Raw Bar Near Me in the West Village: The Clam's Leroy Tower

The Clam sits on the corner of Hudson and Leroy Streets at 420 Hudson Street, and if you want a raw bar near me in the West Village that also cooks, this is the room. Oysters from the East and West Coast run 3 for $15 or 6 for $30, six hand-raked Long Island littlenecks are $16, and the two-tier Leroy Tower is $125. The location page lists lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 10 pm.

The Clam opened its doors in 2014. The chef and co-owner is Mike Price, who grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore and was the opening chef at The Mermaid Inn back in 2003, so this is his second turn running a New York seafood kitchen. His partner is Joey Campanaro, the owner of Little Owl on Bedford Street. The two had already opened Market Table together in 2007, and all of these rooms sit under their Blackfoot Hospitality group.

That background explains the menu's split personality. Half of it is a proper cold bar, with oysters, poached Gulf shrimp, littlenecks and crudo. The other half is the stuff Price clearly likes to cook: New England clam chowder, a lobster salad with a clam slider, and Buffalo clam strips. The restaurant's own site names the chowder, the lobster salad and the fried clam strips as the dishes it is known for.

Oysters are sold three or six at a time, at $15 and $30, and the selection mixes East and West Coast varieties. The poached Gulf shrimp follow the same math, also 3 for $15 or 6 for $30. Six hand-raked Long Island littlenecks cost $16, which makes the clams the best-value plate on the raw side and the right order if the name on the awning is the reason you came.

The Leroy Tower is built for two or three people. For $125 you get two tiers holding eight oysters, four shrimp, four raw clams, a Maine lobster tail dressed spicy louie style, and a Peruvian ceviche. The St. Lukes Royale adds a third tier with kampachi crudo and an ounce of osetra caviar for $225. If you would rather keep it lighter, the Kampachi Crudo on its own is $26 and the Peruvian Ceviche is $25.

The New England Clam Chowder is $18 and is the dish to order even on a warm night. The Clam Dip comes with zesty potato chips for $19, and the Lobster Salad & Clam Slider is $24. The Buffalo Clam Strips, at $22, are the bar snack of the house: fried strips tossed the way you would toss wings. Fresh-cut spaghetti with clams is $36 and is the one large plate most tables share.

Here is the honest call. The St. Lukes Royale at $225 is mostly paying for the ounce of caviar on the top tier. Two people get more pleasure from the $125 Leroy Tower plus a bowl of chowder and an order of clam strips, which together land well under the Royale and cover both sides of the kitchen. The fall menu currently leans on delicata squash, pumpkin gelato and a concord grape panna cotta if you want something sweet.

Happy hour runs Tuesday to Friday from 3 to 5 pm. In that window a Cucumber Cooler is $10, a glass of the house white, red or rosé is $10, and a Narragansett Lager is $5. It is a drinks-only deal, so the oysters stay at their usual 3 for $15, but it is still the cheapest way to sit at a picture window with a plate of littlenecks on a weekday afternoon.

Outside happy hour, the Narragansett draft is $8. The house martini is the Brine and Dandy, made with olive oil-washed, horseradish-infused Tito's for $21, and it tastes the way it sounds, savory and sharp, a natural match for a tray of clams. The wine list runs heavily to whites, and the current list includes 2025 bottles such as Domaine Gavoty's Le Cigale rosé and Marco de Bartoli's Lucido from Sicily.

The restaurant recommends reservations but says it sets aside tables every day for neighbors and walk-ins. In practice that means a weekday lunch or a 5 pm dinner is easy to get without planning, while Friday and Saturday at 7:30 is when the booking widget on the website is worth using. Reservations can also be requested by email at reservations@blackfoothospitality.com, the group address shared with its sister restaurants.

If the room is full and the wait runs past 30 minutes, walk north to Little Owl or head to Chelsea Market, where the Lobster Place counter sells oysters one at a time with no booking at all.

The dining room has exposed brick walls with a pearlescent finish and large picture windows that look straight onto Hudson and Leroy. In daylight it feels more like a neighborhood bistro than a fish house. The crowd matches the restaurant's own pitch: West Village neighbors who drop in for chowder at lunch, couples sharing a tower at the window, and small groups who booked ahead for a birthday spaghetti and clams.

There is outdoor seating on the sidewalk, but the location page is clear that the open-air patio is uncovered and unheated. In October that is lovely at lunch and cold by 8 pm, so book inside for dinner. Groups that want to linger should take a corner table near the windows, where the light falls nicely on a tray of ice, and keep the patio for a quick round of oysters and a $5 Narragansett on a sunny afternoon.

The Clam sits in a tight cluster of Blackfoot restaurants, and the site points out that it is within walking distance of Little Owl, Market Table and The Mary Lane. Little Owl is at 90 Bedford Street, a few minutes northeast through the quieter brownstone blocks, and the walk along Leroy Street past the townhouse row of St. Luke's Place is one of the prettiest short strolls in the neighborhood.

For a longer loop, head west on Leroy toward Hudson River Park, then walk north along the water to West 14th Street and cut inland to Chelsea Market at 75 9th Avenue. It is roughly a 20-minute walk and ends at a second raw bar if you want another dozen. Coming by subway, the official directions are to take the 1 train to Houston Street, walk one block west to Hudson Street, then two blocks north.

Address: 420 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, on the corner of Leroy Street in the West Village. Hours on the location page: Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 10 pm, with lunch specials from noon to 3:30 pm and dinner from 4 pm. Happy hour: Tuesday to Friday, 3 to 5 pm, drinks only.

Prices to plan around: oysters 3 for $15 or 6 for $30, littlenecks $16 for six, clam chowder $18, Buffalo clam strips $22, spaghetti and clams $36, the Leroy Tower $125 and the St. Lukes Royale $225. The patio is unheated and uncovered. Nearest subway: Houston Street on the 1 line, about a five-minute walk. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to line up a second stop nearby once you have finished your tower.