Review: Bigelow's in Rockville Centre

What does it take for a seafood restaurant to survive the Great Depression, two World Wars, a pandemic, the rise and fall of Long John Silver’s?

A deftly operated Fryolater, certainly, and a proprietary breading method combining corn meal (for crunch) and corn flour (light, clean taste). But all would be for naught if this South Shore institution — which somewhat unbelievably celebrates its 85th anniversary this year — hadn’t had the good sense, way back in 1939, to feature fresh, whole-belly Ipswich clams from New England, a briny, oyster-like mollusk they’ve been frying to perfection since FDR was prez.

Then as now, the clams are a rarity in these parts, and whether purchased as a pricey basket or in (somewhat) cheaper appetizer or sandwich iterations, they’re dependably revelatory, as are Bigelow’s clam chowders, even if the New England version is the true heavy-hitter (emphasis on heavy) and the Manhattan something of a lightweight.

Things do change about the place. Indeed, a decision by the Andreolas family — owners since 1991 — to convert part of the parking lot into a picket-fenced outdoor dining area with seating for 30 was one of the few happy developments of the Covid-restriction era, a distinct improvement over the days when dining at Bigelow’s meant giving the side-eye to patrons at the always-busy horseshoe-shaped counter inside.

Service is both gentle and sweet, not unlike Bigelow’s fried clam strips — AKA the ones you usually see on seafood menus, and they, like their Ipswich brethren, flounder fish and chips, fried oysters and much else at this unsinkable seafood shack, will have you aching for a Long Island few of us ever knew, a simpler time when the Sunrise Hwy. was new, houses cost less than $4,000 and Bigelow’s was a cherished summertime stop for every Ford Model A on the way to the beach.

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By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.