Husband-and-wife team, Debra & Andrew Ackerman, opened Scales & Shells in 1987 with the hope of bringing the delicious, yet unpretentious, cooking style they fell in love with while living in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy to Newport, RI. Here you’ll find seafood dishes in their purest form – simple, fresh and full of flavor.
We seat first come, first served in our main dining room & in our oyster room, 1/2 Shell. Join us for a lively atmosphere with a large open kitchen, friendly staff & flavorful seafood!
Mesquite-grilled fish & vegetarian pastas, plus a raw bar, in a bi-level, open-kitchen setting. Based on 441 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.2 stars. Price
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Takeout ✔️ No delivery
Address:
527 Thames St, Newport, RI 02840
Phone: (401) 846-3474
Website:
Social Profile: 
Hours
| Wednesday |
5–9 PM |
| Thursday |
5–9 PM |
| Friday |
5–10 PM |
| Saturday |
11 AM–2 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Sunday |
11 AM–2 PM, 5–9 PM |
| Monday |
5–9 PM |
| Tuesday |
Closed |
Menu
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Menu Photos
Photo Gallery
Reviews
Gregory Wilson
My favorite seafood restaurant in Newport. They don’t accept reservations, so waits can be discouraging. The menu on the blackboard changes often ensuring everything is fresh. Servers are focused. Upstairs is quieter, but the menu is limited. Only regret is they can’t seem to keep their fabulous clam pizza available. Still, this is one of Newport’s best.
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Scott McDonald
This is a complicated post. First the service, perfect! We even had a trainee and she did a great job and was backed up by an experienced server. The atmosphere is fun and open, however, it’s pretty loud. It was not too busy when we were there but still loud. The food, while very tasty and fresh, was a bit off. We had 5 different dishes and while we ate them all, all of them could have been better. The fish was fresh but the combinations or sauces could have been better, or more of it.
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Paul Leonardo (Paulie2260)
It’s just a great place to go have a great meal. Everything and everyone was perfect. Our waitress was terrific. My cherrystone clams on the half shell were perfect. My wife had little necks also perfect, and we also shared grilled octopus, which was outstanding. For dinner, she had grilled salmon, I had linguini with clams and calamari in a red sauce…OMG, so freaking good. The dessert was fantastic. I forgot the name of it, but there’s a photo of it, the one with whipped cream, as if I had to mention it. We’ve been here before and will be back again. You won’t regret dining here. It was excellent from start to finish….
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Steve Liechty
Cool place with interesting options. Food and service is great. Lots of seafood options. Brunch is good but not a big menu. Brunch drinks are really good.
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Trent Ransom
A must-go place in RI.
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Katie Lee
One of my favorite restaurants of all time! If you do have time to visit Newport, come to this restaurant and definitely order the lobster fra diavolo; it is so delicious and they give you so much seafood and pasta.
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Gabriela Arriaga
We got there following a delicious smell. It was a great find, hosts were super nice, they were busy and we had to wait but no problem. Best decision ever. The server Jillian was awesome, food came really fast and it was DELICIOUS. Definitely going back
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Ben Reynolds
Scales & Shells provided one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. Lovely atmosphere, top notch service and a meal I won’t soon forget. This now my top spot in Newport.
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Jay Files
First visit to Newport from Hartford area. We ran into a nice women who recommended Scales & Shells when we stopped for lunch in Putnam. She said it is her favorite restaurant in the world (and it sounded like she had done a lot of traveling). So we had to try it. Absolutely the right decision!
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Maryellen Sharples
We ate in the restaurant on the 2nd floor. We were seated but we decided to leave. Some customers were very loud. The waitress offered us the outside porch, which was wonderful. We had our own private spot. It was perfect.
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