Stewman's Lobster Pound — Restaurant in Bar Harbor

We were in bar harbor for a vacation after about 10 hrs drive. We chose this restaurant to have our dinner and we were totally disappointed. We ordered the “pier house catch”. The dish appeared very carelessly arranged and came in a very small portion( chain restaurants do better job than that). We thought, may be their portion is small. But at the end after completing the dish, we realized that it didn’t contain all the sea food items it was supposed to. Since the items were battered and fried, it was not easy to recognize the sea food items easily before we eat. (We wish we took a photo of the dish before we eat). Then, I called the waiter and complained. He said he will talk to manager. After sometime, he came with a small plate with some shrimps telling that manager asked to do so. I asked why everything didn’t come at the first place. Waiter said I don’t know and only thing I can do is to address your concern now. Then he asked us whether we need to still talk to the manager and we said yes. The manger appeared and asked us whether we have any concern. Then we explained what happened . She never apologized and just said that’s why she recommended to provide some items as a side. If it was a genuine mistake from chef’s end, first thing that manager should do is apologizing the customer. To us, this is kind of planned routine of the staff. If customer questioned about the dish, then they provide something to comfort the customer. This is very very cheap behavior of the staff.

Manager said, she will adjust our bill and take our kid’s meal cost out of it. We were not looking for that. We wanted to have good times in dining during our vacation.

One more thing: Even though the content includes French fries, Coleslaw and cocktail per menu, they ask to choose only one option.

If we liked the restaurant, we should have recommended it to other people and we will return back again when we visit Bar Harbor. They don’t know what they loose by providing such a cheap service. Also, the rest rooms were not cleaned and not even having bath room tissues in some toilets. We never recommend the...

Fresh happy seafood on the water @stewmansdowntown Open: Seasonal - check the website Seating: indoor and outdoor Parking: On-street Order: Steamed native mussels, a classic lobster roll, and a Sam Adams on draft about $60 plus tip

Pros: I'm not going to sell you this is the best lobster roll for your money in Bar Harbor, because I've not tried every place in Bar Harbor. But I can promise you it's going to be fresh, a good portion, and the price is fair. There are reviews scoffing at the price of the lobster roll, but those people are unaware of the market price of lobster. Beware of $20-$25 lobster rolls at other places, because you will be sacrificing the size of your roll and it's not worth it. Get a good roll, overflowing and cooked perfectly so you're full of Lobster and not regrets. There are a handful of restaurants in Bar Harbor that have been there for over 20 years for a reason, and Stewman's is one of them. Any hoot, the roll is ever so lightly toasted, buttered, and won't cut up your mouth or collapse upon lifting. The lobster is served cool with an unnoticeable amount of mayo on it. You are provided hot butter to slowly glaze the juicy crustation and in essence warm up the lobster just enough to enjoy the sweetest cold water Maine lobster that is only attainable this far north. It's perfect. I hate mayo and cold lobster meat, but the quality of meat, warm butter, and perfectly cooking technique (very easy to overcook and create rubber) is the winning combo for me. Fries, pickles, damn good housemade slaw was just enough.

Cons: Timing is everything. If you go between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. you're competing with the cruiseships and this is the first stop of the boat, baby. There is also the evening crowds that draw a 2 hour wait. I got here around 5:30, right between the two waves of tourists and got right in. Just know if one place has a wait, they all...

Let me just say this upfront: There are far better places to eat in Bar Harbor. Right along the waterfront, Stewmans is basically a tourist trap. With the typical Maine menu of lobster rolls, crab cakes, burgers, clam chowder, lobster bisque and the like, they draw a nice crowd to the huge sprawling restaurant, but you'll spend far less for better food elsewhere in town. It's true you can't beat the views nor the seaside New England ambience, but after dining at Stewmans yesterday with out of town guests, I have to say I was disappointed. The lobster roll was fine, but the $24 price tag was a bit steep, even for the height of tourist season. I do live in Maine, so I'm familiar with prices and I can tell you that $16-18 rolls are to be found elsewhere. The roll was buttered and toasted, which was nice, but neither I nor my friend finished the bread. There was just too much for the amount of lobster in it. I did like having the opportunity to choose half and half (ie half sweet potato fries and half regular fries) to accompany my lobster roll. And honestly the sweet potato fries were the best part of my meal. Others in our party choose the chicken sandwich and they said it was fine. The drink menu is vast, but for $12, my Blueberry Mojito could have used just a bit more alcohol. Our dining partner said the same about his drink. Very tasty, very pretty, but VERY light on the alcohol. Service was friendly but really slow. Everything took forever to arrive and we had to ask three times for a box to take our leftovers home for our chickens. It's a good thing it was such a nice day and the view was good, because we sat for quite awhile after we were done, waiting for our check. Bottom line, skip Stewmans and choose any of the other little seafood joints tucked here and there along the streets of Bar Harbor...or along the highway on the way in and out...