The Red Barn — Restaurant in Augusta

We haven't had fried clams for YEARS !! And we decided to go treat ourselves and have been here before ; my fiancé grew up going here with his family . This place is the BEST by far ! The food is always delicious and the customer service is always great as they greet you with lots of smiles . The only reason I gave it 3 out of 5 stars is simply this. I just wanted fried clams . Not French fries. But what the girl at the counter suggested the clam basket which sounded good so we went with the fried clam basket dinner which we were told was plenty for two people. It fell short fulfilling our ravenous appetites for clams . I just wish they'd serve this like years ago ....

I grew up remembering my grandfather taking me & my sister out to get fried clams during our summer stay-overs at their camp . I especially LOVED fried clams !!! The full-bellied clams came in a big paper cup , much like how popcorn in a movie theater comes , overflowing ! The fries would be separate as well as the cole slaw and the roll.

So I was thinking with that mindset , being simply eager to have clams , only to be disappointed finding what looked like heaping amounts of clams were only masked by all the fries piled underneath, plus a large roll all in the same basket making it APPEAR to be ALL clams and was so saddened to see more fries than actual clams 😩.

So if youre like us, all im saying is to maybe express that you want ALL CLAMS , no fries or roll unless separate? That's what I'll express next time because I told the girl that I wanted LOTS of clams but they serve it the way they do . It just always feels like youre paying way more for the fries and roll , which cuts back on the true amount of clams and that's why we were there .... to indulge in CLAMS ! LOL! Those buggers are expensive $$$$ , but, I'd absolutely pay a little extra for a WHOLE BASKET of clams v.s. an illusion with fries . And if I want the other things , I'd rather have them on the side . That way you can see what youre actually paying for, because 32.00 is quite a lot for one meal split for two people when they're craving and expecting LOTS of clams .... Otherwise , we would've explained that we wanted just clams as we could've eaten alot more of the clams and been quite happy without all the fries and one roll . So its a learning curve . But we'll be going back again and will know next time . But other than that, youll love...

Just wanted to put an update note. Management replied to review and mention that they hope to bring the original lobster roll back. Hope to revisit this restaurant on my next trip to Maine. 💕

Or some people may find this an unfair rating however I rated it a three only because everybody in the area talked about them having a outstanding lobster roll a foot long lobster roll with about a little under a half a pound of lobster meat the hype was insane YouTube Instagram and people even talking about it that we met in public so we drove out there to get the lobster roll. To our surprise they said they got rid of it because of COVID and now only had a lobster roll on a hot dog bun. I would recommend that this restaurant reconsiders this. People from out of town are out of state really don't care what they spend to get a rare delicacy. The fact that all of those sources said it was the best and then having it be underwhelming was the sad experience. We were even told that it was like $40 which would have been okay It would not take much to add a large roll and charge double or whatever they need to charge to reincorporate this. And everywhere you go now the excuse for everything is COVID. People need to wake up on this subject for sure but that's more for a podcast not a...

Last night our son and his new girlfriend asked to come for dinner and requested to have Red Barn. Our whole family loves Red Barn and have been regular customers for years. I have to say, that I was very shocked by their lack of accommodation last evening when I called to order dinner. Our son's girlfriend has a seafood allergy. She said that she had eaten at the Red Barn before and that if I made them aware of the allergy when placing the order then they would ensure the chicken was cooked in oil that has not been in contact with seafood. Given the number of people today who have food allergies, this actually made sense to me. Why wouldn't there be separate fryalators for seafood and chicken? When I asked the young lady who answered the phone about it, she said that all of their fried foods were cooked in the same oil. They do not make such accommodations and even if they were to consider it, they would be closing in 45 minutes and couldn't waste fresh oil on our order. I thanked them and told them that we would take our business elsewhere. This is definitely not the service that we are used to receiving at the Red Barn, but unfortunately today has become...