Flo's Clam Shack — Restaurant in Middletown

My family came here after a long drive from Maine. I was disappointed the not all the seafood is in fact fresh, despite the signage. We went up stairs to eat, as we were told by our hotel the view was fantastic. Upon entering the top of the stairs, we headed to the "patio". The bartender (an older gentlemen) was yelling at me (unbeknownst to me at the time) to not close the door. Apparently when you close it you can't get out. He was yelling at me not to close the door. I wasn't paying attention because I certainly wasn't expecting to be yelled at by the bartender. Little did he know ow as he was talking about me and how dumb I was and that I couldn't hear him, my husband was standing waiting to order a drink (of which he did not as he certainly wasn't going to buy anything more from this establishment after he yelled at me). As I did close the door, I was locked in. I was saying through the glass I can't hear you, and he was yelling at me he couldn't hear me. My husband said if you can't hear her why do you think she can hear you???

Then we sat down to eat and left the door open as to not lock ourselves in and a patron got up and close the door, but not all the way, so it could still be open. And we're complaining that they were cold. When our food was ready, my children went downstairs to get the food and the patron asked them to please close the door as they were cold.

The amount of issues and conversation about that door was really ridiculous.

The lobster roll was pathetic and cost 3295. It came with fries and coleslaw but no drink. I commented if you're gonna pay $33 for a combo it should come with a drink as the much lesser expensive fish fries and coleslaw came with a drink???

100% would not recommend eating here. It seems like a place for locals and is not welcome to tourist, which is funny because I think the tourist are the reason why many of these small towns stay alive.

When we were leaving, there was a local elderly couple who apologize on the bartenders behalf that were sitting in front of the bar.

I spent $77+ dollars for frozen fish, terrible lobster roll, and to be yelled at by the bartender and chastise by the locals for leaving the door...

We came today as we are spending time at Newport for the week. We have had many people tell us to try the food so today we decided to gogo I don't know it's a quaint little occasion with obviously decorations that support a local fish restaurant.

We parked and loved the bamboo covered walk way. If you're looking for clam chowder or fried items you have an order window literally as soon as you walk up. So we decided today to order the clam chowder and some fried clams before going upstairs and ordering the fresh seafood like oysters crab legs etc.

They give you a buzzer to let you know when your food is ready so you can pick a seat if you deciding to eat in at the restaurant.

Once the buzzer went off I grabbed the food and brought it back up to the table. And I love clam chowder I have to tell you.

When I opened it it was hot and it smelled delicious. I love the creamy white broth though they had other selections of either the clear or the red.

I noted almost a hint of bacon flavor when I took my first taste and could definitely taste the clam flavor.

What became a little disappointing is through that entire bowl that I had, all of the clam pieces that I had probably were no bigger than a quarter of a pee in size so there was almost no clam it was almost all potato. Now for me, I like the bigger chunks of clams in my clam chowder. Some people may not.

That said overall, I thought the flavor was great just wish there was a little bit more clam in there or at least bigger clam pieces and less potato.

The fresh seafood was delicious and we also enjoyed a few drinks from the bar.

I can also say that I watched many a couples ordering food and watched the interaction between the employees and the customers. I loved to see the smiles and the energy that the Flo's team had. To me in a lot of ways the food can be mediocre but, if the service is fantastic and the people have a great attitude I will always come back. The food here was definitely not mediocre it was definitely better than that by far.

Overall I thought it was a great visit and we will be back.

Thank you Clam shack for inviting us into your home today for what you have to offer the...

Overall a decent place. There was ample seating, outdoors, indoors, upstairs, at the raw bar, some counter space. However the line for the food was a bit long, even at 3pm. We parked in the back and waited at the bamboo forest which was cool and shaded.

We dined in so a couple of us went ahead and grabbed a table. We got pagers for the fried foods and another for the raw stuff upstairs. Decor was typical beach related stuff and pics of celebrities. They played some 80s music...lively place but not obnoxious.

Between 3 of us, we got way too much food...conch salad, bowl of chowder, cup of chowder with clam cakes, fisherman's platter, fish sandwich, dozen oysters, shrimp cocktail.

Conch salad was a full portion and much needed to balance out the fried stuff. We got the clear chowder...solid. Like the usual clam chowder but without the cream. Plenty of potatoes if you like that. The cup of chowder we got came with clam cakes...I didn't know what they were so I ordered. Basically fried bread with bits of clam. Instead of oyster crackers, I had this with the chowder. Not bad but super filling. Shrimp cocktail and oysters are typical but still good. My friend with the fish sandwich enjoyed his...battered fish between buns with fries on the side. The fisherman's platter had a bit of everything. Fried everything...fish, scallops, shrimp, calamari, clam bellies, fries. We were starving so the first few bites were really good. After that, it was a bit too heavy and definitely too much.

Plenty of employees to direct parking and to clean up. Good place for a big group,...