A Bit of Boston

This is an excellent restaurant that has gotten even better under new ownership. The owner is involved and professional and has a stable, attentive staff. The quality and value are exceptional, especially the AYCE fried shrimp offered more than once a week. The chowder is the real deal. Try the Captain’s Platter for great variety, and they will vary the type of preparation of the items to suit you. I’m partial to the fried shrimp and clams with blackened fish and scallops. Don’t be surprised if you have some left over to take home. The recently added Red Shrimp are a wonderful surprise. And if you are not inclined to seafood there are ample other tasty offerings that won’t disappoint. The décor is simple but the place is clean and comfortable. The service has always matched the great food and we’ve been there many times in the past few years. Give it a try, you’ll be glad you did.

I’ve eaten here twice. Once a year when I come to Florida to visit an older friend. Owners changed. The food was never highly seasoned, but now it’s just bland. I know this is a town of retired people and I’ve also heard that seniors lose their ability to taste after a while. But that’s all the more reason to add flavor to food. You can season fish without adding salt. Fresh lemon or lime, fresh parsley or cilantro, cracked black pepper, paprika, and celery seed to name a few. If it’s difficult for them to taste the food, give them plenty of fresh flavors. Or at least offer an herb seasoning option for those of us with our taste buds still left. My 73 year old friend said to me as we were eating «There’s no flavor to this food». If she can taste the absence of flavor, I bet you the others can taste it too.

Excellently prepared seafood in a casual atmosphere. Not one thing in the Captain’s Platter was overcooked. Get here early. The regulars come in quickly. Great service. Hidden gem, folks.

Awfully slow! Especially for fried food!!! When I asked why it was slow, I was told it depended on what I ordered… Really? Fried clams and French fries? It wasn’t even busy.

Great food. We had two dinners and one lunch during our vacation. All food is freshly prepared. The owner is active in the kitchen and is very friendly to visitors.
One of the best places to eat in Venice.
Amber and Lorenzo were great servers.

Super– Wicked –AWESOME…Grew up in Somerset, Ma, and I LOVE chowder and seafood. My husband and I have been to MANY Chowdah Cookoffs and Festivals. Bit of Boston has hit the mark for #1 New England Clam Chowder for us. We had clam cakes which were very yummy with actual pieces of chopped clam. Their cole slaw is top-​shelf in my book! The fried cod (all-​you-​can-​eat today) was perfectly done, a nice, thin batter. Started coming here in May 2014 and it was good then but since the change in ownership, it has become FANTASTIC! It is clean and relaxed. The staff is very friendly. If you like chowder, cakes and seafood at decent prices, this is the number one spot in ALL of Sarasota County.

Stopped in and had lunch at A Bit of Boston and it was my first time visiting. I ordered the Lobster Roll. I LOVED it! Food was great! Staff was great! Can’t wait to go back!

Went here due to Unilocal reviews and it did not hit a home run. Husband ordered the fried oysters and I got a hamburger. Waiter was bit ditzy because about the time we should be getting dinner he came back to ask how I wanted the burger, I said medium.
Another 10 minutes and dinner delivered. Husbands oysters were dried out and probably sat there while my burger was fired. My burger arrived rare not medium, which doesn’t happen anywhere I eat.
Had to chase down the waiter to get our bill, asked if we should pay at register, he said no he’d take it but then he went to a table of 8 to take their order. Huh? We paid at register and will not return. There are better restaurants for the same price.

After moving out of Venice 2.5 years ago we couldn’t wait to have lunch at Bit of Boston one of our favorite restaurants we were very disappointed with the quality of food there was no flavor and the sides wee lousy. So sad to see this happen to once a great restaurant

It wasn’t hard to find. Pulled in, walked in then felt lost AF. Someone in the kitchen asks if we’re picking up we say no then asks if we need a table we say yes he says okay you can go grab a seat off to the right. We say okay head on over and this massive sign in which I didn’t take a picture of stated wait to be seated or some crap like that so we’re standing because well the sign says so. And we standing there for idk 15 20 seconds and get approached by a waitress who says sit anywhere that’s clean. We find a spot and get asked for drinks and are given our menus. After taking 48 285 pictures (for you guys) I finally actually start to explore and I see hush puppies about died because being from New England we’ve got the best! So I’m super excited!!! Then see a philly cheese steak and I am super hesitant on getting it due to my past experiences of purchasing philly cheese steak. Waitress comes over My man orders a boring burger with little to nothing on side of fries and rice and a coke (free refills) and bbq sauce. I joyfully say I want 4 hush puppies … I then get told we don’t have any and I’m like what? Apparently they need new menus and no matter how much they’ve tried to make them they turn out like crap and people complained too much so it’s no longer offered… Disappointment -.- moving on I place my philly cheese steak order terrified knowing prior ones I’ve tried all over. As we wait some rude ass lady loudly says «this taste like sh**» and some guy at that table rudely belches our waitress being the only one there for the night comes over to see how they are doing and this lady is just rude to her and is like take this I’m not even going to eat this take it off the bill blah blah blah. Well idk wtf the lady ordered but she could have been more polite about it. She of course apologized for the inconvenience of the food (even though everyone knows is hardly ever the waitresses fault since THEY ARENT THE ONES MAKING IT) Idk. So at that point I was a little concerned with what we had ordered since no one was in there just anther table of two besides that crappy table. Our food comes over and I’m just looking at my philly like wth is this? Where is the cheese. ?! But for the first time I don’t say anything I’m all in hoping this is gonna be awesome. And typically I would say something because once your waitress walks away dude they don’t come back for another 10 min after your food goes to crap. Anyway at the same time we both bite into our sandwiches and… Both about died. Dude he loved the burger we found out it’s the owners recipe who’s the chef. And I felt like I was back home in CT it’s been years since I had a good philly and this NAILED IT!!! great amount of cheese and it was an American Swiss blend! I’ve had the hardest time trying to figure out the best Philly cheese steak cheese to top it off with and this is the winner! It stays at a nice gooey consistency doesn’t get cold and hard and doesn’t taste like that fake crap they usually put on. Broccoli was ok. Said rice was disgusting. Disappointed by not receiving the bbq sauce. On top of refilling drinks. About 11bucks for mine including tip and 15bucks for his burger thing. Deff come here for philly and burger! Fries are awesome too if you love those crispy fries!

Lobster rolls! We had both kinds — first, the hot one that featured big chunks of fresh, perfectly prepared cold water lobster served on a toasted bun with a side of melted butter, which was eaten on the spot. The second came home to be eaten later… Though not much later! It was the same generous serving of sweet lobster, but this time lightly tossed with mayonnaise and bits of celery. Do not let Bit of Boston’s humble exterior fool you — excellent food and service found inside.

.I’m from Medford Ma (5 miles from the fish pier) & Scituate Ma (on the coast, due south of Boston). Also a snowbird in Venice. I ate at Bit of Boston tonight, or should I say I tried it… the scallops were horrible! Tasteless very rubbery and when I cut into them, they looked like no scallop I’ve ever seen. if you’re from Boston skip it. I does not do Boston justice. Was NOT wicked good. wicked bad

Good food, good service. Just wish they used a little more salt and seasoning in there fried calamari. New England clam chowda is really good tho!

Fantastic food and even better service! These folks were great. The food was fresh and delicious. It came out very quick. My drink was always full thanks to the great-​looking young gal that I had (I think her name was Heather). She took great care of me as if I were her only table (and trust me, they were busy as hell!) Worth every penny! Will definitely return next time I’m in town.

On a recommendation I visited a bit of boston for lunch with my family. I spent my life in MA and know how good seafood can taste. My parents grew up on the cape and have taken me to some really nice seafood restaurants.
The place itself is a little hole in the wall (nothing wrong with that), but the décor in the dining room is nothing to write home about. It is dark colors and dreary. I was disappointed by the prices on the menu but decided to give it a try and see if the food was worth the price (good NE style seafood is hard to find in the south).
I tried the clam chowder (5.25 $) and the fish and chips (11 $).
Sadly, our waitress was not the most attentive. The bowl of clam chowder came out but after a few minutes I hadn’t received my drink. I was waiting for my drink to take my pill before eating and had to eventually go up and ask for it before my soup cooled off too much.
The clam chowder was so-​so. I would eat it again but my preference is for a different taste. The soup was thin enough but had too much of a creamy taste for my preference. To me, I have had much better. It reminded me of the clam chowder you can pick up at Sams (no joke). We also had a very similar one served in the cafeterias at UMass Amherst. They only gave one small packet of crackers which were also lacking in taste a bit. For over 5 $ I expected more soup.
The fish and chips came out shortly after. My water was almost empty but the waitress did not notice. The fries were very good (exactly what we had at UMass). Keep these fries!!! The fish was very skinny. I can’t remember if it came with one or two pieces of fish, but I was again underwhelmed by the portion size. For 11 $ I expected more fish. The fish itself was cooked very nice being moist and had a good flavor, but the breading they used was dry and bland tasting; a shame really. If they could improve their breading they would have a nice tasting fish. Shockingly the fish and chips were NOT served with a slice of lemon! My drink of water had a lemon in it… Yea, that alone is seafood blaspheme.
At this point my water was empty and I set it in front for the waitress to notice. After a few minutes the waitress did not notice, instead she was tidying up the menus already on the tables… I had to flag her down for more water. Sadly other people in the restaurant kept needing to ask the waitress for specific things as well. She probably means well, but was just not swift or attentive for whatever reason (spacy is a good word to describe it).
I was hopeful for some ‘wicked awesome’ seafood. Sadly I left feeling underwhelmed, underfed, and overpriced. Never a good feeling.
If the bowl of clam chowder was 3 $ and the fish and chips were 6 $ I would consider it a fair price. At the prices they ask I do not.
I think there is potential here to be a good restaurant. I would recommend tweaking the fish breading and either lowering the prices or increasing the portion sizes (both would be nice). Recruit a better waitress and make the dining room more cheerful (less dark colors). Good luck guys!

I so wanted to like this place, but at the end of the meal the food simply was not up to par. Server was extremely nice, had it not been for him I would have left very unhappy for the meal. Highlights of the meal were clam chowder and clam cakes. Chowder was legit, some of the best I have ever had. Clam cakes are basically hush puppies with pieces of clam, not dense but light and fluffy. Whole belly clams were HUGE, so much so that we didn’t eat but a few. Onion rings come in a huge order, but their downfall was how greasy they were, literally dripping grease. Look I know it’s all fried but it should not be dripping and leave a pool of grease on the plate. I will give them credit, ingredients are as close to authentic as possible with some items being brought in from Boston. Maybe we hit them on a bad day, but it was just ok overall. Stick to chowder and clam cakes for a filling lunch.

I just got back from ABOB a few minutes ago with my fiancé, and we both spent the last 20 minutes in the car raving about how great of a place it is. We are from DC, but my family has been coming to Sarasota ever since I can remember, and although a lot of tourist traps spatter the coast line, its always nice to find a true local treasure.
Service:
Our server was one of the nicest, most organized, and attentive servers I’ve ever had. He was one of their managers, but was filling in for one of the regular servers. As someone who spent many years in the service industry, I know good service when I see it, and believe me, I saw it today. He was quick to get us our drinks, put the main food on hold so we could finish our appetizers, checked in to make sure we were doing well, refilled our drinks, and only chatted with us when we were ready to chat.
Food:
No frills, simple, and delicious. I had the lobster roll, and she had the blackened cod sandwich. My perfectly toasted roll was stuffed with fantastic lobster, and her blackened cod sandwich was probably the best fish sandwich I’ve ever had. Their coleslaw was fresh and light, their fries were crispy on the outside and soft on inside and not too salty. Their clam chowder is unbelievably good, and their beer is ice cold (I had the Boston Lager).
Atmosphere:
Low key and not at all pretentious. We came in after spending the morning at Caspersen. I was sweating from the sun, sticky from the sunscreen, and wet from the waves, and they never batted and eye. There were a few people our age (25 – 30), and a few older couples.
Overall:
I cannot describe how happy we are that we found this place, and we will absolutely return every time we visit Florida.

Suprisingly great food! Friendly, homey place, real food. Food as good as New England!
We had Caesar salad, hamburger sliders, sweet potato fries, clam chowder (wow!), Ipswich clams, calamari, onion rings. All fantastic.
Good value, great service, no complaints! Owner boxed up leftovers and graciously accepted our compliments!

Would NEVER have found this place without help from Unilocal nation.
Completely non-​descript little dive-​ish strip center bostonian themed seafood bar.
Easy to drive past and small parking lot provides insufficient spaces even during off hours — don’t give up if you find this place, it’s worth driving a little out of the way for.
I’d like to start with the New England Clam Chowder; heavenly, soulful, velvety, rich. I could add a half dozen more adjectives but you get the idea. I’ve found no better clam chowder south of the Mason-​Dixon line. Ever. (now, that’s not to say that low country SC she-​crab soup isn’t wonderful in its own rite…)
Our little group dined on the shrimp roll platter, the blackened grouper platters and fried [lightly] breaded oysters. Salads, cole slaw, french fries served as suitable sides.
The shrimp were rated a solid B entry, smaller than avg for the area and bit tough, but the remaining entrees rated A/​A+. Oysters freshly shucked and prepared were outstanding.
Service: not stellar — our gal seemed unfocused during mid afternoon but didn’t detract too much from the overall experience. [You Southies will think just like home]
I’ll be coming back often and living on that Clam Chowder!

Holy mother. This place is extremely awesome. I have not had seafood like this ever in Florida. The fried clams were as good say any fried clams I’ve had in Ipswich, Mass. The fried cod sandwich was to die for. It’s not a fancy place, nor is it a fancy location. But the food is incredibly good quality. I can’t wait to go back!
Oh and I almost forgot. Go here and have the clam chowder. Yes, this is what clam chowder is supposed to taste like, people. It’s like liquid gold.