The Happy Clam in St. George, part fish shack, part German restaurant. Photo by Cookie Novicka

Every time I start describing The Happy Clam, I realize I’ve left something out. Stripped down to its most essential components, this multi-faceted St. George restaurant is a classic Maine fish shack. And a playground. And an open-air concert hall with its own food truck. And an open-concept, open-air karaoke bar called the Outback Saloon. More is more out in Tenants Harbor. Or rather, I should say “more is more,” because I forgot to mention that The Clam is also a full-service German restaurant.

To describe what makes this sprawling seasonal food and drink campus so special, one might best use one of the tongue-twisting compound nouns the German language is so famous for. However, I fear the size and versatility of Greg and Corinna Howland’s restaurant would be beyond language itself.

The Schnitzelfingers at The Happy Clam in St. George. Photo by Andrew Ross

Happy Clam’s patchwork spirit springs naturally from the couple’s unusual romantic connection. Knowing that the Howlands are made up of a native Mainer (Greg) and an East German émigré (Corinna), a menu of “schnitzel fingers,” strips of pounding, crispy-fried pork tenderloin served with mushroomy hunter’s sauce ($17) alongside baskets of fried Maine-caught scallops ($30), makes sense.

Happy Clam almost didn’t make it to New England. But while trying to renovate a Florida property in the mid-2000s to turn it into the restaurant chef Corrina Howland had always wanted, Greg Howland had second thoughts. “It just didn’t feel right to do it there. So I got off my ladder and said we should find a little place in the country in Maine and live there seasonally. It started with just the restaurant, and as we started doing more, more came along. Now it’s 3.5 acres,” he said. “My philosophy has always been you find what you’re good at and do more of it.”

That’s difficult when you do a lot of things well, like the Howlands. As front-of-house and operations manager (he calls himself “CEE, or chef of everything else that doesn’t involve food”), Greg Howland has created vibrant, inviting outdoor spaces for people of all ages.

Sit at a picnic table or perch on a bar stool in the exposed-wood Outback Saloon and listen to a local band, watch patrons play horseshoes or cornhole, or (if you haven’t had enough of the $3 beers on tap) try to fix your gaze on the kids spinning in a blur on a giant metal carousel.

Or, if you’re just out for a meal, take a seat inside, where beams adorned with celebrity photos in Sardi’s style draw the eye up from the rustic, generously air-conditioned space. In sunny weather, the simply furnished patio is equally appealing. With more than 175 seats to choose from in total, there’s a table to suit every taste.

The terrace at The Happy Clam. Photo by Cookie Novicka

On my last visit, I sat on the main deck. As we watched the parking lot fill up for Sunday Funday in a tightly choreographed rearrangement of vehicles, my guest and I ordered a little of everything on the menu. I expect less from restaurants with mix-and-match concepts, but Happy Clam’s cuisine was mostly a pleasant surprise.

Only one of the restaurant’s homemade dishes disappointed. The German potato pancakes ($15) were dense, limp (perhaps too much flour in the dough) and flavorless. A good potato pancake is designed to be a sponge for gravy and sauces, and tastes salty, with the sulfurous sharpness of grated onions in the background. These offered neither, although they tasted better when used to soak up the vinegary juices of chef Corinna Howland’s excellent cucumber salad ($6). A better choice: creamy, wonderfully light mashed potatoes with skins, made from boiled new potatoes ($6).

While I understand that there are compromises to be made when running a business that serves literally hundreds of patrons on a busy summer evening, most of the outsourced dishes were a little lackluster. The battered fries ($6) were a familiar, nothing special pub fare. Desserts also seemed relegated to the background, though the kitchen here knows how to spice up its sweet offerings by playing with temperature (no pun intended). My slice of overly sweet lemon cake ($9) wouldn’t have been worth much if it hadn’t been served ice cold. Frosty, lemony cake on a hot Sunday is just good, no matter where it comes from.

The meatballs at The Happy Clam. Photo by Andrew Ross

While I don’t want to dissuade you from a cool, lemony slice of pie, I do want to point you to The Happy Clam’s best dishes. And there are many. On the German side of the menu, chef Corinna Howland’s Frikadellen-Hachtbraten, prepared in generous, meatball-like individual portions ($25), deserves your attention. Juicy, garlicky, and studded with onions, this appetizer had me hooked from the first bite with layers of umami that extended into the sauce. It’s paired with tart, slow-braised red cabbage ($6).

“This is my second favorite combination on the menu,” our unflappable waitress remarked as she set my plate down. All day I had watched her soothe nervous children and tipsy tourists, including one group who insisted on ordering haxe (a giant roasted pork knuckle for $37) to eat in the car on the way back to the airport. “Wow. I applaud your ambition,” she told them with a grin.

The Happy Clam seafood combination. Photo by Andrew Ross

She turned to me, winked, and suggested I try the seafood. “This is my absolute favorite dish here,” she said. I listened to her and ordered the fried seafood combo platter ($29) with haddock, whole clams, scallops, and shrimp.

When an overflowing basket of crisp, golden brown and delicately breaded seafood arrived a few minutes later, I could tell immediately that the kitchen knew what it was doing. No loose shards of over-fried batter, no soggy spots, just crispy, quickly fried seafood that barely left a streak on the parchment paper lining of the basket. The tasting impressed me even more. All four components were carefully seasoned and then cooked to exactly the right temperature. I don’t hesitate for a second when I tell you that this is the best fried seafood I’ve had in Maine.

Greg Howland knows why. “They’ve asked if we buy our seafood anywhere where it comes from, and the answer is yes. It comes straight off the boat. Sometimes it doesn’t come from the market, but 80 pounds of scallops that are shipped here to Tenants Harbor by the people who raise them in Bedford and then stop by on the way home because they live up here. Or shucked clams that we buy by the gallon in Bedford,” he told me over the phone. “And it’s not just that they come straight from the sea. It’s also the way we teach the chefs in the kitchen, even the new guys who have never cooked before. We tell them, ‘Maine seafood is perfect when it comes out of the water. Your job is not to screw it up. Don’t overcook it, don’t make it more complicated.’ You’ll laugh, but I always say, less is more.”

The dining room at The Happy Clam. Photo by Andrew Ross

EVALUATION: ****

WHERE: 13 River Road, Tenants Harbor, 207-372-8999. facebook.com/TheHappyClamPubandEatery

PORTION: (May to October) Monday 4pm – 8pm, Wednesday to Sunday 11am – 8pm

PRICE RANGE: Appetizers and sides: $6–28, sandwiches and main courses: $16–34

NOISE LEVEL: Las Vegas Strip

VEGETARIAN: Some dishes

RESERVATIONS: NO

BEAR: Beer, wine and cocktails

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

Conclusion: If Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar opened, it would be in St. George and called The Happy Clam. This 175-seat food and beverage outlet covers 4,000 square feet in downtown Tenants Harbor and includes an open-air bar, food truck and playground, as well as a seafood shack and German restaurant. If it weren’t geopolitically incorrect, I’d call it a Swiss Army knife of dining establishments. The Happy Clam’s charm lies not in its one-size-fits-all adaptability, but in its outstanding cuisine. Chef Corinna Howland and her team prepare several excellent German dishes, including savory, umami-flavored meatloaf, creamy mashed potatoes with skins on, tart red cabbage casserole and refreshing, crisp cucumber salad. But the kitchen does just as well with seafood, which is delivered to the restaurant from the docks just a few feet away from The Clam. In fact, Chef Howland’s careful breading and precise seasoning produce exceptional fried seafood, especially local scallops and clams. Come before co-owners Greg and Corinna Howland return to Florida in October.

Ratings are based on this scale and take into account food, atmosphere, service, value for money and type of restaurant (a casual bistro is judged as a casual bistro, an expensive fine dining restaurant as such):

* Poor
** Just
*** Good
**** Excellent
***** Unusual

The Maine Sunday Telegram visits each restaurant once. If the first meal was unsatisfactory, the reviewer returns for a second visit. The reviewer attempts to dine anonymously and never accepts free food or drinks.

Andrew Ross has written about food and dining in New York and the UK. He and his work have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in the New York Times. He was recently awarded seven Maine Press Association Critics’ Awards.

Contact him at: [email protected]
Twitter: @AndrewRossME

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