Bates New England Seafood & Subs

While the seafood was very fresh and the place appeared to be clean, my friends and I thought the prices were very high for the meals we ordered. I had a baked shrimp platter with nice, in-​house, freshly-​made onion rings, and baked beans. The shrimp were fresh, medium-​sized, and an okay portion – nothing to write home about. Hubby and friend both had very good appetizer crab cakes, smallish in size. Friend had a side salad. Hubby had respectable clam chowder which he shared with me. With only water and one iced tea, the tab, with tip, ran about $ 20 per person for lunch. Service was very good and congenial, but we could have done much better price-​wise at Red Lobster. Sorry about this, because I would rather give my business to this type of mom-​and-​pop restaurant.

Good seafood; little bit pricey 9.00−24.95 for a meal; but when you consider there Seafood is shipped in from New England fresh it’s very reasonable. Location is not easy. Sits in back corner of strip plaza with a small sign. Would definitely come back again. Décor is easy on the eyes. Several tv’s on the wall. Beer and wine available.

We had the Lobster bisque, claim chowder and a side of onion rings. Everything was very good. Nice hometown restaurant. We will definitely be back.

Best lobster bisque I’ve ever had! The lobster roll was amazing! Great atmosphere and décor. We will definitely come back!

Very delicious fried seafood and soups! Price was right, portions were large. Very clean dining area and bathroom. Server needs to make eye contact and be a little more upbeat, but that wouldn’t prevent me to visit again. They now have extended hours.

People of Boston! You must eat here! The owners are from Boston and all the food is flown in from Beantown! When you order the clams, lobster roll, scallops… you are eating the real deal! The food is outstanding and I had the pleasure of chatting with the owners as we ate and what a treat! Felt like home here!

This is real New England Food. We are from Boston and have been looking for a place like this. While it is not fancy the food is GREAT. Went tonight for the first time and will certainly go back. The Seafood was very fresh, the homemade Onion Rings were great and my wife loved the Lobster Roll on a real Split Top Bun. We can’t wait to go back and try the Cheese Steak.

The whole family enjoyed their food at bates. The clam chowder was amazing and the service was great.

Love the food. Clam chowder is amazing, so fresh and homemade. Seafood is excellent, grinders are not to be missed. I love this place family owned and operated. Check them out, you won’t be disappointed!

Not a place I would have went to on my own based on a drive by siting.
Luckily a friend had referred me here specifically to try out the lobster rolls. We decided to give the bisque a try first and were not disappointed. All to often these days lobster bisque means «lobster flavor» with no lobster in the soup. That is not the case here. Healthy chunks of lobster abound.
The lobster rolls also did not disappoint. The bread to lobster ration is a critical measurement in any good lobster roll and I’m happy to report it’s almost an even ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ split. The lobster tasted fresh and delicious in ever bite. Only thing I would improve on is season the fries a bit more, but that’s a minor request.
Worth a look if your hankering’ for a crustacean on the quick.

The Ipswich clams! Yum!
Great soups! Great family owned local place!
I think they need to be busier!
This is my 3^rd time here. I really like their lobster rolls served NE style and have brought my dad here.
Will keep coming back to try it all!

Such a great Small Town Sea Food Restauraunt! Delicious and VERY fresh! The shrimp were Giant! The portion of fried clam strips was enough for two and the french fries were awesome. Everyone around our table was very happy with their food. The restaurant is clean, fresh painted and very casual! Definitely recommend!

Great place to eat!!! telling my friends our family says forget captain Ds. Mom This is our seafood place yessss

So excited to find this great, fresh seafood joint right here in Winter Garden! We tried the lobster roll and the fish ‘n chips. Could not have been happier! Everyone was so nice and the portions were huge.

This place is great! The seafood is fresh and you can taste it in the food.
The batter they use is light and full of flavor. I haven’t had any of their subs but other reviews seem to have high praise for them!
The service is friendly and the owners are straight out of New England.
It seems like the only gripe people have with them is price. But as someone from New England I just have to scream that fresh seafood is expensive!!!
The food here at this hole in the wall mom and pop shop is much better than you would get at most nice commercial restaurants.
I came in and ordered the Haddock Platter with fries and baked beans for $ 20, and it was amazing.
My friend got the fish sandwich lunch special that came with fries and a can of soda for $ 5.50.
Her portion of fish was about the same size as mine and tasted great, but she couldn’t understand the cost difference.
The difference is that the fish sandwich is Swai, a farmed freshwater fish like tilapia, not a delicious wild caught salt water fish like Haddock or Cod.
Just because it is whitefish doesn’t mean it is the same!
I will definitely be back, to try the clams, lobster roll and other incredible seafood options.
If you are visiting between 11:30am and 4:00pm — I definitely recommend the $ 5.50 fish sandwich lunch special if I can.
It is too good of a deal to pass up!

The shrimp were too good. The sandwich was too big. The lady was too friendly. You’ll love it. Bring friends. Prepare to eat too much. We will be back soon. Enjoy. See us soon. See you soon. Way awesome.

As someone who relocated from Boston’s North Shore last summer and had numerous quality «clam/​lobster shacks» very close by, I came to Bates with high expectations. I’ll start off saying that they have a LOT of potential. The service was good and the food was exceptionally fresh. Here’s what I thought about the things I tried:
Lobster bisque: This was excellent. It had just the right amount of seasoning and a good broth-​to-​meat ratio. I could taste the sherry, which is a traditional ingredient, but it wasn’t overpowering.
Clam chowder: This was very good. Many people from outside New England may not know that there are local variations of chowder within New England (Rhode Island chowder is clear and doesn’t even have cream), so the fact that Bates’ version wasn’t the thick and creamy chowder many think of didn’t bother me and doesn’t make it any less authentic. Most chowders begin with rendering some bacon and using the rendered fat to make a roux. My problem with this chowder was that the bacon was left in the chowder in rather large pieces, and its smokey flavor did overpower the clams a little. Not a lot, just a little. I would still go back and order the chowder again.
Whole belly clams: This is what I really went to Bates for. The clams were super-​fresh and cooked perfectly. They were not in the least bit greasy and were very tender. They know how to fry clams here. I did have a BIG complaint, however, which is why my review only garnered 3 stars. The batter for the clams is all wrong. It’s loaded with a very strong seasoning (Old Bay I think) and completely overpowered, ruined even, the fantastic clams. When working with fresh seafood, less is always more. In this case, the clams need to be the star. Interestingly, the flavor profile of the batter seemed to me that it would perfectly complement shrimp, so perhaps I’ll try their fried shrimp.
So, in conclusion, PLEASE simplify your clam batter and I’ll become a regular customer! Try simply flour, cornmeal, and a touch of salt and watch the magic happen — the clams really don’t need any more help than that except perhaps a dip in some tarter sauce.

Based on all the five stars we had to give them a try.
Ordered the Cod & clam strips with the Fishermans Catch Combo.
The cod is a single pickle sized filet battered in the special home made recipe.
My less than five star experience was dampened by a puddle of water in my plate, so the underside of all the goodies: shrimp, scallops and the above were mushy on the underside. Also the batter on the Cod and the scallops did not stay on the protein as one would like/​expect.
Why is this I ask? Are these items frozen and battered then fried sealing in the H2O to later end up in my dish and preventing the permanent adhesion of the batter? Oh well, the fish and scallops were tasty, just you know, messy.
Clams would be my go back for entrée.
The tiny glass of Berringer (wine) was a bit of a disappointment too at $ 6.00. Oh the big pour was $ 9.00 — for Berringer?
The onion rings and fries, since riding on top of all the seafood were spared the «water bath» in my plate and proved a great side for it all.
Lisa was great being her first day at the job!

An extra point for great service. This is a cozy place tucked in the corner of a small shopping center. Food was great, service was excellent! My husband is from the Cape Cod area so finding this hidden gem 20 minutes away from us made his day. We split the Fisherman’s Platter ($ 25) and had a cup of lobster bisque and the clam chowder.
The platter had ipswich clams, scallops, shrimp, haddock, fries and onion rings. There aren’t many places locally that offer whole bellied clams. The scallops were so perfectly cooked and tender (these were our favorite). In fact, everything was perfectly cooked. We enjoyed every last bit. The batter was pretty good. I like it a little saltier but the nice thing about that is that I can add the salt I need and the people who don’t want all the salt would be content. Win/​Win.
The soups were good too. The lobster bisque had a generous amount of lobster chunks. Delicious!
I would suggest offering lemon and tartar sauce from the start, definitely needed a minimum of 2 containers with this platter… there is so much food on it :)
I do hope this mom and pop shop survive. They are so hidden and the signage is not very visible which has us a little worried. Word of mouth, local advertising, continued great food and service and they should do just fine!
We’ll see you soon for more yummy deliciousness!

Recommended by a friend, I traveled almost an hour to try this place out. Wow, was I amazed. Never have I ever come across seafood thats been perfectly prepared. My boyfriend and I split the fishermans platter and the lobster bisque.
The platter had fried clam bellies, shrimp, haddock, fries, and onion rings. This was the first time that I had tasted fresh, perfectly tender, battered seafood, and the batter did not compete or overpower the seafood, it was balanced. From that alone, its only a matter of time before this mom and pop shop is packed!
I must mention the lobster bisque, wow. I literally have never tasted a bisque with this amount of flavor, and large chunks of actual lobster! Finally!
The chef talked with us too, boston accent and all, and told us his story. We felt like we were in Massachusetts. Completely authentic, definitely will be going back!