At the end of the summer, the Michael W Travels family took a 10-day road trip around Maine.

During the trip, Kim and I knew that we’d definitely do four things; finally visit Acadia National Park, visit lots of lighthouses and eat many Whoopie pies and lobster rolls!

Kim and I visited Maine over 10 years back and had great memories of delicious lobster rolls. While planning this summer’s trip, we wondered if the lobster rolls would live up to expectations (and our memories.)

We fondly remembered two places from our previous trip that we had to try again. We made it a point to make a stop at Red’s Eats and Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster.

I also put together a very long list of other potential places to try. The list was very long and we knew that there was no way we’d complete it. Besides not having enough time or hunger, we might also go broke!

Lobster Rolls aren’t cheap. The average lobster roll will set you back around $20. Here is a list of the lobster rolls we tried in Maine:

1. The Clam Shack– Kennebunk
2. Bite Into Maine– Portland (multiple locations)
3. Eventide Oyster Co.– Portland
4. Maine Diner– Wells
5. Red’s Eats– Wiscasset
6. Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster– South Freeport
7. Day’s Crabmeat & Lobster– Yarmouth
8. Five Island Lobster Co.– Georgetown
9. Kettle Cover Creamery– Cape Elizabeth
10. The Travelin’ Lobster– Bar Harbor
11. Fox’s Lobster House– York
12. Geddy’s– Bar Harbor
13. Bob’s Clam Hut– Kittery
14. Lobster Pound and Real Pit BBQ– Trenton
15. Dorman’s Grill– Thomaston

Here is the rankings break down:

Amazing: The best of the best, amazing!

• The Clam Shack– non-traditional roll, an incredible roll all-around
• Bite Into Maine– get it Maine Style, ask for warm butter on top- wow!

Great: Just a notch below the top spot

• Eventide Oyster Co.– unique steamed bun, so flavorful
• Maine Diner– fresh, sweet, huge chunks of lobster
• Red’s Eats– massive & awesome, wish it wasn’t served with mayo & butter on the side
• Harraseeket Lunch– super fresh, great flavor, felt a bit stingy on the lobster meat
• Day’s Crabmeat & Lobster– well seasoned very tasty and a fair price. (Also a great experience inside the lobster pound where the kids got a science lesson!)

Solid: If you’re in the neighborhood, but don’t go out of your way

• Five Island Lobster Co.- incredible setting, overflowing with lobster, super fresh, leave the lettuce off. It felt like something was missing…
• Kettle Cove Creamery– a tale of two rolls- very good and also OK. Top section was really good, lower portion had way too much mayo
• The Travelin’ Lobster– our lobster meat was too cold which made the texture a bit off
• Fox’s– great views just steps away, please leave the lettuce off
• Geddy’s– lobster was chopped smaller, very tasty, felt like a chain restaurant
• Bob’s Clam Hut– a good roll, didn’t wow us at all. This was our first roll of the trip so its ranking might not be fair.
• Lobster Pound and BBQ– it would’ve ranked higher if it wasn’t so skimpy. The included fries were very greasy, too

Wouldn’t Recommend: You get what you pay for…

• Dorman’s Grill– Curious to try due to the price at $9.99. Way too much mayo, decent size, tasted OK at best.

A few stand outs:

The Clam Shack and Bite Into Maine were our favorites of the trip. They were pretty much a tie but we gave the (slight) edge to The Clam Shack due to their delicious non-traditional bun.

You won’t go wrong with either of these rolls!

Red’s lived up to our memories from years back. This roll is probably the best deal due to the ridiculous amount of lobster. You can barely see that there’s a bun underneath!

Red’s is well worth the wait and it’s got the wow factor! (They typically have long lines but we stopped by at the end of a rain storm so we got lucky.)

Eventide’s Asian inspired wasn’t even on our list. I’m glad that it was suggested by a friend. This was the last roll of our trip that we had and it was by far the least traditional.

The steamed bun was a great vehicle for the lobster meat, just be careful that none of it falls out!

Here are a few places from our list that we didn’t make it to:

• Sea Basket
• Young’s
• Thurmond’s
• Mabel’s
• More…

Final Thoughts:

Kim and I really enjoyed trying out such a wide variety of lobster rolls during our trip to Maine. I’d say that seven of the rolls we tried could’ve all been in that top category if we weren’t being so critical!

Lobster Rolls are a simple item but there are many differences from roll to roll. We felt that the best lobster rolls don’t include lettuce (if they do, ask for it to be left off)! Another trick we learned was to ask for warm butter on the side if it isn’t included on the roll. It really brings the flavor out.

This was a pricey ‘food tour’ so to keeps the cost down we shared every roll and often ordered other non-lobster items to balance out the meal (and for the kids).