Issue link: http://southshoremagazine.uberflip.com/i/165447
great tastes Wood's Seafood "A Typical New England Clam Shack" By Maryellen Dever, Photography by Mindi Sokoloski On a recent early spring day, the bright sky and perfect blue water of Plymouth Harbor teased people with the promise of the coming summer. By 11:30am, the lunch crowd, including a busload of senior citizens from a neighboring town, lined up at Wood's seafood, eager to taste summer too. The daily catch, delivered from Boston earlier that morning, was already displayed at the fish market; ready to be cooked to order for each hungry customer. By noon, the line was almost out the door, with people ordering anything from fish and chips to fresh lobster rolls, served with "just a little mayo on top," according to owner Jay Kimball. Wood's has been a fixture at the Plymouth Town Pier since the 1920's, starting out as a fish market. The restaurant, overlooking Plymouth Harbor, was added in 1957, and has, in Kimball's opinion, the best view of any restaurant in the area. Kimball, Wood's fourth owner, purchased the restaurant and fish market in August 1989. He had been the listing real estate agent selling the business, but during the real estate market crash of the time, prospective buyers could not get financing from banks. He knew a good opportunity when he saw it, and was able to get the financing to purchase the business himself. Wood's had been closed from Friday night to Sunday morning for a few years before his tenure, so that was the first change he made to jump-start the business. He cheerfully points out that he's open "every day of the year except for three – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter." Kimball says his 55-seat restaurant has the ambiance of a "typical New England clam shack", with the quality of the food first and foremost. The menu includes fried whole clams, fried Plymouth oysters, seafood platters, a variety of grilled and broiled fish, steamers, chowder and bisques, non-seafood items, and even a "clambake for one". Meals, ordered and picked up at windows next to the fish market, are served fittingly on paper plates. When asked whether alcohol is served, the answer is yes, but "it's wicked simple – Bud, Bud Light, O'Doul's, and four different wines." A meal at Wood's will be "not fancy, but excellent." Customers who choose to eat at the restaurant's clean wooden tables are seated on a first come-first served basis. 70