The Old Clam House has been around longer than any of us has been alive, and is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the City, in this original spot.
(For those who doubt, Tadich Grill is actually the oldest, but it’s had several locations.)
I’d been dying to review it for years, and since Mission Local is now covering Bayview, I jumped at the chance.
There’s a lot of history here, a lot of nautical tchotchkes, and a lot of seasoned waiters. In 2010, the restaurant changed ownership, but the new owners vowed to keep the ambience the same and just update the menu.
There are three areas to sit: The main dining room, the bar, which has regular table seating as well, and the charming side atrium. I felt immediately welcomed by an older gent who spoke to me in Italian and was surprised when I answered him (brokenly) in kind. The menu does skew Italian, after all.
Once you’re seated, everyone is served a little shot glass of deliciously salty hot clam broth. I’ve always thought it cries out for a shot of vodka, but it’s a nice touch, and always welcome on a chilly evening.
We started out with garlic cheese toast.
Some of you may remember back in the day when you could get a whole loaf of their freshly baked, incredibly decadent, cheesy chorizo bread, that came hot and oozing on a sizzling iron plate. *Sigh.* Well, that’s gone, and, while the garlic bread was fine, it really doesn’t hold a candle.
Next, we shared a bowl of clam chowder.
Wonderfully smoky from the bacon, clammy, unbelievably creamy. Some of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. I’d have to get this again. In fact, I’m envisioning coming here on a cold, rainy night, and sitting at the bar with a bowl of this and an icy martini.
We also shared fried calamari with marinara sauce and serrano peppers.
Beautifully crispy, the meltingly tender rings and tentacles needed almost no chewing, and the marinara was a spot-on, red-sauce-joint classic. A stand-out appetizer, and one I’d be sad not to get every time.
One of our party ordered the Clam House cioppino, one of their specialties.
For $40, I expected maybe a bigger portion, but my friend loved it, and found it chock-full of clams, mussels, prawns, calamari, and morsels of white fish. I had a sip and a mussel and found the dish certainly flavorful, rich, and the mollusk perfectly cooked.
For my main, I had the local petrale sole piccata.
Gorgeous texture and flavor, bright and lemony, buttery, and the mashed potatoes were divine. The sautéed veggies on the side were nicely al dente and simply seasoned, letting just their freshness shine through. The sole here might be better than even Tadich Grill’s. I said what I said.
One of us ordered the ribeye steak.
I had a good, meaty bite of this, and immediately knew I had to bring the BF here. Not unreasonably priced (have you seen what they’re charging for restaurant steaks lately?), it was everything it should be: Beefy, tender, and juicy, with just enough fat to give it that good old ribeye chew. Same potatoes and veg, although he also got a little bowl of gravy on the side that he loved.
There’s a full bar with old-school cocktails, wine and beer options, and there’s a dessert menu that I don’t remember because we were just too full (a lot of cioppino went home with my friend).
While there is a lot on this menu I want to try — crab sandwich, lobster roll, asparagus ravioli, grilled octopus, Louie salad, to name a very few — there unfortunately aren’t a lot of vegetarian options, save, I believe, a few salads and two pastas.
But you can’t be all things to all people, and The Old Clam House isn’t trying to be. It just wants to remain true to itself for another 165 years. I sure hope it does.
The Old Clam House
299 Bayshore Blvd.
S.F.