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WHERE THE LOCALS CLAM UP

There's just no clam's like Bobs. With the price of seafood these days, you want the best for the best price. An institution in Kittery since 1956.

Bob's Clam Hut
315 Route 1
Kittery, ME 03904
207-439-4233

Tourists heading Downeast have been pulling off Route 1 just over the Maine border since 1956. The destination then, and now, was Bob’s Clam Hut. It was, for the longest time, a hut run by a guy named Bob. Today it’s much more than a hut and owned by a guy named Michael, but half a century later – it’s still all about clams.

We’ve seen our fair share of local eateries grow up big and busy and forget what made them great in the first place. Not Bob’s. Making good New England fried clams (and scallops, and fish) is not as easy as it looks. You can’t skimp. You can’t cheat. The batter and the cooking oil and the clams have to be just right. Bob’s is as consistently excellent, and fast, and courteous as a seafood drive-in gets.

Even as seafood prices rise and the Kittery outlet mall traffic thickens, Bob’s is worth the trip – even for locals. The new expanded outdoor picnic area is an oasis along the old highway, tucked between the shops and the neighboring marsh. Bob’s Clam Hut is open year round, and you have to be good to please a Kittery-ite in the middle of winter. Heck, half these people own their own lobster boats. And it is only with reluctance that we locals give Bob’s back to the hoards of summer visitors who all believe they "discovered" the best clam hut in Maine. We let them think that.

There’s much more than clams here, of course. You come-from-aways can see the full menu online. But when we go, it’s for a cold Coke from the vending machine and an ample plate of fat-bellied fried clams, a plastic cupful of cole slaw and some fries drenched in ketchup or vinegar. We’re not shopping. We’re not going to the beach. We’re not buying antiques. We’re just going to Bob’s. It’s that simple. -- PG

VISIT Bob's Clam Hut official web site
SEE ALSO: The SeacoastNH.com coveted family recipe for clam showder

Early photo of Bob's courtesy of Bob's Clam Hut. Color photos by J. Dennis Robinson. Mural inside Bob's by artists Gordon Carlisle.