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

Each time I start to describe The Happy Clam, I realize I’ve left something out. Boiled down to its most critical components, this multi-limbed St. George restaurant is a classic Maine seafood shack. And a playground. And an outdoor concert venue complete with its own food truck. And an outdoor, open-air, open-concept karaoke bar called the Outback Saloon. More is more out on Tenants Harbor. Rather, I should say, “mehr ist mehr,” as I forgot to mention that The Clam is also a full-service German restaurant.

Indeed, the best way to define what makes this sprawling seasonal food-and-beverage campus special might be to deploy one of the tongue-twisting compound nouns that German is so famous for – although I fear the scale and versatility of Greg and Corinna Howland’s restaurant would break the language itself.

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

The Happy Clam’s patchwork spirit springs naturally from the couple’s own unusual romantic pairing. When you know the Howlands comprise one native Mainer (Greg) and one East German émigré (Corinna), a menu featuring “schnitzel fingers,” strips of pounded, crunchy fried pork loin served with mushroomy Jaeger sauce ($17), alongside baskets of deep-fried, Maine-caught scallops ($30) makes sense.

The Happy Clam almost didn’t make it to New England. But in the midst of a mid-aughts attempt at renovating a Florida property to become the restaurant that chef Corrina Howland had always wanted, Greg Howland started having second thoughts. “It just didn’t feel right to do it there. So I came down from 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, we added more. Now it covers an acre and a half,” he said. “My philosophy has always been that you figure out what you’re good at and do more of it.”

That’s tough when, like the Howlands, you do many things well. As front-of-house and operations lead (he calls himself the “CEE, or chief of everything else that isn’t food”), Greg Howland has created vibrant, inviting outdoor spaces for humans of all ages.

Deposit yourself at a picnic table or pull up a barstool in the exposed-wood Outback Saloon and listen to a local band, watch customers play horseshoes or cornhole, or (if you haven’t had too many of the $3 draft beers), try to focus on children spinning blurrily on a hulking metal carousel.

Or, if you’re just out for a meal, take a seat indoors, where beams adorned, Sardi’s-style, with celebrity photos siphon attention upwards from the rustic, lavishly air-conditioned space. In sunny weather, the simply furnished patio is equally appealing. With more than 175 seats in total to pick from, there’s a table to suit every preference.

The patio at The Happy Clam. Photo by Cookie Novicka

On my recent visit, I sat on the main deck. Watching the parking lot fill for “Sunday Funday” in a tightly choreographed rearrangement of vehicles, my guest and I ordered a little bit of everything on the menu. I’ve come to expect less of restaurants with mix-and-match concepts, but The Happy Clam’s cooking turned out to be mostly a happy surprise.

Only one of the restaurant’s from-scratch dishes disappointed. The German potato pancakes ($15) were dense, floppy (too much flour in the batter, perhaps) and lacked flavor. Designed to be sponges for gravy and sauces, a good Kartoffelpuffer tastes of salt, with the sulfuric bite of grated onion mugging in the background. These offered neither, although when used to sop up vinegary juices from chef Corinna Howland’s excellent cucumber salad ($6), they improved. A better choice: creamy, miraculously light skin-on mashed potatoes made in-house from boiled new potatoes ($6).

At the same time as I understand the necessity of tradeoffs in running a business that serves literally hundreds of diners on a busy summer evening, most outsourced dishes were a bit lackluster. Battered French fries ($6) were familiar, unexceptional pub-grub. Desserts, too, seemed relegated to the role of second-fiddle, although here, the kitchen understands how to tart up (no pun intended) its sweet offerings by playing with temperature. My slice of too-sweet lemon burst cake ($9) wouldn’t have amounted to much, had it not been served icebox-cold. Frosty, lemony cake on a scorcher of a Sunday just works, no matter where it comes from.

The Frikadellen at The Happy Clam. Photo by Andrew Ross

While I’m not here to steer you away from a cool, citrusy slice of cake, I am here to point you toward The Happy Clam’s best dishes. There are many. On the German side of the menu, chef Corinna Howland’s Frikadellen meatloaf, prepared in ample, single-serving meatball-esque portions ($25) deserves your attention. Juicy, garlicky and studded with onion, this entrée hooked me from the first bite with layers of umami that extended into the gravy. Pair this with a side of tart, slow-simmered red cabbage ($6).

“That’s my second-favorite combination on the menu,” our unflappable server remarked as she set down my plate. All day, I had watched her placate antsy kids and tipsy tourists, including a party who insisted on ordering the Haxe (a gigantic $37 roasted pig’s knuckle) to consume in the car on their drive back to the jetport. “Wow. I applaud your ambition,” she told them with a grin.

The Happy Clam Seafood Combo. Photo by Andrew Ross

Turning to me, she winked and suggested I try the seafood. “That’s my true favorite thing to eat here,” she said. I listened and ordered the fried seafood combo platter ($29) with haddock, whole belly clams, scallops and shrimp.

When an overflowing basket of craggy and golden, delicately breaded seafood arrived a few minutes later, I could see immediately that the kitchen knew what it was doing. No loose shards of overfried batter, no soggy spots, just crisp, quick-fried seafood that left barely a streak on the basket’s greaseproof paper lining. Tasting only impressed me more. All four of the components were seasoned judiciously, then cooked precisely to temperature. I don’t hesitate for a second when I tell you that this is the best fried seafood I’ve eaten in Maine.

Greg Howland knows why. “You asked if we’re getting our seafood anyplace special, and the answer is yes. It’s coming right off the boat. Sometimes it’s not from a market, it’s 75 pounds of scallops delivered out here to Tenants Harbor by the guys who grow them in Bedford, and then stop by on their way home because they live up here. Or shucked belly clams we get by the gallonful in Bedford,” he told me over the phone. “And it’s not just that it’s right out of the ocean. It’s also the way we teach the cooks in the kitchen, even the new guys who’ve never cooked. 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 complicate it.’ You’re gonna laugh, but I always say: Less is more.”

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

RATING: ****

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

SERVING: (May through October) 4 – 8 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday

PRICE RANGE: Appetizers & sides: $6-$28, Sandwiches & entrees: $16-$34

NOISE LEVEL: Las Vegas Strip

VEGETARIAN: Some dishes

RESERVATIONS: No

BAR: Beer, wine and cocktails

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

BOTTOM LINE: If Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar came to life, it would be in St. George, and it would be called The Happy Clam. Splayed across an acre and a half in central Tenants Harbor, this 175-seat, food-and-beverage business comprises an outdoor “saloon,” a food truck and a playground, as well as a seafood shack and a German restaurant. If it weren’t geopolitically incorrect, I’d call it a Swiss Army knife of a dining destination. The Happy Clam’s charm doesn’t come from its one-size-fits-all adaptability, but from its excellent cooking. Chef Corinna Howland and her back-of-house team prepare several outstanding German dishes, including savory, umami-suffused meatloaf; creamy, skin-on mashed potatoes; tart stewed red cabbage; and refreshing, crunchy cucumber salad. But the kitchen is equally at home with seafood brought in to the restaurant from docks just feet away from The Clam. Indeed, chef Howland’s light touch with breading and precisely calibrated seasoning produce exceptional fried seafood, especially local scallops and whole belly clams. Get here before co-owners Greg and Corinna Howland head back to Florida in October.

Ratings follow this scale and take into consideration food, atmosphere, service, value and type of restaurant (a casual bistro will be judged as a casual bistro, an expensive upscale restaurant as such):

* Poor
** Fair
*** Good
**** Excellent
***** Extraordinary

The Maine Sunday Telegram visits each restaurant once; if the first meal was unsatisfactory, the reviewer returns for a second. The reviewer makes every attempt to dine anonymously and never accepts free food or drink.

Andrew Ross has written about food and dining in New York and the United Kingdom. He and his work have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in The New York Times. He is the recipient of seven recent Critic’s Awards from the Maine Press Association.

Contact him at: andrewross.maine@gmail.com
Twitter: @AndrewRossME