miss the homemade tartar sauce, made from the same recipe for over half a century.

New London

Think that no clam shack more famous for its foot long hot dogs can possibly serve edible fried clams? Fred's Shanty will prove you wrong. Crisp on the outside, tender on the inside - whole belly clams or clam strips - these are perfectly-fried clams. Fred's has been located on the New London, Connecticut waterfront, hard by the Thames River, for nearly 40 years.

Noank

For the longest time, customers at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank asked owner Jerry Mears for fried clams. Abbott's may be Connecticut's best-known lobster shack, but the restaurant didn't have a deep fryer. So Mears opened a separate place in town for fried clams. Costello's Clam Shack is a two-story stand in the Noank Shipyard, rising right above the docks. The clams are more often Canadian than local, but they're always fresh and consistently delicious.

Mystic

At the Cove Fish Market, it is not the setting that sets it apart as one of Connecticut's best clam shacks, it's the food. This shack is located far from the hustle and bustle of the state's coastal highways in a peaceful corner of the Connecticut countryside that doesn't even offer a view of any water. But Cove still serves all the deep-fried seafood favorites - including succulent whole belly fried clams, puffy clam fritters and a fried cod sandwich named one of America's best sandwiches by Esquire magazine.

Further east, smack dab in the middle of everything in Mystic, is Connecticut's most-heralded clam shack, the Sea Swirl. This former Carvel ice cream stand is located at the junction of Routes 1 and 27, with a scattering of picnic tables along the road's shoulder. This clam shack has been featured on TV shows by celebrity chefs, and written up on dozens of food websites and in magazines. All with good reason, too - as the Sea Swirl is everything you'd ever want in a clam shack. Crisp, sweet fried clams, hearty chowder, battered onion rings - it's all here. Oh, you can also still get ice cream here - from kiddie cones to dripping sundaes.