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Shanks Waterfront Dining

3.2 (237 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Updated a few days ago

Shanks Waterfront Dining New American Restaurant Photos

SHANKS WATERFRONT DINING ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Dogs allowed

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Recommended Reviews - Shanks Waterfront Dining

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Rachel S.

First off very nice view right on the water. Nice large tent/shaded area for seating. As well as seating in the back. This was possibly my 2nd time ever eating lobster but they give a fair amount and it was nice and tender. I got the lobster nachos and while the lobster seemed good I think the nacho part of it could've been better. I think instead of chopped up avocado it would've been better as a guacamole, the mango salsa was really just chopped up mango with cilantro, could benefit adding some red onion and making it more like a salsa. Also think it should've had some sort of sauce to drizzle on the nachos to make it come together better. The cheese was stuck together shredded cheese partly melted partly not. I think melted butter is an interested side to pour on nachos. They do have corn hole off to the side. Also plus is u can BYOB. I did enjoy their sweet tea free refills. Oh and the market nacho price was $36

Shanks Combo-Gluten Free
Alicia N.

It's feeling a lot like Summer !! Beautiful weather, Seafood, great view! It's perfect! Shanks had a wide variety of choices on the menu to Pick from! Many of the items were able to be made Gluten Free. Just check before they have GF buns. When I went they had GF buns and GF wraps. Service was great . They had menu staff working there , all helpful. We ordered the Shanks Combo and I split it with my dad. It def was big enough for 2. The menu had burgers, sandwiches, salads, apps and more!

Fried calamari
Phoebe R.

Order downstairs at the boat and then sit upstairs for the view and everything music or downstairs at the covered picnic tables with room for kids and dogs. I wish I'd balanced the fried portion of our meal with a salad. I wasn't expecting the lobster nachos to be served on fried tortilla chips.

Overlooking the harbor from the upper outdoor patio
Evleen G.

We came in after stumbling across an Instagram video of different food on the menu. The lobster nachos stuck out in the video and they looked absolutely delicious. Also the setting and cooking and serving food out of a boat seemed really cool. We went for Saturday evening dinner. The service was great. Everyone was polite, friendly and respectful. The food was so good. I got the lobster nachos and there was so much lobster on top so you definitely get your money's worth. All of the food was cooked perfectly. You could tell it was fresh and of good quality. We will definitely be coming back to try other items! The elote corn was delicious too. Make sure you bring a cooler since it's a BYOB

Fish sandwich and house made chips
robin a.

Ordering is fantastic- great customer service! Sitting outside at the picnic tables near the water the was great. Our wait was about 45 minutes, but we were warned about the wait time. We had a fish sandwich with house made chips and fish tacos. Absolutely tasteless. The chips were old and over fried/ burnt. The fish sandwich had a great piece of fish on it. No lettuce or anything else on it. The taco was beautiful, but the mango salsa on top had no flavor. So disappointing.

you order from a ship tacked onto a building!!
Dan R.

"Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy Easy, you know the way it's supposed to be" (Crosby, Stills, Nash) When you place your order at Shanks, you'll probably notice that you're ordering on a ship. You're not tripping, the owners bought a boat, a decommissioned 42-foot lobster boat, transported it from New Haven to Clinton, built out a commercial kitchen, tacked it onto a building and made Shanks a very cool restaurant experience for your dining pleasure. They have three dining rooms -outdoors under a tent, outdoors on a roof patio, and indoors in a dining room. We ordered from two smiling high school age young men that were very professional. We each went for a small lobster roll with chips. Lobster rolls are offered in three sizes - $29 for 4 ounces, $37 for 6 ounces, and $48 for 8 ounces. As the first young man was ringing us up, the seconds one jumped to make our beverages. In fact, the thing that stood out to us was the staff as a whole - a big group of smiling courteous young men and women with great personalities. I saw one young lady bring over a bowl of water for a customer's dog on her own, and thought that was pretty awesome. She also checked in on us during our lunch and that's always a plus in my book. After we ordered, we took a seat under the tent and placed a small wooden buoy on our table -a signal for the server to bring our order, and when that order came out we were very happy with what appeared to be a heaping mound of 100% claw meat on our sandwiches. The rolls are served hot with melted butter "Connecticut Style" as opposed to cold with mayo "Massachusetts Style". They were served with a lemon wedge, container of melted butter, and a big portion of homemade potato chips. There's a side table by the tent with a ketchup dispenser, and "to go" boxes for any leftovers, that's something I rarely see. We certainly didn't have any left over lobster, but we did take home a good amount of chips for tomorrow, There are so many lobster and seafood shacks on the CT shore and we've been to half a dozen of them. But, I don't think any of them gave us a better overall consumer experience than Shanks did. Well done!

Clams and lobster grilled cheese
Allie K.

Update: Shanks now has dedicated GF Fryers, making GF fried seafood much safer! They said the fries are also all put in the GF fryer.

Heather W.

Looks like a great assortment of food! Soggy lobster rolls due to expediter delivering it sloshing the butter cup to spill all over the bottom of recycled paper plates. Butter cup congealed and HUGE amount of salt stuck on bottom. Chips browned to the point of burning; a couple actually undone and chewy. "Service" practically non-existent but they charge you a s3 pp BYOB fee Because everything was so haphazardly basic, feeling price gouged re the lobster rolls. I seriously doubt they weigh them, as we had two of the"same' which were markedly different. Music blaring upstairs. Lots of screaming children running around downstairs under the tent. There are no real bathrooms here either. You order at a counter after walking through gravel walkway, less smooth than the driveway next to it

Upstairs dining
Monica B.

Service was fast and friendly! We love the ambiance here and stop every summer. We enjoyed watching the boats while trying new items on the menu. This was our first time trying to crab Rangoon and we thought it's a nice addition .The Shank Combo was also good. Fried scallops ,shrimp, fish, and clams with French fries, coleslaw, cocktail sauce and tartare sauce. Big enough for both of us to share! I just wished they improved the lemonade recipe but I love that they have local sodas and of course BYOB!!

Lobster roll

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8 years ago

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4 years ago

Great, fresh lobster roll, one of the best on the Shoreline. Location can't be beat, definitely go to Shanks on a beautiful day!

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Thanks, Jonathan. Hope to see you back this season!

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Ask the Community - Shanks Waterfront Dining

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Lobster Landing - lobster roll with a view

Lobster Landing

4.3(670 reviews)
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We ended up coming to Lobster Landing twice during our trip -- once on the way to Mystic and again…read moreon the way back -- which probably says everything you need to know. It's definitely a little more expensive than some of the other lobster spots we tried, but I honestly liked the food here the most. The lobster meat is lightly seasoned with what tasted like butter and lemon, and it all worked perfectly together without overpowering the lobster. The bun was incredibly soft and loaded with so much meat that it was practically falling apart in the middle. We got the half-pound lobster roll both times and would absolutely order it again, but it is $60. The clam chowder was also excellent. It's creamy without being too thick, and you can really taste all the ingredients. The hot dogs seem to be really popular -- almost everyone was ordering a lobster roll and a hot dog combo. My son loved them so much he had two the first visit! The outdoor seating and water views make it such a relaxing place to sit and eat, and there's also a market on-site where you can buy lobster and shellfish. Definitely one of our favorite stops and somewhere we'd happily return to.

Great stop off of the highway for lunch! The views were picturesque while waiting in line. The line…read moresnaked down the sidewalk on Labor Day, but moved quickly. After ordering, our food was bagged and ready to go in no time. The lobster roll was very meaty and buttery-- probably one of the best I had on my weekend trip through CT/RI/MA. The surprisingly tasty item was the sausage and peppers sandwich. For a place known for lobster, this sausage sandwich was very flavorful and loaded with peppers and

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The Clam Castle

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Had the best belly clams ever. A huge portion of sweet clams fried to perfection with great fries…read moreand Cole slaw. Not cheap... but you get what you pay for. The "Castle" has been renovated from floor to ceiling. The place is spotless and fresh looking. There's an amazing assortment of Lucious deserts topping off a huge menu. Go!

This is our second attempt to come here, we finally made it. Our first attempt, the line was out…read morethe door, and every outdoor table was taken on a hot summer day. This time around, there was ample seating outside, but it was way too hot to sit outside, so we settled for inside, which was pretty comfortable. Menu offered your typical seafood variety of fried foods, as well as some soups, and hotdog. No Fox and park over here, unfortunately, and that was an absolute buzz kill! Regardless, we stayed hopeful since we've heard some great things about this place. Ordered the flag cramp strips with tater tots, 6 ounce lobster roll and an order of clam fritters. I was really excited to try the clam fritters as I had never had them ever. The weight was manageable, we waited maybe about 15 to 20 minutes for our food. They bought it over to our table, and the initial site, the lobster roll was a nice copious amount of lobster on a rather beefy hotdog roll. The fright clams were also a nice amount, but they did not look fried enough, there was no golden aura to them as typical clams look, and this look concerning. The clam fritters consisted of six balls of clam fritters, and they looked beautifully, golden, a color that's so lacked on the clams. Now let's talk about the food and flavor... The lobster roll was pretty solid. My one source of contention here is the amount of bread on the roll, a little too doughy compared to what I am used to. But the lobster itself was nice, flavorful, and sweet and not overkill with butter. The clam strips were got awful! No crispiness to them, no flavor, they were actually soggy, and even the tater tots, which are generally delicious, there was no flavor to the tater tots as they needed a little more cooking time to them. The clam fritters were surprisingly good, it wasn't just fluff of filling, they were actually clams in there, and the breading definitely had clam juice flavor to it. This is a hike for us, and I don't think it's worth it for us given other places like the mottos in New Haven, which is always consistently good. We tried once and we're good... And if we're in the area sadly we won't be back unless I come with some lobster, loving friends to try that. 2 foot lobster roll for $190! We saw that, and that was quite the sight!!!

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The Log Cabin - Red linguini with clams. Very filling.

The Log Cabin

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One of the final days of the year for using the old hot rod, I venture down to the shore, leaf…read morepeeping, and wanting to go to the Log Cabin. Located in Clinton Connecticut, this mainstay restaurant came highly recommended by many of my friends. I pulled in and parking was a breeze, even though it was busy. This parking lot was big. Lots of handicapped spaces also. My friend and I went in and we were greeted warmly, and promptly seated Knowing portions were big, but not realizing how big they would be we passed on appetizer. This is where it gets good! My friend ordered lasagna, and I ordered the eggplant Parmesan. We also ordered water, Immediately out came the salads that were included with the meals. These salads were medium sized, and we're probably good enough for just a lunch! Tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped lettuce, and a very nice house dressing, consisting of a creamy garlic, which was delicious. After salad was done our fantastic waitress brought us a big bowl of pasta and sauce. I could've made a meal out of this! This wasn't just any run of the mill, this was delicious pasta and sauce. Oversized entrées were next on the Bill and I ate probably 1/5 of the eggplant Parmesan. It was huge. I think three or four people could've split this. My friend ate probably about the same of the lasagna. For dessert, we split a Reesie's chocolate pie that was very, very sweet creamy, and hit the spot with the chocolate sauce and whip, whipped cream around the plate Bag probably weighed at least 7 pounds. We brought home the pasta, the lasagna, and the eggplant Parmesan. I loved the eggplant Parmesan. I make a pretty mean Parmesan, but this eggplant Parmesan was on point. It just exploded with great Italian flavors My friend liked the lasagna, as she said it was very, very nice I'm still raving about the big bowl of pasta that came with the meal. Dinner with the tip which included the two big meals which I think were 24.95 each along with the dessert and the big bowl of pasta was roughly $80 and change. This was a deal of deals. There will be meals during the coming week. If you're at the shore and you need takeout, this will be good for the week. I love this I am now a big fan and I look forward to returning in the spring when the weather gets nice All in all, I wonder what took me so long to come to The Log Cabin!

Tons of good food in an legit log cabin. No one leaves…read morewithout a doggie bag. Order a dinner get a huge portion of pasta.

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Westbrook Lobster Restaurant and Bar

Westbrook Lobster Restaurant and Bar

3.5(177 reviews)
2.1 mi
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We've been here several times when out this way for the outlets. We like to sit in the bar area,…read morewhich is more our vibe. The service is always great. I get the lobster roll every time. This past time, it didn't taste fresh. The lobster was a little chewy. It's been great every other time I've ordered it, so I will try again!

We were at the Outmets on a Friday afternoon and decided to try a new spot (for us). We randomly…read morecame here (but the place across the street looked good too!), and had a good meal with excellent service Olin a relaxed atmosphere which is exactly what we wanted. We were after lunch but before dinner (around 3:00) so it wasn't busy. We sat at a high top On the bar area and our server was the bartender. He was excellent throughout and checked in often - we appreciate that. It wasn't busy but we've all seen others just BS with co-workers when they're slow versus this. We started by sharing a bowl of lobster bisque and it was excellent! Thick, with a nice sherry overtone and small bits of lobster - lots of them. We both really liked it - better than most others we've had. I had stuffed shrimp abd liked the stuffing - not too dense with a little bit of crab, shrimp and breadcrumbs and whatever else - it all worked well! Very good stuffed shrimp BUT, just 3 shrimp. I thought that was small for an entree that I don't believe was a lunch plate or anything. Fries were good and so were the fresh julienne vegetables. My wife had the regular size lobster roll and just like mine - hers was excellent but a tad smaller than what we get closer to home. But lobster tasted fresh and not overcooked; very tender and flavorful. We had excellent food & service. The decor is a tad dated but that always seems to work and be the way it is with seafood restaurants in shore areas.

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Westbrook Lobster Restaurant and Bar - Bar area

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Bill's Seafood Restaurant - Mussels

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1.8.26 This is one very good seafood restaurant. The food is…read moregood and always fresh. What's not to like about fried seafood? Ammi right? I've been coming here for more years than I care to count, since I was a kid. Multiple years upon multiple. They're located right by the whistling bridge for those of you who know the bridge is called that. There's a large lengthy parking lot which is usually close to full. There's am ice cream place in the same parking lot which you can pass on. Please trust me in this. You're not missing anything. I've tried a few times. Not sure why I keep trying it. Anywho, Bill's Seafood is spot on. There's a very large outdoor deck with lots of tables. There's also indoor seating and a bar to sit at. Much easier to get a table a lot quicker if you opt to eat inside. I switch every now and then, depending on our preferences at any given day. The restaurant is plainly decorated. Nothing stands out. The majority of time I've been here the place is usually very busy and just about full. I've never had to wait long anytime for my food. They really whip out the food pretty quickly in the years I've been coming here. You will be pleasantly surprised at the time it takes you to get your food when you see how busy it is if you stop here. Very surprised. The restaurant is a clean as most places. They clean up well after the tables are turned. The service has never been anything remarkable as in awesome over the top and very hospitable. It's just solid, regular, good, quick service with receiving your food quickly. They must have a good amount of cooks in back. Seafood is ALWAYS fresh. I must repeat this. Never has this ever been an issue. Do yourself a favor and take a trip up here. You won't be disappointed. I truly recommend this place. A for sure, repeat spot.

Cash only! Great…read moreoutdoor setting for the beautiful weather. The thoroughway (Boston Post Road) on one end of patio is quite loud. Tried the hot lobster roll ($28.95) which is sold ala carte. The amount of lobster filled about 55-60% of the roll. The roll was soggy and broke apart after the first bite. Would not recommend.

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Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale - Fried scallops

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3.7(511 reviews)
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I've been eating Lenny & Joe's since the days when the only way you could get it was ordering from…read morea screen porch on a shed with high schoolers for cooks. It's still a destination and locals restaurant. Westbrook was very different from Madison when it opened and people flocked to it for the dine-in experience. I've lost count how many times I've eaten here but it's always delicious. Staff is always friendly. Everything on the menu is "can't miss."

Whenever we visit my hubs' family in CT every year during the last week of October, we never miss…read moreto make a stop at Lenny & Joe's for our classic New England seafood favorites: the fried clams and the Connecticut-style lobster roll with warm butter (my preference over Maine-style with mayo). The fried clams were lightly battered, golden, and crisp on the outside, yet tender and briny inside. It was fresh, not greasy, and came in a portion generous enough to share and enough for some leftovers too. The side of tartar sauce was creamy and tangy, but honestly, the clams were so good they didn't need much dressing up. The lobster roll, I must say is one of the best in the area. The lobster meat was sweet, plentiful, and perfectly cooked--no rubbery bites here. (In Cali, they seem to split the lobster meat into 2 or 3 rolls as there isn't much lobster meat). Served on a toasted bun with butter, it was simple, classic, and exactly what a lobster roll should be. The service was quick even though the place was busy. It's the kind of spot that feels like summer in Connecticut, whether you're sitting inside or out on the porch. If you're visiting anywhere near Madison, Clinton or Westbrook, don't miss Lenny & Joe's!

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Shanks Waterfront Dining - newamerican - Updated May 2026

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