Woodman's of Essex is a

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

restaurant in

Essex, Massachusetts Essex is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, 26 miles (42 km) north of Boston and 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Newburyport. It is known for its former role as a center of shipbuilding. The population was 3,675 at the 2020 ce ...

(approximately north of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

). A local favorite, it is also known internationally for its fried clams and

New England clam bake The clambake or clam bake, also known as the New England clambake, is a traditional method of cooking seafood, such as lobster, mussels, crabs, scallops, soft-shell clams, and quahogs. The food is traditionally cooked by steaming the ingredien ...

s. Woodman's has been a family business since its founding in 1914, and is a large employer in the area with over 200 staff during the summer months.

The Fried Clam

Fried clams Woodman's of Essex, Massachusetts

In 1914 Lawrence Henry "Chubby" Woodman and his wife Bessie opened up a clam shack on Essex's Main Street, more commonly known to locals as "the causeway". Chubby and Bessie sold freshly dug steamer clams as well as

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

and homemade

potato chips A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appe ...

. According to legend, Chubby invented the Ipswich

fried clams Fried clams are clams dipped in milk, floured, and deep-fried. Fried clams are an iconic food, "to New England, what barbecue is to the South". They tend to be served at seaside clam shacks (roadside restaurants). Clam rolls are fried clams serv ...

on July 3, 1916. The company website says this happened during a visit from a friend and fisherman, Mr. Tarr of neighboring

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Chubby took his suggestion to put some clams into the oil used for deep-frying the potato chips. Some modifications were made, such as dipping the clams in evaporated milk and corn flour, and the fried clam was born.

Clambake to go

The traditional

is a long process. Chubby Woodman came up with the idea of mobilizing it—a truck was loaded up with food, boilers, and wood, and the clambake was done at the customer's preferred location. Today, Woodman's sells "clambakes to go," consisting of all the necessary ingredients such as

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

, clams, potatoes, and corn. Dependence on the clam has brought risk to the restaurant. In 2005, the

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural phycotoxin, algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are ...

was quite severe, leading to lower supplies and price increases. Woodman's was forced to import clams from Canada.

Reputation

Woodman's reputation is recognized in many travel and restaurant guides, such as

Frommer's Frommer's is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the company ...

''New England'', Fodor included the restaurant in their ''Where to Weekend Around Boston'', and the ''Phantom Gourmet Guide to Boston's Best Restaurants 2008'' affirms it has the best fried clams.

Popular culture

The 2010 film '' Grown Ups'' uses the restaurant for a segment when all the characters in the film go out for a family dinner, although hamburgers and not fried clams were portrayed as the restaurant's specialty as it was mentioned that they have the best burgers in town. The production of the film caused the restaurant to close for the first time in 95 years in order to film the scene. The sign at the beginning of the scene used the alias "Woodman's Eat in the Rough" and had the character Dickie Bailey (portrayed by

Colin Quinn Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 20 ...

) working there as a chef. The

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

' song "Hey Ladies" from their album ''

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two y ...

'' includes the line "Special at Woodman's in Essex Mass"; listed in the printed lyrics, yet never actually recited in the song.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Essex, Massachusetts Restaurants established in 1914 Seafood restaurants in Massachusetts 1914 establishments in Massachusetts

The Fried Clam

Clambake to go

Reputation

Popular culture

See also

References