The Clam Box — Restaurant in Brookfield

The Clam Box is a nice restaurant that features a variety of good food, including (but not limited to) many fresh seafood choices. I personally don't eat seafood, but have dined here years ago & was able to find menu items that I liked. They have burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, etc for those who aren't seafood fans. The Clam Box has been in business for decades & is usually pretty busy, depending on when you go. They have both indoor/outdoor seating for guests. They also have an ice cream window, which is a popular spot when the weather is warm. They are open year round, which is a plus, as many similar style restaurants are only open during the Spring & Summer seasons. Prices of ice cream & milkshakes are reasonable. I'm not sure how to rate the cost of other food, such as meals, because it's been several years since I've ate dinner or lunch here & I know seafood can be expensive at some places, but I think it's fair here, and I have heard from many who like seafood that if is well worth it & portions are plentiful. The only reason for not giving more stars, is because of a recent experience here. After taking my young daughters to the playground, we decided to stop here for ice cream for them & my fiance + I decided to split a milkshake. We arrived late in the afternoon, there was a few customers ahead of us, but the wait wasn't too long at the outdoor window. However, once I placed my order, they had given me the ice creams for my girls, then I stood there waiting for quite awhile, as I was approached by a young lady who was an employee here that asked me whether I was all set, to which I responded "No, I'm still waiting on a shake." She asked what kind of milkshake I had ordered, then said she'd take care of it & went inside to ask her co-workers about it. I was standing outside near the window & could overhear the staff members conversation & was made aware that they had forgotten about my milkshake, which didn't surprise me, seeing as I was standing there for several minutes waiting, while my poor daughter was anxious to get back to the car so that she could remove her mask & enjoy her ice cream. When the milkshake finally did come out, they had asked me whether I was waiting on a cotton candy ice cream, which was what one of my daughter's had ordered & had already received. It was clear to me that despite having plenty of employees on shift, that they were obviously overwhelmed with orders & didn't really know what they were doing, or at least that was how it looked when I was there. At least three ladies were running around like crazy, but none of them seemed to really be doing much. Not to be rude, but I don't see how a small order like mine, which consisted of two baby sized ice creams & one milkshake could be that confusing or difficult. But apparently it was, seeing as they forgot about the shake & then when we finally did get it, it was so thick we couldn't even drink it through the straw. We ended up having to remove the cover, which then caused the ice cream to get all over the place inside my vehicle. The girls were very happy with their ice cream, but I was not too thrilled about the shake turning into a mini disaster. The taste of it was great, no complaints there. Though whomever made it should have blended it more, so we could at least drink it with the straw, instead of having to take the cover off, which isn't easy to do when you're driving. The cost of the two ice creams & the milkshake was almost $10, which isn't bad at all. I did remember that the woman who took my order mentioned that she was new, so I guess I should cut her some slack. But that still shouldn't mean forgetting about a customers order. They should write it down, this way they'll be spot on with accuracy. I don't believe she did this, otherwise my shake wouldn't be forgotten. Easy enough to forgive, but another customer might be more upset than I was. I did happen to notice that employees were wearing masks. I also remember a delicious pumpkin milkshake I tried here a few years ago. They do have many flavors....

Decided to try for dinner... new location. Kind of confusing when you walk in ( I suppose regulars know the drill) but no signage as to if you stand there, order then sit or sit and get order taken? No one at either register but plenty of staff filling orders or ice cream etc, but also no one greeting you either or saying they'll be w you shortly... ( so you stand and wait, order at counter, get a buoye then sit and they bring meal to you)

Anyway...

Prices on wall do not reflect online and there are all kinds of signs that do say they can increase at any point..

Ordered fish nuggets and clam chowder combo... Kids got kids meals, hubby clam strip platter......fish was a handful of bite sized nuggets, lightly fried and not over cooked but completely void of any flavor...bizzarly the clam strips also same; lightly fried, but void of flavor... clam chowder was ok. Big clam chunks present. The fries... we're a disgrace. They were completely inedible. Hard and dry. Tasted like they were sitting there for hours upon hours, then reheated to be warm... absolutely awful. They all got tossed.

Ice cream was ok... various flavor list to choose from. Kids meal came w free ice cream . Much smaller than the " small" size I orderd, was barely a mound on the cone, slightly disappointing to the kids, but was included...

Was a meh experience.

Honestly, if looking for similar type of dining set up seafood joint, I'd choose the Maine Attraction in Holland over the clam...

A few days ago we were in town visiting family in Sturbridge & decided to give this place a try because it has such good reviews. We had to wait 25 minutes for our food and when it came out, it ranged from just ok to absolutely terrible. The fried clams, french fries and onion rings were ok. My husband said his chicken wrap was bland and chicken was partially burned but he still ate some of it. But the worst was the grilled shrimp that I got. They were absolutely disgusting and completely inedible. The best way I can describe them is imagine taking already cooked/ready to eat shrimp, spraying them with PAM spray, continuing to cook them (way over cooking) and then pouring pure salt on them. I literally gagged trying to eat it. My husband tried one as well and immediately spit it out. Maybe they had a substitute chef that night because there is no way they would stay in business with food this bad. I tried to talk to a manager about the shrimp quality and get a refund on that one item but she made up excuses about it and then said she couldn't give me a refund because the "computer was...