"Lobstah" What Better Way To Celebrate July 4th? The Best Lobster Shacks In Maine According To Travel & Leisure Magazine

The 10 Best Lobster Shacks in Maine

By Peter Jon Lindberg

Five Islands Lobster Co., Georgetown

Gawk at the Sunset: Five Islands has become a bit overrun these last few summers, but the crowds can’t detract from the setting: a windy promontory with 360-degree views of the five pine-shrouded islands. There’s no indoor seating (not that you’d want it), so bring a sweater, come at sunset, and watch the sailboats and gulls chase one another across the bay—one of the coldest and deepest in Maine, which locals say makes for the best lobsters.

Waterman’s Beach Lobster, South Thomaston

Feel Like a Native: First, there’s the drive in, a lovely trip along the peninsula south of busy Rockland (where the Maine Lobster Festival is held every August). Down here it’s a scene from a Wyeth canvas: forests of black spruce abutting saltwater farms; the scent of pine mingled with seaweed. Between a meadow and a rocky beach sits Waterman’s humble shack, with two dozen picnic tables scattered around a lawn and a tented deck.

Shaw's Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant, New Harbor

Eavesdrop on Fishermen’s Gossip: True fishing villages are hard to come by these days, which is what makes New Harbor such a find. Hollywood knew it: the Kevin Costner/Paul Newman film Message in a Bottle was shot in this salty sea dog’s town. Shaw’s wharfside bar is filled with fishermen from morning till night.

Red's Eats, Wiscasset

Escape a Traffic Jam: Few highway snarls are as loathed as the one that forms on the Route 1 bridge in Wiscasset. On summer weekends, cars wait up to an hour to cross. Relief can be found at Red’s Eats, a gaudy roadside hut just south of the bridge. The market-price roll is ridiculously generous: a whole lobster’s worth of nearly intact, unadorned meat (mayo or butter comes on the side), overflowing from a tiny hot dog bun that’s too unwieldy to pick up.

Estes Lobster House, Harpswell Neck

Visit a Hidden Haunt: Maine’s Mid Coast hides some of its best secrets on the “reaches”: long, narrow peninsulas that stretch like fingers into the sea. The sleepy Harpswell peninsula is just a half-hour’s detour off I-295, yet it could be 200 miles away. Estes Lobster House is surrounded by water—Harpswell Sound and Potts Harbor—and has outdoor seating and a fire pit.

Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster, South Freeport

Take a Break from Shopping: So you’re making the pilgrimage to L. L. Bean and the outlets of Freeport. When you can’t face another discounted duck boot, retreat to this popular spot on the South Freeport marina. Lit up like a small-town carnival at night—with a jovial clientele who picnic on their car hoods when the tables are full, as they often are—Harraseeket is a few steps above a shack (and pricier).

The Clam Shack, Kennebunkport

Find Humility amid Ostentation: Bet you never expected a bare-bones, roadside hut in the Bush-friendly resort town of Kennebunkport. The unassuming Clam Shack is the Pa Kettle of seafood joints. Owner Steve Kingston insists on using only hand-shredded meat for his rolls—knives, he says, cause oxidation, tainting the flavor. The Shack pumps in seawater from the tidal river outside for both the holding tanks and the steaming cauldrons.

Young’s Lobster Pound, Belfast

Dig In at the Docks: First-rate lobster and a BYOB option make it easy to while away a summer afternoon here on the Belfast docks. Young's has a no-frills restaurant highlighting what's brought in fresh from the sea to the table daily. Get your lobster steamed or boiled (nothing fried) to perfection, then head out to the picnic tables overlooking Penobscot Bay.

Holbrooks Wharf Lobster, Harpswell

Try Something Novel: At the end of Cundy’s Harbor Road, Holbrook’s Wharf treats diners to a view of boats bobbing on the sparkling water. Take your pick of everything from lobster rolls to fish tacos to fish ‘n’ chips, paired with fries and drawn butter. The staff isn’t afraid to get creative; their lobster quesadilla special has been a huge hit.

Bagaduce Lunch, Brooksville

Get Hooked on a Classic: The ospreys are often circling overhead at Bagaduce Lunch, a no-frills take-out restaurant on a tidal river in Brooksville—and recipient of a James Beard “American Classic” award. At “the Bagaduce,” the seafood menu hasn’t changed since current owner Judy Astbury’s father, Sidney Snow, first hung out a shingle in 1946.

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