Clare and Don’s Beach Shack

These guys literally took beers out of our hands. We came for a beer after a Legwarmers show and this is what we dealt with. Wtf ever.

Great food and service as usual! Staff is more like friends than servers!

My friend and I had dinner here last night before heading to the State Theater for the Legwarmers’ NYE show. The atmosphere is fun, casual, which is what I really enjoy! The service was good and quick. The menu offers a variety of options (I kept going back and forth between a few). We started with the dill pickle chips– yum. I then order the Swamp Rice (spicy cajun dirty rice) with steak. It was spicy and flavorful and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed a couple of Painkillers which were great!
Highly recommend this as a fun, casual place to have some great food!

Excellent authentic Florida beach food. The seafood is solid, had the blackened fish taco’s and grilled shrimp taco’s with friends. Wings are tasty also. Nice beer selection and super authentic décor for a beach joint. Great place to hit in the summer when it’s nice out and you can sit on the patio. Will be back for sure.

Clare and Don’s is a great spot to enjoy a beer or an outrageously sweet, pink-​toned, paper umbrella topped drink before a show at the State Theatre next door. Their outdoor porch has lots of space, big long tables for large groups and even heaters for when the weather gets a bit chilly.
It is festive and laid back but if you’re looking for good food, I would suggest going someplace else. Their menu is a smattering of standard American fare with a seafood bent. They also offer tons of vegetarian options which is really nice.
My most recent visit the boy and I split their cornmeal battered onion rings which were as anything deep fried could be but some bites were full of uncooked flour which was a little bit distracting.
The fish fingers were absolutely tasteless, hard and dry. In fact, I prefer Gorton’s Fisherman 100x better than this.
The Old Bay wings also fell in this category. They do not serve ranch here and our wings were served with a little ramekin of what looked like olive oil or melted butter (although I think butter congeals which this did not).
Pretty much everything tastes good when you deep fry it but this was not the case at all. My friend’s nachos were untouched and my sister said her burger was very average.
This is definitely a spot for drinks and friends.

We enjoyed the beachy atmosphere and live music here. It was very crowded when we went (a Thursday evening), so you may want to make reservations!
We ordered the Don’s Don burger and a grilled chicken plate (with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts). The burger was loaded with shrimp scampi sauce, which was a yummy and unique addition. The grilled chicken plate was huge (easily enough for 2 servings) and fulfilled my craving for comfort food. There is something about mashed potatoes and grilled chicken that I love.
Overall, solid food (in large portions) in a fun environment.

Rebecca
Rebecca
Rebecca
FOR PRESIDENT!!!
After having the lunch from Hell my boyfriend and I stumbled upon this hidden gem
I ordered gator And oysters and fries
Both items were cooked to perfection
Topped off the meal with key lime pie
HOMEMADE
Rebecca was soooooooo gracious and hospitable
THANK YOU

Atmosphere is pleasant, food is good but on the pricey side and portions are generous. It’s hard to comment on various menu options here because this place has the best fish tacos in the area. And pair that off with their hush puppies, yum! They do have different items on their menu like gator, which is deep fried… All I can taste is the deep fried breading. Their guacamole is on point… And its always a plus when you have vegetarian options too!
The service is polite and attentive. The décor is very busy… Just lots of stuff all over the walls, flip flops… Cute but on a hot day when I see lots of shoes I think of feet… So those days, I prefer to sit outside. They have a nice outdoor seating area and live music. Can’t go wrong with that!
They do have free parking in the back, which can be a little tight but still convenient.

Clare and Don’s is the definition of A-​Ok, and that’s not at all a bad thing.
The seafood here is *reminiscent* of what you can find at some of the better seafood restaurants in the Delmarva area. It’s relatively fresh, cooked well, and is brought out via friendly service. The décor fits the food, but you’re still sitting outside in Falls Church eating fish…
My Mahi-​Mahi fish tacos were fine. Again, fresh, prepared pretty well, and brought out with a smiling face. I was disappointed with the sides though, especially the black beans. Lots of salty flavor and not much else. The corn tortillas tasted like they had been sitting around for a while. The rice was rice, and the cabbage was relatively tasteless for how colorful it was.
Like I mentioned above, the service was really good. Our waiter was attentive and brought everything quickly.
If this place could be picked up and transplanted from Falls Church to Ocean City it would fit right in. It’s literally a beach restaurant stuck in the middle of Downtown. I’m not so sure the whole vibe works though. It was just weird for me to be eating this kind of food in the city and not at the beach.
You could certainly do a lot worse than Clare and Don’s if you’re in the mood for some seafood. You could also do much better, but who am I to tell you where to eat?
Recommended with reservations.

Was here for dinner tonight and we enjoyed the food ambiance, it reminds me of The Keys !
We ordered fried pickles shrimp and grits shrimp basket and key lime pie, everything was tasty and good,
Def will be coming back, thank you Clare and Don !

Was in DC. On vacation. Cousin lives in Virginia. Sent him a text. See if he’s available. He’s available. Asked if he wanted to meet. He wanted to meet. We met. He picked me up. Took me to dinner. We go to Clare and Don’s. Local establishment, he says. Very popular with the locals, he says. He was correct. Local. Popular.
Waiter comes. We order the same thing. Bizarre. We are related, though. Same taste. Make sense.
Crab. Fish. Clams. Oysters. Scallops. All fried. All good. Deep fried things are good.
Oreo thing for dessert. Was good. Recommend.
Overate. Had to be rolled out. Felt like Violet on Willy Wonka.
Come to Clare & Don’s. Good food. Not great food. Good food. Enjoy. Don’t end up like Violet. Walk out on your own.

Super chill, good food, nice staff. Love the relaxed vibes I get there especially being the fact that we are no where near a beach.
Good drinks, and all around fun

My family and I came here for dinner on a weekend night and it wasn’t too bad when we got there. But it got really busy really fast. We opted for sitting outside but there’s plenty of room inside. The owner walks around, talking to guests and our server, Marco, was attentive despite being the bartender as well. I got the grapefruit crush and yum! So delicious. I’ve never had it until I went to this place.
They don’t have happy hour options but the prices are not bad at all for the amount of food that they give. We shared nachos and fried pickles for appetizers. Both were delicious. The fried pickles are perfectly fried and you’re able to pick from different types of nachos. I got the buffalo chicken with tater tots. My sister got the fries but I recommend trying the tots instead! So good. I’ve found that most restaurants that aren’t chains are always better and this is definitely a wonderful family owned restaurant!

Excellent vegetarian options! The most accommodating menu with protein replacement I’ve seen in the DMV. Who knew?
Fried pickles — yes!
Dirty rice veggie style with tofu? Thanks! Tofu was tasty and so were veggies. Not greasy. Not bland. Not fried. Rice was nice, not sticky, and had decent spice.
Bloody Mary — excellent.
Maybe service could have been a tad more attentive — but live reggae was more than enough to make up for that.

We pulled in and immediately loved the atmosphere. Opted to eat inside although the weather was nice Inside the ambiance was really beat signed flip flops on the wall was unique décor. We had the guacamole and chips which was very good and fresh. Then I had the coconut chicken and fries. Very good but not a fan of the sauce it was served with. Tory had the buffalo chicken sandwich, she said was good but messy! Lol. We will be back as we
Know others in the family will love also

Love Clare and Don’s Beach Shack. It’s the best inland beach bar I’ve ever seen. The food is good but the atmosphere, at least for me, is the biggest draw.
C&Ds features an expansive, tiki torch-​adorned patio replete with Jack Johnson, regaee and Jimmy Buffet tunes. Extra bonus because C&D’s is right across from the State theater making this a perfect pre-​/​post-​concert stop for a drink and a snack.
I’ve been several times. The service is good and the wait staff is generally friendly and competent. They feature many tropical/​beachy cocktails as well as a full selction of beers, including IPAs. I’ve had gator tail, mahi mahi and ceviche and hush puppies here. The ceviche is outstanding as are the hush puppies — the gator tail is a nice novelty item but generally a pretty tasteless friend concotion and it’s difficult to taste more than the breading.
This is a fun bar with a great beachy feel — perfect for California Dreamin’

Love this place… ice cold beer but it’s in a can or draft. no bottles.the salad was very good. also had the flank steak w the lobster tail which was really good and the Brussel sprouts were amazing. great place to go straight from work to have a few cold ones
The place got packed fast and our server did a great job
Definitely glad I tried it out

I have to say when we were going out to eat the last thing I was expecting in Virginia was a place like Claire and dons. Claire and dons definitely stands out in this neighborhood. The theme here is a beachy island feel very very bright colors inside a tiki hut an outdoor bar area.
The food that is served at Claire and dons is mostly seafood but they do have some land options like grilled chicken and seven burgers on their menu. They do offer vegan and vegetarian options as well as gluten-​free their menu highlights these options very well. We started off with an appetizer of grouper fingers which is essentially A piece of grouper that is deep-​fried. The grouper fingers were pretty good the sauce that came with the grouper fingers was very good I could put that on just about anything I here. I ended up ordering the shredded chicken tacos I was very surprised at how good my tacos were the marinade that they use for the chicken was very good it was served with a side of some dirty rice and refried beans they came with A sauce that was a worse to Shir and brown sugar mix I don’t exactly know what was in the sauce but it was pretty good. Another person I was with they had the group or dinner another person I was with they had the grouper dinner. And another person that I was with had a grouper sandwich they both said their food is very good. Our waiter and staff here was very knowledgeable on the menu I would ask where they got certain items from and they were able to answer right away most of the things that are on their menu come from around the area and the Potomac River.
There bar area has televisions where they had sports games on they did seem like they had a good selection of beers draft and imported. Outside by the Tiki hut area it seems to be very crowded there were a lot of people outside drinking and that seems like the spot to be. I was I was told by a local that usually they do have live music playing at this location.
Overall I do recommend coming to Claire and Don’s if you want to try something different the atmosphere is really cool here and laid-​back the staff is very friendly and they are knowledgeable on the menu the sea food that they serve here does come from around the area and it’s nice to see A restaurant that is so different in this area I do recommend trying Claire and dons.

I loved this place.
The place looks like a shack. I guess that is what the owners wanted it to look like. I had ordered crab cakes which was full of crab meat. The fish fries were OK .
In Summers, they open the patio and they have live music as well.
Pretty much a good place.

Disclaimer: I’ve only been here once, on a cold, ridiculously crowded Saturday night. I have every intention of making another visit and, when I do, will update this review as needed.
Husband, who had to cancel at the last minute due to illness, had been hesitant to go when we first made plans as he recalled C&D’s to be not very vegetarian friendly. I don’t know if he is misremembering or if they’ve changed, but there are now a ton of veg options, which is nice.
So I met three friends, inside, at 7:30 on a Saturday when it was really too cold to be sitting outside so it was MAD packed inside. We were seated near the bar and people were all over the place waiting for tables. It was so loud that we joked about texting to one another as it would have been easier to communicate that way than to shout over the din.
Food overall was decent, but not great. I had the fried pickles which were mediocre with a bland batter, and the peel-​and-​eat shrimp which were cooked fine but had the seasoning (Old Bay, I’m pretty sure) dumped on it clumps instead of more evenly distributed. I mostly attribute that to how busy they must have been in the kitchen. Friends had fish and chips (which were fine) and scallops, which were very well cooked, if nothing else.
Beer choices are mediocre, especially on tap. Most choices are in cans, which does go with the whole beach theme, I must admit.
Service was fine, nothing special. My friend’s class had a HUGE crack in it – no sharp bits but it was obviously one step away from a giant piece of it falling out. Waiter was apologetic, whisked the glass away with just a sip left in it, and returned with a free half of a glass. Half a glass? I mean, sure, who complains about free beer, thanks guy, it was just weird to me.
So I’ll go back sometime when it isn’t so crowded, probably when it’s warmed and we can sit outside with the dog. Will update then.