I don’t mean to steal a page out of Seth’s blog, but I have important news to report following a weekend visit to Woodman’s: (1) believe it or not, they’re now taking credit cards; and (2) when I ordered the fried jumbo shrimp plate, I was offered cocktail sauce instead of automatically being given tartar sauce. Not nearly enough horseradish in the cocktail sauce, but, still, it was a huge upgrade.
Photo (cc) by kariek. Some rights reserved.
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Dan, Wonderful new revelations but…..1.) Can you do something about that line that snakes out the front door and winds it’s way toward Beverly? 2.) Can you place a decent alternative to Woodman’s within a few miles of the place in case you can’t solve #1.
There’s a great alternative, just a few miles away: the Clam Box in Ipswich. Unfortunately, the line/seating logistics are even tougher than at Woodman’s. (Better onion rings, though.)Since I live 20 minutes from Woodman’s, I tend to plan my trips around cold, rainy days in order to avoid the lines. Winter’s good, too.
if you’d prefer a casual sit-down alternative, the Village restaurant down the street from woodman’s is a solid choice – but it’s definitely an “old person” joint (as in, little wooden salad bowls, little wooden waitresses, you get the point…)
We’re also nearby so usually go on off hours too but got the urge Friday and Sat afternoons two weekends ago. Friday was fine but Sat we stood in the long line. It was fine–it moves along and anyway it’s a pleasant spot to stand. And paid with credit card!Dan is right the rings aren’t very good so we avoid the plates and just go for boxes. And you don’t have to pay for tartar sauce any more, which was ridiculous. You have to pay for coleslaw though, sheesh.We used to go to Bob’s on Highland Ave in Salem, closer and no ambience or alcohol but clam heaven and better rings. They looked at you funny if you were under 80 but it was worth it. They tore it down and put up another goddam Dunkin Donuts, because we don’t have enough of those. I heard Bob’s is going to reopen if so, Woodman’s only after being up on Cape Ann anyway.If you don’t want to stand in line another place besides the Village is Farnham’s about a mile east on 133. Smaller and apt to have quite a wait too. You see reviews that some place is better than another but clams is hit and miss no matter which place you like I think, so diversify your portfolio by adding scallops lobster etc, in case the clams aren’t good that day. At our last visit the clams were so good I remembered why it’s worth the bother. I grew up next to the “Famous” Clam Plate in Peabody and ate a zillion clams. (“Famous” is Greek for “not famous”.) In those days clams were cheap, and my mother would just give me money to buy a famous clam plate when she didn’t feel like cooking, which thank god was often.