Clambakes are everywhere this time of year in Northeast Ohio. It’s a tradition said to have begun in the late 1800s when prosperous Clevelanders traveling regularly by rail to East Coast cities experienced clambakes on the Atlantic shores. In that part of the world, freshly harvested clams were wrapped in seaweed, layered in a pit dug in the sand, topped with hot charcoal and called a clambake. The early movers and shakers, many of whom lived on Little Mountain in Mentor, fell in love with the clambake idea, so they bought clams and had them shipped here by train still chilled in seaweed. News of their clambake parties spread, and soon a tradition was born. Back in 1944, John Comella began Chef Comella’s Fish and Clambake Co. to sell one-pot steamed clambakes to Northeast Ohioans. The company, which evolved into Mentor-based Euclid Fish Co., continues to sell the dinners of steamed clams, with chicken, corn, coleslaw and other ingredients to businesses, markets and individuals far and wide. The company sells tens of thousands of clams to those hosting parties or offering them for dinner, according to Terrie Young, co-owner with John C. Young. Their sons are the fourth generation of the same family to operate Euclid Fish. Clams for do-it-yourselfers are sold by the bag in the Enterprise Drive retail store of Euclid Fish Co. in Mentor. (Courtesy of Euclid Fish Co.) Clambakes can be ordered in advance at euclidfish.com and picked up ready to bake at its retail store, 7839 Enterprise Drive in Mentor. You also can order at neoclambakes.com. Middleneck clams, which are nickel-size and consumed in two bites, are the most popular clams, but Littlenecks, Topnecks and Cherrystones also can be ordered. “Everyone has their preferences, and we try to please our customers, ” said Young, noting that the clambake season begins on Labor Day and extends well into November. “Some are even making clams a part of their Thanksgiving dinner.” Combinations to accompany the clams include lobsters, crab, mussels, sirloin and strip steaks. Clams sold by Euclid Fish are harvested mostly off Maine and Prince Edward Island and delivered daily. “Clambakes are still mostly a Northeast Ohio thing,” she said. “But we have a couple people driving in from Pittsburgh this weekend to pick up clambakes to take home.” Euclid Fish also rents the steamers to cook them and makes everything down to paper plates and cutlery available to its customers. She said many companies and fraternal organizations are hosting clambakes this fall. Here are a few to consider: Brennan’s Fish House, 102 River St. This Grand River icon since 1973 serves clambakes from 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays in October, offering a dozen clams with clam chowder, half-chicken, sweet potato and corn for $39.99. Debonne Vineyards, 7840 Doty Road, Madison, has clambakes by reservation only at 6 and 7 p.m. on the remaining Fridays in October. Priced between $45 and $55, depending on whether grilled chicken, a strip steak or double clams are chosen, the dinners include a dozen clams, clam chowder, potatoes, corn and coleslaw. Stonewater Golf Club’s Rustic Grill in Highland Heights has clambakes on Oct.5 and 11. (Courtesy of StoneWater Golf Club) The Rustic Grill at StoneWater Golf Club in Highland Heights has clambakes starting at 5 p.m. on Oct. 5 and 11 that frame half of a roasted chicken or a 12-ounce strip steak with a dozen Middleneck clams, a cup of clam chowder, rolls with honey butter, braised red-skin potatoes, fall lemon poppy seed and apple slaw and an apple crumble dessert. It’s $49. Lobster is available for an additional $18. It’s at 1 Club Drive. Reservations: 440-461-4653; stonewatergolf.com.