The 10 best places for clam chowder in Boston
Clam chowder is on nearly every seafood menu in Boston, from raw bars in the North End to takeout counters on the waterfront. This list covers 10 places inside the city limits where the chowder is a reason to go, for visitors walking the harbor and for residents who want a dependable cup on a cold day.
The picks lean toward restaurants and markets with long local track records and chowder that local and national food writers have singled out by name. Styles run from thick and creamy to thin and briny. Expect to pay roughly $11 to $15 where a price is posted: a cup is $10.95 at Boston Sail Loft, and the Wellfleet clam chowder at Neptune Oyster is $15.
How we chose
The list is alphabetical, not ranked. Each place is inside the City of Boston, was confirmed open in November 2026, and has chowder that independent outlets such as Time Out, National Geographic, Yankee, Boston.com or Boston magazine have written about specifically. Longevity, local ownership and year-round service counted in a restaurant’s favor. Star ratings from review sites were not used.
Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.
Atlantic Fish Company
Open on Boylston Street since 1978 by the restaurant’s own count, Atlantic Fish Company is a white-tablecloth seafood house a few blocks from Copley Square. Time Out’s 2023 chowder roundup describes a creamy version made with regionally sourced clams and served in a bread bowl, which makes a filling lunch without anything else. The dining room also runs a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant sits on one of the busiest stretches of Back Bay, so a reservation helps on weekends and during convention weeks.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 761 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116
Why they made the list
- The restaurant dates its opening to 1978.
- Time Out included the bread-bowl chowder in a February 2023 list of the city’s top chowders.
- The restaurant’s site lists a 2025 OpenTable Diners’ Choice award.
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The Barking Crab
A red-and-yellow striped tent on Fort Point Channel marks The Barking Crab, which started in 1994 as a seasonal outdoor spot for lobster rolls and beer and now runs all year. In winter the draw is a seat near the wood-burning stove with a cup of chowder made, according to Boston.com, with clams, potatoes, onions and bacon. Time Out adds that the kitchen makes the chowder from scratch with local quahogs poached in white wine. Takeout is pickup only, with no delivery, so plan to eat on site or pick up an order at the Sleeper Street door.
Hours: Sunday to Wednesday, noon to 9 p.m.; Thursday to Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.
Address: 88 Sleeper Street, Boston, MA 02210
Why they made the list
- The Barking Crab has been on Sleeper Street since 1994, by the restaurant’s account.
- Both Time Out in 2023 and Boston.com in 2024 named the chowder in citywide roundups.
- The restaurant is open year-round, with a covered summer deck and a stove-heated room in winter.
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Boston Chowda Co.
Inside the Quincy Market food colonnade at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston Chowda Co. is a counter built around soup. The family-run company says the clam chowder is made with local surf clams, cream and hand-cut potatoes, and National Geographic reported in January 2026 that the chowder is cooked in small batches and can be ordered in a bread bowl. Lobster rolls, pot pies, sandwiches and other soups fill out the menu. There is no table service, so carry the order to the shared seating in the market rotunda or out to the benches on the cobblestones.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: Quincy Market Colonnade, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA
Why they made the list
- The company describes more than 25 years in business under family management.
- National Geographic included the counter in a January 30, 2026 guide to chowder in the city.
- Faneuil Hall Marketplace places the stall a short walk from the State, Haymarket and Government Center MBTA stations.
Boston Sail Loft
Chowder at Boston Sail Loft comes thick, heavy with clams and flecked with chopped dill, a recipe that won Boston magazine’s Best of Boston award for chowder in 2018. The waterfront bar and restaurant at Lewis Wharf has been open since 1984, according to the restaurant, and Time Out notes that the chowder arrives in mugs filled past the rim. On the online ordering menu a cup is $10.95, a bowl is $11.95 and a quart to take home is $29.95. The restaurant also ships chowder nationwide through Goldbelly. The room is small, so off-peak hours are the easier time to find a table.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 80 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110
Why they made the list
- Boston magazine gave the restaurant the 2018 Best of Boston award for chowder.
- The restaurant’s site says the Sail Loft has been in business since 1984.
- Pints and quarts are sold to go, at $22.95 and $29.95 on the ordering menu.
James Hook & Co.
James Hook & Co. is a lobster wholesaler and retail shop at the foot of the Evelyn Moakley Bridge, founded in 1925 when James Hook and his three sons began trucking lobsters from Maine and Canada to the city’s fish piers. Four siblings from the family’s third generation manage the company today, by the company’s account. The counter sells clam chowder and lobster bisque alongside lobster rolls, and Time Out describes the chowder as whole clams in cream and broth with potatoes. The shop closes in late afternoon, so this is a lunch stop, not a dinner one.
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Address: 440 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110
Why they made the list
- The company traces the business to 1925 and remains family run.
- Time Out’s 2023 roundup calls James Hook a two-time Boston Chowderfest champion.
- Chowder and bisque are also sold for shipping through the company’s online store.
- The company’s site cites a 2025 Best of the Best reader award from The Boston Globe.
Legal Sea Foods
For many visitors, Legal Sea Foods is the default answer to the chowder question. The company began in 1950 as a family fish market just outside the city, by the company’s own history, and now runs restaurants across the region, including this one on Long Wharf beside the New England Aquarium. Boston.com describes the chowder as creamy, with large clams and a smoky note from salt pork and cracklings. Time Out reports the company’s claim that the chowder has been on presidential inauguration menus since 1981. Each January 15 the restaurants sell $1 cups for Boston Children’s Hospital, according to Boston.com.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 255 State Street, Boston, MA 02109
Why they made the list
- Legal Sea Foods dates the company’s start to 1950.
- Yankee’s chowder guide, updated in October 2026, calls the chowder intensely creamy and full of clam flavor.
- The Long Wharf restaurant is one of several Legal locations inside the city, so the same recipe is available in Back Bay and the Seaport.
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Neptune Oyster
The Wellfleet clam chowder at Neptune Oyster is the opposite of the spoon-standing style. National Geographic describes a light, brothy bowl of Wellfleet clams, potatoes and salt-cured pork finished with thyme, and Time Out notes the base of clam stock and béchamel. The menu lists the chowder at $15 with salt pork and thyme. The North End oyster bar on Salem Street takes no reservations and seats walk-ins only, so arrive when the doors open at 11 a.m. or expect to leave a name and wait. Most people pair the chowder with oysters or the Maine lobster roll, which is sold at market price.
Hours: Daily from 11 a.m. Weekdays, kitchen until 9:30 p.m. and raw bar until 10 p.m.; weekends, kitchen until 10:30 p.m. and raw bar until 11 p.m.
Address: 63 Salem Street, Boston, MA 02113
Why they made the list
- Time Out placed Neptune Oyster second on a 2023 list of 20 chowders in the city.
- National Geographic named the restaurant in a January 2026 chowder guide.
- The raw bar stays open half an hour after the kitchen closes each night.
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Row 34
Lighter broth sets the Row 34 chowder apart from the thick versions elsewhere in the Seaport: Time Out describes skin-on red potatoes and bacon in the bowl, topped with a cracker made in the kitchen. Yankee reports that the recipe starts with house-cured bacon, fresh clam broth and littleneck clams and comes with a house-made saltine. The Fort Point restaurant is a short walk from South Station and the convention center, and the restaurant’s site lists a raw bar menu and a lobster roll alongside the chowder. A second city location is in Kenmore Square.
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., with drinks until 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with drinks until 10 p.m.
Address: 383 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210
Why they made the list
- Yankee and Time Out both list the Row 34 chowder among the top bowls in the city.
- Littleneck clams and house-cured bacon go into the base, according to Yankee.
- The kitchen serves lunch and dinner seven days a week.
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Saltie Girl
Fried clams on top of the chowder are the signature at Saltie Girl, a Back Bay seafood bar that opened in 2016, according to National Geographic. The magazine describes a clam-and-cream stock reduced with shallots, celery and fingerling potatoes, then finished with a fried clam and lardons. Yankee adds that the kitchen starts with house-cured bacon, cooks the clams to order and uses salsify in the base. The restaurant is on Dartmouth Street near Newbury Street and is also known for a long tinned-seafood list. Weekend brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hours: Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Address: 279 Dartmouth Street, Boston, MA 02116
Why they made the list
- National Geographic led a January 2026 chowder guide with Saltie Girl.
- Yankee and Time Out also include the restaurant in their chowder roundups.
- Clams are cooked to order for each bowl, according to Yankee.
Union Oyster House
Union Oyster House has been serving food on Union Street since 1826, by the restaurant’s account, and the building is a designated National Historic Landmark. The chowder is the old-school kind: chunky, with salt pork, diced potatoes, clams and a splash of Worcestershire, as Boston.com describes the recipe. National Geographic reported in 2026 that the recipe has barely changed over the years and that the kitchen goes through about 38,000 liters annually. Ask for a seat at the semicircular oyster bar on the ground floor. The restaurant is on the Freedom Trail near Faneuil Hall.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 41 Union Street, Boston, MA 02108
Why they made the list
- The restaurant dates food service on the site to 1826.
- Boston.com in 2024 called Union Oyster House the oldest continually serving restaurant in America.
- Time Out reports that chowder has been on the menu since the 1850s.
See the full directory listing
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