I’ve got a whale of a tale to tell you, readers, a whale of a tale or two!

    The Weathervane Seafood Restaurant is a place of many food firsts for me.

    It was the place where I tried my first cup of clam chowder - and loved it.

    It was the place where I tried fried scallops for the first time - and loved them.

    It was the first place I ever saw adults wearing bibs when they eat.

    When I was little, the Weathervane was one of the places my siblings and I would get excited about when our parents would tell us we were going out for dinner.

    To be fair,  us kids usually ordered a landlubber meal - hot dogs, chicken fingers (with, in my brother‘s case, heaps of sweet and sour sauce), hamburgers, etc. - but we would always pick off our parent’s plates to try something new and sometimes “strange”. New foods are often “strange” foods when you’re a kid. The wonderful thing was that more often than not, we always enjoyed the new and the “strange”.

    As time went on, we eventually began ordering these no-longer-new-to-us foods all on our own and today, when we dine-out as a family, it’s not unusual for all of us to start out with a steaming bowl of clam chowder and follow it up with fish and chips or fried clam strips or a lobster roll. Except for my brother, he still orders chicken fingers (with sweet and sour sauce). But no one blames him.

    For a seafood restaurant, the Weathervane has some of tastiest chicken tenders you could ask for. Now, we pick off his plate sometimes.

    The Weathervane, located at 1290 Main St. in Leominster is one of the best year-‘round seafood restaurants in the area. A great place for a seaside rendezvous, inside the restaurant there is plenty of spacious seating, the dining room is always clean and the wait staff is friendly and knowledgeable.

    The menu offers a wide variety of dishes, specialty items and lighter, Seafarer portions (half portions) to choose from. Because all of the food at the Weathervane is enjoyable, you don’t have worry about loving seafood to eat here. There are plenty of delicious chicken, steak and pasta options to choose from.

    The sirloin tips are wonderful, marinated and sautéed with mushrooms and onions and served on a bed of rice pilaf. And the buffalo chicken salad is most excellent!

    But if you want to have a classic Weathervane dining experience, the first thing you should do is start your meal with a cup of clam chowder. Creamy and hearty and oh so good. Just be forewarned that ordering the chowder may immediately begin a round of “Chow-dah” cat-calls as you and your friends will all want to pronounce it with the best New England accent.

    After that, it’s all about the fried clam strips or the fried Haddock fish and chips dinner. Served with French fries and coleslaw, throw a little tarter sauce on top and you’re taste buds will be a-sailing away. And if the taste weren’t enough, the great prices will blow you down!

    Right now, the Weathervane also has some great, seasonal specialty dishes that you really shouldn’t miss whether you’ve dined here before or are trying the restaurant for the first time.

    I recommend trying the seasonal Apple Harvest Chicken dish, two chicken breasts marinated, broiled and topped with crabmeat stuffing and Sidehill Farm Maple Apple Drizzle. Served with garden veggies and coleslaw, this dish is delish and only $11.75.

    Also, the Lobster Mac and Cheese. It’s everything you love about mac and cheese, penne pasta in a creamy white cheese sauce sprinkled with Ritz cracker crumbs and baked to a golden brown, only made better with the addition of chunks of fresh lobster baked right into the dish.

    So sail, swim, row or drive on over to the Weathervane now and make it a place of firsts for you and your family too!

    The Weathervane Seafood Restaurant is open. seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
    For more information check out weathervaneseafoods.com.
    Check out their ad in this week's Ledger for a great coupon offer!