Clam Tavern — Restaurant in Clifton Heights

I would like to personally congratulate the owner, Tony, on being the single reason why this is NOT getting a decent review. We arrived for a party on Saturday, with a reservation for a large group. Unfortunately, due to the weather, not everyone was going to make it, but the hostess in the group (celebrating her birthday), let the servers know in the beginning that not everyone would be there, and mentioned it would probably be about 12 instead of 20. (We cannot control the weather or other people.) It would have been possible at that time to remove some tables from our group, but it wasn't until a little while later that they did take one of the tables away. Even up until we were almost done, there were 3 other people who were supposedly on their way. I do not know them, and I do not know at this point whether or not they'd had an accident, or whatever reason may have kept them from joining us. Fast forward 2-2.5 hours; we had eaten, we enjoyed ourselves, and the servers had been attentive. We already had our to-go containers and were only waiting for the check at that point. Then Tony - who hadn't shown his face up until this point - basically lays into us for "not following the rules," and that we were seated without the whole party being there (not the guest's fault) and they need us to go so we could free up the tables for other guests. Look, I get it. It's a Saturday, probably your busiest night, and it's a tiny spot, so space is at a premium, BUT we were LITERALLY about to pay ($500+) and go and he not only embarrassed the hostess, but he made an absolute spectacle while doing it. Everyone was uncomfortable. The guests, the servers, other diners. But when I mentioned he could have handled it better, he not only agreed with me, but he also then DOUBLED DOWN on being a tool and escalated the situation to the point that the gentlemen in our group each got up to speak their minds as well. In ALL of my years in restaurants and management, I have NEVER spoken to a guest/customer in that manner, even if they deserved some sort of reprimand, and I would never have allowed another manager to speak to a guest that way. I guess being the owner makes Tony exempt from basic decency. In hospitality, it is one thing to get a customer in the door, but it is another to keep them coming back. Some of the party attendees were repeat customers, but I guarantee you, none of us will ever return here again. I'm sure he'll have something to say about this. He's the type of narcissistic person that will not admit to their wrongdoing and will continue to double down on how he was right and we were wrong. (And shall we throw in the fact that most of the table was not your color? I'm sure it could have been different if we'd all been the same shade.) Tony, I hope you are happy with the fact that your awful behavior affected way more than just a couple of people that night. Have the day...

Let me start off by saying that the food and service from the waitstaff was phenomenal. This was my 2nd time here and both times, my food came exactly how I asked. My one star rating comes from the rudeness of the OWNER TONY that my party and I encountered yesterday. We gathered for a birthday dinner. She booked a reservation for 20 people. The day of the dinner it rained, causing almost half of her guests to cancel LAST MINUTE. Upon arrival at the restaurant, she told the staff exactly that and they still seated her. Shen then told them again that this was probably all the people that would come(9 in total, we expected 3 more but they didn't show and we told them). Fast forward to the end of the dinner, we are paying our $500 tab, the owner comes over to our table and rudely says to us "I don't wanna rush you, but can we please hurry this up, cause you guys locked us up with your party only being 9 and it was supposed to be 20". Mind you, we are in the process of paying the bill which we told him and we also told him the situation. He then CONTINUES to say things about our party being rude for doing this to everyone else AROUND us in a passive aggressive fashion and then tells us that WE are rude for holding his tables up because "we dont seat a party if the whole party is not here". But you did, and that's not our fault. He was so rude, it caused the 2 men in our party to have to stand up to him and tell him to back off. I hate to take it here but it must be said...when the black man in our party steps to the owner about him being rude, the owner made it a point to try and diminish him by asking what kind of job does he have...what did that have to do with ANYTHING?? He said NOTHING like that to the WHITE man that was in our party that had to step to him as well. The birthday girl was completely horrified...she left in tears, her bday dinner was ruined, all because the OWNER didn't know how to control is frustration. EVEN THE STAFF SAID HE WAS RUDE AND IT WASNT HIS FIRST TIME DOING THIS!! So for that? We will NEVER return to his place business if this is how he...

My parents and I have been loyal customers of the Original Clam Tavern since we moved back to the area in 2010, my parents were regulars of the original establishment for many years ago. Tonight we had a reservation around 5 pm and was warmly approached by the lovely hostess and was brought to our table. We were greeted by Amanda who was our server this evening and was absolutely wonderful. The two guys who were server assistants were absolutely attentive and professional. We ordered drinks, I had the Clam Island drink, it was absolutely refreshing with very subtle fruity flavors and my mother had the Raspberry Cosmopolitan, she loved it. Our first course we started off with steamed clams w/ garlic white wine sauce & baked clams, the steamed clams were cooked beautifully along with the garlicky sauce which is absolutely delicious being dipped w/ the bread. The baked clams were beyond out of this world delightful, they have every reason to be Best of Philly! Now to our to our entrees, my mother had the Chilean sea bass special w/ side of angel hair pasta w/ garlic white wine sauce she raved on how remarkable the dish was, my father had the fried seafood combination w/ a side of angel hair w/ red sauce, he absolutely loved his dinner as always, I had the two broiled lobster tails special stuffed with the Clam Tavern's famous crab imperial, w/ side of angel hair pasta w/ garlic wine sauce, my meal was out of this world deliciousness, the lobster tails were succulent and sweet and the crab imperial beautifully paired with the crab & spices. Everything was beautifully done and prepared to perfection. I want to give a shout out to Chef Nick Ciafre from one Chef to another Chef, job well done! We finished the evening with 4 coffees and one nice slice of the chocolate peanut butter cake, a perfect ending to a wonderful evening at the Original Clam Tavern. As a Culinarian, Foodie I Highly Recommend this establishment because it's the place for a outstanding seafood meal! Check it out and tell them...