16 Best Restaurants in Penobscot Bay, Maine

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.

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. Desserts include a crème brûlée that garners rave reviews. The intimate space, formerly a bank, is furnished with comfortable couches as well as tables and chairs.

In a petite gray Cape (look for the mini red-and-white-striped lighthouse beside it), the Scone Goddess makes what are almost certainly the best scones you've ever tasted. Tender and a little crumbly—they bear no resemblance to those stone-hard lumps so often passed off as scones—flavors, which change daily, include ginger lemon, wild Maine blueberry lemon, raspberry cream, and bacon cheddar. You can order a latte, Americano, tea, iced tea, or lemonade to go with your treat. You can also buy mixes, in about a dozen flavors, to bake at home or give as a gift.

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.

The real focus of this little shop is an old-fashioned soda fountain, complete with Formica tops, red stools, and paper-hat-wearing soda jerks. Order an ice-cream soda or shake, and complete your stroll down memory lane with a selection of sweets from your childhood, such as candy cigarettes, jawbreakers, licorice, Chuckles, and even clove gum. Despite the name, there are only a few chocolates for sale.

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.

You can't help but smile big when you feast your eyes on a case full of beautifully frosted cupcakes in this haven for sweets lovers. Enticing flavors change daily, but might include chocolate-peanut butter, raspberry-filled chocolate, blueberry compote-filled, red velvet, almond joy, pistachio, salted caramel, lemon curd, and wedding cake. There are also cake pops. Buy a box full or get one to take with you or enjoy right away at one of a few small tables indoors and out. The bakery also welcomes custom orders.

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.

A longtime stalwart in Maine's craft brewing movement, Marshall Wharf brews IPAs, Scottish ale, stouts, porters, and more. Their outdoor deck directly on the harbor is the perfect place to sample from as many as 20 excellent brews on draft that are perfectly complemented by the small menu of light bites. 

Don't be put off by Rio's unlikely location in a small roadside strip of businesses just south of downtown Searsport. The well-prepared, European-influenced menu offers a variety of tapas such as grilled octopus, pâté, Spanish Serrano ham, and chorizo, as well as entrées like roasted branzino, risotto, and local duck breast. There's a solid cocktail menu and desserts are delicious, especially the panna cotta. Inside, a many-windowed octagonal dining room centers on a large fireplace, with tables arced around it.

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. 

Opened in summer 2022, 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.

You can get anything here as long as it’s on a doughnut (accompanied by hot or iced coffee, if you wish). Made in the Maine tradition with potato flour, the day's flavors might include salted caramel, buttermilk, and “full-tilt” blueberry with a glorious blueberry glaze. Brioche doughnuts are available on weekends.

In an intimate courtyard hidden at the back of a historic brick house in the heart of downtown Bucksport, this weather-dependent outdoor dining space features Mediterranean tapas-style plates accompanied by good wines and beers. The adjacent retail shop sells an international selection of premium wines as well as products made from recycled wine barrels. 

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!