The Old Time Vincent's Clam Bar & Italian Restaurant

Went there with four coworkers for lunch, We Shared Baked Clams, Little Neck Clams, Large Fried Shrimp,Calamari,Mussels,Sungli for appetizers, I had Shrimp Balls with Medium Sauce, side of Hot Sauce, the with Linguine, other guys had Steamed Seafood Platters, I Sampled their food it was great, Veal Parma with Hot Sauce, try the Tartuffos for dessert!!! We had a great time service was great, waitress was all over us!!! Enjoy! more

Let's see let me list the positives first. Our waitress was great, very nice and attentive. The food was OK. If I were you I would skip the house salad (lettuce was yellow) and the fresh tomato and mozzarella (tasteless.) I had the linguine with red clam sauce, that was actually pretty good, but that might be because the spicy sauce gave it a kick (I love spicy food.) Anyways, during the dinner, my son had to use the bathroom. Took him an awfully long time. Turns out one one of the cooks in the kitchen was smoking in the bathroom (totally against the Dept of Health laws) instead of stepping outside to do it like any normal sensible person would. When my son came out, he smelled like he had smoked a pack of cigarettes himself. So I complained to the guy at the register who I assume was the owner and asked if he allowed his kitchen staff to smoke in the bathroom. He said no but then basically told me that he can't control what they do in the bathroom since he can't put cameras in there.....instead of telling me that he will speak to his staff as expected. I think a call to the Dept of Health is in order. The grade A in the window...hmmm makes me wonder. more

The restaurant is supposedly known for it variety of Italian Sauce . I found the sauces to be nothing special. I frequently eat in restaurants and found that Vincent’s in Howard Beach to be over priced for the portions. Vincent’s located in Little Italy and Carl Place,NY is much better. There are several fine Italian restaurants located near Vincent’s of Howard Beach on Crossbay Blvd that are a much better choice. more

I went there on a friday with my wife, and was not impressed at all. Me and my wife split their $35 Fra Divolo dish that contained a lobster tail, calamari, shrimp, scampi with angel hair in mild spicy tomato sauce. The waitress was great but the food, well where do I begin. As someone who loves calamari and shrimp and has eaten it in hundreds of restaurants, it was quite evident that the cook cooked all our seafood on the same pot as the calamari and shrimp were seriously overcooked. And that is a crime considering that calamari and shrimp are the easiest thing to cook in the world In fact if you can't cook the shrimp right at a seafood place you should be fired and the owner should know that. Then there was the question of the bill. Our bill was $100 but we had a $25 gift certificate. Their policy states that they accept credit/debit cards. However when you a gift cert., they want you to pay cash. Upon showing my debit card, the owner refused me to charge my debit and told me to go to an ATM. SO I had to leave in a semi-drunk state to the ATM just so I could please the freaking owner while my wife waited inside. THis does no sound to me like a business oriented owner. It sounds like an owner who would do anything to get an extra 2% on anybody. I would not recommend the place simply based on the fact that my calamari which was 70% of the dish was overcooked. Also me and wife are in our early 30's and the place seemed filled with a majority of senior citizens, with very few sporadic younger people at 9pm. Even though I don't mind senior citizens, it just doesn' give a good vibe especially on a Friday night. I prefer a mix. It goes to show you that the place just lives off their old customers and not new ones. more

We go to Rockaway alot to drop by the boardwalk. Today, we finally decided to try out one of the Howard Beach restaurants along Crossbay Boulevard. We pulled into Vincent's Clam Bar. The lasagna was great as was the seafood fra diavolo. I have tried lasagna in many restaurants but somehow at Vincent's it worked perfectly. Good sauce, light and cheesy, good pasta - perfectly layered. Shrimp, clams & mussels fra diavolo was excellent with a great sauce, although the mussels could have been a little more meaty. But overall the meal was excellent. Big portions too. The place is not fancy but the food excelled. more

Excellent food, highly recommended. We've been here several times and plan to go back very soon. Food is just like homemade with a lot to choose from. Lastly, there is a small lot for parking. You won't be disappointed! more

I have been going to Vincents for over 20 years and the food is still consistantly good. They have great clams and the best french onion soup. But it's all about the sauce. They have a wonderful tomato sauce. The real treat is their extensive dessert menu. If you like peanut butter they make an amazing peanut butter pie. Pros: great food, good prices more