Chowders

Bread bowl clam chowder is a must for anyone visiting the pier. My friend and I split one after not eating anything all day and still had a bit left over, so it definitely fills you up. The flavor is actually really good and, considering it feeds two people, the price is great! The place is small and the seats fill up fast so we had to search for seats outside. It can get really windy and cold at the pier, which makes it hard to fully enjoy your meal, so grab any good seat you can find.

One gloomy Fresno morning, a couple of weeks back, I decided to take an impromptu trip to Pier 39 (hadn’t been to SF in over a decade). For some reason, all I could think about was a clam chowder bowl on the pier. We arrived a bit early and started walking around, looking for a clam chowder bowl to chow down on. After a few minutes, we stumbled upon Chowder’s on Pier 39!
We walked in with a group of 5 (plenty of indoor seating) and inquired about their clam chowder bowls. The girl at the register, very sweet, recommended the white chowder (their most popular). We ordered 5 and received it within minutes… OMG! It was DELICIOUS! Hands down, thee best clam chowder I’ve ever had! I don’t think we had any left over in the end. Our entire group was silent, completely focused on gobbling down their bowl.
Anyone looking for quick, friendly service; amazing clam chowder, and affordable pricing — THIS is the place to be! You won’t be disappointed — unless, well, your tastebuds are a little off. But that’s none of my business. Happy feastin’!!

I made the grave mistake of buying clam chowder at the clam chowder cart outside instead of purchasing one here. These look delicious!
Instead, we decided on getting the calamari, which ended being some of the best calamari I ever had. Usually calamari can become pretty heavy with oil or over spiced but these were perfectly crispy and light.
Next time I’m back I will for sure be trying the clam chowder as well as ordering 5 more orders of that calamari.

We always come here when we visit fisherman’s wharf in San Francisco! My dad absolutely loves their clam chowder! They offer both red and white but we always get the white.
It’s normally fairly crowded so sometimes you have to sit outside which isn’t too pleasant if it’s freezing outside but a bowl of clam chowder is the best on a cold day.
During my recent visit, the clam chowder was a bit too salty for my tastes but the sourdough bread bowl was delicious! It seems the workers don’t turn around the tables fast enough so we had to sit at a dirty table which wasn’t really too pleasant but we were only there for a couple minutes. I did eventually see them clean some open tables once they became available though.

Pretty packed and crowded on saturday night, but it was worth it. Try the red clam chowder with a corona on the side! It’s delish!!!

When you come to fisherman’s wharf on a chilly December afternoon you think of nothing but CHOWDER!!!
This wonderful place has both red or white clam chowder. And as far as consistency,
it’s just the right amount of thickness.
I could taste plenty of the ingredients that went into making this delicious soup. The
Clams, potatoes, and celery. There was also enough ratio to bread and soup!
To make it even more fabulous the service was welcoming and menu easy on the eyes.
Also, since this trip was with the kiddo I’m glad that even though the highlight of this place is the chowder,
their other menu items such as the calamari rings and chips and chicken ranch sandwich didn’t fall short of being delicious.

Nice to have a hot bowl of Clam Chowders in cold cold SF. The whole thing is edible and fulfilling for two people!

What I ate: New England clam chowder
Visit date: November 29, 2015
First time? Yes.
I was in the area for the SF Etsy show and decided to be a tourist afterwards. It’s been so long since I visited Pier 39 and it’s been major chilly lately; I thought it was a good idea to get some chowder. I usually find myself going to Boudin, but hey, YOLO (yes, I said it). Chowder’s chowder was buttery, creamy, and warm. I ordered mine without the bread bowl so it came with a side of oyster crackers (yum!). Their chowder is on the saltier side, so it probably would be a good idea to get it in a bread bowl to balance out the flavor.
My fiancé ordered the shrimp salad sandwich and a side of fries. I had a bite; the shrimp salad was heavy on the mayo, but I liked their lightly toasted bread — it didn’t cut the roof of my mouth as so many toasted breads tend to do.
Orders come out quick — chowder comes out right away — so this is a good spot to dine if you’re in a hurry /​really hungry. Note: they do not validate parking.

I wanted some local cuisine on my work trip to San Francisco and came across this place. Given the name there was only 1 thing I was having: Clam Chowder!
I have to say its up there with the best I’ve had (although I’m no connoisseur), but they lose a star as its only available in 1 size: a giant bread basket which is too much for any normal sized person.
While the sour dough was nice I didn’t waste much time or calories on it and focused on the thick, rich and creamy insides. There was a good amount of clams, celery and potato and I left feeling satisfied without a hole in my wallet.

Definitely in the tourist area. Parking is in a garage or if there’s any available street parking, but best bet is the garage because it’s closer and right across pier 39. This place is the go to for clam chowder because they’re cheap! Not the best chowder, but it still does it’s job, warm soup on a cold day or just the satisfaction of just having chowder. They have other food too, so don’t worry. Chowder can come in a bowl or the classic sourdough bread bowl. There’s also an option of having white chowder or red chowder, the difference is the sauce that’s used. Service is ok, it’s more of order the food and pick up at the counter when it’s ready. The inside is a bit small, but there’s also tables outside. This restaurant is so open that there’s birds walking around in the inside, so the cleanliness is not really there. Other than that, it’s not a bad spot to hangout and eat chowder.

Chowders, with a name as such, it should come as no surprise that they’re really known for their. you gessed it «Clam Chowders» note the «S» because yes, plural they have more than one chowder. Two to be exact, a classic white chowder and a tomato based red chowder. Well let me talk about this place a little bit and tell you a little about my experience here. This review is way late by the way, but forgive me. Better late than never right?
My first time coming here was back in 2009 with some of my brovas. What made us back track to pier 39 to eat when we was in south city idk. But when you’re hungry sometimes you do crazy things. On that visit I had the «Red» Clam Chowder. It wasn’t watered down, it was chunky with the fresh cut veggies and the clams was so fresh that it still had that just shucked taste… that impression lasted. Now lets fast forward, hop in your DeLorean, set the clock to Nov-8−15 and keep it at 88 miles… BOOM! I go to SF usually every other weekend or so (Sundays Usually) and as of late I been getting off at Bay Area Rapid Transit or «BART» station Embarcadero. I find something relaxing and soothing about walking along the piers. To be honest SF is just a food and fun lovers dream place, oh and the Unilocal possibilities are endless. So many little bistros and crab and seafood shacks, little hip cafes and restaurants, plus all the different people. Non of that really is relative to this review, but just telling what lead me to pier 39: D
So after about 20 or so minutes, I made it to pier 39. It wasn’t overly packed there which I kinda enjoyed on this trip, and it made browsing alot easier. I was of course hungry so it also made looking at posted menus alot easier because I wasn’t being pushed or bumped. I was in the mood for seafood, and also wanted to catch the last part of my Tennessee Titans game also (they won that day!) but that sports bar at the pier (I forgot the name) was overly filled with 49er fans and would of took too long to food, so I gamecasted the game and came to Chowders.
Chowders was familiar ground for me, located at the front end of pier 39. Across from the NFL Shop and Boudin to name familiar spots. This place and the prices compared to other similar joints on the pier were in the range I liked, so I went in and took a look at the menu. I liked their Clam Chowder here «$ 8.79» but wanted something different. After seeing the Seafood Platter «$ 11.89″ I knew that’s what I wanted. That platter consisted of Crispy Panko Breaded Shrimp, Panko Breaded Calamari, and Panko Breaded Fish. Cooked to a nice golden brown in 100% vegetable oil. Oh and the fries, are served hot and fresh cut in a steak fry cut. So I got ready to order… now this is where my rating comes into play and why two stars are missing…
I waited in the small line and this guy walks in front of me as I was about to ask a question about what I wanted to order and then starts ordering his food. I looked at the cashier and the dude and said „Yo B, like did you see me here?“ the dude ignored me and the cashier said.“this is the clam chowder line, just wait a sec for the other food cashier…» I was livid, 1, there wasn’t a sign or anything that said anything about a designated line and 2, all the people that was in front of me had been helped by this little kid. Finally another cashier came and I ordered my food. I knew everthing was fresh because I saw them in the back breading and shucking and jiving. So that was the least of my worries.
I get my food a few minutes later. Inside dining was kinda out the question considering the inside was filled with families and tourists, that’s to be expected on pier 39. My food was piping hot and I was happy about that. I hated to have to get up and get more napkins in fact because I just wanted to eat.
In conclusion, the food here is pretty good. Everything is cooked fresh and you can taste that. There is something on the menu for eveyone. Even you non seafood eaters would be delighted to see «Chicken» on the menu. Strictly Vegans may be limited with offerings here. Vegetarians that eat seafood will have no problems here, of course stay away from the chicken: D The prices are reasonable considering this is a restaurant at a busy tourist destination. Although prices have changed since my visit in 09. Service here is lacking, and that I think needs to be worked on here, otherwise this would of been a 5 star review. The place is spotless and that is another thing worth mention. But don’t let the negative about this review turn you away from here. The food is the star here and I give them 5 stars on that alone. As always my opinion is one of many, come here and Unilocal your own experience. Oh and ask for extra tartar sauce and cocktail sauce… you’re going to need it! (it’s delicious)

I absolutely love this place and I always stop and get a bowl of clam chowder when I’m walking through pier 39!!!
The reason I’m giving them four stars is because sometimes they are truly unorganized it’s not a matter of the crowd that their trying to service. The cashier has far too many responsibilities there that slows the line down and there has been times where my potatoes were pretty hard and not as soft as they should be in clam chowder nevertheless they always give me another bowl without any issues so I truly believe that sourdough clam chowder bowl here is fantastic! There’s are also really good places further down Fishermans Wharf for clam chowder bowls closer to the fish market that are excellent as well, but I like that place has seating available!

Chowders is cheap. I’ll give it that. But I think you really get what you pay for here.
The chowder here pretty much the same quality as a generic brand soup can chowder. Nothing particularly special, and if you let it cool off too much, it will absolutely resemble white jello. You can doctor it up with some Tabasco, which helps, but it’s still pretty unremarkable. The best thing about it is the bread bowl.

The price is great considering the location you are in. Clam chowder is served in the sourdough bread bowl for $ 8.75. You can get the white (cream) or red clam chowder (tomato based). I personally prefer the white one. Not the best clam chowder I have ever had but for the price and portion and location, I would recommend it.
It’s a great place to grab a quick lunch, rest your feet and people watch. It’s self-​serve.
I also had the crab sandwich which was just okay. Crab cakes are good

If you’re coming here, then you should really be coming here for 1 thing, clam chowder! Specifically the white clam chowder! For the clam chowders, it’s surprising, but they only have 1 option for the size of it, which is the sourdough bread bowl. Although I’m not a fan of bread bowls, mainly because there is more bread than chowder, I pleasantly enjoyed the chowder in the bowl.
As expected, the bread bowl was huge and there was plenty of bread surrounding the chowder. I saw many customers sharing their bread bowls because it was so big! As for the clam chowder, it was good and had all of that great clam chowder flavor, but was supposedly loaded with plenty of clams (as they claimed on their menu). To our disappointment, there were few clams. Woomp Woomp! With the exception of that, we didn’t have much to complain about. On top of the chowder, we also ordered the Fish & Chips. It was nothing extraordinary, but it was a nice compliment to the chowder and it helped fill us up.
One final note, the restaurant had plenty of seating on the Friday evening we arrived so we were able to eat our dinner comfortably.

A little late but got to get this one in. My usual stop with the family when walking the pier. A fast food style chowder spot with a simple kick. Famous for their chowder bread bowl, you can’t go wrong with this selection to go with an array of choices from the menu. Depending on my mood they have the usual fish and chips, or chicken strips and an assortment of sandwiches. This place is always busy but they are very fast and get the food out just as quick as you order. They have Indoor outdoor seating, but the outdoor spot gets real windy so button up if you opt to go outside.
The food itself is great, not bad for a fast food style joint. A lot better than eating at McDonald’s. The dining area is small, so if it’s busy good luck finding a seat. Prices are fair, but adding on catches up if you order multiple entrees. Typically most food here will cost $ 10 plus dollars, not too bad. Overall nice little spot if you don’t feel like a restaurant style experience chowders is the next best thing. Nice quick in and out type of spot to knock out your seafood craving.

The self proclaimed home of the sourdough chowder bowl. The chowder is everything you want it to be… Creamy and tasty. It COULD use more clams… And perhaps extra napkins for when you start eating your bowl. Be warned. You will get your fingers dirty while filling your belly.
Downsize is that it’s at pier 39 with all the crowded and aimless tourists. This would be a great food truck away from the sheep of tourist but if you have to go to pier 39… Or you want to taste some chowder make sure you stop in.

Should’ve gotten the clam chowder, duh.
I ordered the tomato grilled cheese, which came with French fries. If the menu specified that side of fries, it wasn’t obvious, so I had ordered a crab cake on the side. Not only did I get unexpected French fries, but the crab cake side is actually TWO crab cakes. I got a lot more food that I bargained for!
Grilled cheese was boring, but I wasn’t expecting amazingness, and the crab cakes were awesome. Two thumbs way up for those guys.
I mentioned the chowder because it’s what my boyfriend ordered, and regardless of the amount of unexpected food on my plate, I ate a lot of his. :) the buttery bacony potatoey taste was so yummy and the bread bowl was a perfect compliment.
All in all, great stop for authentic coastal food while touring around the pier!

We were in the area and were looking for a snack to tie us over for a few hours before dinner. I’m usually wary of eating anywhere that’s a tourist trap, especially the PIER but I was craving clam chowder so we decided on Chowders.
We ordered the clam chowder with a bread bowl + side of fries. I was pleasantly surprised! The chowder was thick and creamy, and there were ample clams. Fries were thick and crispy!
Expectations were low, but I must say that this is a great spot to grab some food if you’re at the pier! Expect a line on the weekends, but it goes quick.

March 25, 2015
Our first morning here and our first craving was the clam chowder sourdough bread bowl! We couldn’t share so we ordered two! Got come crab cakes and calamari. Come one, Go BIG or GO HOME and am I right? Lol
No complaints! Loved it all!

Le fameux chowder de Fisherman’s Wharf ! Un «bol» en pain au levain rempli de bonne soupe à la palourde (clam). Ça cale bien, même si on n’est pas censé attaquer le pain une fois qu’on a fini la soupe !
Le resto est de type fast-​food, on commande et paye au comptoir (pour une fois, les employés au comptoir sont aimables !), on va s’asseoir et la bouffe arrive quelques minutes plus tard lorsqu’elle est prête.
Un soir de semaine en hiver, il n’y avait pas grand-​monde, je me suis senti un peu seul devant ma soupe.
Il n’en reste pas moins que c’est une bonne adresse au Pier 39 pour manger vite et bon et né pas perdre de temps dans les restos très touristiques aux alentours.
Terrasse à l’extérieur pour les non-​frileux !