Great Roadside Food Stands in the Northeast?

I am always looking for classic Americana when searching for dining spots, including the old-fashioned roadside food stands--places with picnic tables outside and a window where people order things such as burgers, hot dogs, and ice cream.

I have found a few good ones in the Northeast (Al's Hot Dog Stand in Naugatuck, CT; Dairy Joy in Weston, MA; Northern Lights in Inlet, NY; Simco's in Mattapan, MA), but I know there are others out there that I haven't hit yet. Has anyone been to any good roadside stands anywhere in New England, New York, or perhaps New Jersey?

We hit a number of good places (mainly seafood shacks) on a trip through New England a couple years ago.

Best,
Michael

[quote="eatchicago"]We hit a number of good places (mainly seafood shacks) on a trip through New England a couple years ago.

Oh, boy, that's a great thread. I know of most of those places, though I'm unfamiliar with Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster. Thanks for the reply!

hiddenboston wrote:Oh, boy, that's a great thread. I know of most of those places, though I'm unfamiliar with Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster. Thanks for the reply!

Here's another thread, in case you missed it when you did a search.

I sense that you may not be looking for seafood shacks, or for already well-established places... but I just got back from a visit to Cape Cod, and one of the highlights was Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar, right on Route 6 in Eastham (across from the cemetery). It used to be a bona fide roadside shack, but its popularity has had repercussions: they've built permanent shelter for its picnic tables, and, even, a mini-golf course, which appears to have sprouted off its flank like a kitsch-tumor.

Still, there's no arguing with its food:

fried clams (best in class)


fried scallops (best in show, best in town-- just so, so delicious)


onion rings (honorable mention)




Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar
3580 State Highway (Route 6)
Eastham, MA 02642
(508) 255-2575‎

Just came back from a trip to the middle of nowhere Maine (Dover-Foxcroft) and on the way up had occasion to stop at the Lunch Wagon, a great stand perched high on Main Street at the bottom of Belfast's commercial district just a stone's throw from the harbor. It's a traditional Maine fry shack with a few fry-free alternatives.



We loved the lobster roll, which they offered with either mayo or butter. We went with mayo.



I had fried clams, offered only in whole belly (of course) which were hot, fresh and sweet.



I liked their mascot, a rain slicker-clad fisherman with "Lunch Wagon" scribbled on his front with a sharpie.



Lunch Wagon
17 Main Street
Belfast, ME 04915

There was a lunch dog shack in Dover-Foxcroft, but since I'm not a dog eater (I know, I know) I didn't stop to check it out.

daveco_hen wrote:I sense that you may not be looking for seafood shacks, or for already well-established places... but I just got back from a visit to Cape Cod, and one of the highlights was Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar, right on Route 6 in Eastham (across from the cemetery). It used to be a bona fide roadside shack, but its popularity has had repercussions: they've built permanent shelter for its picnic tables, and, even, a mini-golf course, which appears to have sprouted off its flank like a kitsch-tumor.

Still, there's no arguing with its food:

fried clams (best in class)


fried scallops (best in show, best in town-- just so, so delicious)


onion rings (honorable mention)




Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar
3580 State Highway (Route 6)
Eastham, MA 02642
(508) 255-2575‎

Arnold's is still around? I haven't been to the Cape or Arnold's in 14 years or so . . . and even back then, it had ceased to be, as you say, a bona fide road shack due to its popularity, expansion and general sprucing-up. I still hold Arnold's onions rings as the standard bearer.

Queijo wrote:Just came back from a trip to the middle of nowhere Maine (Dover-Foxcroft) and on the way up had occasion to stop at the Lunch Wagon, a great stand perched high on Main Street at the bottom of Belfast's commercial district just a stone's throw from the harbor. It's a traditional Maine fry shack with a few fry-free alternatives.

That place does look good! I can never seem to get past going to Darby's, though, when I'm in Belfast. Maybe next time I'll make an exception...

Here's one: Country Chowder Shack on Route 101 in N. Scituate, RI. I just happened across this place on the drive from Hartford to Providence. It's not on the water, but a seaside location doesn't appear to be essential for a New England spot that wants to serve seafood. As you can see from the menu, there are quite a few choices.









I was on my way to the Portuguese festival in Providence. Without the customary LTH comrades, it's difficult to face down an entire plate of fried food, though the fried scallops looked to be the way to go. I opted for the "Lunch Special" consisting of Rhode Island Clam Chowder and Clam Cakes. The chowder was a bit of a disappointment, (neither very clammy nor very tomatoey), but the clam cakes were right up my alley. Think: "clam doughnuts." Very satisfying. I found out later what Doughboys taste like. They are just Divine-that's the only way to describe them, since eating them at the Our Lady of the Rosary church festival temporarily tempted me to consider joining the convent. (I also found it encouraging that one of the nuns in the parade was wearing bright red toenail polish with her flip-flops)





Don't miss the nearby farmstand where I bought this peach. It's located just up the road a piece in N. Scituate (Turn off 101 at the Grange Hall-see other thread for the address).

The Lobster Pound on Rte 3A in Hingham, MA (center of image, just before the curve) is famous for their fried clams and scallops. It's a short drive from there to World's End preservation area, which is a very scenic and tranquil place for a walk. Or Nantasket Beach in Hull, which is another great place for a walk.

Josephine,

What is "market price" for a lobster roll these days?

Yesterday, at Harry's Place in Colchester, it was $12.95. (But lots of people around here buy their lobsters cooked to order at Price Chopper (a grocery chain) and make their own for half that. $5.99/lb. when I last checked the store price.)



I didn't get a lobster roll at Harry's because I was on a mission to report for dippy-do-da-egg, who grew up near there and recommended the burgers. Clearly, Harry's is a very popular spot, set up to handle crowds with crowd control systems, ample seating at shaded picnic tables, and a concession to locals: call-in ordering for busy times. Fortunately, I got to Harry's around 5 PM, when there was no wait at all. It was tough to pass up the seafood options, but my capacity just isn't what it once was.







Harry's begins with spheres of ground beef that are between golf and tennis ball size in diameter. Sorry I didn't get a shot of these, as they were already flattened by the time I got my camera in gear. But you can see the nice, uneven edges and the thickness of the patties. This approach, and the fairly high fat content of the grind, made for a very juicy burger, thick and smaller in circumference than the typical flat burger. I know that some on this site are grossed out by the sight of half-eaten food, but IMHO, they need to get over it. Here is a picture of Harry's burger that captures its qualities:



Notice how the heavy patty begins to deflate the lower bun? It was not a drawback because it never got to the drippy stage, though with a bunch of wet toppings, that might have happened. As good as Harry's burger patty was, the thing that really sets Harry's apart from the pack is the bun. It was unbelievably fresh, and more like an excellent Parker House roll than anything I can think of. In fact, I noticed that the plates of fried seafood coming out of the kitchen had the buns on the side.

One of the fun things about Harry's Place is watching the families enjoying their outings. Harry's has been around since 1925, and it showed. One couple brought their frail mother in a wheelchair and she seemed to be enjoying a bit of nostalgia. Another family, tots in tow, got the kids started on a life of culinary promise by giving them fried calamari with extra marinera. But I really got a kick out of the curious preschool boy who retrieved his older sister to read this sign:



From the smile on the boy's face, I had to conclude that he wasn't disappointed that he couldn't climb the tree. I must admit, the very idea of a Harry's Hamburger Tree is quite magical indeed.

Harry's Place
104 Broadway St
Colchester, CT 06415
(860) 537-2410
11AM-10PM daily

Last weekend, my daughter and I visited Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank, CT. This is a seaside spot with picnic tables. They take no reservations, but really have their ordering/food prep process down to a science, so even at peak times they keep the food coming with short waits. The Clambake dinner (shrimp, mussels, steamers, chowder and 1 1/4lb. lobster) was enough for two of us - with an added lobster, that is. (I'm not into sharing my lobster, even with my beloved child.) One of the fine points of the experience was learning that we had a choice of chowders, "broth" or "cream." We went for a"broth" and found it light and flavorful.











Abbott's serves no fried food, but next door, Costello's serves all the favorites.

We didn't try Abbott's desserts, which are reputedly pretty good. Ice cream seemed like a good idea, so we headed into downtown Mystic.



The Sea Swirl offers 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream and 3 dips, including chocolate, butterscotch, and blue raspberry (which is a scary shade of turquoise). Here is the set up for the 24 flavors: an assortment of pump bottles containing flavors like amaretto and creme de menthe. These are added to a base, blended, and forced through a funnel into a soft-serve cone. The only drawback was that it took my daughter about 20 minutes to decide what flavor to order.





No one was eating fried cod or clams by the time we got to the Sea Swirl, but they batter the seafood to order according to the menu.

Abbott's Lobster in the Rough
117 Pearl St.
Groton, CT

Sea Swirl
30 Williams Ave.
Mystic, CT

Another highlight of Mystic is the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream store. The store makes its own ice cream and I have to say, this was one of the few times I have tried house-made ice cream and could actually taste the difference. In addition, the most original flavor I have had in some time was the Tuxedo Cake Ice Cream: Lemon with dark chocolate chip. Although we would have liked to try it again last weekend, the line at 9PM was out the door and halfway across the bridge. The bridge itself is beautiful, but kind of intimidating, since it apparently operates by counter-weight. (Note the giant concrete slab in the upper right-hand corner of the photo. It conveys a very real sense of impending doom.) I guess I am just a little too neurotic to wait for a long time in that location. But I might consider a few minutes wait for another dish of Tuxedo Cake.

In the New England Portuguese thread, M_Six mentioned a destination in Niantic, CT near where Flip is now living with his bride. I moved my response over to this thread, because it is closer to the topic in the thread title.

Flip wrote:

M_Six wrote: And of course there's always the Niantic Book Barn on the way back.

I had no idea anyone knew about this place. It is about 5 minutes from my house. Oh, what a small LTH world.

Flip

M_Six and Flip. Thanks for mentioning the Book Barn. It's a popular place-so popular, in fact, that they have parking wranglers with walkie-talkies to manage the flow. Book prices are low. I scored a copy of Euell Gibbons' Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop for my daughter, who was digging venus mercenaria (round clams) and maya arenaria (soft-shell clams) off the coast of New London on the day I visited. I highly recommend this book, which included such chapter titles as, "How to Cook a Sea Serpent," and "Transcendental Seafood Combinations." (I think M.F.K. and Thoreau would appreciate the homage from Gibbons, don't you?)

In any case, I should mention that cookbooks are housed at the downtown Niantic branch of the Book Barn. I now regret passing up an Alaskan moose cookbook written by a former state trooper. But I did find a real treasure worthy of its own post. Stay tuned.

The thought of clams pestered me the whole day. Tooling around near the boatyard (technically in Waterford), I ran across this place, which reminded me of the best seafood shack in memory, the one on the beach in tiny Menemsha, on Martha's Vineyard. But I exercised self-control and passed up the fried clams. Dinner awaited at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank, and I needed all my strength to tackle the New England Clambake dinner. You needn't be sad for me. The steamers that came with the lobster at Abbot's were the best I have ever had.

Still, I'm curious about this place. Flip, any experience with The Dock?

The Dock Fish Market & Gas
9 1st St
Waterford, CT 06385
(860) 444-8105‎

In search of an early fall lobster roll, I visited Lobster Landing in Clinton, Connecticut this past weekend. Here are the pictures. The lobster itself was freshly caught and cracked, unlike many of the PDQ defrosted lobster rolls you find these days. The bread was perfect, neither too sweet nor too soft. Butter and lemon are the only additions. Highly recommended. Oh, and they also sell live lobsters by the pound ($10/lb. on 10/12/08).













Lobster Landing
Clinton Harbor
Commerce St. & Grove Ave.
Clinton CT
7 days 11AM-5:45PM

I went back to Skip's Roadside Diner in Gill, MA, over the weekend, and it was every bit as good as the other times I've been there. The freshly made perogies are outstanding, and the kapusta (a type of sauerkaraut) was excellent as well.

It's a classic roadside joint on Route 2 near Greenfield, complete with picnic tables under the trees. The place is basically just a trailer, and they do all their cooking in its cramped quarters.

It was packed when we went; glad to see they are doing so well....

Recently, I've had a chance to investigate some of Rhode Island's coastal charms. As in the rest of New England, Rhode Island clam shacks offer lobster and fried or broiled seafood of all types, but in RI most people seem to be eating either rafts of brown clamcakes and bowls of chowder, or big tubs of steamers with butter. This was the case at Aunt Carrie's, in Narragansett, RI. Aunt Carrie's has been around since 1920. In 2007, the restaurant received recognition as one of the James Beard Foundation "America's Classics".

Here is a link to their story:

http://www.auntcarriesri.com/History.php



Aunt Carrie’s, Narragansett, RI



Aunt Carrie’s Dining Room



Rhode Island Style Broth Chowder. This was a very light chowder, and lighter on the clams than I would have liked, though tasty.



Broiled Point Judith Sea Scallop Dinner. The scallops are fished from the closest working port, and they were as fresh as could be. Aunt Carrie's prepared them perfectly. Another tradition at Aunt Carrie's is house made bread- ultra fresh cinnamon raisin slices and a raspberry scone. My only regret was passing up the mashed potatoes and peas for fries, which were in the McDonald's style of fried potato.



Warm Indian pudding was classic: molasses, milk and cornmeal, unspiced.



Blueberry pie turned out to be fragrant with tiny, possibly wild blueberries and a tender crust.

Aunt Carrie's does quite a business. At 5 PM on a Saturday, I was #19 on the waiting list for a table, but I waited no more than 15 minutes. The FOH and kitchen can handle the crowds, it seems, as my order was taken promptly and dinner was served
more quickly than I might have thought possible. The majority of the diners appeared to choose the takeout window and picnic tables outside. The beach is steps away down a path through tall reeds.

Aunt Carrie's is a seasonal restaurant. I've now been there twice this summer* and I hope to make one more visit before they close up for the year.

* I hope tatterdemalion will post his pictures of Aunt Carrie's clamcakes.

Aunt Carrie's
1240 Ocean Road
Narragansett, RI
(401)783-7930

Hours of operation during the season:

April and May
Open Weekends
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Noon - 8PM
Memorial Day - Labor Day
Everyday but Tuesday
Noon - 9PM
September
Weekends only: noon till 8 pm.
Closing for the season:
September 27, 2009

Josephine,

Thanks for the great introduction to Aunt Carrie's. Initially intimidated by the 3-wide, 30-deep mob-scene inside, I was really quite impressed by their efficiency in operation. Mot much more than 5 minutes after placing our order, our number was called and a perfectly stacked meal was on the counter waiting for us. I need to get these guys to re-organize my fridge.


Fried squid, cup of chowder, clamcakes, Indian pudding, iced tea & lemonade


Clamcake

As you can see, there's nothing particularly clammy about them (consider yourself lucky if you find more than one in your cake), though they do dunk well in a bowl of chowda. Everytime I try these I can't help but wonder how they'd be with a chockfull of clams in an onion-y hushpuppy style.

Apparently more squid lands at Point Judith than at any other port on the east coast. I learned that the way to eat them is with the sliced hot peppers (banana peppers?) that accompany an order, and really enjoyed this flavour combination.


Fried Point Judith Squid

Aunt Carrie's offers three chowders -- milk (presumably New England), tomato (presumably Manhattan) and plain (presumably Rhodie). I'm told there is a pink, rosé, chowda as well that is apparently more common in the western parts of Rhode Island. I've never had it, but what's served at Aunt Carrie's is probably pretty close to it, albeit sans milk/cream. But just enough tomato to blush. I wish I'd grabbed a photo to illustrate. It was quite good.

Josephine, I hope to join you for one last visit before the season's up. I'm hanging onto every last clam this season has to offer.

-Nab

Btw, does anybody else quickly scroll by this picture mistaking it for a micro-burger ? "Kobe Micro-Burgers" - the next food fad soon to be sweeping the nation's hotel restaurants.

Josephine wrote:

Not that far from the Bar Harbor area is the James Beard award-winning Bagaduce Lunch. Great fried clams and scallops, and excellent lobster rolls. You can enjoy your lunch at a picnic table with a view of some reversing falls. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post, but plenty can be found with a simple Google search, including here.

Bagaduce Lunch
19 Bridge Road
Brooksville, ME 04617