Lenny's Clam Bar

I could tell coming into this restaurant it is a community staple.
The staff greeted many regulars and were very friendly.
I wanted to like this place more. The dishes were cooked well but the food lacked flavor.
Perhaps that’s is to compliment the house sauces. I did not like the table placements.
Some areas were really tight.
As someone who was sitting on the outside it was very distracting watching out for the waiters/guest passing by or worrying if something would be dropped on me. The icing on the cake for me was the waitress complaining about the size of her tip.
She actually approached someone in our party.
Very distasteful.
I would not return or recommend.

Owner response

Traditional restaurant that serves seafood, pasta and anything in between! Always great food.
Known for their baked clams- and fried Calamari.
Hubby loves the ribs! I love the white clam sauce.

Owner response

It's the 50 year anniversary of Lennys Clam Bar which makes this review very difficult to write.
Many of our close friends are from Howard Beach and grew up with this restaurant as a much loved neighborhood staple and "go to" place for excellent Italian food.
Not so much anymore...
Firstly, just walking in was really strange as there were 3 younger girls behind the counter not paying much attention.
Finally after some uncomfortable standing there we finally got noticed and one girl was told to seat us and scrambled to do so.
We didn't expect the Taj Majal but this girl seating patrons was wearing a white and blue tye dyed hoodie sweatshirt which just seemed really unprofessional.
The decor is dated and the lights were too bright.
The tables were uneven, old and wobbly.
The man that brought over bread 🍞 had dirty hands and fingernails which was extremely off putting.
The waitress came over who was also wearing a hoodie sweatshirt...and gave us the special deal food list much after we had already looked through the menu..
The waitress was polite.
We ordered baked clams and Fried Calamari and were discussing what main dish to order.
I had an espresso Martini which wasn't served in a Martini glass and didn't seem to have any alcohol in it...
The bread was warm but stale.
The bruschetta was ok but lacked esthetic appeal.
The baked clams were greasy and practically tasteless.
The Calamari was ok...
but was served on a small plate and was awkward to eat it without it slipping off the plate trying to get a piece...
Under the small portion was the typical piece of bread to absorb the oil but we realized that took up most of the plate! The "sweet" marinara dipping sauce tasted too sweet and weird.
We decided not to order any entrees after all because we weren't confident they would be any good.
We did order dessert which I will say the Tiramisu and Italian ricotta cheesecake were good and we were told they are made on the premises.
We had to request whipped cream for the dessert...
The presentation of the dishes was poor...
Upon every occasion we were trying to get our servers attention she was sitting up by the bar eating...
Bizarre...
In reading the reviews quite a few people have said similar to what we experienced.
We always support local businesses and this review is not to purposely hurt this establishment but in being 100% honest hopefully, someone reads this and steps up the game there so they can stick around for another bountiful and successful 50 years!!! 🙏🍽✌️🙌

Owner response