New England vs. Manhattan Clam Chowder: What's the Difference?

TASTE OF HOME Home Recipes Dishes & Beverages Soups Chowders

New England vs. Manhattan Clam Chowder: What’s the Difference?

TASTE OF HOME

By Hayley Schueneman

Taste of Home's Editorial Process

Published on Oct. 23, 2025 Save Saved Saving

You'll know it when you see it.

My very first job was as a host in a local restaurant, and one of my opening shift duties was to write all the daily specials on a board next to the host stand. One Saturday morning, I printed off the specials and went to work. The soups of the day were beef barley soup and Manhattan clam chowder. Since I was running out of space on the board, I just wrote “clam chowder.”

If you’re a chowder fan, then you know exactly where this is going. But at 16, I had never heard of Manhattan c