I think SKC in the Anaheim Packing House and Shuck in Costa Mesa may have them.
I did not see steamers on either menu. Kettlebar at Packing District has steamed clams but they are clams not steamers. Places I’ve checked
Water Grill
Shuck
Raw Bar by Slapfish
SKC (ARTIC)
EMC
Sorry…what do you think of this option: Original Fish Company (Los Alamitos)? I’m not entirely sure if this is right, but they do call them steamers.
Thanks for helping.
I think they are using the term steamer loosely since they say littleneck clams in the description. I’ve always wanted to go here but heard lines are crazy.
It’s one of my favorites. Best clam chowder in the area…maybe in the general LA/OC area. I do happy hour at the bar and try to show up off-peak hours so my wait isn’t as bad.
As long as they are using soft-shell clams and serving them with clam broth and drawn butter, the restaurant is serving New England-Style steamers. Bluewater Grill’s menu refers to a white wine and garlic broth and (I think) uses hardshell clams, so I would be skeptical of considering them to be true “steamers.” BlueGold has them on the menu but sometimes does them as a mix with mussels (though you can ask for all clams) or just mussels. Not sure what type of clams are currently being used, though, as it has been a year since I was last there.
I’ve had steamers several times in NY and Boston. This is my understanding of what a steamer is. I don’t know that all soft shell clams are the same? But steamed littleneck clams are not steamers.
You need to pull the black foreskin off the steamer, dunk in hot water to wash off all the sand then dunk into clarified butter.
It should be clam broth rather than just plain hot water and, normally, there is a big dish with the clams still in the shells, but that is basically what the clams should look like, skin and all. There are a variety of soft shell clams that can be used for steamers—Ipswich was once the gold standard. Littlenecks are hardshell clams with (as the name implies) a small neck so would not work as true steamers.
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Hi Y’all -
This is interesting stuff. I ate buckets and buckets of steamers as a kid, but never really payed attention to what type of clams they were. They just had big, ugly, black necks and fat bellies - you rinsed them in a cup of murky warm water then dipped in butter. As for fried, you were never asked whether you wanted bellies or strips. Strips were what you ate at Howard Johnson’s on a family road trip or maybe in New Yawk. At least that’s how I remember it. 
P.S. That recipe posted from Cantrell Seafood calls for little necks. The picture doesn’t look like the big honkin’ ones I ate as a kid. But childhood memories can be faulty.
This conversation is making me want to go to Connie & Ted’s right now!
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Okay, I’ve googled, and I’ve spent summers in Massachusetts, but still am not sure what a clam belly is. Is it a whole little clam vs. big clams cut up? We don’t have a whole lot of variety on the west coast, and I don’t really remember what I ate as a child.
I think it’s the circular part which contains the gastrointestinal tract:
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Yep, you got it. But they’re not little clams like in Cali, hence the name “big belly”. I’m not absolutely sure what the strips are, but I think you’re correct - they have the good clam flavor without the uni/livery-like belly, which some find gross.
I think some restaurants remove the chewy lining around the belly before frying clams, but with the steamers, you get the good the bad and ugly. Then you have the big, tough quahogs… it’s chowda’ time! I miss them all.
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Thank you ipse.
I ate a few of the steamers without taking off the black ugly foreskin part. It was much better once I started to remove that part. Sometimes you have to really rinse them well and get all the sand out of steamers.
Back to the question. Anybody know of places that have steamers in LA/OC other than Connie & Teds? Preferably OC.
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shit how did i miss this? comes with grilled bread and rouille @TheCookie
https://www.instagram.com/p/CImFfmRBeVe/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWuWY7j2PW/
WED: Bouillabaisse
THU: Fish Tacos
FRI: Gumbo
SAT: Lobster Pot Pie
SUN: Fried Chicken
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C&T is so on my radar right now.
Friday Gumbo? I wonder if it’s the Providence En Voyage version. 
It has that nice dark roux and I spy the New England-style linguica! #willbreakconventionalporkruleforthat!
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A couple of online ordering services say “shrimp, andouille sausage, shredded chicken, and okra.” Looks like chicken at the bottom right.
c & t x epicurus gourmet
bouillabaisse - mussels, clams, white shrimp, squid, catch of the day, tomato, leek, saffron, fennel & lobster stock, served with grilled bread and rouille
one of my favorite providence en voyage menus is now available at connie and ted’s every wednesday and it is fantastic. this version may not have the lobster and crab but the broth (maybe a little less orange zesty) and seafood are still delicious. and my favorite part–soaking a rouille covered piece of toasted bread in the broth–is still as wonderful as providence’s. it’s like eating the best piece of seafood garlic bread ever. I knew three pieces of bread wasn’t going to cut it, so I was an @attran99 animal, and warmed up an epicurus gourmet demi-baguette and went to town.
pro tip: save most of that broth for the end for the toast and rouille. @TheCookie
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