This is a great find. Although it initially appears a bit small and underwhelming, it's big on the variety of food offerings and a friendly staff. If you like baked goods there's you'll find an excellent selection of cookies to cupcakes. I saw at least 4 varieties of delicious soup and chowder, and great sandwiches which included fish, chicken and beef. It offers inside and outside dining as well. Give it a try! read more

Good selection and taste. Friendly clerk and service. Convenient location with quick service.

So incredibly disappointing. 7 lonely scallops with a lot of fries for $24. As soon as I opened the take out container it smelled off and tasted like bad seafood. Hoping I don't get sick, but won't be back. Oh.....the Cole slaw was decent. read more

The seafood chowder was delicious as were the pulled pork or brisket popovers. The service was friendly.

Food was great but 3 hours later was puking my guts up definitely from the whole belly clams.

The only thing better than the amazing seafood chowder and custom grilled cheese I had was the owner, who could it possibly have. Been nicer!! This is a hidden gem. If you are anywhere near here, stop for lunch you will not regret it! read more

Hamburg and onion pizza- First time visiting Smithsonian Chowder House, as I heard they now started serving pizza. Pizza was a good size for one or two people. The crust and sauce were very good. I would highly recommend trying the pizza as it's a good add on to a place known for seafood and soups. Also had whole belly clams which were excellent! Fresh and you can taste the clams- not like some places where it's all batter and / or oily. It's a great treat to be able to eat a fresh plate of whole belly clams in the Fall and in western mass read more

Holy cow. First time here and I loved it. I'll be back. We took home 3 soups and a dessert. All of it was delicious. Fried Brussel sprouts are a must try. read more

Building was stinky food was terrible. Waste of time and money. Server didn't even bring utensils with food

Small and humble but good for an easy bite. I had a fish chowder and shared a kale and brussel sprout salad. There's enough space inside for a good sized family (we were 5) to sit. It took a moment for our salad to come, but that's because the chicken was freshly grilled! To add to the cute atmosphere, my chowder came in a mug :) great for an easy, casual meal. And another perk...right off the highway and super easy to find! read more

Smithsonian Chowder House - Seafood chowder -- in a mug! - Seafood Near Me - West Hatfield, Massachusetts

The whole belly fried clams, and fries, just superb. People are friendly, service is fast, place is clean, outdoor dining, plenty of parking. Love that place. read more

My review is solely for the STEAMING HOT POPOVERS! I will stop in this little find again and get the salad stuffed popover. Going up N for skiing, hiking...stop here. You'll burn off every calorie. PS do you think they have popovers in Heaven? read more

Smithsonian Chowder House - Seafood Near Me - West Hatfield, Massachusetts

Had to come back for more seafood chowder. Just couldn't miss this place on my way home. Amazing! Delicious! Also tried Black Forest cupcake...and it's great as everything else at this place. read more

Smithsonian Chowder House - Award-winning seafood chowder, Chicken salad and BLT :) DELICIOUS! It lives up to its name. Great service and a tidy place. - Seafood Near Me - West Hatfield, Massachusetts

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Fish chowder was excellent as well as the popover. My wife had the P soup which she also enjoyed. My only criticism is that the restroom could use a good cleaning. The overhead light was filthy and the ventilator vents were all gunged up. Floor could use the mopping as well as the door. read more

What a find. Thanks, Yelp! Stopped in for a quick bite on our journey home from a ski getaway to Mt. Snow. This place is super easy to find, right off Rte. 91. Super friendly owner working solo, but took fantastic care of us. Ordered up a meatball marinara filled popover and a small cup of NE Clam Chowder. I mentioned it was that or the seafood chowder, so of course he came over halfway thru our meal to give us both a small bowl of the seafood chowder, which was fan-friggin-tastic to say the least. Not too heavy and not thin. Just perfect with amazing flavor. Salivating just thinking about it again. The popover itself is divine. Flaky, but also has a nice chewy aspect once the exterior crust is town thru. Perfect to dip into your soup. They also had grilled sandwiches and another 6 soups to offer. My bud had the lobster bisque and he enjoyed it very much. They had large gourmet cupcakes for sale too, so couldn't resist bringing home a half dozen. Reasonably priced at $13 and change for the size. They were dense, but fresh and very good. What a fantastic stop on our way home. The owner even offered us up a coffee to go on the house, as he knew we still had a few hours to go. What a kind gesture. read more

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They have expanded their menu. I had lobster stew and my wife had lobster risotto. OMG were they good! And we had popovers of course. Highly recommend this place. read more

Small but dang it was tasty. Chicken pot pie popover was yummy. Clam chowder very hot and delicious . Super friendly staff

This small restaurant is an amazingly good soup restaurant. While I cannot order the signature chowder because I am lactose intolerant, I could eat the delicious chicken chili. It was thick, flavorful and plentiful. I had the $5 sized portion and was stuffed for the rest of the day. My wife had the Polish soup, I forget its name. It was like a delicious stuffed cabbage with beef in soup form. Also tasty and interesting. You come here for a fast, tasty and interesting meal. Don't come for a days or anything fancy. read more

We had the amazing popovers and clam chowder. Also took home some baked goods(cookies and brownies) that were out of this world! Very casual environment! The staff was super nice and VERY quickly got and delivered our order! Highly recommend! read more

Delicious, unusual popover sandwich. Popover was flaky and large. Soups were very flavorful. Sweet spot. Great outside dining area. One problem! The printed, more complete menu is NOT prominently displayed. I missed out on some choices I wish I knew about. read more

Smithsonian Chowder House - Seafood Near Me - West Hatfield, Massachusetts

Great place to fill up on food: sandwiches, chowders, cupcakes, popovers, coffee... Likely they'd have something for everyone. The staff is very friendly. I've actually never seen a restaurant with all their food options in one place, but it is perfect for a lunch stop, regardless of whether I'm craving some caffeine, sweets, savory or filling foods. There are gluten free pastries and vegetarian soups. read more

We had the seafood salad popover, the Reuben, and a slice of luscious cheesecake that was large enough to split into two portions. Loved the way we could try two types of clam chowder--I enjoyed the Rhode Island version! read more

I went for the first time today. Tried the seafood chowder, lobster bisque, and lobster stew. I'm jopelessly hooked!

Chowder was actually very solid but clam strips needed seasoning. And the tartar sauce was oddly sweet. Pleasant staff. I would go back.

This is the best restaurant I have ever been to. The food is great and there is great service. Difinetely recommend coming here. read more

Smithsonian Chowder House - Seafood Near Me - West Hatfield, Massachusetts

Four of us went for dinner. Only one wasn't disappointed, she had a Turkey sandwich which is difficult to ruin. The chicken salad was mush where I prefer chunks of actual chicken. I hear the chowder was ok. The fried food was underdone the clams tasted of raw flour. Will not return. read more

This was our first stop for chowda during this trip. The special of the day was great but know what you want before you get up to the register because the cashier just wants your order and really doesn't want to explain anything. Lol! All and all.... yummy! read more

Excellent spot. We stopped randomly on our way to Vermont. The snow plow brigade was so slow so i pulled off the highway and was so glad we did. Got a seafood chowder and grilled cheese special. The prices were great. The owner and his son couldn't have been nicer. Stop if you are local or need a good bite to eat off the highway. Access was easy. read more

We began planning 50 miles north of Hatfield on 91. Could hardly wait for the chowder!! Smithsonian appears to have survived Covid through take-out. Though the clam chowder is terrific I'll try the seafood chowder next time. Split a grilled cheese sandwich. It was not up to their usual standards. read more

Meals are very inconsistent. The lobster in my lobster roll didn't even cover the bread. My mashed potatoes, and my husband's, had hard black chunks in them. If you ask for substitutions be sure and check your order because they rarely do what you ask. read more

First time there the food was so good, I will definitely be back. I had their Award Winning Seafood Chowder with grilled cheese

Stopped in to give this place a try with my buddy while in town. I had the Wild Child and he feasted on the CBR. My sandwich was good, could've been heated a little more thoroughly but my bud's was perfect he said. Three stars because the guy taking our orders seemed like we were a bother. Place was clean, easy in and easy out with plenty of parking. read more

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We had lunch today, $62.00 for 2 underwhelming dry lobster rolls. For us, the dry toasted baguette was way too much for the lobster meat. No butter at all and the lobster chunks were totally dry, no mayo or herbs, no imagination to account for the cost. I would recommend a traditional buttered grilled hot dog roll with a jazzed up lobster! The fries were ok and the coleslaw was rather sweet but ok. Not excited to go back read more

A historic find! Small place, service pleasant & efficient; the food fabulous. Limited seating inside & plenty out. Specials & menu items hand crafted. Homemade dessert case yummy. read more

You will not regret it! There food and service is amazing! And there catering phenomenal!

Good and convenient stop off I91. Clam chowder and popover were delicious. Husband had fried clam strips and chowder that he was very happy with. Quick service. read more

Wow. I have no idea how I am even typing this, as my head just exploded. Today was my first time enjoying the Golumpki Stew. My Grandmother should sue these folks for stealing her golumpki recipe! Dead.on.flavors.and.seasoning. If you're reading this because you're an out-of-towner looking for some of that "local flavah," you've found it. Don't pass this place up. Exit 21 off I-91. It's on Rt 5 North of the exit. If you're local and not a regular; shame on you. read more

Stumbled across this place on Yelp (which has the location all wrong, btw, it's right up Rt5, about a quarter of a mile north of the I91 ramp and Sunoco station, on the west side of the road) and I'm surely glad I did. Delicious seafood chowder, and some serious grilled cheese. I had the spicy jack with a tomato between texas toast and it was so good and filling, I couldn't finish my bowl of chowder. Good news! Now I can have some for lunch tomorrow. Apparently they opened up a full year ago. I wish I'd been paying more attention.. Well worth the trip up out of town on a cold night, especially when recovering from a cold as I am. Rumor has it that they're looking to expand into downtown Northampton, a prospect I would look quite a bit forward to. read more

I'm in love with the Smithsonian Chowder House. We were driving back from Vermont and google maps had us take a detour off of I-91 to state road 5, and back to I-91. While on state road 5, we got hungry, so we pulled over to Smithsonian Chowder House. Turns out, I have no idea what anything is on their menu. But now I was to eat everything on their menu. The girl running the shop was very sweet and patient with the imbecile passerbys (us) when explaining wtf a Popover was. Or what a Glumpki soup was too. Popovers, for those who don't know, are eggy, buttery, muffin-shaped, hollow, yet crispy... shell. I wish I had a picture to aid my description, but I ate it all too fast. They were out of clam chowder when we arrived, so we had to settle for the Glumpki soup. There was a lobster stuffed popover on the menu, and I couldn't resist. The very friendly casher taking our order had a very interesting tattoo that I asked about. She explained that it was for her grandfather, and it was too closer to his memorial date for her to explain. I'll def use that next time strangers ask about any of my scars, tattoos, shirts, or the way I walk. The popover was delicious, stuffed with lightly seasoned lobster. I was able to taste all the flavors of the lobster without excessive mayo overpowering the dish. The glumpki soup was as fun to eat as it is so say. Half way through the meal, the chowder was ready, so nice girl with the tattoo gave us a sample of the chowder. It was definitely very creamy and very delicious. They also had beautiful cupcakes made from scratch in addition to homemade bread and butter pickles. I realllly like bread and butter pickles, but I didn't need an entire jar. Overall, I'm very happy that we stumbled upon this place! read more

What a Find! Driving from Stowe to NYC...this was the perfect lunch spot..easy access to amd from 91. There were 8 soups to choose from..tough choice but had my heart set on clam chowder which was delicious... popover filled with chicken salad on the side..yum. read more