A local approach at the new Bayman’s Clam Bar draws crowds in Patchogue

Just weeks after opening, Bayman’s Clam Bar in Patchogue is already shucking more than 2,000 local clams a week — so many, in fact, that the restaurant employs someone whose only job is opening them.

Co-owner Jay Varney, who also owns Varney’s Restaurant in Brookhaven, said Bayman’s has averaged about 500 clams a day, with even higher numbers on weekends, since welcoming its first customers on June 24.

“We never really had a number in mind,” Varney told Greater Long Island. “We just didn’t expect to be doing that many.”

Varney says Bayman’s only sources locally and customers can taste the difference.

“We get them from the Great South Bay every day, and we shuck and prep them in house,” said Varney.  “Never frozen, never brought in from another state.”

That commitment extends beyond the raw bar.

Varney said Bayman’s also uses the local hard-shell clams for its baked clams, homemade Manhattan and New England Clam Chowders, and fried whole belly clam dish, rather than frozen or shipped.

“I don’t know if any other places do that,” Varney said. “A lot of places use Ipswich clams (steamers from New England), and those are good, but that’s not what I wanted to do.”

“My family was all clammers,” he added. “The way we are doing it is the way my grandmother did it, so that’s the only thing I knew growing up.”

As for the crustaceans, Varney says snow crab legs and Jonah crab claws have also quickly become customer favorites, along with hot and cold lobster rolls.

“We really want to put an emphasis on serving good, quality food,” co-owner Will Strano previously told GLI after taking the landmark restaurant building over this spring.

Bayman’s opened following months of renovations at the former Harbor Crab Co. property on the Patchogue waterfront, with crews racing to have the restaurant ready before the busy Independence Day holiday week.

As GLI previously reported, Bayman’s replaced Harbor Crab after its 26-year run ended in April.  

“I wish we could’ve taken our time and finished everything,” Varney said. “But it was like, ‘Hurry up and get open before the holiday,’ and then let’s hang on for dear life.”

The gamble paid off.

“It was insanely busy right out of the gate,” Varney said. “Everyone in the community has been very happy.”

While renovations continue on the building’s front room and second floor, the completely renovated main dining room is open, and Varney said there’s still plenty of seating available for diners.