Springfield Restaurant Guide

Clary's Restaurant
4.5 stars (25 ratings)

(417) 886-6200

900 E. Battlefield, Suite 140
, Springfield, MO 65807

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Restaurant Description

Very contemporary with great seafood at really low prices!

In 1989, James Clary returned home after ten years in Tulsa to open Clary's, a restaurant which has become a Springfield institution for fine dining. Seven years later, he opened The Gallery Bistro in historic downtown Springfield with partner Peter Tinson. The Bistro was an immediate hit and continues to set the standard for downtown fine dining. Since returning to Springfield, James has wanted to open a casual dining restaurant that offers its patrons more affordable fine dining. As a result, James and his wife Lisa, along with Clary's Manager, Crenna Butterbaugh, created Fish. Attentive, fast, and personalized service has always been a Clary requisite, and you can expect more of the same at Fish. Our seafood is flown into Springfield from all over the world and our chefs are specifically taught to prepare fresh fish. We're sure you will agree that Fish is a "hole" new kind of seafood restaurant!
September 24, 2008 @ 5:15 AM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield Mo
Where is Clary's located...Went tonight and the restaurant was in the dark. Nothing on relcation. Did they close their doors. So Sad.,enjoyed the meals, atmosphere ok, Figured maybe New Location...Any info would surely be appreciated
March 16, 2008 @ 10:21 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Nixa, MO
Clary's from entry to leaving was overwhelming. I had the special filet and lobster this evening and the steak so tasty and the lobster hit the spot. For dessert we had the amaretto souffle that was indescribable. We made friends with Austin their General Manager rather quick when he stopped by the table to check on us. Austin, you run a great restaurant and we are two of your biggest fans.

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Avg Rating: 5  out of 5 stars

Number of Reviews: 25

September 24, 2008 @ 5:15 AM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield Mo
Where is Clary's located...Went tonight and the restaurant was in the dark. Nothing on relcation. Did they close their doors. So Sad.,enjoyed the meals, atmosphere ok, Figured maybe New Location...Any info would surely be appreciated
March 16, 2008 @ 10:21 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Nixa, MO
Clary's from entry to leaving was overwhelming. I had the special filet and lobster this evening and the steak so tasty and the lobster hit the spot. For dessert we had the amaretto souffle that was indescribable. We made friends with Austin their General Manager rather quick when he stopped by the table to check on us. Austin, you run a great restaurant and we are two of your biggest fans.
December 22, 2007 @ 4:51 PM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, MO
We use to Clary's when it was on Sunshine. Now we go to Battlefield and love it. Chef Clary comes to your table to meet and great. What a wonderful evening we had and will enjoy many more.
November 17, 2007 @ 11:04 AM
2  out of 5 stars
a diner from within an hour of springfield in the Mark Twain
My husband and I were looking for a pleasant dining experience last night (11-16-07). Price was not a factor. We found Clary's a plesant visual departure from the usual (hillbilly digs) but it fell short on food quality. My husband's fillet was (flanksteak)... My Ahi tuna was actually yellow-fin.. when I asked the waiter which it was prior to ordering..? maybe he doesn't know the diff... The presentation was great though!! Atmosphere was pretentious.
November 2, 2007 @ 1:00 AM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Ozark, MO
I love the new look at Clary's. The service and managers are all in tune to what is going on. The food was sensational and service to boot. This place never lets me down. I believe it was Ostin who brought us his home made Godiva white chocolate martini. The steak melted in my mouth and the martini quenched my sweet tooth.
July 22, 2007 @ 12:03 PM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Verona Missouri
We moved here from California 3 years ago and have been searching for a restaurant that serves the kind of food that we were used to getting there. We took a chance and made reservations on Valentines day. Not always a good time to judge a restaurant, however, we were extremely happy with our entire experience. We did have reservations. Our table was ready for us, the serve staff was excellent. The menu choices were great and the food was excellent. Loved it!!!
July 22, 2007 @ 11:50 AM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Verona Missouri
Great food. Interesting choices along with some standards. Very clean and great service.
February 27, 2007 @ 1:22 AM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield,Missouri
I heard from a co-worker about Martini & Manicure night. I recently moved here but heard this has been a tradition for quite awhile. What a good time. The martini's were absolutely fabulous, the Manicures, were fine, but cmon what do you expect for 10.00. Would I partake again. Absolutely, but next time I would definately have a DD., so I may induldge a bit more! A hint to the owner, maybe a bit more on the menu for lighter appetizers. I rate the calamari 6 stars!!! Martini's 8 !! Jan...a newbee
February 21, 2007 @ 12:52 AM
3  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, mo
I recently had the pleasure (if you can call it that) of dining at Fish last Thursday. It was recommended by 417 magazine as the best seafood restaurant in town, more on that later. The restaurant is nice, new. But you can’t help to get the feeling that it is owned by some large corporate sixteen pieces of flair type Company. Service was nice, friendly and seemed to have a great attitude but… This is supposed to be the best seafood restaurant in town. I expected more than “Hi my name is, what would you like to drink?”. After looking at the menu I knew this was not what we were looking for. We decided to lower our expectations, and take this outing as what it was, cheap eats at an ok restaurant. The bread was served, and it was good. Fried, maybe, but I liked it. I tried the lemon shrimp (A classic at any old school bistro, hard to mess up) and it was quite good. My Friend had the mussels and frites without the same results. As a recent transplant from NY, I can tell fresh mussels from frozen, and these just didn’t make the grade. We moved on to the entrée’s and things went down from there. Reading the menu descriptions was not only disgusting (some things just don’t go together), but confusing. I opted for the safe bet, seafood enchiladas, “James’ mother’s recipe”. My friend had the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. After playful banter to my friend telling her wrapping things in bacon is not only corny, but juvenile, our entrée’s came out. My enchiladas were horrible, soggy, and I could not tell what kind of “seafood” was in seafood enchiladas. The sauce didn’t even meet our lowered expectations of the restaurant. Which caused me to “eat crow” from my friend, whose best part of her dish was the juvenile bacon that was wrapped around the shrimp. Over all, I don’t know who to blame, 417 for advertising that they are the best seafood restaurant, the chef for their horrible food, or myself for believing what I read. If you want cheap eats, go to insert chain here. If you want great seafood… Look else where, I know I will.
February 15, 2007 @ 12:46 AM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Sparta, MO
My wife, Jan, and I just got done with an incredible meal at Fish for Valentines Day. The place was packed (as all restaurants are on Vday), but we got our table within 5 minutes of arriving and had superb service (thank you Travis!). Food was really well prepared and tasted great. Wine list could be better, but our waiter said a new one is coming out soon. The prices blew me away! Really was like afine dining restaurant for half the price.
February 15, 2007 @ 12:26 AM
a diner from springfield, mo
My sincerest apologies to those people who did not like my restaurant. If I had known when you were there, perhaps I could have done something for you. The problem with online reviews such as these is that no one truly knows if these are legit. I mean the good ones could be from friends of the owner and the bad ones could be form an ex employee who got fired. Right? DO NOT judge a restaurant based on this website! I have read almost every review for every restaurant in town and many, if not most, were way off base. I'm not talking about my restaurants, I'm talking about other independent restaurants in town. By the way, where are all the reviews of the chains? Maybe I'll write one for my horrific experience I recently had at a local chain. No. I have too much respect foranyone trying to make it in the tougherst business in the world. Remember this. The people you arewriting about have families and are doing their very best to please you. Sometimes we fall short. When that happens, let us know. Give us a chance to make it better. Don't whine about it anonymously on a stupid website! To each one of you who had something negative to say about Fish, I would love to review YOU in YOUR JOB! How perfect are you? I wonder. Hmmm....never thought of it that way, have you. Doesn't surprise me.
In my defense, "casual" means different things to different people. Obviously,some people equate the word with pricing. I meant for the term to mean what it says. Whether or not a restaurant is pricey is open to debate. To some, any meal over $5 is expensive. Our entrees range form $7 to $19 and the appetizers start at $5. I believe that allows us to say we are "not expensive" and most would agree. I recently took over the restaurant after selling my other place. I challenge anyone to come in to Fish and tell me that you don't feel that your meal was a value, I won't charge you for it. As to the menu being strange, check it out yourself at eatatfish.com. We do some crazy stuff like Potroast, a Hamburger, Catfish, Lettuce Wraps. If that is too "out there" for you...well....I don't know what to say! To those of you with the nice reviews, thanks and keep coming back!
James-Owner, Fish
February 12, 2007 @ 10:24 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from springfield, mo
I'm with you Rob. I have several GREAT meals at Fish, especially since James Clary took over late last year. They just won best Seafood in 417, so a lot of people in town obviously think very highly of the restaurant. I love the bar and the waterfall! The food is consistently good as is the service. The owner almost always comes to our table to check on us. That's a nice touch! Try the Fish Tacos and the Almond Encrusted Tilapia. Awesome! I think they are both under $12. How can yousay that's expensive? Maybe the other people were looking for a carp sandwich. Who knows?
February 12, 2007 @ 10:13 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, MO
I don't know what the previous reviewers ate at Fish, but they are certainly showing their sophistication. Fried Walleye at Culvers? You have got to be kidding, right? The 3rd reviewer said the restaurant was quiet bad. The word is "quite". It is truly unfortunate that people from all over the world see this stuff and it perpetuates (look it up) the image of our area being "Hillbilly Heaven". Unfortunatley, there are many true hicks here as the reviews show. I have been to Fish several times and found it to be QUITE good! It is not as good as the owner's other restaurant, the Gallery Bistro, but it is about half the price! There is nothing on the menu over $20 and there are many entrees at the $10 level. I don't know what the heck you people think is cheap. I guess the "Walleye basket at Culvers". Sheesh!
February 12, 2007 @ 9:57 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, MO
We took our kids to Fish recently and had a great experience. The owner was at our table andmade my kids laugh. The food was good, but not too pricy.
January 4, 2007 @ 1:06 PM
3  out of 5 stars
a diner from Ozark, MO
Terrible menu, not sure why they called it FISH. Service was poor and the prices are way out of line for the quality of the food. Could not find a fish on the menu we liked, so we ordered the fish and chips. Save yourself $20.00 and go to Culver's for the Walleye basket instead!
December 19, 2006 @ 4:47 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield
DINED AT CLARY'S IN DECEMBER WAS SERVED FROM NEW MENU WHICH BY THE WAY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CHANGED EVERY YEAR EVEN WHEN JAMES OWNED THE RESTAURANT. THE FOOD WAS EXCELLANT. WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE NEW OWNERS WEB PAGE,IT IS NICE TO KNOW THAT GOD DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN A WORLD THAT DRUGS,MONEY AND THE WAY OF LIFE HAS TAKEN OVER.THIS YOUNG COUPLE PUT THEIR FAITH IN GOD AND BOUGHT CLARY'S AND I WISH THEM EVERY SUCCESS!
November 24, 2006 @ 6:27 PM
3  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, Mo
Sorry but the prices DO NOT reflect a "casual restaurant". I went with a large group and hardly anyone could find anything to eat. One person decided they wouldn't even eat because all of the food was "strange". They'd do better off to lower their prices. Advertising as a "casual restaurant" people expect casual restaurant prices. Plus serving size isn't very big and doesn't come with sides. They do have the best bread I've ever tasted though.
November 11, 2006 @ 4:42 PM
3  out of 5 stars
a diner from springfield, mo
Not very good.. To be honest, quiet bad. Hate to say it, but if you are going for causal, you are better off going to one of the chain restaurant
September 8, 2006 @ 1:49 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI
WE ATE AT CLARYS THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER WE HAD THE PASTA WHICH HAD STEAK INSTEAD OF BEEF. THE MEAT WAS EXCELLANT IT MELTED IN YOUR MOUTH. WE ARE REALLY IMPRESSED THAT THE FOOD IS STILL THE SAME EXCELLANT QUALITY WITH THE NEW OWNER. BUT ANY GOOD BUSINESS IS ACHIEVED DUE TO YOUR EXECUTIVE CHEF WHICH IS STILL ON BOARD AT CLARYS.
September 8, 2006 @ 1:34 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield missouri
WE DINED AT CLARYS ON TUESDAY THE 5TH OF SEPTEMBER. NEW OWNERS ARE GREAT! NOTHING HAS CHANGED! EXCELLANT FOOD AND OF COURSE IF YOU HAVE EXCELLANT STAFF THATS WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEED.LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE NEW IMPROVEMENTS WITH DECOR THE NEXT TIME WE ARE IN.
August 4, 2006 @ 4:14 AM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from springfield, MO
I dined at Clarys American Grill for my 11th anniversary with my husband. I must say the service was expceptional, if you want one of the best waiters in town his name is Robert, he's very attentive to your needs! The food was outstanding as was the delightful atmosphere that surrounded us. I must admit it has been one of the most enjoyable experiences in a long time I have had dining out. Thank you to the service staff and to James the owner for such a wonderful occasion!
January 26, 2006 @ 10:54 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Rogersville, MO
Killer. Everything, food, service, ambince. What a treat to have in Springfield, Missouri!
December 2, 2002 @ 11:27 AM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Baxter, MN
We just spent a delightful Saturday evening at Clarys for my Mom's 70th birthday. There were nine of us including 4 children. The menu was excellent as was the kids menu. Everything from the wine, to the tuna, steaks and salmon, as well as the salads (chopped salad - yum) was superb. The atmosphere was very conducive to sharing quiet time together. I also agree with the previous review - the souffles are wonderful. Thanks also to the waiter for adding to a great evening.
August 16, 2002 @ 2:52 AM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from tucson,az.
I VISITED MY PARENTS IN JULY AND WAS DELIGHTED TO FIND CLARYS FOR MY DAD'S BIRTHDAY MEAL, THE MENU WAS FRIENDLY TO BOTH VEGETARIANS AND MEAT EATERS. THE WINE LIST WAS EXCELLENT. I PARTICULARLY ENJOYED THEIR SMALL PLATE MENU. THE WAITRESS WE HAD WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND A MOST PLEASANT YOUNG LADY. IT WAS A LOVELY EVENING.
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield, MO
Excellent steaks and seafood. The souffles are out of this world!
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September 24, 2008 @ 5:15 AM
4  out of 5 stars
a diner from Springfield Mo
Where is Clary's located...Went tonight and the restaurant was in the dark. Nothing on relcation. Did they close their doors. So Sad.,enjoyed the meals, atmosphere ok, Figured maybe New Location...Any info would surely be appreciated
March 16, 2008 @ 10:21 PM
5  out of 5 stars
a diner from Nixa, MO
Clary's from entry to leaving was overwhelming. I had the special filet and lobster this evening and the steak so tasty and the lobster hit the spot. For dessert we had the amaretto souffle that was indescribable. We made friends with Austin their General Manager rather quick when he stopped by the table to check on us. Austin, you run a great restaurant and we are two of your biggest fans.