Smithsonian Cafe and Chowder House

Write a Review413-247-5157

CLOSED NOW - Opens at 9:00am

They had a promotion for the Clam Shack out back - all you can eat fish fry. You are encouraged to BYOB. My husband ordered the fish fry, I had the fried shrimp and our friend had the fried haddock. The bill came to $50.13.
I had called ahead to make sure they had air-conditioning in the seating area, and was told they did. We arrived, ordered food at the back area, and headed into the 'dining room'. The temperature was about 85 degrees, and the back door was wide open. The table was very sticky, and all in all, the dining experience was primitive at best - they had not even taken the plastic seal off of the ketchup bottle. Worst for us, they had no fresh lemon - isn't that a basic with fried seafood? The coleslaw has a slight pink tinge (paprika?) and isn't truly edible.
The fish, shrimp and french fries were quite good, but hard to eat when it's so hot inside. So BYOB, and BYOLemon, I guess. Clueless kids running the place didn't help.