On The Road: Seafood Shacks of Southern Connecticut

Welcome to the weekend!

As someone who grew up in New England and visited the Connecticut and Maine shores each summer, I don’t believe that it’s truly summer until I’ve had a lobster roll. We have previously shared our Maine seafood shack list, and today we’re here with a companion list for Connecticut. I do love a Maine-style lobster roll (mixed with mayo and served cold), but my first love was Connecticut-style (mixed with butter and served hot). A visit to Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank, Connecticut was always the biggest treat of the summer, and you’ll find Abbott’s on our list, along with three other picks for lobster rolls and two spots for fried clams. All these spots also offer other summer delights, too, like clam chowder, lobster dinners, and ice cream, and we’ll give you everything you need to plan your visits.

Meanwhile, for your next trip to the West Coast, be sure to snag our fresh Signature Field Guide to California Wine Country, included with your paid subscription or available on our website for $25. The 54-page guide features a five-day itinerary with more than three dozen recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. We are regular travelers to Northern California, and our guide features original photography, our picks for what you should order when you’re there, and more!

Before we head out, our Weekend Reading list features ’s report on the new Cleveland restaurant Rosy and ’s interview with Rosy chef Vinnie Cimino. Plus: Punch’s Best New Bartenders and why everyone is moving to Lockhart, Texas.

Thanks for reading!

— Amy Cavanaugh & Kenney Marlatt
Editors, American Weekender

Eating by the Shore

CONNECTICUT — I grew up going to the Connecticut shore every summer, where we stayed in Old Lyme. Located on Long Island Sound, the Connecticut coast is a beautiful place to spend the summer, thanks to sandy beaches, temperate waters, and an abundance of great seafood. While Abbott’s was always in the rotation, we visited other seafood spots as well. And in the years since, Kenney and I have returned to explore the area — and we make sure to get New Haven apizza now too! We most recently found ourselves in Mystic, a quaint town with a budding food scene. While the Connecticut-style hot buttered lobster roll will always be my main focus, we also like to dig into bowls of clam chowder, dunk fat fried clam bellies in tartar sauce, and finish up with dripping cones of soft serve. The six shacks here, some right on the water and some nearby, all offer that ideal summer meal — fresh, hot seafood eaten after a long day spent laying on the sand and basking in the waves.

MYSTIC

Haring’s Noank

Why you should go: Our current gold-standard Connecticut lobster roll is served at this old lobster shack, which the noted restaurant group 85th Day Group took over in 2024. Led by chef Renee Touponce, 85th Day is also behind Oyster Club and The Port of Call in nearby Mystic, two other spots we love. At Haring’s, you can sit outside by the water or inside in the classic New England dining room. Either choice is fine, what matters is that you get the hot buttered lobster roll, which is generously portioned, uber-tender, and nice and buttery. Its richness means you can split one with your dining partner in order to leave room for other delights, like the pillowy clam fritters and a slice of tart Key lime pie, which is finished with torched meringue.

What to get: Hot buttered lobster roll, clam fritters, Key lime pie

15 Riverview Ave, Noank, CT | @haringsnoank

CLINTON

Lobster Landing

Why you should go: Lobster Landing is what you might envision if you closed your eyes and thought: “lobster shack.” Head to Clinton’s quaint marina to find the picturesque white shack with a giant red lobster affixed to the front. With crushed shell pathways and a bustling harbor, it’s just the right ambiance for a lobster roll. Italian immigrant Enea Bacci opened Lobster Landing in 2001 after running a seafood market for a few years, and sold the business to employees Angela Morander and Rachel Steponkus in 2021. Their lobster roll has a generous amount of tender meat that’s tossed with butter and a little lemon, all tucked into a grilled sub roll. It’s superb. The rest of the menu is small, but they offer the ideal lobster roll sides of cole slaw and salt and vinegar chips, as well as clam chowder.

What to get: Lobster roll

152 Commerce St, Clinton, CT 06413 | @lobsterlanding

MYSTIC

J&R Seafood Market

Why you should go: This no-frills seafood market offers hot and cold lobster rolls or seafood chowders for on-site eating (there’s a side patio with tables). But what it may lack in ambiance, it makes up for in a terrific hot lobster roll. Served in a toasted bun with a side of cole slaw and a bag of Cape Cod chips, the lobster roll is loaded with tender meat (with huge claws on top). If you’re looking for a more refined outpost, visit their downtown Mystic sister location, Off the Hook, where the menu features modern takes like tempura lobster rolls and Nashville hot fried halibut sandwiches.

What to get: Hot lobster roll

45 Williams Ave Ste. 1, Mystic, CT | @jrseafoodmarket

MYSTIC

Sea Swirl

Why you should go: This seasonal seafood shack is renowned for its fried whole belly clams, which are plump, briny, and delicately fried. Order a side (it’s large enough for two to share as a starter or snack), then get some ice cream. There are all manner of frozen offerings, including soft serve, hard ice cream, flurries, and more. We chased our fried clams with black raspberry soft serve and a Nutter Butter flurry, which mixes in Nutter Butter cookies and peanut butter sauce.

What to get: Fried clams, ice cream

30 Williams Ave #2915, Mystic, CT | @seaswirlct

NOANK

Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough

Why you should go: The first place I truly remember eating a lobster roll, Abbott’s will always be a special spot to me. Located along the water, Abbott’s has a robust menu of seafood goodies, including lobster bisque, steamed clams, and lobster dinners. There are several lobster rolls available; get the OG “our famous hot lobster roll,” which consists of a quarter pound of lobster drenched in butter and served on a toasted hamburger bun. It’s very good, as is the creamy clam chowder. As a kid, I also liked the “Abbottizer special,” essentially a fruit and cheese plate with a tasty dipping sauce, and the tuna salad roll, which is what has made adding relish to tuna salad something I still do to this day. Finish out your feast with a cookie ice cream sandwich.

What to get: Lobster roll, creamy clam chowder

117 Pearl St, Noank, CT | @abbottslobster

MADISON & WESTBROOK

Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale

Why you should go: This longtime staple, which opened in 1979, has two locations serving a wide range of seafood dishes. The Madison location features a large outdoor picnic area (and a weekend ice cream shack), which is the ideal spot to tuck into a plate of perfectly fried whole-belly clams. Round things out with thin, crispy onion rings; a fresh fried sea scallop roll; or a grilled, split local Hummel Bros. frank.

What to get: Fried clams

1301 Boston Post Rd, Madison, CT & 86 Boston Post Rd, Westbrook, CT | @ljfishtale

Get All Our Favorites in California Wine Country

All our California Wine Country picks are available as a five-day Field Guide that you can download on our website. As always, it’s free for paid subscribers — just use the discount code found in this month’s Weekend Getaway newsletter at checkout. Here’s what you get:

• Five-day recommended dining itinerary

• Picks for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks

• Downloadable for quick reference

• Designed for your mobile phone

Reminder: As a paid subscriber, you can use this month’s code to download any other Field Guide you’d like for free! We recommend saving your Field Guides to Apple Books or Dropbox for the best experience on an iPhone. Google Drive works great too on other smartphones.

Members-Only Google Map

Paid subscribers also get access to the American Weekender Google Map. This map includes every place we’ve ever mentioned in our newsletters plus every place we’ve ever recommended in our Field Guides. Whether you’re looking for roadside barbecue in Tennessee, afternoon cocktails in New Orleans, or a farm-to-table dinner in Western Michigan, our map — which has more than 1,250 locations! — will point the way. We update it with new spots each week, so keep it bookmarked for your next trip. Paid subscribers can find the link in this month’s Weekend Getaway newsletter.

UNITED STATES

Best New Bartenders 2026: I have been contributing to Punch’s annual Best New Bartenders feature for a few years running, and it’s one of my favorite assignments of the year. This year, I profiled four of the honorees: Matt Huntley of Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago, Laury Lopez Melon of Bar Snack in New York, Sean Teague of Rada in Charlotte, and Jakob McCabe-Johnston of Kimball House in Atlanta. I talked to each about their path into the industry and what keeps them there, how they view making cocktails, the industry issues they care deeply about, and more. All 10 of the best new bartenders are doing great, thoughtful work, and this is exactly the kind of read that makes me excited about the future of the beverage industry. (Punch)

OHIO

Dinner at ROSY: We are big fans of Cleveland chef Vinnie Cimino (who we interviewed here; he’s a finalist for the Best Chef Great Lakes award at the James Beard awards happening on Monday), and he recently opened his second restaurant, Rosy. It’s on our list of places to go eat this year, but sent out a newsletter with an early report: “Their menu rotates quite often (we even saw them swap out a dish while we were there) which is pretty cool. I’d imagine it helps foster a whole lotta creativity. Oh and they do a burger only on Mondays (I think like 25 are available first come first served), so I’m going to need to get back for that!” Plus, if you’d like to hear from Cimino himself, Sarah Perkins of recently released an episode with him. You can listen to it here. (The Nick Murway Mailer)

TEXAS

The Reinvention of a Texas Town Once Known Only for Barbecue: We will admit that so far we have only been to Lockhart, Texas for barbecue, but this new Texas Monthly story makes clear that Lockhart, which is 30 miles outside Austin, has a lot more going on than smoked meats. With new galleries, boutiques, and spots like Old Pal Bar, which is from the team behind Austin’s great Nickel City and serves Dr. Pepper old fashioneds and jojos dressed with Texas red chili, there’s a fresh energy to the town (though when we visit, we will definitely still be getting barbecue, too). (Texas Monthly)

— Compiled by Amy Cavanaugh

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