24 Best Restaurants in Penobscot Bay, Maine

18 Central Oyster Bar and Grill produces excellent, creative dishes in a cozy spot high above Rockport's working harbor. Seasonally inspired, locally harvested seafood plus dishes with a hint of Southern comfort make up the backbone of the menu—think fried green tomatoes with local peekytoe crab, chili oil, and microgreens, or crispy fried chicken accompanied by collards and heirloom grits. More northerly flavor shines in such choices as finnan haddie (cold-smoked haddock), roasted mussels, and diver scallops.

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 baked stuffed haddock—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 non-seafood choices, too. Everything on the wine list is available by the glass, and there are lots of creative cocktails.

This little bistro on a side street near the center of town is unassuming from the outside, but inside, the pleasantly cozy space features an ambitious menu flavored with hints of Asian, Italian, and modern American cuisines. Dishes are very well prepared, but service can be slow when the restaurant is full.

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.

As the name suggests, this is an excellent spot to slow down and catch up with good friends over a bottle of wine while savoring small, internationally flavored plates or a full meal. The creative blend of textures and flavors that comes out of the kitchen is exceptional. The intimate space, formerly a bank, is furnished with comfortable couches as well as tables and chairs.

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.

Located in the stylish and elegant Camden Harbour Inn, this fine-dining restaurant serves imaginative, beautifully plated creations starring local seafood, meats, and other seasonal ingredients like vegetables and herbs from the property’s garden. Probably the most sophisticated dining spot in Camden, Natalie's is the creation of Dutch owners Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, who have brought in talented chefs to create splurge-worthy dishes that are served by a polished waitstaff. The indulgent, five-course (plus a few surprises) lobster tasting menu is an ambrosial experience for lobster lovers. There is also an à la carte menu. If the weather is fine, dine on the deck surrounded by gorgeous views.

Chef Melissa Kelly has twice won the James Beard Best Chef: Northeast award (1999 and 2013), and she and her world-class restaurant have been written up in such magazines as Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and O. Named for the chef-owner's Italian grandfather, Primo serves masterfully prepared pasta, fresh seafood, and local meats. The restored Victorian house offers a variety of atmospheres: downstairs rooms with white-tablecloth-covered tables have a formal feel; a new Primo Room offers a more contemporary feel; and upstairs dining rooms tend to be livelier. Reservations, the earlier the better, are strongly advised. Behind the restaurant is the 0km (as in zero kilometers) Bungalow, a rustic structure where you can enjoy a drink before or after dinner. It's also the place for $1 oysters on the half shell on Sunday afternoon, along with live music. No matter where you sit, it can't get more farm-to-table: the restaurant raises its own chickens and pigs, cures its own meats, produces its own eggs, and grows its own fruits and vegetables.

Trained at the Tokyo Sushi Academy, Keiko Suzuki is an artist when it comes to preparing and presenting sushi—everything is almost too beautiful to eat. The fish is sweet and ultrafresh, and nothing on the menu is fried. Many say this is the best sushi in Maine, and some claim it's even better than what they've had in Japan. Order the omakase—it changes according to Keiko's whim and what's available. In addition to sushi, there are a few cooked noodle dishes. The restaurant is small, and very popular, meaning reservations are a must.

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.

Located in a 200-year-old farmhouse complete with wide-plank wood floors and a large brick fireplace, this restaurant is worth the 10-minute drive inland from downtown Camden. Chef Michael Nowak uses Maine-grown ingredients on his Italian-inspired menu with highlights including housemade pasta, chicken liver mousse on sourdough toast, and impeccably prepared local seafood like scallops and halibut.

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.

Serving lunch and dinner, the fare at this casual café is inspired by the cooking of chef Evan Richardson’s Costa Rican grandparents. Serving sizes vary—small plates like empanadas and tilefish ceviche are perfect for snacking, while entrées like spice-rubbed chicken (smoked in the restaurant’s offset smoker) and rondon, a seafood-packed Caribbean stew, are more hearty.

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.

Orange bar stools, dark walls with art deco--like horizontal stripes, and deep booths define this dimly lit "gastro dive bar" that lists cocktails under ports of call—Caribbean, New England, and the Pacific. The menu features tacos and a mostly Mexican-flavor selection of bar snacks, with a couple of dish detours to Thailand and the South. It's not what you'd expect in a small Maine seaport, and that adds to the fun.

A local favorite since 1980, MacLeod's serves a surprisingly wide variety of choices. Entrées include raspberry roasted duck, steak, ribs, broiled or fried local seafood, and a few Mexican-style options.

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.

This lovely trattoria is known for its cheery harbor-view setting and frequently changing menus where locally sourced ingredients shine. Highly regarded chef-owner Sara Jenkins's fresh but authentic takes on Mediterranean-spanning dishes use seafood harvested along Maine's rocky coast, including local oysters, and everything from the pasta to the pickled veggies is made in-house; the presentation of each dish makes for sheer eye candy. Jenkins grew up in Italy and worked in restaurants both there and at her own New York City restaurants—in other words, she knows what she's doing. There is also a small "dispensa" selling olive oil, wine, pasta, and some pantry goods.

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, pan-seared scallops, 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.

This lively, dockside bar-bistro on the eastern side of Camden harbor is a sweet spot to meet friends for drinks and small bites or for a full dinner. The sophisticated menu is complemented by lovely views of the boat-filled harbor and picturesque townscape across the way. Sit outside on the dock or on the rooftop, or inside in the window-filled dining room.

In an intimate courtyard hidden at the back of a historic brick house in the heart of downtown Bucksport, this cozy bistro has a lovely outdoor dining space. Mediterranean tapas-style plates are accompanied by good wines and beers.

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.