Flo’s Clam Shack

Had wanted to try a RI stuffie for the longest time. Should have kept waiting. I knew they were heavy on the bread, but how about a little clam please? They were basically breadcrumbs soaked in clam juice. Tried the clam cakes which were little fried dough balls again with no flavor and no visible clam to be found.
Of the 3 chowders offered, clear white and red, I chose red. I asked the order taker if this was like manhattan clam chowder and she said «yes!». Oh how wrong she was. Thickened flavorless broth with a few potatoes and about 5 clam pieces. Also found about 20 clumps of flour that was the thickening agent I presume. The red? Maybe Catsup? Who knows. Overall a distastourous experience.

We stopped by impromptu after a day at the beach for lunch as a party of 8. It was pretty quiet in the restaurant but they sat us immediately and had fantastic service. Our food and drinks came quickly and the food was awesome. I was very impressed. Try the blackened tuna over a Caesar salad.

Had the clamcakes and RI (clear broth) chowder. Good as it gets. Sat upstairs on the side patio at the outdoor bar seating and watched the fog roll in and the rain start. What a great place for watching the ocean while enjoying local, fresh seafood.

Gross
What a waste of time! More Phantom Gourmet paid advertising, no substance. Now maybe this was just a bad day, but the food and service wait were awful. Usually a place has a busy day and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but at least one item is unusually good. All food items were beyond terrible. Undercooked soggy fried clams, cold chowder, and old clam cakes. These are summer fry shack staples and they were basically inedible.
Never Again,
Thanks

It was a somewhat rainy day just before the summer season but the ambiance was underwhelming. The food quality was good — if fried is your idea of seafood — and the portions were comfortable but seasoning was minimal. Definitely take your food up to the second floor so that you can see the ocean waves crash on the beach while you eat. Price was high for the meal we received but everyone left full and we had an adventure.

Best fried seafood ever! Must get the Fried Clam Strips and Fried Oysters! Worth every penny and the view is fantastic!

It is known for its fried seafood. It also has lobster rolls on the menu. The food is not bad but not great either. We ate there after visiting and walking around Sachuest Point. It is about a 0.6 mile walk from Easton’s Beach. As a result, it is a decent spot for lunch if you are enjoying the beach and looking for something quick nearby.
If you are traveling to Newport and looking for recommendations, please go to

The food here is alright.
It really isn’t to die for.
The concept is great.
Food is not as tasteful.
Great place for drinks and chillax.
2^nd floor seating is nice.

Downstairs is good if you like fried seafood. They do it well, the location, the tourists and the long lines attest to that. Real surprise is upstairs bar, raw bar, baked dinners and great service. Lisa and Chris are the best. Can’t order from downstairs menu but who cares?

Was really expecting more from RAVE reviews and TV shows, but nothing will ruin great seafood like Wet, Soggy batter!!! I’m happy to say we tried this but we won’t be back! You can def get the same stuff somewhere else in RI!

The food here was horrible. A lot of breading and no flavor at all. I would not waste my time and eat here. Disappointing.

The staff who took our order was really friendly, but other than that, nothing really made this shack stand out.
Lobster roll is definitely not what they’re known for and you can tell. They also just give you a packet of mayo on the side to put in on your own. It just felt very effortless on their part and like any other fast food joint.
Their chowder, please note it doesn’t say «clam» chowder on the menu, was all potatoes and maybe a handful of tiny clam meat if you’re lucky.
I liked their fried clams but it’s not any different from fried clams at other shacks.

Stop in for a bite after walking around the mansions. It’s a seafood galore. There is two sections: raw bar upstairs and fried seafood down stairs. You have to order your food at the outside window, Menu posted on the board then you get beeper and the call you when food is ready. We wants to try little bit of everything so we got the Fisherman’s Platter, which turned to be huge amount of food. We also got a platter from the raw bar, little inconvenient to have to go upstairs and order there but it all worked out. All the food was great, especially the scallops and lobsters.

This is the best lobster roll and clam chowder I’ve ever eaten!!! The clam cakes and quahog stuffies are also amazing !!

My favorite clam shack by far! I love that they have a decent-​sized indoor dining area and their own parking lot. The food was excellent! Great place to stop if you’re headed to the beach!

The calamari always. It’s fresh with the perfect texture between crispy and tender. The clam chowder is excellent too. Great location right by the beach. The parking is definitely annoying but the lot moves quickly and there’s some street parking nearby.

Love me or hate me for giving this place the five stars but just hear me out. As a native Rhode Islander I am so tired of all the typical tourist trap places all around the state and even New England for that matter that only do the fried fish and clams… maybe a mediocre lobster roll that’s all mayo and celery. When I come here I know exactly what I want and am always blown away with what I get as my reward bounty.
I get it that this place is known for the clams and what not, but seriously this place is all about the lobster roll. Pure, simple and no frills… just letting the lobster meat and the butter grilled roll do all the talking. Of course a cup of chowder doesn’t hurt either and you have to love a place that has the Frank’s and Tabasco on hand just to amp things up.
If you can look past the dank interior and hokey décor you will be pleasantly surprised at just how good the real deal food is here. Hope you enjoy!

Parking: small, however more parking across the street near park.
Dining: outside, lower and upper level seating. If the lines are long, have someone save a table while you order. Beware you may wait a while before ordering your «To Go» food. There’s only one window therefore one person taking orders. However, definitely worth the wait!
Food: almost everything we ordered was delicious. Don’t come here if your are on a diet. Lots of fried seafood… see pictures. Clam cakes were crispy on the outside and inside was moist and sweet with bits of clams. It was delicious. Fried oyster was also sooooo good. Crispy batter covered the whole moist oyster. Cole slaw and seasoned fries were also good. Fisherman platter is good for 2 people… we couldn’t finish it.
For all who don’t want fried food, the Lobster roll was not like most, didn’t have the typical mayo dressing. However a mayo packet was given on the side for those that wants it. There’s also Greek salad.

Oh my gosh. All of the buzz is right! A lobster roll with no mayo — it was literally lobster meat on a roll. I got the platter. Very quick, and delicious. This is truly a hidden gem. The place itself is very cute and interesting.

Flo’s is the quintessential seaside seafood place, and its the real deal too not some place where there is the faux seashore stuff everywhere. It’s actually across the street from the beach. I’ve gone here mostly on Fridays for the specials, so that may account for some of my comments. On Friday there is oddly enough also a prime rib special for the meat lovers. Its a big hunk of meat, but for those who are prime rib devotees be warned its well past the «rare» setting that I personally adhere to (and you don’t get a choice). The seafood is why your here anyway and the seafood platter is best split between two people and the oysters are excellent and the chowder is better than average. There is a raw bar upstairs that serves up cold, sweet local oysters along with the usual adult beverages. My only fault with the place is the crazy system of ordering food and how they staff the place, they really need an efficiency expert to work on the staffing here, but then again I am sure the owners would just say thats the way we’ve always done it here…

There’s this thing about convenience when you go out to eat. It’s nice, having other people do shit for you. At this joint you have to find a dirty table to clean yourself, run downstairs to order somethings, upstairs for others and all so you can run back and retreive your oysters sitting in a sandy, briny puddle in a paper plate. It’s a pain in the ass, to be frank, and after I finished fetching all my own food and clearing my table I gave them money. Who’s the dummy here?
At the end of the day it’s ordinary food that you have to work way too hard for.

As oil is used, food particles, high temperatures and repeated use lower the smoking point and eventually result in rancidity that gives your food off-​flavors. The trick, of course, is to maximize the number of baskets of food the oil can cook before it breaks down. — See more at:
These people need to read this article
Our fish and chips were rancid as were
The clam cakes poor product real nasty.

Flo’s has been a favorite of mine since I don’t even know when! I grew up right down the road and during the summer it was always a favorite spot to go! You knew summer was here when Flo’s opened their windows! They have the best clam cakes. PERIOD! I personally do not like the clam chowder, they have the broth. I like the creamy stick to your ribs kind so that is why I do not prefer it. The whole belly clams are the best!!! Really you need to get them and that is it! Best meal ever. Tons of food so plan for a following lunch! They have a cool upstairs sitting area and outside picnic tables. Parking is scarce in the back. I recommend either coming right at opening or a late lunch. During father summer it’s basically busy when open because of the beach right across the street. So good!

I literally found a worm in the shell oyster. Do not
Go here. The oysters were over priced and when I was done I noticed a long worm was sticking out of the shell oft oyster, very visible. I am so disgusted. Being a huge oyster lover I have never once run into the issue of a worm on my oyster

Awesome clam shack.
Nice view, great food.
Cute bamboo walk way.
Confused as to why the location on this says Middletown it’s definitely in Newport.

Sometimes you just get that craving for fried clams and when you do finding a little clam shack across from the beach is perfect! This is exactly what happened on our ride through Middletown and we just happened to stumble upon Flo’s.
We were greeted as we entered by a woman behind the counter. She informed us menus were on the table, but then you return to the counter to place orders and pick up food when ready. The atmosphere is very casual, but cute. We did not venture up to the second floor, but it appeared there is a deck for outdoor dining in the warmer weather.
As we waited for our food many people came through the doors and the line became long at the counter. We assumed Flo’s was a pretty popular place in the area. After reading the restaurant history on the back of the menu we learned Flo’s has been in business for several decades and needed to rebuild a couple times after hurricanes.
Our experience was good and we enjoyed the food. The clams hit the spot, but I cannot say they were the best clams I have ever had. The fries were hot, fresh, and crispy. Perhaps if it was the summer season and we were able to eat our meal out on the deck it would have made the entire experience even better. Flo’s was decent and it satisfied our need for fried clams, but I don’t feel as though I could give more than three stars after this visit.
Parking is also a bit tricky. There is a lot out behind the building which is quite small. I’m sure it’s a tough place to get into during the busy season.

I was really excited about trying Flo’s when I saw it was featured on the Food Network and other celebrity venues. Sadly I was a bit disappointed.
Other than the raw bar, everything is fried, so be prepared for that.
We tried their famous clam cakes, crabcakes, and Flo’s Fried Clam Roll. We also tried the clear clam chowder and red clam chowder. Having had our fill of creamy New England Clam Chowder, we were excited to try something new.
First, the two things they are famous for, the Fried clam roll and the clam cakes. Clam cakes is just another term for fritters. They were very doughy (not the worst I’ve had, but not the lightest either). There were little chunks of clam in the fritter, but for a world famous place, I expected more (like big chunks of clam!) The Clam Roll was good. It was basically a huge mound of fried clams on top of a bun. The clams were good, and if you love fried clams, you will like it (it was a bit much for me, as I don’t eat a ton of fried food.)
The crabcakes were not great. There was a lot of breading and not that much crab.
The chowders were good, but not great. There was a lot of potato, a little clam, and nice broth. The same description holds for the red and clear.
If you want a heap of fried food, Flo’s is for you, I personally will not be lining up to get in again.

BEST Fried Clams, Fried Oysters, and Lobster Roll I ever had!
Every trip we make to Newport, we must visit Flo’s at a minimum of 3x per week.
I’ve tried Anthony’s Seafood down the street, and Flo’s Clams, Oysters and Lobster Roll still beat Anthony’s.
Private lot in the back. Check hours because they are different depending no the month/​season.
Cash Only.
You won’t be disappointed. Flo’s was featured two times on Food Network’s «Best Thing I Ever Ate» show.
Also would recommend their Fried Fish too — YUM!!!

What a classic little seaside restaurant. Located just across the street from Easton Beach on Easton Bay, it is a picture perfect place to kick back your sand covered feet while enjoying ocean views.
Flo’s began in Portsmouth back in 1936, but was destroyed by a hurricane two years later in 1938. After rebuilding in a new location, that restaurant was also destroyed by a different hurricane in 1991. Some luck huh? Again they rebuilt and also added this Middletown location in 1992. If you love the authentic beachy laid back feel, you’re gonna love this place.
Just outside the front doors is a counter that you can order from without coming inside. Once inside, there is adequate seating area on the first floor, but the money spot is up the narrow staircase to the second floor. You will find a bar surrounded by fish tanks to make for a cool drinking area. There is also a balcony for seating, but pointing due south towards the ocean is a bright and sunny seating atrium surrounded by glass. I could tell by it’s construction that the glass is retractable to convert it into an open air balcony. We came on a rainy day, but I can only imagine how great it must be to see it when it is fully open.
THE FOOD
History aside, the food was great. It was our second eating experience while visiting Rhode Island and so far the most enjoyable. I ordered the seafood platter which consisted of the following:
Fried Shrimp (2.75 stars) — Not exactly the delicious shrimp flavor I was expecting. They were okay but had a slight burned taste to them.
Fried Calamari (2.75 stars) — Decent sized ringlets, but not very flavorful. Also they do not offer a flavorful dipping sauce other than tartar or plain marinara.
Fried Cod (4 stars) — VERY good. Wonderful flavor and surprisingly juicy. Best fish I had while visiting RI.
Fried Scallops (4 stars) — Delicious. the meat was tender and sweet.
Fried Clam Strips (5 stars) — Large, tender and oh so good. I ordered them without the guts and unless you are hard core, I would highly advise you avoid the guts as well.
Clam Cakes (4 stars) — Ever heard of these? Basically these are really large hush puppies with clam meat baked inside. Not bad, but I enjoyed the ones @ Iggy’s much more.
French Fries (4 stars) — Always a great compliment to a meal and these were pretty good.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all Flo’s was a 3.5 star food experience. The clam strips would be my highest recommendation followed by the scallops and the cod. Bön appetite!