Buttermilk Kitchen at Marriner's-Camden Maine — Restaurant in Camden

It’s not that this is necessarily a bad place. The food is OK (although the home fries are less to be desired and the portions are tiny) it’s just that this place has replaced what was hands down the best breakfast place in town where the coffee was piping hot and one could get a proper breakfast. It was the first to open at 6 am. Now they open at 7 like everyone else. What once was a restaurant that catered to sailors and working folks now caters to the tourist class that oddly wants to travel from the South and eat southern food. Much like the American that travels to Paris and eats at McDonalds and then complains that the food doesn’t taste like the McDonalds at home. Sadly many of the great establishments along the Maine coast that were run by locals with little or no culinary training but knew how to make a great meal are being replaced by high falutin people from away that think they can reinvent the wheel. So recommendations from someone with zero culinary training or experience but has decades of eating are as follows: Don’t serve lukewarm coffee. Piping hot coffee will always cool to the customers desired preference. Warm coffee will never heat up to the right temp at the table. It’s a physics/heat transfer/fluid dynamics thing. Serve proper portions and charge accordingly. Don’t charge low prices with small portions and expect people to think they are getting a deal. Serve proper home fries. Not frozen chunks of potatoes. And when a customer orders home fries with peppers and onions it should not be potatoes with bland peppers and onions sprinkled on top. It should be properly seasoned home fries that are cooked WITH the peppers and onions. Open earlier. 7 am is too late for working folks and sailors in town on a regatta weekend. Look at all the people wondering the streets of Camden before 7 looking for a cup of coffee. Those are your people. And , for the love of god, why can’t you serve chocolate chip pancakes? chocolate chip pancakes will never win you a James Beard award but they will make the young boy very happy the two times he ate here and all he wanted were chocolate chip pancakes.

So in summary, not a bad place and in the right location (GA, SC, NC, etc) this would probably be 5 stars. On the coast of Maine and replacing a classic institution, not so much. If I’m in New Bedford I’m looking for the Portuguese diner for breakfast. If I’m in Atlanta I’m looking for grits at the Buttermilk kitchen. If I’m on the Maine coast I’m looking for creamed finnan haddie on toast. It’s all about the right food in the...

Located in the bustling Summer town of Camden this spot brings the South up North without the humidity. An aficionado of southern taste I felt I was back home. Fried chicken needs a home, and that home is a warm fluffy biscuit

The atmosphere has a marine type feel. Deep blues coupled with crisp white tones. Cuddled up to the bar, chatting with patrons I ordered a cappuccino with a chicken biscuit, and chased it down with pimento grits. A breakfast spot, this is a good spot to come by yourself, meet with friends, or have a morning date with your other:

The food was on spot. The jelly was perfect for the biscuit. The Fried chicken had a crispy bite but once you broke that, you cut into a warm juicy center. The pimento cheese grits should be your only choice as your side. I've heard "I don't like grits", if you don't like these bless your heart, grits don't need you.

Service was spot on with a smile as I witnessed them making me a perfect cappuccino. Bottom line, southern breakfast spot in yankee land. Done right that anyone from the south would approve and anyone up North should...

Loved the vibe of this place. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. We ordered a blueberry basil lemonade , the Clam Chowder and pimento cheese grits, and the Chicken biscuit with grits and potatoes.

The lemonade was great and very refreshing.

The wife’s Clam Chowder was very good. I even liked it and I don’t normally eat chowders.

The Chicken Biscuit - Very good flavor, but the southern boy in me wanted to pick it up with my hands and eat like we do in the south. I finally realized that I think it’s meant to be eaten with a fork and knife which is how I finished eating it. Both of our grits were cooked nicely, good flavor and not dried out. The potatoes were also good no complaints.

The biscuits themself were great they reminded me of my mommas biscuits she makes at home in Tennessee. I won’t remove a star for this, but they forgot the house pickles with my chicken biscuit. I just love pickles and didn’t realize they were missing until I was basically finished. Small complaint. Would recommend this...