The Ocean State may be well north of Naples, but devotees of all things clam—cakes, chowder, fried—head east on Tamiami Trail to Flo’s Clam Shack. This is the first franchise of the famed pair of Rhode Island clam shacks that have been lauded on the Food Network and by dozens of magazines and newspapers.
Although it’s a franchise, chef/owner Will Walker spent more than a decade working for Flo’s, rising from busser up to manager of both locations, with some chef experience in between. Now he pretty much does it all at his Naples location in what used to be Bamz Restaurant.
Walker wasn’t sure if the East Naples location would work. He need not have worried. He opened quietly in late January, hoping to let the staff get up to speed before the crowds found them. Luckily, they were fast learners—the response has been enthusiastic.
“We’re just close enough to [Fifth Avenue South] but a bit off the beaten path with a freestanding building and a good amount of parking,” Walker says. With 36 seats inside and another 30 outside, most customers stay to dine on the famed whole belly clams and clam cakes, Walker conveys.
Be forewarned: Flo’s takes no phone orders and takeout orders must be placed at the restaurant. Like so much else you wait for, Walker says it’s for your own good. “We wish we could rely on everybody to be here when the order is ready, but that’s often not the case,” he says. “We need to preserve the food and make sure everyone gets a nice, warm plate.”
All the restaurant’s famed specialties are made to order from clams procured from the same distributors that the northern restaurants use. “[The clammers] have to go out in the coves, dig them up, and shuck with their hands,” he says. “We’re really fortunate that we are still able to keep them at a good price.”
For the uninitiated, clam cakes are deep-fried balls of clams, flour, milk, clam juice, eggs, and leavening. Whole belly clams are precisely what the name suggests—consisting of the meaty belly portion along with the flesh of the clam known as the strip. Those who love them say they have a fuller flavor than strips alone. Try them and find out why.
Facebook Comments