The Great Machipongo Clam Shack — Restaurant in Exmore

The Great Machipongo Clam Shack is located along US 13 (Lankford Hwy) in Nassawadox, VA. It's located about 40 to 45 minutes north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and on the southbound side of the roadway. If traveling northbound, you would just need to make a U-turn a little further up. This place is also part of the Virginia Oyster Trail and the Artisan Trail Network. My most recent visit here was on October 8, 2019, returning home from a trip to New Jersey and a Disney Cruise.

When traveling, I do like to try out local places. Even though this place is only about an hour from where I live, it would require a trip across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We could've waited to get home, but wanted to come in here and visit instead since we don't venture past the Eastern Shore too often. The place is pretty easy to spot from the roadway. They have some signs in the grass there, as well as a bigger sign. When you look at the building from the outside, your first thought might be that it's a touristy place. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Once we came inside, we were immediately greeted and said we could sit anywhere we wanted to. The place wasn't busy at all when we came in, but we came in at a time that is more off peak (around 3:30 pm). As we got seated, our server Linda was at the table asking us for our drink orders. After she came back with the drinks, she asked if we were ready to order, but we weren't quite yet. A few minutes later she came back and we were finally ready to order. I ended up going with the Butterfly Shrimp entree with fries and macaroni and cheese as the sides. My mom went with the One Crab Cake entree with Lima beans and coleslaw as her sides. Once we finished ordering, she said we could check out the gourmet and seafood market right behind where we were sitting.

While waiting for the food to come out, we did take a look at the gourmet and seafood market they had in there. They have lots of fresh seafood in there, shirts, and quite a few hemp products. Prices are a little higher than one one see in a grocery store and such, but the stuff is fresh. We didn't end up getting anything additional since the car was already pretty packed with suitcases and the such anyways.

After about ten minutes or so, our orders came out to the table. The food came out hot and fresh. The shrimp were really good and seasoned well. The hush puppies, fries, and macaroni and cheese were good and hot as well. My mom said the crab cake was great too, and didn't have any fillers in it, which is a type of crab cake you want to have.

Overall, service and food were excellent. I will definitely stop here again in the future when I am back on the Eastern Shore. Although prices are a little higher than what I would find in Virginia Beach, it is a family owned restaurant and not much in the way of civilization that you would have down in Virginia Beach. In the end, if your travels take you up or down the Eastern Shore of Virginia, this is a great seafood...

I am one for always trying to support a locally owned spot. We make this trek on the Eastern Shore a few times a year and really only stopped one other time, but that was about 5 years ago. This visit, unfortunately was not worth the wait of almost 40 mins for two meals.

The restaurant was built in an old fast food location. Their signs tout seafood and more, so being on the Eastern Shore and being hungry we chose to stop here again. They had a good bit of business with about 9 cars in the parking lot.

You walk in and the line to order is right at the entrance. If there's more than 3 groups in line you're most likely going to wait on the other side of the entry door as it gets a bit crowded.

My group of 3 ordered and I wish I was told the procedure of waiting and at least an estimated wait time for my food.

After I ordered, I chose to use the bathroom. Just a heads up, the first two stalls you basically have to straddle the toilet in order to close and re-open the door. I did like that the sink was equipped with some of the local soap that they sell in their retail area.

We then walked around the retail area where they sell a wide array of different frozen fish, t-shirts, wine, and other local foods.

After about 10 mins I waited near the cashier area thinking my order of a kids Chix quesadilla and Fish&Chips would be ready soon. But as mentioned, it gets pretty crowded up there. After about another 10 mins passed I noticed no one else was waiting around and I was getting restless. We opted to wait outside in the car when I noticed an employee walking out with bags. I asked him if he's delivering orders for outside. He stated he'll come out and announce a name and warned if we were in our car we may not here him. But he was very courteous and said he'd remember my name when mine was ready.

It's nice because they do have a good bit of picnic tables available to sit at. Several even under tent like structures for shade.

Another 15-20 mins pass and our food is finally delivered. The fish and chips had a strong fishy taste to it, but if you can get past that, they're okay. A bit on the oily side but like I said it was okay, plus I was starving at that point. The Lima beans had a nice flavor using butter, bacon, and light seasoning. The kids Chicken Quesadilla reviews in my group was 1 liked it the other did not. Hush puppies were good tho.

So if you're looking for inexpensive and fast this may not be the spot to stop at. The sandwiches were about $14 on average. My fish and chips was possibly the cheapest meal option at $8, then everything else...

Good food but almost an hour after we were seated for an appetizer and a shrimp salad sandwich to be served. I'm going to try it again if I'm in the area....... Okay! Better Half and I tried this place again on our pilgrimage to the North with significantly better results. I chose the " local fried oysters" and the BH had the lightly fried shrimp. Service was very nice, friendly and helpful. Our lunch came in a reasonable time. My order was a generous portion of mouthwatering delicious perfectly cooked oysters. I couldn't finish them. The hush puppies were good enough for my BH to eat a couple.... and she "doesn't like" hush puppies! One of my side orders was the best butter beans I've ever had. It was one of the featured sides of the day. BH enjoyed her meal... as did I hundreds of miles later, on the New Jersey Turnpike! My doting wife had taken the doggy bag of oysters, shrimp and hush puppies and had them in our cooler. She hand fed them to me as I drove up the NJT. They were incredibly good eaten cold! We will be back! * WE CAME BACK* We had an order of fried oysters (mine) ,an order of fried shrimp (my better half) and a pint each of their delicious She Crab soup. We thoroughly enjoyed the fried items immediately as a light lunch and saved the soups for dinner ( traveling via RV we were able to refrigerate the soup ) I had forgotten the old adage about not consuming shellfish in months without an "R" so I accept responsibility for what I endured .Just sad that something I have enjoyed so much for so long is irrevocably off my personal...