Essex Seafood Reopens After Being Hit by Fire Last Spring

A beloved North Shore seafood shack that was destroyed in a fire last year is back in business.

According to a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page, Essex Seafood on Route 133 in Essex has reopened, with a Facebook post from the place saying the following:

We just had a 2 day soft open to appreciate the firefighters who responded to our fire last year, contractors and others who helped rebuild our new restaurant. Thank you again to all! WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR CUSTOMERS! We can't wait for everyone to see the new restaurant and enjoy some great food!

Essex Seafood sustained major damage in a two-alarm blaze that started after they closed for the night last Mother's Day, with the damage being so extensive that the structure had to be torn down. It is one of several iconic clam shacks along Route 133 in Essex and Ipswich, including such spots as J. T. Farnham's, Woodman's, and the Clam Box.

The address for Essex Seafood is 143 Eastern Avenue (Route 133), Essex, MA, 01929.

[Earlier Article]
Essex Seafood Heavily Damaged in Two-Alarm Fire

by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Essex Seafood Heavily Damaged in Two-Alarm Fire

An iconic North Shore seafood shack is closed for the foreseeable future after being hit by a fire overnight.

According to an article from CBS Boston, Essex Seafood on Route 133 in Essex sustained major damage in a two-alarm blaze that apparently broke out around 11:00 Sunday night. The post mentions that the fire started only hours after it wrapped up a busy Mother's Day for the restaurant, but fortunately no injuries were reported. The fire, which caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to Essex Seafood, is currently under investigation.

Essex Seafood is one of several iconic clam shacks along Route 133 in Essex and Ipswich, including such places as Woodman's, J. T. Farnham's, and the Clam Box.

[May 22 update: The Gloucester Times mentions that Essex Seafood owner Howie Lane plans to tear the structure down and rebuild, saying that "We want to rebuild just like it was, with the wood inside just like we had....I have a lot of friends that do construction and cement work -- they've all reached out to me. We'll make it company friendly, handicap-friendly and put a sprinkler system in so nothing like this will happen again." In addition, Lane is planning to have a grand reopening celebration in which the firefighters who extinguished the fire will be recognized for their work, with Lane stating that "I can't believe they saved the house....They more than did their job. They're the real heroes. Everything will be on the house -- no charge." (Thanks to a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page for bringing this to our attention.)]

by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Grub Street Includes Woodman's in Essex Among Its 50 Foodie Destinations

A food and restaurant blog that is part of a popular weekly magazine in New York City came out with its list of 50 "food-centric destinations" this spring, and the spot representing Massachusetts is one that is well-known among seafood lovers.

According to the article from New York Magazine's Grub Street blog, Woodman's in Essex has been included among the 50 picks, mainly because of the fried clams that are served at this North Shore institution. According to Grub Street, "everyone owes it to themselves to try the corn-flour-coated 'chubby's Original' fried clams here" because the clams are "plump and crispy" and "what every 'summah' calls for."

The address for Woodman's is: Woodman's, 121 Main Street Essex, MA, 01929. The phone number is(978) 768-6451. And the website can be found at http://www.woodmans.com/

For the complete list of picks by Grub Street, please go to the link below.

50 State Dinners (Plus One): Food Treks Worth Taking This Summer

Tweet

Results of Twitter Fried Clam Poll

Our latest Twitter poll is now complete, with this one centering around fried clams in the Boston area (and slightly beyond!). The previous polls we have taken include an onion ring poll (Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage in Cambridge won), a hot dog poll (Spike's Junkyard Dogs), a pizza poll (Santarpio's in East Boston), a burger poll (Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage), and a lobster roll poll (Neptune Oysters in the North End). The results of our fried clam poll are as follows:

1) JT Farnham's, Essex (17%)
2) The Clam Box, Ipswich (14%)
3) Neptune Oysters, Boston (10%)
4) Harry's, Westborough (7%)

Many other dining spots were picked in the Twitter fried clam poll as well, including Bob Lobster (Newbury), Caswell's Seafood (Weymouth), Choate Bridge Pub (Ipswich), The Clam Box (Quincy), Dube's (Salem), Davy's Locker (New Bedford), Hayward's (Lynn), Ipswich Clambake Company (Ipswich), Kelly's Landing (South Boston), No Name Restaurant (Boston), Park Lunch (Newburyport), Petey's (Rye, NH), Red Wing Diner (Foxborough), Sea Swirl (Mystic, CT), and Woodman's (Essex).

Thanks to everyone who has voted in our Twitter polls. We will try to get another poll going in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking back on our Twitter page at http://twitter.com/hiddenboston.