Iggy's Doughboys & Chowder House — Restaurant in Warwick

Iggy's Doughboys and Chowder House is an iconic staple here in Warwick, Rhode IIsland.They serve fresh seafood, chowder, doughboys and more! This place is super popular with the locals and tourists. The line was in the street when we arrived so if you're looking to get food quick I suggest ordering ahead of time over the phone or online. We did show up on a Saturday too so that might have had something to do with it. Their food was good but nothing was over the top amazing. Service was counter service and was quick and friendly. The atmosphere was cute and nautical with awesome views in the back with their patio seating! I'm not sure if I would come back to Iggy's for the seafood but the chowder and doughboys were good, as they should be considering it's in their name haha.

My wife and I shared a Seafood Platter which included an all fried meal with white flakey fish (they don't say what kind of fish), whole clams, clam strips, scallops, and flat shrimp. The platter also came with 3 clam cakes, onion rings, fries and Cole slaw with your choice of a salad or chowder. We got a salad. We also orders 3 cinnamon sugar doughboys and a bowl of white chowder. We were unaware that there were three types of chowder. There's, New England White, which is a cream based chowder. Manhattan Red, which is tomato based chowder. And lastly, clear Clam Chowder which is the "pure" chowder with no add ins.

To start with the Seafood Platter, everything was good and had flavor however when we got our plate we went to a table and immediately sat down to eat and the breading was soggy with most things like the clams and scallops. It didn't seem like it was fried fresh and given to us. I also don't like how we had to guess what the fried fish was. Having to guess what you're eating is always a turn off. We also had to ask for tartar sauce and cocktail sauce as it was not included with our platter. My favorite out of the platter was the fried scallops.

Fried food places, PLEASE put your food in container with holes. If there are no air vents, the moisture builds up in the box and creates soggy breading. This is especially concerning when you want to take your food home.

The clam cakes were more like clam hush puppies and we wouldn't have ordered an extra 3 if we knew that it would come with the platter but there was no mention of it on the menu. The doughboys were good and looked like the doughboy mascot they have outside the restaurant. The chowder was also good but seemed to be lacking in clams and is a bit thicker than some people like but it wasn't off putting to us. We also got their drinks that they make like their Raspberry Lime soda and Root Beer. My wife like the Raspberry Lime but it tasted like a Shirley Temple to me. The root beer was okay.

Overall, for $50 for the both of us for lunch and what we got, I wasn't super impressed. The atmosphere and service helped their food score but like I said in the beginning, stick to what their name says and what they're good at, just get the chowder and doughboys.

Food - 3 ⭐ Service - 5 ⭐ Atmosphere - 5 ⭐ Overall - 4 ⭐

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Steamed clams = $22 for mouthful of sand. Any restaurant claiming to be a seafood restaurant should know how to prepare and flush their steamer clams using cornmeal, however THIS RESTAURANT DOESN’T EVEN BOTHER TO RINSE THE CLAMS OFF TO GIVE THE SLIGHTEST HINT THAT THEIR CLAMS WERE PREPARED THE PROPER WAY. (Proper clam flushing involves feeding them cornmeal over a couple hours, which will help them to spit out the sand). My clams came to me covered in sand, but even after I meticulously cleaned them off in the broth that was provided, I soon discovered that the bellies were also full of sand. Because of the nature of the soft shelled steamer clam, there should be a reasonable

Wrong time of year?

I've been a frequent flyer at the Pt Judith Iggy's for a few years now; often grabbing a solid, cool lobster roll after fishing with my son. We happened to be in Warwick today and decided to try the original(ish) restaurant.

Neither one of us could remember if we'd ever ordered Iggy's fried shrimp down in 'Gansett but decided to have some here. Grabbed a lobster roll too, just in case.

The shrimp were a little disappointing - small shrimp which had been pounded flat to appear larger. They were all exactly the same size and with a perfectly uniform breading. Just like shrimp which had passed through a factory on its way to a freezer at Stop & Shop. I guess they go to Iggy's as well. They tasted ok. But there are places all over RI selling legit large fried shrimp for the same $17.

As for the Lobster Roll... the one we had today was the reason for the lead-in question up there. At 22 bucks, it appeared to be an exceptionally generous helping of lobster; piled hight atop a large leaf of romaine lettuce in a buttered torpedo roll. Not really wanting the big green leaf, I used it to flip the lobster meat upside down and back into the bun. And there it was: The Reveal. It looked like a ton of dressed lobster because it was resting on even more chopped lettuce.

The amount of lobster was still worth the $22.00 and the lettuce appeared used to give the illusion of a $30+ roll. Or to at least fill the big bun. It came across as a tacky, and wholly unneeded, deception.

There was, however, a deeper problem with the lobster. It wasn't quite snappy or moist in itself and there wasn't a sweet bite in the whole sandwich. Looking at the pigment of the red membrane leeching into the white parts and, with the minimal flavor, it was obvious: the lobster wasn't fresh. In all likelihood vacuum packed or frozen or both, it simply wasn't a good Rhode Island lobster roll. Even at a decent price, it wasn't a good Iggy's roll.

We'll give the Narragansett Iggy's another shot this summer, but will probably avoid both during the early season...