Aunt Carrie's Restaurant, Ice Cream and Gift Shoppe — Restaurant in Narragansett

The BEST thing at this place is the wait staff. We live in NYC (so know about GREAT food) and have a place in Narragansett so enjoy checking out the local restaurants. I saw an Instagram post showing summer Monday specials of Steamer Clams or Lobster for $19.95. I LUV steamers so was excited to go. We got here about 7ish. When we were ready to order, I asked for the steamer special and the sweetheart of a waitress said they were out of them. I was highly disappointed but we decided to stay since we were already seated and ordered what you have available on the menu. We ordered the medium plate of the fried shrimp and the dinner size of the fried calamari. The fried shrimp look like they came out of a frozen bag from the local Stop & Shop and very undercooked. The fried calamari was even worse as the New England style fried calamari always come with hot cherry peppers sprinkled all over. However, what we received were obviously previously frozen calamari with a side of yellow banana peppers in a plastic cup. I know the calamari was not fresh at all because they came on the plate all stuck together, undercooked and rubbery too. Fresh fried calamari does not stick together like a blob and should have some tentacles as well. We tried a couple bites and it was horrible as I knew it would be the looks of our plates. We finished our drinks and asked for to go boxes. I didn't want to be rude so said everything was fine and paid the bill. I'm guessing you use your weekly specials to pull in the summer crowd because this feels like a classic bait and switch. Get the crowd in, say you are out of the specials and we end up ordering from the regular menu. You mean to tell me you advertise Monday Specials on your social media but do not account for the possible crowd you may get coming in for it? I would think your restaurant with your supposed long standing fabulous reputation should make sure you have enough of the advertised specials to accommodate the customers. Your close at 11:30 p.m and you're out of one of your specials by 7PM? NOT very good business planning. Mind you, a bunch of people came in after us wanting the steamer specials and we're just as disappointed. All in all, I had a terrible experience. I'd rather stand on line at Monahans. At least they make an effort to have their food look and taste good. Looks to me like Aunt Carrie's is riding on their long standing reputation of old with having fresh seafood or what have you. It's definitely not my interpretation of "fresh". Not sure if it has the same owners or maybe there's new owners and that could be the issue. Do better as your loyal and potentially new customers deserve at the very least good...

One Star for the Fish, Five Stars for the Clamcakes, and a Gold Medal in Endurance Waiting

After a scenic drone meetup at Point Judith Lighthouse, my family, a friend all the way from Arizona, and I descended upon Aunt Carrie’s in Narragansett like seafood-loving pilgrims in search of fried glory. What we found was a culinary rollercoaster with clamcake highs and fish-and-chip-flavored heartbreak.

Let’s start with the good: the clamcakes were magnificent. Big, golden, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. We passed them around like treasure. If I could have filled a kiddie pool with them and just swam in clamcake joy, I would have.

But then came The Fish and Chip. Singular. Not “chips.” Just... chip. Because the real tragedy here was the fish. I don’t know what happened in that kitchen, but it looked like my fish got halfway dressed, gave up, and walked out onto the plate in shame. I ordered fish and chip, not fish and breadcrumb suggestion. It had the texture of a paper towel and the flavor of tap water. If this was their idea of fried seafood, someone needs to sit them down and explain what beer batter is. Aunt Carrie’s is located by the ocean. The fish should taste like Poseidon himself blessed it. Instead, it tasted like regret and missed opportunities.

As if that wasn’t enough, I got to stand in line for 40 minutes to place my order while a single heroic woman ran the entire front counter like she was in a one-person stage play called "Fried and Furious: Seafood Drift." I’m disabled, and there was nowhere to sit, no one to help, just me and the slow march of time as the line wrapped around like we were waiting for concert tickets instead of lunch.

To be fair, once we did order, the food came out impressively fast. Ten minutes tops. I thought maybe they'd used a time machine. Turns out, when the fish has no batter, it takes zero time to cook.

So here’s the bottom line: Aunt Carrie’s serves amazing clamcakes, and the location is great. Go there for that. Avoid the fish and chip like it’s been cursed. I honestly believe the fish was just a practical joke played by the ocean gods. Or maybe it was a dare. Either way, if this is how Aunt Carrie’s does fish and chip, they should consider removing it from the menu and replacing it with literally anything else. Maybe a rock. Or a picture of what fish and chip should look like.

3 stars for the experience, minus 2 for the fish. Would return for clamcakes. Would not...

I've been wanting to come here for a few years after I discover that this revered restaurant earned the James Beard America's Classic award back in 2007 and is still frequently mentioned in publications ranging from Yankee magazine, The New York Times to the Food Network. I love finding restaurants that are tried and true, that have been around a long time and have a vintage, casual or homey atmosphere but with exceptional food. Well, I am sorry to say Aunt Carrie would be as disappointed as I was after eating here this warm Saturday evening in June. I ordered a " Complete Dinner" which includes a bowl of chowder instead of a cup for a $1 upcharge, homemade bread basket and a piece of pie. I chose the Seafood Platter which consist of samplings of whole clams, strip clams, shrimp, bay scallops, flounder with french fries and one clam cake what for $33.99. The fresh cinnamon swirl bread offering was tasty and pleasantly old fashioned. The chowder was quite salty and thin, almost broth like with lots of potatoes and not many clams. I am originally from Louisiana and I guess I'm used to seafood a bit tastier and a bit meatier but the shrimp & clams here reminded me of grocery bought Gorton's popcorn shrimp and breaded clams I used to get as a kid. Bay scallops you'd expect to be small, but even these were mighty puny and the single piece of lonely flounder downright anemic! French fries were fine and seafood thankfully was not greasy or overly breaded. Oh, and their claim to fame, the celebrated Clam Cake was an interesting concoction but is just basically a slightly sweet fritter with supposedly a clam buried in there somewhere I couldn't find! I selected Strawberry Rhubarb for my pie and although the fruit had a nice combination of sweet and tart, however the savorless crust was complete let down. Other than the novelty of the Clam Cake fritter, the seafood platter was a run of the mill, a dime a dozen meal you can get at just about any seafood shack along the New England shoreline but this one cost over $50 bucks with drink, taxes and tip. Woefully, for me the best thing about the meal was the lovely view of the sand dunes, ocean and...