Vitales Clam Bar — Restaurant in Berlin

I have been to the clam bar for over 30 yrs. The past 2 times I have been there were nothing but misery. About 2 wks or ago I took my husband and daughter to eat at the clam bar, we were greeted by an older woman who is miserable, seems she doesn't like her job. She was cocky, and wore an ugly face , no smile nothing. Seemed as if we were bothering her. I let it go since everyone has bad days, especially in customer service. Well I went back last weekend, same lady there, I went to the outside this time wanted to bring a bag of clams home. The first person I encountered was busy selling insense. I waited in line. No biggie, right? Then an older man came out and looked at me and said something to the guy selling insense along the line , you know you have to sell clams too, right? He looked at me , said " I work in the kitchen, not outside" mind you I haven't said a word, just looking at clams observing. Many mins later the insense guy was asking what I needed, very polite. I said Id like 50 cherry stone. He showed me the cherry stone and I apologized since I asked for wrong clams. I asked about the smaller ones , he told me they were little necks. This conversation was smooth. He then asked me to go inside, mind you I was already instructed I had to buy them outside. So I go inside, yeah cocky, no smile lady at the front. I walked up and asked if they had any little necks, here is the convo Her: no Me: do you know when you will have them, since last 2 wks they didn't have them to buy to take home Her: we have only enough to get us thru since we are closed sunday Me: (mis interpreted or she spoke wrong) I asked oh you are closed all Sundays? Her: no, with this mean look pointed to some sign and rudely said No JUST this Sunday. Me: at this point I have given up, I got pretty loud and said you know you all asked me to wait outside for clams, which I did and it turned out to be a waste of my time Her; well oh well. Me: this is when i really got mad, I yelled some things I cannot repeat on this post , Ive benn going my entire life since a small child when my dad brought me. Now its ran down, obviously owned by rude people. Never again will I go to the once known...

This was my first time going to this clam bar and mind you I had one of the worst experiences at this place. I had ordered 3 dozen of clams for a family member of mine and myself , and we wanted them on the half shell. So when I get to the counter I repeat the order of wanting three dozen of clams on the half shell. Then, after that the manager or whoever which was some old blond lady started asking a bazillion questions as to how I wanted my clams, while I originally wanted them on the half shell which according to my cousin should be automatically served raw with the meat still on the shell hence HALF shell so I don’t know where the other 1 trillion questions came from. I noticed the guy or her husband was handling the clams with no gloves or washing his hands prior to preparing the clams. I received raw clam meat in 3 containers with some type of white cloudy “broth” with 12 empty shells in a separate bag, which was the complete opposite of what I wanted but I just brushed it off. Long story short the next day I had received nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea which resulted in me calling out of work. My cousin just received stomach cramps, but I got hit the hardest with becoming ill. I called the place back up, and explained my situation. That same blond lady that served me the previous night before was very dismissive about the situation and refused to refund my money. Insinuated that maybe I just had a “bad stomach” and whatnot. I’m so disgusted with the customer service and will not be returning to this...

Vitale's Clam Bar at the world famous Berlin Farmer's Market is excellent! 5 stars is not enough! The atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming! Anthony and Debbie are extremely pleasant and do whatever they can to make you feel comfortable and ensure that you have an incredibly great and fun dining experience! But of course, the MOST IMPORTANT REASON TO GO THERE....IS HOW TREMENDOUS AND DELICIOUS THE FOOD IS! Everything is extremely fresh and prepared with love and pride. Whatever you order is fantastic! You'll have to return many, many times to try all the delicious choices! You can also order great food to take home. I can't recommend Vitale's Clam Bar enough! Go there and experience it for yourself! You'll enjoy it and you'll let your family and friends know! What are you waiting for? Get in the car and go! Oh, of course check the days and hours that they're open...