The Park Lunch

I like this place! good food, reliable every time i go there, i like the atmosphere, too. an old stand-​by. u can’t go wrong. give park lunch a try!

Made the mistake of coming here when passing through town. It’s very much a spot only locals can love. The food is bland and really poor quality-​like school cafeteria bad. Everyone who works there appears to hate their job. I came here with two others. Two of us got the fish and chips, which we did not enjoy. Instead of large filets the pieces of fish were very tiny and the Cole slaw was very runny. The tartar sauce, which it seems they make themselves, was the worst I’ve had. The third person on my party got the fried clams, which is what they’re supposed to be known for. Big mistake. She was up from 1−6am throwing up. You can make your own assumptions there. I highly discourage anyone from eating here!!!

I got the small fried clams and my mother got the lobster roll and fries. it tastes like summer!
Delicious food
Great service

Delicious fish and chips! The haddock was sooooo tender and the coating crispy! Perfectly cooked. I love neighborhood joints where there is no pretension, just good food and friendly folks. Love this place.

They cut their scallops in half to stretch the count. Their steak fries are that in name only and their prices are higher than they should be. But, the clams and scallops are good tasting (not Clam Box or Farnham’s caliber however) and fill ya up. Their luncheon specials don’t include much, esp. clams or scallops– nope. If the burger meat is fresh it’s a good burger. When it’s not fresh they cook it well done (my conjecture anyway). They could do a lot better taking care of the loyal patrons that frequent the joint. Hopefully in the near future they will.

BEST FRIED CLAMS HANDS DOWN! I don’t know what they do to make them taste so much better than most fried seafood takeout stands and restaurants around the seacoast but whatever it is they’re doing it great! They have a very good menu here with some simple all american meals. Great burgers and steaks! There is a local sports and high school sports theme going on here with tons of old photos on the walls. It’s pretty cool. It definitely has a slight «townie bar» feel to it and you might feel like you don’t belong if you’re not a regular here or from the area… but hey, just ignore those stares and indulge in some of the best fried clams you’ve ever tasted!

I am unable to leave a food review unfortunately since my family stood at the host stand for 15 minutes without even being greeted. This is 12:45pm on a Sunday. The hostess walked right by us without a word.

The Park Lunch is outstanding. It has the quintessential New England charm that if you don’t appreciate it, walk out the door and jump in the Merrimack River. The fish chowder is the best I ever had. The fried clams are the best I ever had. The veal parmigiana sandwich tasted like a dog’s arsehole though, had to be an Encor frozen patty. Don’t order that. Bought a shirt on the way out and can’t wait to go back.

Frigging Unilocal.This place came up under a search for seafood and it’s a neighborhood sports bar. We arrived shortly after it opened, the staff was experienced and competent. The menu was nothing special, the sour cream and chive French fries that other reviewers raved about, were bleh. Some commercial junk they just deep fried.
The décor was old sports pennants tacked up everywhere. Look elsewhere for seafood. This place looks better suited to a late breakfast or an after softball beer.

Pahk Lunch… The only place to go for fried food. Clams, haddock, scallops, and shrimp are superb. I can’t attest on anything else because we only order fried seafood when we go. Been going for 30 years, before and after the fire. All looks the same!
Wait staff are legends and get the orders correct and delivered fast and hot, perfectly cooked. No reservations, have to wait but we always return. Don’t change a thing. A local historic site!

The fried clams were expertly cooked. The draft beer was cold. The Cubs won and they were nice enough to turn the game on for me. The place is a little sports museum. The pizzas also looked really good and the service was superb. I very nice old school type place with wood paneling and sports pennants from college teams across the country. Their logo is the Fighting Irishman from Notre Dame.

Good plate of clams. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the surcharge sign until we’d ordered them. I always get annoyed at surcharges when no external factors make them scarce or whatever. In any case, it was a large amount of small bellied clams on decent fries and fair cole slaw. I think it ended up being about $ 26 or $ 27. We didn’t soak in the sports bannered themed restaurant, sat at the pretty park across the street. The only drawback there being some beers who wanted out food. Glad I finally tried this place.

Meh for food. Typical neighborhood bar. Food you could very easily cook at home… probably a little better than here. Mostly locals… some friendly, some not so much. Décor very run down… wait staff as well.

This is the best joint in town for simple food — awesome grilled chicken sandwich (I think the hour crack in it), delicious grilled burger that tastes like a backyard BBQ, fish and chips, pizza — it’s all good. Super casual and usually filled with a crowd. I live nearby and it’s my go to for casual, great food and a cold brew.

The BEST pizza in Newburyport but only served after 5 PM. Great food. Very generous portions. A long time favorite of my family. Make sure you stop in. A local hot spot.

THE BEST FRIED CLAMS AROUND — straight from the Parker river, you can even take them to go!
Be a local and come during the beginning of the week and get a free beer with your pizza. Bring some cards in and call it home!
This is a locals spot be prepared for great people watching, you may even run into your old coach or high school teacher watching a game at the bar.
You and your friends may divide over the french fry choice — steak fries vs. sour cream + chive!

Best clam plate around though now north of $ 22.95 My wife and I like to split a clam plate once in awhile and I’m comparing «The Fried Lunch,» as I like to call Park Lunch; to Woodman’s, The Clam Box and other standard bearers, saying «best for the buck.» The place also a retro old school knotty pine ambience and clientele, unlike downtown with the touristas, yuppies and emigres.
My wife says to add they don’t have chowder on the specials often enough. As a Netherlander she is a connoisseur of les frites, and thinks Park Lunch has excellent fries.

After years of hearing positive comparisons between the fried clams at Choate Bridge Pub and the Clam Box (both in Ipswich), and Park Lunch, we finally got up to a late afternoon weekday feast at Park Lunch. The waitress was professional, pleasant and efficient and we were absolutely delighted by the fried clams and the seafood chowder.
The latter was light cream based, with various seafood broths, and a good balance of shrimp, fish, potatoes… No herbs, just a simple, clean, traditional style chowder (and not goopy or weak flavored.) Like food lovers of any specialty– be it clams or pizza, oysters or burgers, fried clam fans have many aspects they judge. The PL fried clams were pristinely fresh, sweet, medium size, lightly coated with a thin crust, expertly fried in clean canola oil (none of the sticky mouth feel of beef tallow and no hint of oil that should have been changed hours ago) and justly portioned. While this was only our first visit there, it’s easy to say that, for us, the clams were the equal or better than Choate Bridge Pub.(Clam Box moves to 3^rd place.) Cole slaw was better than most; fresh and crisp, not cloyingly sweet or swimming in mayo. Sour cream and Chive fries were a tasty change from regular fries; didn’t need ketchup, and were perfectly cooked. So, judging strictly on: fried clams, seafood chowder, fries and cole slaw, Park Lunch was the clear winner. Wow!
After our super lunch, we explored around town, admiring the architecture, and water gazing by the river. Newburyport is one of my 2 favorite Massachusetts towns (along with Marblehead) for scenery, water proximity and well-​preserved historic character, and now we have a new fried clams place for lunch– another reason to escape the heat of Boston for the river breezes of this wonderful respite !

A little off the beaten path, but a wonderful find! Delicious fried clams with bellies ($ 22.95)! I shared with another person and it was more than sufficient. Other people ordered a hamburger club, fish and chips, and a chicken club. Ample portions and daily specials are offered.
Service was patient and not too rushed. They came to check up on you. The bathroom is clean. They will only seat you if all diners are present.

The knotty pine gets you first. Then the food.
This is the kind of joint where you want to eat fried seafood. Not the trendy, overpriced places in Boston or across the border in Portsmouth. The Park Lunch is a friendly, not ostentatious, far from pretentious little eatery that happens to serve great seafood. It’s not a «shack,» but it’s pure New England (down to the multitude of pennants lining the walls), and the service completely backs that up.
Yes, as you’ll see from one of the shots I uploaded, the fried clam and scallop prices tend toward the exorbitant, but you get the sense they wouldn’t charge that if they didn’t have to. After all, the crabmeat roll I ate cost just $ 7, a far cry from the $ 20+ for our app-​sized clam platter.
Park Lunch is ideally situated for those with kids — after our meal, we walked everything off at the park across the street, where the kids played on the swings and we watched ducks on the riverbank before strolling downtown.