Good seafood restaurant in Marblehead/Salem

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Hello all,

Wondering if anyone might have a suggestion to replace the dearly departed Maddie's Sail Loft in Marblehead as a place for seafood in or very near to Marblehead. I'm visiting home for the first time in a while and craving proper fried clams, but the elderly mother doesn't want to make the drive to Essex or Ipswich (not bringing her is not an option...if you know what I mean).

Possible options:

Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott

Lobster Shanty in Salem

The Barnacle in M'head

Dube's is out as my brother ate there recently and said it was awful.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Anna

PS-also a bonus if it's a place where we can get some bluefish since it's in season right now!

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Noticed no one replied...thought I'd update with where we went.

So we went to the Lobster Shanty. And though it was not Maddie's, I had some perfectly respectable fried clams, as did my brother, and his girfriend had a good lobster roll.

Certainly not the ambiance of Maddie's (it's basically a bar with some tables outside), but at least there's somewhere decent to go that's not a half hour drive.

[rlibkind]

While visiting a Marblehead friend last September, she took us to the Barnacle on Front Street, right on the water. Perfectly acceptable basic fried seafood, good fries, and oysters. Good place for beers and fried clams while breathing salt air.