Allen’s Clam Bar

We’ve been going to Allen’s for over 30 years and along with the nice drive there, the seafood is always very yummy and the wait staff is friendly. Their menu has changed a bit from what it has been but the food is always good. PLEASE BRING BACK THE WHOLE FRIED CLAMS AND FRIED OYSTERS! It’s very small and casual and usually very busy in the summer.

Just an FYI for all the Allen’s lovers… they just opened a new restaurant on Long Beach Island in Beach Haven, called Crabby Paddy’s. Right past the bridge to your right.

Good food in a very casual setting. Food is served on plastic 3 section plates you can get at a supermarket. Nothing special just average good food. A lot of fried seafood items.

I love Allen’s. When I lived in Surf City, this was our go to place on the mainland. The crab cakes, shrimp, scallops all yummy. I love their soups. My favorite things are the crab cake and fried lobster. Every time I go back to Ocean County to see friends/​family, I have to go to Allen’s.

Allen’s clams bar is a nice dive restaurant, the seafood if phenomenal and the price is fair. It gives off that rustic homie atmosphere that only generations old family restaurants have in short if your looking for a delicious seafood dinner look no further than Allen’s

Can’t understand the good reviews. This restaurant is dirty and dingy inside and not well taken care of. Almost all of the menu items are deep fried and are served with greasy french-​fries. Although, their prices aren’t to high you are getting seafood that is deep fried food so how great can it be?

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid… not much changed same seafood with your choice of 2 sides … I don’t like cole slaw but the cole slaw here is SO GOOD. they have chicken sandwich or burgers for those who don’t like seafood as well… BYOB, Liquor store right across the street… a little $$ expensive but that’s what it is for fresh seafood.

My wife ate fish tacos. She thought they were pretty good.
The little kid ate something I can’t remember from the little kid menu.
The big kid ate crab macaroni and cheese. It came out in a big ol’ ceramic bowl and it looked freaking good. Fortunately, her appetite died out before her fork hit the bowl’s bottom, thus providing me with an opportunity to sample the crabby, cheesy, carby goodness. All I can say is, HELL YES! That’s good stuff.
I had broiled flounder, a baked potato and a salad. The salad was average. A tater is a tater. The flounder was pretty good.
It’s definitely a casual place. No pretension whatsoever. Prices seemed in line with expectation. All chow was well-​received.
We’d be in 4-​star territory if it wasn’t for some drink service issues that were compounded by the appearance of a fat, dead fly in a glass of iced tea and little more than a shrug and refill offer from the waitress.
BOTTOM LINE: Dress casual. Get the crabby macaroni thing.

Allen’s is still a great place! I hadn’t eaten there in years and I was happy to find the food just as good as I remembered. The seafood was fresh, the service was fast enough and we were comfortable. Luckily we got there about 30 minutes ahead of the crowd so we were seated immediately. I won’t go into detail about each meal but I will say the Calamari appetizer was well made. Most places give you a plate of rubber bands but this was expertly made and we wanted more but decided to order some super fresh little necks. We will go back each time we’re in the area.

Always serve fresh seafood prepared right. Not fancy, but real good. Best kept secret in Southern Ocean County.

Thank you Unilocal.On our way home to NY I used the restaurants nearby function. What a find. My husband and I shared a bowl of white chowder and we each had a sandwich, I had oysters ($ 8.99) my husband had clams ($ 7.50). The sandwiches came with cole slaw and fries. Everything was excellent including the service. We will return. Excellent value.

My family has been going to Allen’s clam bar for over 20 years. The place has made a few décor changes but the food has remained the same. It rocks. The French fried lobster is the bomb. You can’t go wrong with the oyster stew l! Insane !!! Don’t go if you’re on a diet. Enjoy !!!

Was told by a friend to check this place out when I was in the neighborhood and the food was really good. I had the white clam chowder and shrimp cocktail. The chowder had good flavor and the shrimp were huge. I will try again.

We went to the clam bar last week. I don’t think it was worth it. We had 1 doz clams 1 bowel of soup and 2 seafood combos. the fried clam were very tough the scallops had no flavor the fish was good. $ 60.00

For over a decade I have dined at Allen’s Clam Bar. My first dining experience was a direct result of reading that this tasty authentic seafood gem was not too far from our vacation home in Coastal Livings annual review of the best seafood dives across our great country. From the moment we pulled into the parking space adjacent to the eatery, directly under the shark’s head popping out of the roof line, I was hooked, line and sinkered, quite literally.
That meal included their locally favorite crab cake, french fries, side salad and ice tea. It was served on their signature paper plates, a «pseudo chinette», with a basket full of oyster crackers, saltine crackers, horseradish and butter, in lieu of the traditional bread basket. I still remember this meal over a decade and many dinners later. Over the years I have tried most of the offerings listed on their placemat menu, where the only modification has been nominal price increases. (this menu is also a nice distraction for children to color when waiting for your dining choices to arrive) Each dinner provides you with great seafood comfort food. Yes, there are non-​seafood options, but who dines at a seafood restaurant and doesn’t order seafood? The fried shrimp option found in two size offerings on the menu, are some of the tastiest shrimp you will ever ingest. The fried calamari, offered as an appetizer is ample enough to serve as an entrée. The option of a well baked potato can also be yours, after 5pm. As of this review, I have yet to experience an unsatisfactory dining experience.
The other ingredient to this satisfying dining experience can be found in the indigenous restaurant setting. While a recent decorative renovation has diners split ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on the «after», still present is the dining dingy, in front of the kitchen doors, listing the day’s specials. The renovations have also yielded a hallway artifact gallery, displaying treasures from years past that helped in shaping the Allen Family’s various seafood business endeavors over almost seventy-​five years. Sadly, gone are the provincially framed reviews from nationally respected magazines, identifying this charming, quirky establishment as a meal not to be missed, if you are in the south-​central New Jersey area. They really must be returned, if for no other reason than these reviews played a significant role in many of us finding and adding Allen’s to our list of beloved dining experiences.

Sharon M. (Cherie’s Garcia.) Sept 2014. Had been recommended for a while. Had to try it out. Rustic? Yes. Experience ends there. Waitress rushes you. Not sure why. No one was there.(6pm Thurs eve). Ordered shrimp cocktail. Warm not a cocktail. Peel and eat. Dirty. My husband and mil ordered fried entrée. Thank god enough breading to hide the horrible food. I ordered broiled seafood combo. Shrimp scallops flounder. Bad. Shrimp were not devained and the rest was over cooked
I have no problems eating from paper plates if the food is worth it. Thank god the wine was great and beer was cold. You have to bring your own!

I ate some totally excellent seafood at the increasingly well-​known Allen’s Clam Bar! Now I know why people go to all the trouble to seek this establishment out. It actually isn’t difficult to find on Route 9 slightly north of the scenic Mullica River and a little bit south of the Long Beach Island causeway.
You know you’re still in the Philly/​South Jersey area when the first items placed on your table are OTC oyster crackers and hot horse radish. That’s classic for a seafood house in these parts. The red clam chowder was awesome — especially with its juicy bits of real clams. But the main course was even more exceptional. I’ve had fried clams before several times in my life but never this good. These were plump, tasty clams that had been lightly fried and then served on a kaiser roll. There was very good homemade tartar and cocktail sauce to put on top. Sides of real French fries and homemade cole slaw completed the filling meal. With the addition of some hot sauce, this was a genuine seafood dinner to remember — of course with the eponymous clams taking center stage.
The atmosphere is fine for an old clam bar. (Hey this is an old mainland roadhouse — not a chic shore resort eatery.) Some may call the dining room basic but it also has several nautical adornments.
Tips — There’s a liquor store right across the street if you wanna buy some beer to drink with your meal. It gets crowded at dinnertime during the summer so you may have to wait a little bit. But drink some beer and just envision those clams you are soon going to be enjoying. Allen’s Clam Bar is def worth hitting up!

On the ride home from AC the car was filled with the melodious sounds of kids cranky from hunger and almost-​snores from our driver. That’s why I can say Allen’s was a lifesaver.
About a mile from GS North and right on Route 9 so it’s easy to find. You’ll know you’ve arrived once you spot the Great White that crashed Allen’s rooftop. That set the tone for the rest of the fish boat décor, and of course food. The kids loved the scene.
White clam chowder was average. The fried clam strips app with Sriracha mayo dip was sizable. My baked cod was buttery as advertised but a tad dry. Fried oysters overfried but edible. For parents out there with particular kids, the mac and cheese off the kids menu is the Kraft kind.
Service was excellent. Kind and responsive.
Bottom line: Fantastic alternative to rest area restos. We’ll more than likely be back.

So the food was delicious and cheap. The décor is funny, almost like a cartoon (picture the Drunken Clam from Family Guy)
The service was good, a tad slow, but friendly.
My only qualm was the fact that the raw clams were extremely fishy tasting, I didn’t get sick, they just tasted off. The Oysters rockefeller were extremely delicious, salty and savory. The fried flounder sandwich was light, I would have liked toasted bread rather than untoasted, but still tasty.
If i were ever in the neighborhood again I would totally come back, but I can’t help but give this place 3 starts because of the clam situation.

This is a little local spot that offers some good seafood at a reasonable price. When i was there on a Saturday night the place was packed which obviously means something good. I am not a huge seafood fan so i am the wrong person to review a seafood restaurant.
I had the friend flounder and it was very good. You get 2 sides with your meal and i got apple sauce and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were good and the apple sauce tasted fresh and made in-​house which is nice.
The service was pretty quick even with the big crowd. What threw me off a bit was that they serve all their food on paper plates… interesting.
Overall not a bad place if you’re out in the middle of the pines in south jersey and want some decent seafood! apprently its pretty good I’m just the wrong person for this since i dont eat seafood normally ever.