Meet the ‘Clamily’

The Clam Bake offers a comforting taste of home for local New Englanders

By Cheryl Mandell

The Clam Bake

From the moment you walk in, you’re treated like family. According to Laurie and Mark Thomas, owners of The Clam Bake, that’s the only way to run a restaurant.

If you’re fortunate enough to be seated in the coveted “mafia booth” in the back, the round seating area affords a view of the whole sprawling restaurant. For Floridians who have called the New England area home, the interior of The Clam Bake is like stepping into your favorite spot on the sea, with dark wood tables and bars, low lighting and complete Red Sox and Patriots paraphernalia along the walls. The restaurant recently hosted a book signing event with Diane Gronkowski, aka “Mama Gronk,” that raised over $60,000 for several local charities.

The Thomas family has been crafting delicious seafood long before setting sights on Southwest Florida. Mark opened his own catering business in 1998 and later bought a small breakfast and lunch spot called Crossroads Restaurant in West Warwick, Rhode Island, where he served New England seafood for dinner on Fridays. Laurie joined the Crossroads family in 2001, and on New Year’s Eve 2002, Mark and Laurie said their vows and officially became a family of their own.

In 2005, Laurie, Mark and their children packed up their things, said goodbye to the winter weather and moved to Southwest Florida. Initially, they were looking to open a breakfast and lunch restaurant similar to the one they owned up north. When they found the spot in the Island Park Shopping Center that was already a New England seafood restaurant, they promptly made a deal with the previous owners, another husband-and-wife duo.

There’s a reason the motto of the restaurant is, “Bring your family to meet our family.” 

“It’s cool – a lot of our family works together, and the staff have worked here for years,” said our server Cara, who is Mark and Laurie’s daughter. “We call it ‘the Clamily.’ We love it.”

Cara presented the dishes with lively descriptions of the fresh seafood shipped in almost exclusively from Ipswich Shellfish in Boston. She has spent years learning the daily preparation methods from her father Mark, a graduate of nationally renowned culinary school Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Anyone who has visited Sanibel in recent years may recognize Cara as the owner of The Clam Shack, which, just a week after its eighth anniversary in business, was devastated by Hurricane Ian, along with Thomas family members’ homes near the causeway. Now Cara considers herself fortunate to be able to work with her parents on the mainland, even if she’s not in charge.

The extensive menu at The Clam Bake was meticulously created by Mark. There are many favorites that keep customers coming back for more.

“All of our soups are made in-house; we have baked New England clam chowder and lobster bisque, our two best sellers as far as soups go,” said Cara. “Fish and chips are popular, along with our whole-belly clams and lobster rolls. We also sell a ton of whole Maine lobster – we get about 300 lobsters in a week.”

Laurie aims to please her guests, from old to young.  As a grandmother, she is happy to see families stop in with small children and will gladly have the chef whip up noodles and butter for some of the pickier little patrons.

In addition to fresh Northern seafood not often found on menus in Southwest Florida, The Clam Bake creates unique cocktails with names that are nods to northern locales, such as the Mystic Sunset Margarita named after the famous Mystic seaport in Connecticut – or the Boston Creme Pie martini, which many guests order this drink as dessert – a fine idea!

For land lovers, there are menu options to satisfy guests who prefer steak (including Delmonico), chicken, burgers, pork tenderloin and more.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with happy hour every weekday from 3-7 p.m. Happy hour runs all day from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and the restaurant is open from 2-8 p.m. on Sundays through Father’s Day, after which they close on Sundays for the summer. The extremely popular early bird special runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (except Sunday) and includes generous portions from the lunch menu, served with “chowdah” (as they say) or salad and choice of two side items for a very reasonable $15.99.

The Clam Bake is a taste of home for local New Englanders and a special treat for guests who may be experiencing this style of seafood for the first time.

“Our food is comfort food,” said Laurie.

Serving fresh New England sea fare in a warm, welcoming atmosphere isn’t just the Thomas family’s job – it’s their passion.