Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My favorite Jersey shore food is the steak sandwich at Midway:
Midway Steak House
Webster Ave & Boardwalk.
Seaside Heights, NJ.(732) 830-2666

It's pretty much a steak-um smothered with processed cheese-food, peppers and onions on a hoagie roll... I would never want to see the calorie count, but damn it's good.

Lobster rolls from the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME. Local rolls. Your choice of melted butter or mayo.

I live in Delaware, so when I see "shore food", I think NJ. But my favorite seaside food comes from Capt. Bill's Restaurant in Morehead City, NC. Served right on the water, surrounded by seagulls and hungry cats, the food is fresh off the boat. I like the fried fish dinner -- and the hush puppies are wonderful. That's one thing the north needs to adopt: hush puppies. Wish I was there right now.

Fried clams are the perfect way to end any beach trip, in my opinion.

I was brought up in Brooklyn, N.Y.,and as a kid ,I visited my grandmother in Brighton Beach. We would walk on the boardwalk and my mouth would water until I bought a potato knish. Later in my life, I would go t o Nathan's in Coney Island, with my boyfriend(eventually husband) , and have a softshell crab sandwich, and fries-my favorite meal. Today, I go to the Jersey Shore, and wherever I go, I find the freshest cherrystone clams, and I still look for softshell crabs. I've made myself hungry just writing about it !!!

fried whole clams, anywhere on Long Beach Island, NJ

The lobster roll (with butter; no mayo, please) at PJ's in Wellfleet, our first stop every August on the road to P-Town.

I am a New Orleanian who lived outside of Boston for 6 years and when I think of shore food, I can not help but think of Kelly's on the beach in Revere MA. I have had a lobster roll at the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport and they are good, but there is just something about Kelly's. They make a great lobster roll and the beef is fantastic.

I grew up on Roast beef PoBoys but I do love the roast beef joints in New England - rare beef and sauce on a bun. Kelly's is the best. Though I am sure that will spark controversy if only with my wife. Some how even the ginger ale taste better at Kelly's. It is definitely what I think of when someone mentions shore food.

P.S. intheyearofthepig, Uglesich's is closed maybe forever, but not because of Katrina. They actually closed before the storm. Anthony wanted to retire and the next generation did not want to take over. However, Anthony and Gail are rumored to be bored with retirement so ...

Clams - whole - either steamed or fried, made with Ipswich clams. Now that's summer. I don't think you can get these outside of New England.

Here in WNY, our shore food usually consists of charcoal grilled hot dogs....we don't eat Lake Erie fish!
The old stand by fish fry is always great though....homemade salads, and fresh fried haddock...can't get much better than that!

Sack O' Subs!

i have a big soft spot for coney island, so whenever i'm there i have to get my hands on some clams--i'll take them from any stand on the boardwalk (perferrably whichever is closer when the craving hits). fabulous every time.

Lobster dinner from Two Lights Lobster Shack on Cape Elisabeth, Me.

Alas, my favorite shore food is no longer available in it's original form. My mother grew up in Rhode Island and her father was the cook in the family. He made the best clam chowder. It was a brothy, tomato-laced chowder that was thickened with unsalted soda cracker crumbs. Every bite was laden with fat bits of freshly shucked and stewed clams. My mom and uncle can make it, but they take short cuts like using canned lams. The horror! Likewise my grandfather's "clam cakes". These are just chopped clams in a soft batter that are deep-fried and to die for. Sigh. Some memories just can't ever be recaptured!

Shore food in the Midwest means walleye on the campfire!

Mine has to be a Hawaiian Ahi sandwich from Brennecke’s Beach Broiler at Poipu Beach on Kauai island. Sitting on the outside deck on top of the restaurant, listening to the waves, eating the sandwich and sipping on a beer. *sigh*

Nothing beats steamed lobster. Nothing.

Steamed clams from, um, my house.

Step one: go to the beach from 3-7 (because it's not as crowded at that time and the sun isn't as dangerous)

Step two: walk two blocks out of our way to the restaurant that also has a wee fish market to pick up clams.

Step three: While the clams are steaming in a white wine/tomato/onion mixture, cut up some veggies for a big salad, maybe steam some corn also.

Step four: Mangia.

My parents got tired of rushing us home from the beach in order to get us kids all cleaned up just to go wait 2 hours for a table at a mediocre restaurant, so they started cooking more dinners at our rented shore house. Plus, we're all very pale, so it's not good for us to be out in the sun during the high intensity hours (10-4). So our tradition is to go and stay late at the beach, then have some cheese & crackers with our cocktails while a quick, easy dinner is started. That's what "shore food" really conjures up for me.

That being said, the BBQ at Porky's outside of OCNJ is pretty darn good too. Plus, it's off the island so it usually isn't as packed as the other places.

I was not on the ocean, but on the great lakes, but Old Man River in Tonawanda, NY along the Niagara River & near niawanda park was my favorite. Great hot dogs (some unusual ones) and ice cream.

There's a review at http://artvoice.com/menus/old_man_river

Fried clam rolls in Newport, Rhode Island!

I have to vote for steamed blue crabs, just caught that morning, covered in Old Bay seasoning. I just had some this weekend, and nothing else says summer at the shore.

Forgot to say: hot-from-the-oven blueberry pie for dessert, made with hand-picked wild blueberries and a good lard crust, with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on the side.

hot dogs at the Windmill in Long Branch.

i like the fried clams from howards, and the lobsters at five islands in maine with key lime pie from the little house next door. yumm

Fried Oyster Po' Boys

Husband and I went to Hilton Head, SC for our honeymoon -- the crab claws overflowing everywhere were unforgettable!

and from any where that offers it. Besides that, I loved Red Snapper from Sensi in Las Vegas

A dozen Cherrystones on the half shell pre-polution days on the way to Beach Haven

The best shore food is any fish, bivalve, or crustacean that you catch yourself and have on the table a short time after.

Fried clams from one of the North Shore joints: Clam Box, Farnham's, Essex Seafood, Kelly's. (I like Woodman's less.)

Steamer clams and lobster boiled in seawater in a dockside shack along the Maine coast north of Portland. I won't disclose my favorite, since it's already difficult enough to park there.

Steamed lobster at a simple, inexpensive restaurant anywhere in the New England region, right on the shore.

Grilled bluefish and Alaskan King Crab Legs at the Lobster House on City Island, Bronx, NY.

Linguine with shrimp and lobster in an alfredo sauce, or just about anything else on the menu, at Artie's Steak and Seafood Restaurant on City Island.

Stew Leonard's Manhattan Clam Chowder prepared at home and any fish I grill work too.

Clams in any form--fried, on the half-shell, in chowder, on pasta--go the distance in augmenting any oceanic experience.

Y'all make those clams and lobster rolls sound so tasty! Here on the other side I go for the fresh King Salmon. It's so easy to fix all the costal restaurants do a good job. Or just go down to the docks and buy one from that days catch right off the boat and take it home. The salmon from the cold Alaskan waters is too lean for my taste--I prefer the fattier central California fish. And as for crabs, the early season Dungeness crabs are mighty hard to beat.

Steamed blue crabs with a load of Old Bay anywhere on the Chesapeake Bay.

My Favorite is an "oyster burger". Fried oysters with a spicy mayo. It rests on a bun with lettuce. It is similar to a Po' Boy for this region. You can find it along the Northern Oregon coastline. Especially good in Cannon Beach.