Finback Alehouse — Restaurant in Bar Harbor

Our greeting was lukewarm, perhaps expected with a cold wind blowing outside. It was around 5:45, and the winter sky grew dark outside. The hostess reluctantly showed us to our table.

On this evening, most of the seats stand empty. Several patrons gathered at the bar for what seemed to be a round of birthday wishes. The drink special are shots of Banana Liquor; $5 each.

My wife had taken me out for a special occasion and chose this venue because they had rib-eye steak. She was excited about the change of pace as we looked over our menu.

We decided on the "Rib Eye Steak" with Asparagus and Potatoes. We ordered two beers waiting for our order; both were flat and tasted nothing like the description; disgusting.

Our meal arrived so quickly, we were amazed! We were both delighted with four tasty stalks of asparagus. Our waitress came by the table, half-heartedly asking if everything was good and if we had everything we needed. I wondered if there were any Tabasco, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, and steak seasoning bottles. She returned with the "House Hot Sauce" and the Ketchup in two small stainless containers, no mayonnaise; they were fresh out.

We both ordered our 10oz(ish) steaks "Medium," yet both were (Seriously) RAW! Flipped over on either side on a hot pan but not cooked throughout the rest of this Meat. I joked that my steak was about to run away. In return, my wife shot me a scowl, the kind she makes when very upset.

We discussed returning the MEAT but couldn't raise our now MIA waitress. Kim cut her steak into thin strips to bring home to our dog. She picked up the check, which came to approximately $90. knew no good would come. I begged her not to make a scene as she's sometimes known to do. A coward, I headed to the door and dashed across the street. The front door crashed as she came outside, "The Wind," she said.

Likely this has been the worst and most overpriced meal we have had in the last 8,000km. I hope this is only sometimes the case but be assured our meal was this bad. I can only attest to my only experience. I would never...

Terrible. Went on a not-so-bust night at 830pm. First it took 30 minutes for our nachos to come out. Yeah, NACHOS... And without any explanation or WARNING that it was gonna be a little while. Another table got their app before us. When our food finally arrived--45 minutes after we ordered--I was handed the wrong food. I ordered the chicken and waffles, but was handed the fried chicken dinner. I let the waitress know that it wasn't chicken and waffles. She insisted it was, told me the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the dish was "considered like the waffle part", and continued to get a menu to read off the description of the entree. She showed me it word for word 3 times... "spiced chicken on top of BUTTERMILK WAFFLE..." then paused for a second, and went to talk to the manager. The manager told me she was sorry and that they recently changed the menu and the chicken and waffles were no longer available and that I had the "old menu" with that entree still on. Mind you my friend had the same menu AND the resteraunt had that same menu posted on the outside of the door! So I ordered the lobster dinner--the corn on the cob was undercooked. Trying to be nice and understanding, my friend and I told them everything was "no problem don't worry about it". Before we were given the bill as I asked for a slice of blueberry pie to go. She said "sure!". You would figure for our troubles they would take something off the bill, or give us a discount. Nope. 10 minutes later--after walking back and forth helping other customers as she eyeballed our bill--the waitress asked if we were all set. Had to remind her I asked for blueberry pie to go...... She got it, gave it, and we got the he'll out of there... How can you make that many mistakes with...

I ordered the lobster pot pie thinking I was going to get lobster pot pie. The server handed me a lobster soup with a small light and flaky “biscuit”. I don’t like soup and that’s why I didn’t order soup- I ordered the pot pie thinking it would be so.

The server came to check on us and I asked if this was soup. He said it was the pot pie… as I hesitated to find a response, he mentioned that multiple customers he’s had had said something about the pot pie. I said yep… this isn’t pot pie. He was very aware and understood where I was coming from. I said I’d already eaten most of it and didn’t want to change meals, but if he came closer to when the dish arrived I would’ve asked for something else. It wasn’t pot pie, and I didn’t enjoy what I thought I ordered.

The server was very kind and offered to give us a discount. He came back and said he’d comp our alcoholic beverages instead of giving us half off since it was more of a discount.

We had been recommended this place on social media. With high expectations, and my partner LOVING his meal, personally I was very disappointed. We only had 36 hours in Bar Harbor and I was looking forward to a lobster pot pie!

The smashburger with the blueberry BBQ was delicious. The fries were overcooked.

They had open mic night and moved the tables all around us during our meal and it wasn’t a comfortable cozy relaxing experience in this establishment.

Disappointed. Should’ve tried somewhere else for...