Umbertos Clam House

I the food was excellent and I still think about the food here! It’s too bad that it closed down.

Just a heads up to everyone, this place is officially closed. They closed the last week of January.

Was invited to dinner by a friend with a groupon. Aside was the awesome deal that we got, the food was great too. We ordered calamari and mussels as a starter and i got the clams in white garlic sauce as the main course. It was delicious and I plan to be back for it the pasta!
The only damper is the service. Service was very casual and the ‘usher’ that usually stands outside kept walking in and out which wouldn’t have been that disturbing if he wasn’t wearing a voluminous fur coat that brushed my chair every 5 mins he walked by!

Nothing was open on new year’s day except this place, so we went inside for a quick lunch.
The calamari arrived with two dipping sauces, a «hot» one and a mild one. The «hot» one was really delicious, and I’m sure it’s quite spicy for most people. I loved it for its taste, though I tend to think habaneros are mild. Anyway, the calamari wasn’t deep fried to dryness, like at most places. Big chunks of squid — very delightful and the perfect amount of moistness.
Also had the mussels in red sauce, over a bed of linguine. The mussels were a little too cold and uneven in temperature, but I believe there were 40 – 50 of them. They certainly don’t skimp on it! The pasta was cooked ok, not the best I’ve had, but at least it wasn’t mushy.
Would definitely come back and try other dishes. It’s just in the Bronx, so I don’t go there often.

Earlier in December I had gone with my friend & her 3yr to check out the Holiday Train Show at the Bronx Botanical Gardens and decided to come to Arthur Ave for lunch. For some reason the few places people had recommend were closed for lunch. So we decked to eat here, figured it would be ok. Service was slow, they are not kid friendly in the sense that they don’t disposable/​non-​breakable cups etc for kids. It’s not a fancy place so no reason for them not to keep it kid/​family friendly. Food was very mediocre, not much flavor. Not impressed.

I came here w my daughter (Fordham) and 3 of her friends. Surprisingly enough, it was relatively empty at 7pm on a Friday night. We got seated right away, ordered calamari for appetizers and liked it.
My daughter had the mussels with biscuits and really liked it. I think everyone at the table would say the food was good. Not great, not bad, but good. The atmosphere was friendly and helpful and this is probably a great little place to go anytime you are up in the Bronx. Prices are reasonable and helpings are large.

How did I overlook a review for Umbertos Clam House… While visiting family in NJ (Spring last year) we decided to visit Arthur Ave with friends, go shopping, get Chocolate Easter eggs and have dinner at Umbertos, we were staying in the Bronx so it was a logical choice, actually we wouldn’t have gone anywhere else.
Let me start off by saying it was a rainy, wet, miserable night, but after we parked the car and walked into Umbertos… the smell of garlic and tomato sauce cooking, the vibrancy of people laughing and the warmth of the rooms/​bar area – the the fragrance of baking bread OMG! seriously it was like SEAT US NOW! I am hungry.
There were 8 of us and we ate like kings! of course the food was excellent, I have no complaints. lets see…, linguine with clam sauce, stuffed pork chops, meatballs, sausage and peppers, oysters, the house special that night, fish, you would have thought we had never eaten!.. and lots and lots of vino! the kids had a wonderful time, they have butcher paper on the tables, so you can draw and write stuff… every one shared their dishes because it was so good you wanted to sample everything. We could barely move when it was time to leave.
All in all we had a truly wonderful night the service was spot on, the price was reasonable for what we ordered and everything tasted fabulous. Seeing as how we are moving to NJ next spring, obviously we will be back often to Umbertos.
AS for kids– if they can behave and act well in public by all means bring them, but if they cant and you know it, don’t!.. this is not a place kids can run around this is a nice classy old school restaurant.

Are you talkin to me? This is old school, perfect seafood, on Arthur ave area. The NE Clam chowder is not quite Boston caliber, but what can you expect from Yankee territory.
The staff is so friendly and helpful. Great beers on tap. we stood outside and eat a few dozen oysters and clams on the half shell, before heading indoors for lunch.
I love it.

Lunch was awful. After waiting for an hour for my lunch to arrive the waiter placed my husbands veal in front of me and my chicken in front of, assuring us that we had the correct meals. After eating 4 – 5 bites I realized that I was eating the veal and not the chicken. I have not eating veal in over 25 years and DO NOT EAT VEAl. I was horrified and sick to my stomach and yet the waiter did not seem to care at al and although the manager comped my sons meal he too seemed indifferent. Not sure I would ever return here.

Just skip this one. Sat ourselves because noone was around or paying any attention to the door. Food rather high priced for the neighborhood. Service just mediocre. Francaise was bland and boring, vodka sauce way too sweet, baked clams could have used some oregano, and the gnocchi was not prepared as stated on the menu. Just go to any of the other places right in the neighborhood!

Food is very good. I love their cooking and you get pretty good portions. Service could be better though.

The six of us decided to have dinner here on a Saturday night. Its in the Bronx, and finding a place to park is just not too easy. Minus for me.
Its not hard to find. My boyfriend and I came early, so we were seated at the bar. Its not packed at all, a few tables and thats it.
We ordered bruschetta, raw clams, fried calamari for starters… its okay, I wasn’t blown away by anything.
Our group ordered spaghetti and meatballs, I ordered salmon … which I am happy about. I really enjoyed the salmon and the salad that comes with it. the hint of lime went very well with the salmon.
The service is spotty. Im not saying its a very bad service but could’ve been better.

Nice staple in Little Italy of the Bronx. The clam pizza is great and they have an affordable lunch special.

This place is by far the worst Italian restaurant in NYC. When we arrived we had to wait to be seated but not because there was a wait or it was crowed but because the host went missing and nobody wanted to sit us or look for him. But we were patient and didn’t think much of it.
After we were seated we waited a while for a waiter to come and eventually 3 waiter at different times came to ask us for our order. The whole staff had no idea which tablesthey were assigned to but again we let it go. We eventually ordered our food to find out 20 minutes later that they ran out of chicken. They also ran out of bread too. Let me just make it clear that It was 9 pm not 11pm.
Then as we continue to wait for our food. To our amazement we see the host and bartender drinking beer that they bought from the deli next door. We continue to watch the rest of the staff one by one walk by and take sips all night as we continue to wait for our food. They had no shame some waiters were walking around holding beers and taking orders. Then the cooks came out and sat at the bar and were drinking with the host and bartender too. Maybe that’s why when my food came thy forgot the pasta. They took it back and gave me spaghetti not linguini like it was suppose to but by this point I wanted to get out of this place. The food was ok nothing special but my husband’s food was horrible. Anyhow, the food was bad and the whole staff was drunk. Skip this place!

I came here for lunch on a Thursday and the place was pretty empty. The food was made fresh for us and that is a plus. The Chicken Marsala was delicious, as was the Chicken Parmigiana. The bread they served was dry and no one touched it. Their lunch special is a good deal, but the salad options that come with are not that great. Overall, I would come here again for lunch.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. In return, I got enough.
Brought my family here for Father’s Day. My dad loves seafood Italian style. Normally, I would have cooked or maybe take him to his favorite place, Randazzo’s, in Sheepshead Bay. However, I thought why not go someplace local, since we live in the Bronx.
We arrived around 1 and the place had a couple of tables occupied. A waitress asked if we had reservations, I told her we didn’t. However, she promptly seated us. I guess she was just trying to figure out the logistics for when other big parties came.
Anyway, as soon as we sat, we ordered our food. It didn’t take long to decide what we wanted. We ordered baked clams (pretty good), 2 dozen cherrystone clams (very fresh considering it was Sunday. These guys know how to store clams), zuppa da mussels in white wine (also good, a smidgen too much butter), fried calamari (good but surprisingly the sauce was bland), and 3 orders of linguine with red clam sauce. The linguine was real good. Pasta was cooked perfect and the sauce was awesome. (So why was the calamari sauce bland?)
My family and I loved everything. We’ll definitely go back.

Great seafood… grilled octopus was melt in the mouth tender, the raw seafood platter was big and a great value for $ 36.and everything tasted super-​fresh. Very good pastas as well. You really can’t go wrong with any place in Bronx’s Little Italy.

I’ve always enjoyed the food there. So, why 3 stars? Well, for one the menu seems to be shrinking. They had the best crab cakes. They were super thick, with tons of crab meat. I usually don’t like tartar sauce, but theirs was good. I’m so upset that they took them off the menu. What is a seafood place without crab cakes?
The last time I went there, they didn’t have the lobster bisque. I was very disappointed. They really need to expand the menu.
The ambiance is okay. It’s not the prettiest restaurant, but there is nothing wrong with it.

Awful over all. Unexceptional service, and not particularly friendly at that. The menu lacks, um, something — can’t put my finger on it. The food was OK at best. We were a group of 12, one of two tables seated during lunch. The staff could have tried a little harder.
Oh and they short-​poured my cocktail… cheap!

$ 12.95 (at lunch) for a huge piece of chicken parmigiana on a big plate of spaghetti with really nice red sauce. It was easily enough food for three people. Works for me.
We really enjoyed our visit to Umberto’s and to the Arthur Ave. neighborhood.