23 Best Restaurants in Penobscot Bay, Maine

Standing on the edge of the harbor, with dining decks on three sides, Archer's is the prime spot in Rockland for dining with a view—even when the weather keeps you indoors, there are plenty of windows. The large menu is heavy on traditional preparations of fresh, local seafood—including old-fashioned haddock cakes—but also includes plenty of contemporary dishes. Chef-owner Lynn Archer emerged victorious on the show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay. The dish? A triple-decker club sandwich with lobster. Happily, it's on the menu. There are many nonseafood choices, too. Everything on the wine list is available by the glass, and there are lots of creative cocktails, too.

Classic European and American breads such as batards, baguettes, ciabatta, focaccia, sourdough boules, and rolls come out of French ovens every morning at this popular little spot. The cases are also filled with just-baked croissants, scones, muffins, cookies, and more. Various specialties are available on different days of the week. There's also a selection of sandwiches and salads for lunch. It's a quick walk across the street from the Farnsworth Art Museum.

You probably wouldn't expect to find an eatery run by Franciscan friars in this little town, but you'll be glad you did. Dressed in long brown habits, your hosts happily serve excellent European-style beers brewed in their nearby mountainside friary, which pair well with sandwiches on freshly baked baguettes, or hearty entrées that blend Maine and French Canadian flavors like family-recipe meat loaf, from-scratch soups, pâté, and fresh local fish dishes. Sit at the bar and watch Brother Don cook, or choose a table with a view of the Penobscot River and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. Be sure to grab a loaf of friary-baked bread or a sweet treat from the to-go selection by the door.

With tufted green leather settees and a wood-burning brick fireplace, the Homeport Tavern, part of the Homeport Inn, exudes an English-accented coziness. While bangers and mash and fish-and-chips give a nod to the old country and New England seafood is well represented, many dishes on the lunch and dinner menus have a distinctly Southern drawl. Items such as a shrimp po-boy, filé gumbo, smoked pork belly, and bread pudding with bourbon praline sauce hint at the chef's Louisiana roots. There's a good selection of Maine craft beers on tap.

The celebrated Thai chef at this Asian-fusion restaurant places an emphasis on authentic noodle and rice dishes. The atmosphere is casual and open, with rustic wood tables and bentwood chairs. As it's very popular with both locals and visitors, reservations are strongly encouraged—though you might be able to squeeze in at the tiny bar without one if you're dining solo. 

Right on the water's edge, across the harbor from downtown Belfast, this corrugated-steel building looks more like a fish cannery than a restaurant, but it's one of the best places for an authentic Maine lobster dinner, known here as the "shore dinner." Lobster rolls, surf-and-turf dinners, steamed clams, steak tips, and hot dogs are popular, too. As this is a real-deal lobster pound, with absolutely no frills, lobstermen tie up at the dock to unload their catch. There are numerous tanks of live lobsters at the front of the concrete-floored building; lobsters can be shipped as well. Order your dinner at the counter, then find a picnic table inside or on the deck, just remember it's BYOB. Don't leave your outdoor table unattended—seagulls are quick and determined food thieves.

This little restaurant has been around for a long time and has a large local following so it can be a little hard to get a table on a busy night, but it’s worth the wait. The traditional seafood dishes (fried or broiled) are good, the prices are reasonable, many dishes may be ordered in a "minnow" portion, and there are also a few choices for those who don't enjoy seafood.

Established back in 1976, the Co-op is a very special place in Belfast, and it’s not unusual to hear the expression, “I’ll meet you at the Co-op.” As the name implies, this full-service market is a members' cooperative that sells organic, locally grown vegetables, and other provisions, but you don’t have to be a member to shop here or visit the popular Co-op Café for coffee, tea, sandwiches, soups, prepared dishes, and homemade pastries. It's an excellent and inexpensive place for breakfast or lunch with one of the best selections of wines in town. There is no waiter service; you just order at the counter and pick up your food when it’s ready.

Under the same ownership as Long Grain around the corner, this tiny bistro—whose name is an acronym for "Best of What's Available"—serves a well-priced lunch menu of street food from Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Popular menu items include bibimbap, pho, and a Mediterranean bowl and many options are or can be prepared vegan or gluten-free.

For more than two decades, this Main Street mainstay has been serving farm-to-table food to an enthusiastic Belfast community. Straight from the Chase family's farm to their restaurant, everything on the menu is vegetarian, including many entrées that are rooted in Indian cuisine. Produce and flowers from the farm are also available for sale, as are baked goods. There's seating in a large indoor space, plus a seasonal patio behind the restaurant.

Set right beside the road at the northern end of town, this lobster shack gets consistently enthusiastic reviews—many say the overstuffed lobster roll is one of the best. The large menu includes all the usual suspects plus a great selection of "snacky things" and entrées, and even a taco bar—butter-poached lobster tacos, anyone? Order at the counter and take your food out back to enjoy on the outdoor deck overlooking the harbor.

With pressed-tin ceilings, this charming, old-fashioned restaurant and bar—it's been such since 1865—is a perennial local favorite with a welcoming community feel to it. Pad Thai, chicken chili salad with cashews, a Buddha bowl, and a few Mexican-flavored items are signature dishes, but the menu also serves hearty, scratch-made soups, sandwiches on homemade bread, and classic fish-and-chips. The walls of this cozy pub are hung with old murals of Belfast scenes and works for sale by local artists.

Tucked among Main Street's lineup of small shops, this intimate bistro serves exceptional house-made pastas and other Italian favorites—try the eggplant fries to start. Among the entrées, the mushroom Sacchetti (pasta pockets filled with wild porcini, roasted portobello mushrooms, and cheeses) are especially popular, and on Tuesday, there's a special, budget-friendly menu for two. In addition to the inviting, brick-walled interior, there's a sidewalk patio for warm-weather dining.

Diners are greeted by a friendly smile at this small and airy eatery. It serves a standard Thai menu—think pad Thai, tom kha, and chicken satay—with exceptional preparations. Popular choices include a chive rice cake and Panang curry.

A summertime fixture for five decades, the Harbor Dogs shack on the town landing is the perfect place to grab lunch to enjoy at a nearby bench beside the harbor or before or after a cruise. Hot dog toppings include southwestern, Asian, and Chicago, and there are also lobster and crab rolls, fish tacos, haddock Reubens, and fried-seafood platters.

There's a decidedly Mexican influence at this popular place, with breakfast choices including migas, huevos rancheros, and a burrito, and a list of tacos highlighted on the lunch menu. You'll also find a little Asian influence in the breakfast fried rice and a banh mi, as well as plenty of good old American dishes. Both breakfast and lunch are served from opening to closing time. All of the breads, biscuits, sticky buns, desserts, and more are scratch-made at the restaurant's bakery (open to the public), two blocks away at 606 Main Street. 

A fixture since 1926, this is an authentic place to enjoy a classic Maine lobster dinner—a cup of clam chowder, steamed clams, a 1-1/8-pound lobster, corn on the cob, potato, and Maine blueberry pie. The large restaurant has rustic wooden picnic tables outside, an enclosed patio, and two dining rooms with a gift shop in between, as well as tanks where you can pick from hundreds of live lobsters for your dinner. There's a full bar, and the wine list includes some Maine labels. Prices of the lobster dishes fluctuate with the market. There's also plenty of fried seafood as well as the required lobster roll. Because this is such a big place, you won't have to wait long, even when it's busy. It's right on U.S. 1, next to Lincolnville Beach, and has beautiful views of Penobscot Bay and the island of Islesboro. It's fun to watch the ferry go to and from Islesboro as you dine.

Not only does Sadie Samuels captain her own lobster boat, the Must Be Nice, but she also transforms her haul into lobster rolls that she sells—along with crab rolls, fries, hot dogs, and burgers—from a lunch wagon parked at the bottom of Main Street, just up from the harbor. There are outdoor tables plus indoor seating alongside a small shop of items Samuels crafts herself.

The sister establishment to Ports of Italy in Boothbay Harbor, this pleasant restaurant offers a selection of house-made pastas with traditional sauces, many featuring local seafood. Second-course choices include veal scaloppine, osso buco, and porchetta. Among the most popular starters is the Insalata Caprese, which comes in a deliciously crunchy basket made from Parmesan cheese. Dine indoors, on the porch, or on the patio. There's also a small pizzeria in a little building next door. 

Famous for the size of its breakfasts—don't pass up the lobster or fish-cake Benedict—Rockland Café has been a local favorite for decades. The large menu includes plenty of lunch and dinner choices from the excellent clam, fish, and seafood chowder to fried haddock, clams, shrimp, and scallops or lobster, clam, shrimp, and scallop rolls. For nonseafood eaters, there are burgers, chicken baskets, meat loaf, and even liver and onions. For big seafood eaters, there are all-you-can-eat fried seafood dinners. Breakfast is served from 6 am until 11 am in the summer, and until 4 pm on weekdays in the off-season. 

Come to this long-standing local favorite for a ringside seat on Camden Harbor; the best view, when the weather cooperates, is from the deck. The menu features fresh local seafood, but there are also beef and chicken entrées and salads. Clam chowder and lobster rolls are highlights at lunch.

Located in a historic old brick building with an interior that is reminiscent of an Old English pub—dark heavy woods, dark atmosphere, a wood-burning fireplace that takes four-foot-long logs, copper kettles—the restaurant and pub are basically one. Among the items on the menu are steamed lobsters, mussels, seared tuna, fried calamari salad, broiled scallops, and other seafood, as well as prime rib, charbroiled steaks, ribs—and the very popular British-style fish-and-chips. There's live music on Saturday nights. For nice-weather days, there's a water-view deck, and small, sandy Lincolnville Beach is mere steps away.

Locals and visitors alike are drawn to this community gathering spot by the irresistible aroma of freshly roasted coffee; it's a great spot to visit with friends or open your tablet to do some work. There's a wide selection of hot and cold coffee drinks, chai variations, and hot chocolate, as well as Italian ices and to-go choices that include porridge, yogurt, toast, soup, quiche, grilled cheese, pie, and even beans on toast!