Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island Restaurants

We’ve compiled the best of the best in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.

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  • 1. Abel's Lobster

    $$$

    Located on a nub jutting into Somes Sound a few miles from Northeast Harbor, this place hums on summer nights as adults grab a drink from the outside bar, kids and dogs romp, and folks angle to watch lobsters cook in an open-air kitchen before eating at tables about the sloping lawn; the window-lined mid-century wood-walled dining room has views from every table. There are separate menus for each dining space though there is some overlap including the wood-fired boiled lobster, a lobster roll, fried clams, and the 9-ounce house burger. Mussels steamed with mushrooms, herbs, and cream and served with housemade focaccia bread are a delightful dinner-only appetizer.

    13 Abels Lane, Somesville, Maine, USA
    207-276–8221

    Known For

    • Outside bar-type table curves above the shore
    • Largely locally sourced menu
    • House-made cornbread

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.-mid-May and Sun. and Mon. from mid-May–mid-Oct.
  • 2. Burning Tree

    $

    An early standout in Maine’s farm-to-table movement, this acclaimed establishment not far from Bar Harbor in tiny Otter Creek sells to-go foods—prepared (including breakfast pastries) and ready-to-cook, all made on-site and largely featuring ingredients from the owners’ extensive gardens. The retail side has a small gardenside outdoor eating area and also sells small-scale wines (natural, organic, and biodynamic) as well as ciders. Seafood has been a specialty of the restaurant, with signature dishes like oven-poached cod and gray sole stuffed with asparagus, pea tendrils, and chevre. To-go items include halibut salad with dill and lemon and smoked salmon.

    69 Otter Creek Dr., Otter Creek, Maine, 04660, USA
    207-288–9331

    Known For

    • Crab cakes with jalapenos
    • Inventive seasonal items like pickled plums
    • Nice selection of vegetarian offerings

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed late Oct.–late May; closed Tues. late May–late Oct.
  • 3. Side Street Cafe

    $

    On a side street near the Village Green, this place (and its sister arm, The Annex) hops on busy summer evenings as folks line up for its comfort food like fish tacos and burgers. Outdoor and indoor dining spaces, one anchored by a horseshoe bar, flow together and exposed brick, and a cork wall and ceiling, add warmth to the welcoming, modern, family-friendly vibe; friendly dogs are allowed outside. The main restaurant and The Annex (no lunch) serve from the same menu until 9 pm when the former closes and The Annex offers appetizers, desserts, and mac-and-cheese for its final hour.

    49 Rodick St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-801–2591

    Known For

    • “signature” mac-and-cheese including lobster and meatball as well as “create-your-own”
    • Handcrafted cocktails and live music nightly in The Annex
    • Margaritas

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Main restaurant: closed late Oct.–early Apr.; The Annex: no lunch, closed mid-Oct.–late May
  • 4. Airline Brewing Company

    $

    With red cushioned seating and wood walls around the bar, this cozy-as-can-be brew pub (the brewery itself is inland) right on Main Street has a decor and menu that reflects its British ownership. Several of the dozen or so beers served are hand-pulled, and food options include steak and ale pie and bangers and mash. The name ties in with the location of the brewery in Amherst, about a half hour’s drive from here, where you can take a tour, and the restaurant tasting room displays items from when the building was a furniture factory.

    173 Main St., Maine, 04605, USA
    207-412--0045

    Known For

    • Being a community gathering place
    • Warm beer cheese appetizers
    • ”signature toasties” (yes, British for toasted sandwiches)
  • 5. Asticou Inn

    $$$

    Overlooking the water out back and practically hugging Route 3 out the front, this 1883 four-story gray-shingled restaurant and inn can’t be missed nor is the opportunity to dine here and savor the spectacular view of picturesque Northeast Harbor, especially from the large deck fronting the classic old New England dining room. The menu offers a handful of entrées, including filet mignon, and lighter fare like fish tacos. The dining room’s mural-like wallpaper adds to the old New England vibe. Many of the inn’s guest rooms (30 in the main house), each well-appointed and unique, have water views.

    15 Peabody Rd., Northeast Harbor, Maine, 04662, USA
    207-276--3344

    Known For

    • Popovers with strawberry jam
    • Award-winning seafood chowder
    • Lodging choices outside the main inn include funky six-sided 1960s cottages nicknamed “spaceships”

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Tues. and early Oct.--mid May
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  • 6. Atlantic Brewing Co. Midtown

    $

    Glass walls let you see this busy craft brewery spot in action even before you enter, but look up or head up—there’s rooftop seating with great Bar Harbor views. After ordering a flight or glass of beer, choose from a food menu offering soups, sandwiches, salads, and lobster and crab rolls. Founded in Bar Harbor in 1991 and later acquiring another local brewer, Atlantic Brewing Co.’s farmstead brewery eight miles away in the town’s outlying Town Hill area ( 15 Knox Hill Rd.) has a seasonal tasting room and restaurant, Mainely Meat BBQ. Private tours of the brewery are available for parties of four or more. 

    52 Cottage St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-288–2326

    Known For

    • Also selling beer to go
    • Old Soaker natural blueberry soda and root beer for the kids
    • Jumbo pretzel with cheese and mustard made with an English Brown Ale
  • 7. Beal's Lobster Pier

    $$$

    Watch lobstermen and fishermen haul their catch and pleasure craft come and go at this working pier with a large restaurant that's big on lobster, clams, and other seafood but also sells burgers, steak, and hot dogs for the kids. There’s a roofed seating area with a bar, waterside bar tables for two along a covered pier walkway, indoor dining (upper level), and patio seating. Some seafood baskets offer a choice of fried or seared. The traditional lobster meal is served with cornbread, corn-on-the-cob, and coleslaw.

    182 Clark Point Rd., Southwest Harbor, Maine, 04679, USA
    207-244–3202

    Known For

    • Also a lobster wholesaler, you can order the critters to go
    • Lobster rolls: traditional (warmed in butter) or classic (served cold with mayonnaise)
    • In business since 1932

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.--mid-Apr.
  • 8. Cafe This Way

    $

    A sign points customers to this tucked-away eatery set back from Mount Desert Street near the Village Green, which is breakfast-only (a change from years past)—the pancakes are quite popular. Opening at 6:30 am to catch the crowds who’ve worked up an appetite savoring sunrise atop Acadia National Park’s Cadillac Mountain, it stays open until 1 pm for those who want breakfast for lunch. Seating is divided about evenly inside and out, making this a great choice for nice summer mornings.

    14.5 Mount Desert St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-288–4483

    Known For

    • Kit's Burrito, served with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and home fries
    • Homemade corned beef hash
    • Seating indoors and out

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed late Oct.–early May; no dinner
  • 9. Choco-Latte Cafe

    $

    This large year-round café features coffee from a local coffee roaster, but you can get much more than a cup of Joe—for breakfast, grab a breakfast sandwich or avocado toast; for lunch or dinner, a salad or taco. In a town without a lot of quick bite spots, it's a good choice for picking up lunch to enjoy in the park, at your lodging, or at a table here; in summer, some tables are out front.

    240 Main St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-801–9179

    Known For

    • Bagels made fresh daily at sister restaurant Havana
    • A local gathering spot
    • All sorts of coffee drinks
  • 10. Downeast Deli & Boxed Lunch Co.

    $

    Don't be fooled by this tiny takeout-only joint's no-frills storefront: many praise its lobster rolls as the best around. On summer mornings, the line often stretches around the corner by 10 am as folks come to get lobster rolls as well as wraps, sandwiches, salads, and slices of blueberry pie for outings to Acadia National Park and elsewhere around Mount Desert Island. You can also pick up items for dinner after a day of exploring. 

    65 Main St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-288–1001

    Known For

    • Several lobster roll options, including just plain "naked"
    • Taking orders the night before
    • Selling a few breakfast items, too

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed late Oct.–early May
  • 11. Galyn's

    $$$

    Open much of the year and filled with Maine art, this large restaurant has a classic New England vibe, several dining rooms on two floors, and a large menu to match. Offerings range from sandwiches and small plates to lobster dishes, steak, and seafood, including a bouillabaisse with shrimp, scallops, fresh fish, and lobster, served with steamed mussels and grilled ciabatta bread. In an 1890s building, once a boarding house for seamen, the trim and tin ceiling are original; the Galley Lounge has diamond windows from a Rockefeller estate that was torn down, and the bar itself is an old bank tellers counter. Not for sale, the restaurant’s artwork is touted as Maine’s largest private art collection on public display.

    17 Main St., Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-288–9706

    Known For

    • Happy hour daily in cozy bar constructed with items salvaged from area estates
    • New England Indian pudding
    • Harbor views from some dining rooms

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Thanksgiving–Easter
  • 12. Geddy's

    $$$

    With a big menu that’s big on seafood (there's a pick-your-own lobster tank), this lively longtime establishment would be easy to spot even without a lighted moose on the roof. Humor pervades inside: kids meals come on Frisbees; quirky plastic animals on sticks adorn the cocktails; and old photos, murals, signs, license plates, and other bric-a-brac fill the walls, adding a sense of coziness to a large restaurant with a large bar right in the middle. Harbor views are lovely but only available from a few seats upfront. You can enter the large gift shop downstairs, which has a treasure chest with freebies for the kids, from the street or the restaurant.

    19 Main St., Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609, USA
    207-288–5077

    Known For

    • 98% gluten-free menu, including fried foods and chowders
    • "house specialty" fish-and-chips
    • Build-your-own pizzas

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed late Nov.–early Mar.
  • 13. Jeannie's Great Maine Breakfast

    $

    After enjoying the sunrise atop Acadia National Park's Cadillac Mountain, snuggle into a wooden booth or grab a table at this homey, yellow-walled eatery that opens at 6 am to catch the crowds who flock to the spectacle. Signature items include homemade oatmeal bread, stuffed French toast, and the Great Maine Breakfast, with three eggs, meat, pancakes, and vegetarian baked beans—the tradition here is to eat leftovers from Saturday night's bean supper on Sunday morning. Whatever you order from the extensive breakfast menu, which also includes lobster Benedict and a lobster omelet, the portions will be big.

    15 Cottage St., Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609, USA
    207-288–4166

    Known For

    • Serving breakfast through lunch (closes 1 pm)
    • Strawberry rhubarb fruit spread
    • Gluten-free and vegan options

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.–early May and Tues. early May–mid-Oct. No dinner
  • 14. Jordan Pond House Restaurant

    $$

    The only dining option within Acadia serves lunch, tea, and dinner as well as to-go items like sandwiches and salads. Most folks come for tea and popovers with strawberry jam on the lawn—a tradition started in the 1890s in the original Jordan Pond House—but the menu also includes chowders and entrees like a lobster dinner or the fresh catch of the day. There's also a gift shop and, on the upper level, an observation deck. Parking lots here fill fast in high season; consider biking or taking the free Island Explorer bus.

    2928 Park Loop Rd., Maine, 04675, USA
    207-276--3610

    Known For

    • Popovers and strawberry jam
    • Lawn seating
    • Popover sundae

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Nov.--late May
  • 15. Lunch on the Wharf

    $$

    A fisherman’s wife owns this popular establishment, which buys lobster right off the boat and has covered tables spread about a deck atop a wharf. As stunning as the setting is, folks also come for the excellent food, including boiled lobster with sides; there are plenty of non-seafood choices, too, including pulled pork. There is a very small dining room, and rain doesn’t usually shut this place down, but best to call first if the weather is inclement.

    13 Gibbs La., Gouldsboro, Maine, 04624, USA
    207-276–5262

    Known For

    • Lobster rolls
    • Whoopie pies
    • BYOB
  • 16. Seafood Ketch

    $$$

    About half the seating here is on a large patio within spitting distance from the water, though you can also enjoy the quintessential view of a working harbor through large windows inside this cheery establishment. Lobster—served not only boiled with a choice of sides but in dishes such as baked seafood casserole—is purchased fresh off the boat from the lobsterman next door. Many folks eat here before or after watching the sunset at nearby Bass Harbor Head Light in Acadia National Park, but you can also enjoy the spectacle at Seafood Ketch.  

    47 Shore Rd., Bass Harbor, Maine, USA
    207-244–7463

    Known For

    • All breads made in-house, even rolls for burgers and lobster
    • Baked stuffed haddock topped with lobster and seafood sauce
    • Gorgeous pink and orange sunsets

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.–mid-May
  • 17. The Colonel's Restaurant and Bakery

    $$

    Known around town simply as “The Colonel’s,” this restaurant serves up traditional fare—everything from lobster rolls and fried seafood plates to burgers and pizza—for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which can be eaten in the dining room, at the bar, or out on the deck (in the warm months). In front, the bakery turns out delicious bread, rolls, croissants, turnovers, and muffins, as well as cookies, cakes, Maine’s famous whoopie pies, and other sumptuous desserts. Try one of the glazed doughnut twists, with or without chocolate drizzled over the top. You can also get an ice-cream cone here.

    143 Main St., Northeast Harbor, Maine, 04662, USA
    207-276–5147

    Known For

    • Homemade doughnuts
    • Great chowder
    • Being a community stalwart

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.--early May
  • 18. The Pickled Wrinkle

    $

    Regulars come from beyond Schoodic Peninsula to this fun Birch Harbor spot to order its namesake, a pickled protein-packed sea snail; this “Down East delicacy” isn't always on the menu. Visitors exiting Acadia National Park’s Schoodic District stop here for fresh takes on traditional pub fare like burgers, wings, and pizzas (specialty or build your own), served in the spacious, woodsy, inside dining spaces or the eating area out front—both have bars. The seaweed chips are locally sourced, and the meat for the hamburgers is Maine-produced.

    9 E. Schoodic Dr., Gouldsboro, Maine, USA
    207-963--7916

    Known For

    • Crab roll and crab flatbread made with fresh crab from local waters
    • A dozen draft beers from craft breweries in the region
    • Thursday steak night

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Jan.–mid-Mar. Closed Mon. and Tues. mid-Mar.–Dec.
  • 19. Thurston's Lobster Pound

    $$

    Right on Bass Harbor, Thurston's is easy to spot because of the bright yellow awnings covering much of its outdoor-only seating. You can order everything from a grilled-cheese crab sandwich, haddock chowder, or hamburger to a boiled lobster served with clams or mussels. Tables under those can't-miss awnings are on two levels—one has a bar. There’s no indoor dining at this family-friendly establishment, but those outdoor rooms are protected by plastic blinds and propane fireplaces if it’s chilly. Thurston's is also a lobster wholesaler, and you can buy cooked or uncooked lobsters to go.

    9 Thurston Rd., Bernard, Maine, 04653, USA
    207-244–7600

    Known For

    • Selling fresh cooked or uncooked lobsters to go—it’s also a lobster wholesaler
    • Lobster fresh off the boat sold in three size ranges
    • Good place to watch sunsets

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Oct.–late spring; closed Sun. and Mon. late spring–mid-Oct.

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