Business & Tech
Coastline Cuisine Right in East Providence at Horton's Seafood
Tired of winter? Escape (for at least one meal) with fresh seafood and more at Horton's!
When I think of summertime food all across the country, a few places come to mind: fresh lobster on the coast of Maine, crab cakes in Maryland, grilled tropical catch of the day in Hawaii. But above all, what really brings on the nostalgia is fried seafood in Rhode Island.
We are privileged to have so many great “shacks” as we proudly refer to them all across our coastline. Rhode Island is well-respected across the nation for its invention of the Rhode Island-style chowder and clam cakes. We are also very well known for our unwavering love for fried clams and fish and chips. All summer long on the beaches of Narragansett, Scarborough, Newport and the Block, natives are fighting for the title of “Best Of” and local favorite. I can already taste the joys of a good Starboard Galley clamcake or fried scallops at Aunt Carrie's.
But we're still a few months away from warmer days, so I headed out to find a local source. That’s when I bumped into Horton’s Seafood on Broadway. If you’re able to navigate your way through the local maze we call Route 44, then get yourself over to Horton's for some of the freshest seafood around. Horton's has been doing it right since 1945, when Dorothy and Arthur Horton opened for business. It's now run by granddaughter Heather and her husband, former East Providence City Councilman Brian Coogan, and it has won its share of "Best Of" accolades.
The menu was exactly what I was searching for with great seafood appetizers like chowders, grilled and fried fish. Nothing makes me feel like it’s a hot day in July more than stuffed quahogs and a fried seafood platter. The “stuffies” were huge, a very generous portion of the legendary dish, scooped and baked in the shell. I reached for the sliced lemon and Tabasco sauce and dug right in. They were perfectly cooked, very fresh and flavorful. They totally hit the spot and got me
warmed up for one of my all-time favorite dishes, a heaping pile of fried local fish with fries and tartar.
Nothing could be more fitting to go with this meal than a great bottle of Oyster Bay, which I picked up at Town Wine for $12.99 a bottle. The crisp and fruity Sauvignon Blanc matched perfectly with this mountain of food. Everything was cooked to perfection. The fresh cod was flaky and moist, the clams tender, the shrimp not dried out and the scallops were like butter. Guess that’s what 65 years of experience will do for you.
After I finished every bite down to the crispy fries, I had nothing left to do but drink my cold crisp wine and hang out in my summer-induced stupor for a few more minutes before I awoke to the frightening reality that ah yes, it was still 25 degrees outside.
Well, if nothing else I got to eat an awesome meal with our greatest natural resource, fresh delicious local seafood done right by our family-run friends at Horton's Seafood. It still may be freezing outside, but I promise you’ll forget about that one bite at a time.
