The Lobster Pound Restaurant

Clara was our server. She was very friendly and the service was good. The food was great.

I have been a customer at the Lincolnville Lobster Pound for decades. I've always enjoyed the food, especially the Lobster, the view, and the nostalgia of the restaurant, despite sometimes lackluster service, always making it a point to stop in, whenever visiting Camden and Belfast. This July, I stopped in, after they recently reopened under new management. Yes, you will still find Dick here, working in the dining room, but sadly he is no longer running the business. It was recently purchased by the folks who own the Fireside Inn in Belfast, and after several months of being closed to the public, I was excited to learn it was reopening, so I gave it a whirl. Let's just say that back in July, many of the "bugs" had not yet been worked out with the staff, in time for their reopening. While waiting in line to be seated, a couple in front of us asked how long the wait was going to be. The young hostess said it would be 25-30 minutes. Mind you, this was at the very end of the dinner hour, with 90 percent of the tables in the main dining area, cleared out, and already cleaned. When the gentleman in front of me questioned the 25-30 minute wait, with more than plenty of the seating area empty, her response was, "I know!" Basically the waitstaff wanted to coast the rest of the evening, without having to dirty and clean more tables. The gentleman and his companion left to take their business elsewhere. I however, decided to take a seat at the bar, "to get faster service". Things didn't exactly work out from that perspective, and although I got a seat, service was slow, food was not worth mentioning, and staff was VERY disorganized. Being that it recently underwent new management, and thinking a few months may have given them some time to work out the kinks, I decided to give it another try this past weekend, for old time's sake. Service was slightly more polished; however, the food was simply not up to par at all! The seafood portion size is noticeably small for the prices. I ordered a crab roll and what I got, was 80-85 percent roll, with maybe 15-20 percent crab, and a mountain of fries in an attempt "disguise" the fact that they were skimping on the crab meat. The crab meat did not even fill half the height of the roll pocket, and was not flavorful whatsoever! My guest ordered the fried shrimp plate, and although the shrimp were fairly decent size, they also had absolutely no flavor. Prices here have crept up, and the service, food, and value, unfortunately do not justify the prices. It is unfortunate, because this was always a go-to restaurant when visiting the region, but I can't say that I'm pleased to drop $50.00 for lunch between meal cost, tax, and tip, on my last visit (no drinks mind you, just ice water), and feel like I would have been better off getting Fillet-O-Fish at McDonald's!

Terrific food, wonderful setting, very good service.

The best lobster. Visit at least twice during the weeks vacation. Love the gift shop!

We arrived and waited several minutes at the sign that said "Please Wait to be Seated." We waited so long that it became uncomfortable, then I realized there was a young couple standing on the other side of the podium; I asked if they were also still waiting to be acknowledged and they unhappily said "yes." So they'd been waiting at the front for at least 6 or 7 minutes, with no greeting whatsoever. The owners, who are the same owners that have owned and managed the place for decades, (despite lies/rumors that the place is under new management or ownership) were sitting right there; Dick at the bakery counter in full view of the waiting parties, and Patty in the gift shop, who walked right by us several times without saying a word to either waiting party. Their picture is prominently displayed as soon as you walk in, so it was particularly insulting to know that the very owners of the restaurant could not be bothered to acknowledge or otherwise even greet parties that were quite obviously and unnecessarily waiting. This occurred on Monday, 28 August, at around 2:45 in the afternoon, and the restaurant was not at all busy. Not surprisingly, we read many reviews before heading there, and a lot of people said that staff and management at the Lobster Pound were rude and unavailable; this is precisely what we experienced. We walked out and went to Anglers in Searsport, which is ALWAYS awesome, with great food and friendly staff. We spent $120 on lunch - money that the Lobster Pound lost, along with 3 local customers that will never go back.