Whole clams with belly...fried...
 

Are there any restaurants between Ocala and Leesburg that sell fried clams with the bellies?

Thank you.

The only restaurant I know and have been to is “Essex House Seafood” on Sr40 Pierson Fl, about one hour away heading to Daytona. Lobster Steamers, whole belly clams or strips, haddock flounder a hole in the wall but excellent
Reasonably priced for New England seafood in central Florida.

There is a restaurant in Celebration that serves them.

avoid the "lump" crab cakes
 

Whale's Tale Fish House Mount Dora, FL.All About the Sunshine State - Your Information Resource Hwy to Florida › listing › whales-ta...
Whale's tail fish house from allaboutthesunshinestate.com
Whale's Tale Fish House is located in the Golden Triangle Shopping Center at 2720 W Old US Hwy 441. in Mt Dora, Florida. ... Menu offers the best Clams, Maryland ...
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Essex Seafood 1360 W SR-40 Pierson Florida about a 90 minute drive . check there facebook page as times change . FYI CASH ONLY $$$$$$. not fancy basic but whole bellys

Sam's St John's in Summerfield would have them on Friday's. Not sure if they still do

I believe Lena’s has them. Being from Massachusetts it is hard to get clams away from Ipswich or Essex.

Ray Ray’s in Fruitland Park on Fridays.

Lena's Seafood Florida
18478 E hwy 40
Silver Springs

Menu lists whole clams (when available) so you may want to call ahead
(352)625-6489

Also, Dan’s Clam Stand on 44 in Crystal River is excellent! The owner use to be the chef at Burk’s in Plymouth, MA.

I, also am from the No. Shore of Ma. The Essex House in Pierson, FL. is owned by the brother whom owns Essex Seafood in Essex, Ma. IMHO, the food is better in FL, you get more, and the the price is about half for a whole belly clam plate. All seafood is imported from Essex, Ma. About 1 hour and 15 mins north of TV on Hywy 40. No ambiance. Simply the best. Clams, scollops, shrimp, haddock, lobster. They also have broiled seafood as well as fried. I go there once a month. Being a conisor of fried seafood, from N.E. nothing compares to this gem in the middle of the Ocala Forest.

Celebration has them , and the restaurant slips my mind…. They are awesome !

Lena’s, they are also Massachusetts natives. We love it there, and we’re from up north as well. They are only open in the fall/winter since they still have a place up north in the summer.

forget it? if you are looking for seafood in florida, forget it. I've tried and tried, and the conclusion from many of the seafood lovers like us, is the seafood here is awful....period...and so is the Chinese food also, just for good measure

Been to all the restaurants mentioned in the other posts, none come close to Essex (for me, just north if 466, it’s about 1 hr) in Pierson. They serve Ipswich clams, I am from Massachusetts and can guarantee that they are as good as any of the clam shacks in the Essex/Ipswich area.

Whole belly clams
 

They have them at the Lighthouse in Lake Sumter - expensive but they are there. Owner is also from Boston.

Whole belly clams
 

Dan's Clam Hut. Rt 44 Lecanto. Delicious!

Lighthouse on Lake Sumter. But will try some of the suggested restaurants as I love whole bellies!

Lena's in Silver Springs has them, or did!

Rae Rae's on 441

So all of these people from Massachusetts who have mentioned Essex House in Pierson are wrong?

I've been to Essex House several times and I can tell you that it's as good or better than what I used to get in eastern Massachusetts.

Chinese food is subject to where you come from. It's different everywhere. I'm from the Boston area and got used to a certain style of Chinese food. I've had it in San Francisco where it is supposed to be the best in the U.S. and I didn't like it as much as the stuff I got at home. I've also had Chinese food in China and I would guess that most Americans would hate it.

The same goes for pizza. The pizza and Chinese food here are fine. They are just not what we are used to.

OK I'll BITE. Being from the left coast what makes the clams with bellies special fried?

The Lighthouse in the Villages. Has great whole belly fried clams

“ Clam strips are like decaf coffee – what’s the point?”

“How is this even a question? Clam strips are not clams, they are deep-fried rubber bands.”

“Clam strips are like a hot fudge sundae without the hot fudge.”

“Go belly or go home!“

“WHOLE clams or NO clams!”

Having lived in both Boston and Los Angeles, I am pretty sure that there are no REAL clams with bellies on the west coast. A western fried clam is nothing like a fried Ipswich clam which is the only one with the bellies people are looking for. They have a distinctive flavor and are more juicy than rubbery like a whole "regular" clam. I looked for them in the west for 40 years that I lived there and never found one. I'm excited to find them here! While I'm at it, I also looked for shrimp with lobster sauce like I had in Boston and never found that either. Any of that anywhere near here?

You’ll have to try them to find out.

Well, without the bellies is basically a tiny piece of calamari. but also being from New England and hunter/gather them myself (actually snorkel for quahogs and dig for steamers) frying kills the whole clam experience. They should be steamed for 3-4 minutes, put in bowl to cool, and then gently removed from the shell and lightly dipped in a mixture of lime and butter. . . or lemon and butter, but just lightly. . . and if you don't know how to remove all the sand prior to cooking, you aren't a real hunter/gatherer/connehserrrrr

and while we are on the topic, Mussels, the surface bivalve, is the bad cousin used for fish bait.

Confirm What You Will Be Served At The Lighthouse
 

In the past, I've had whole bellies at the Lighthouse. Most often, I ordered the clam strips, which were freshly breaded, much cheaper yet satisfying.,

However, last week I ordered the clam strips and was shocked when served a product that looked identical to that by Mrs. Paul in the frozen food section at Publix. In fact, it probably was Mrs. Paul's, with breading that was a 1/4th inch thick and had certainly come from a plastic bag in the freezer.

I complained to the server. She told me the restaurant changed its supplier and the concoction I was served is now the regular menu item. She went on to say that she recommends not ordering the clam strips if asked. I told her I wished she had volunteered that when I ordered.

I didn't ask if the supplier for the whole bellies was changed. However, before ordering them, I will be certain to do so.

Fortunately, my wife shared her fish and chips. The fish was a full side of Haddock and was excellent. Also, it was a bargain at less than $10.

I think its called Old Town Tavern, great place I go there often.

yes mr Winston. when I see people with name tags indicating where they are from, be it Maine, Rhode Island, or even that place you are from, which I refuse to admit. it is the same response. the "seafood" here is awful. I've tried several of those hidden gems, for fried clams, and like I said forget it. I cringe when some people tell me that they get raw oysters? and tell me they are great? good luck with that. go to the country clubs, the food is 50-50,

I support all of the suggestions above. Every once in a while we go down to Oh Shucks for some seafood. It's good food. They have fried oysters and steamed clams. Not sure why they don't fry the clams but maybe there is a reason. Could they be local clams and not that good fried? Anyway I thought maybe the fried oysters would satisfy my cravings but no, there is nothing like a good whole belly Ipswich fried clam!

Totally agree, except we use a mixture of lemon, olive oil, and butter. Also, the quahogs can easily be steamed in the shell by putting them directly on a hot grill for a few minutes until the shell pops open. We bring the portable Webber with us to the beach sometimes and the quahogs go straight from the ocean to the grill, talk about fresh.

The last time we visited Lighthouse for their Fried Clam special wasn't that great 6 clams on top of French fries. That was the evening Mitt Romney made a campaign swing to Sumter Landing.
NEVER RETURNED think it was 2012!

oh schucks? they reopened? weren't they closed down a few times for.........well, lets not go there.............. good luck with that

YIKES, and why would you want to eat the bellies of clams fried or not???
Did you ever open a clam and clean it before serving raw?? No Body I know eats the bellies.
The bellies are full of Yuck. You do not use the bellies when making liquini with clam sauce. You only use the clam meat.

If you were from New England you'd know. Fried clams without bellies are basically breaded rubber bands. Fried clams are great, but the grease does get to you. I prefer steamers

Couldn't agree with you more. It seems on this sight, some think if it's not from home, it's not any good. I was born and raised in one of the country's seafood capitals, New Bedford. I worked on the waterfront most of my adult life. Worked on fishing boats as a young adult, and for almost 30 years with an electric utility. Seemed like most parts of the city had their own seafood restaurant, and everything was fresh off the boat. As kids, we would rake quahogs and bay scallops in the Westport River and on the local beaches, and bring them home and eat them. In the summer we would bring in hundreds of blue crabs at the plant, and give them to anyone who wanted them. Now, with all that being said, the fried clams I've had at Sam's St Johns, were fine, just different. For anyone from Southern Ma. and R.I., McCray's in Westport (they retired years ago) were the best I've ever had, but that was more about the coating than the clams. Luckily, a close friend worked there during high school and told me how to make them, although it's too much work to make them. As far steamed clams, where I come from, we have clam boils, which are more Portuguese style with potatoes, onions, corn, hot dogs, pork sausage, Portuguese sausage, and sometimes cod or haddock. I saw and interview with the owner of Legal Seafood, and he said a clam boil isn't a clam boil without the Portuguese sausage.It's similar to a low country boil, but with more spice, and they're both good. While I prefer the food from home, I've been able to find good seafood, Chinese, pizza and Italian here. I do like the Mexican here more.

We made 60 stuffed quahogs and froze them before we drove down in September. Loaded them into a cooler and they were still frozen when we got here. We've heated them up and served them to some people here that like seafood but have never had a stuffie and they couldn't believe how good they were. We also brought down some frozen chourico to use on a pizza.

Found Gaspars Sausage, Chourico Publix