Scales & Shells — Restaurant in Newport

WELL now it is official SCALES AND SHELLS IS OVER! New owners have killed the magic and the recipes and techniques that made this place great. What a shameful, unimaginative, vanilla menu by the new owners. What was THE BEST SEAFOOD restaurant in Newport is now just another, mediocre, run of the mill, “maybe eat at if you can’t get in anywhere else” place. Sad day.

Scales and Shells sold and hope this gets them completely back on track and BACK TO THE FUTURE!

First, saw that the owner Andy sold and wish him the best and hope well-rewarded for the great, FORMER, restaurant that this was. However, want to call out the press release where Andy stated how he brought back regional, Italian cooking from his overseas experience. This is 100% NOT TRUE. Andy paid the owner of the Daily Catch in Boston and VILLAGE FISH in Brookline to teach him and literally cut and paste the same layout and every, single recipe and technique. I personally saw him training with the owner over many months and Scales and Shells is an exact replica in every way of these (particularly now closed Village Fish but same recipes as Daily Catch) two establishments. Not sure why Andy used that “I learned it from my experience in Italy” when it was his “experience with Greg” in Boston. Sorry, just want to keep the record straight and hope these new owners get back to blocking and tackling and the watery sauces and still small portions are enhanced and get this place back to better consistency and raise from a 4.2 back to a 4.5+ which it was comfortably before Andy gave over the reigns to his Daughter. Wish you guys luck with new ownership and let’s keep it honest and strive to return to excellence. Cheering for you!

FAIR IS FAIR AND THIS PLACE IS BACK ON TRACK!!!!!

Wrote review below 2 years ago and was pulled back in by Family as a surprise on my birthday and to be fair IT WAS AWESOME AND LIKE OLD TIMES! Little necks Roberto was great (two orders) and the grilled calamari, grilled tuna and grilled salmon all world class! The white sauce was still not like old in that watery and needs some work but small suggestion on an otherwise perfect, five star dinner. This place was always THE BEST SEAFOOD in Newport hands down and seems to be returning to their previous greatness and would give them a try since birthday dinner was great and unmatched in Newport and will be back soon.

Review from 2021

SAD DAY FOR ME and stunning how fast this restaurant has declined....wake up call for owner!!!!

Let me start by saying this has been my all time favorite restaurant on the planet for decades and most of my birthdays, over decades, have been celebrated here. This is now NOT the same place as it was and just has declined across the board. One of the best white sauces ever with pasta is now an inch of water in the bottom of the bowl! The little neck Roberto sauce which was unmatched on planet earth is now good but not great and more watery and less flavorful and same for red sauce. Sauces need to be rich, flavorful and go through at least some reduction process to adhere to pasta and bring out the full flavor and none WAS better than Scales and Shells but now those days are over. Also, must be new management because all portions have shrunk. Side of asparagus small and few pieces but the real kicker was the lobster! THE SMALLEST CHICK lobster I have ever been served in my life for $39 and noticeably smaller than any I have ordered over the decades I’ve been coming here. In fact the meat from the tail was about the size of a jumbo shrimp! Don’t know who is running this place but can’t be the original owner and whoever you are don’t think you are fooling anyone because I have never seen more open tables ever at your restaurant and certainly not on a Friday at peak hours. You have lost a three decade fan that has sent dozens of people to you over the years and shameful that you have ruined one of the top dining institutions in Newport and my favorite of all time. Fix your problems or plan on more open tables...

A dinner at Scales & Shells is delightful memorable experience despite the Pandemic

My husband and I visit Newport every few years and always enjoy walking on Thames Street. We love window shopping and checking out restaurant store fronts. Scales & Shells was always packed with happy diners. The atmosphere always impressed as a place that I must go to someday.

Friday October 30th was stormy. My husband and I read on the website that reservations were not needed. We were interviewed for Contract Tracing purposes and then seated at a table in the center of the dining area.

With the help of our waitress, Grace, we selected a bottle of 2017 Rocca Giovanni Langhe Chardonnay.

The Chalkboard menu has many choices. We chose an appetizer of fresh grilled octopus with red shallots. We know from past experience that octopus is a measure of restaurant quality. If octopus is not fresh, nor not cooked right, the taste and texture are awful. Our best experiences with octopi have included restaurants in Ponte Delgada and in Little Italy, NYC. We were very impressed with the mesquite grill flavor. The texture suggested the meat was very fresh. We really loved this dish. The red shallot sauce begged for bread to enjoy every bit of it. Grace kindly brought us more bread for this purpose.

Our choices for main dishes included Grilled Monkfish with Green Olive Tapenade and Skate Piccata with linguine and capers lemon olive oil. A side of grilled asparagus was included. I am including photos of these beautiful dishes that will hopefully show the great presentation and generous serving sizes. We were hungry and enjoyed this feast very much. The monkfish was grilled perfectly and tasted great with the sweetened green olives. I think golden raisins were included in the tapenade. The skate was very fresh and delicious. The capers were plentiful and mild in taste suggesting that the brine had been rinsed away. The linguine worked well with this dish.

Overall, we commend Scales & Shells for offering an incredible dining experience despite the challenges presented by the Pandemic. While we felt safe dining in from a public health perspective, we realize that restaurants need more customers to survive. During our hour-long dining time, we were the only customers...

Being a NYer that lives close enough to travel to Little Italy in NYC, we can be pretty particular and fussy about our food. ESPECIALLY about our Italian pasta restaurants and seafood. This place was recommended and booked for me on behalf of the nearby Vanderbilt hotel. I'm glad I came out of my shell and shelled out here instead of eating at the hotel. So, let’s talk about the food. I had the Bibb Lettuce salad, the linguine and Seared Scallops with Togarashi. So let’s get it started with the salad. It’s par for the course and good to start off with. It’s nothing to hype about. Don’t worry, things get better and appetizing, I promise. The scallops and linguine were definitely something that should be of note. Both were a delectable delight, especially the linguine. The linguine had clams and was made with a white wine sauce. The seared scallops were nice, soft and spongy. They weren’t overcooked or rubbery in texture. They were basically cooked and seared to perfection. The sauces made the seafood flavor pop and weren't overwhelming. The edamame was a good pairing to help with the scallop’s flavor profile. So in closing, it’s time to Shell out a 5 Star review for 5 Star service. A special shout out goes out to Kylie who was an excellent and attentive waitress and the bearded bloke in the blue blazer that came to check in on my mom and I. He must have been the manager. I didn’t catch his name, but he did come in to check and see if my mom and I were enjoying our food. Bring Your Appetite and Be Impressed because I was. When I visit this town again, I will definitely be stopping by Scales and Shells for another plate of perfection. The only negative gripe that I have is that I wish that they would...