Mabel's Lobster Claw — Restaurant in Kennebunkport

Went here after there was a propane leak at the restaurant we were planning on going to. Pleasantly surprised. Smelled amazing, server was wonderful, great atmosphere. Ordered food off the kids meal for our 5 and 2 year old immediately to avoid any issues. Ordered drinks, mussels, and 2 lobsters. The food was absolutely delicious but took a while to come out (which is completely fine) but the kids were getting restless so my husband took our 2 year old to walk around outside and I ordered the blueberry pie with ice cream for them to split so we could eat our lobster. The lobster came out and we finished them before the pie came out so we got it to go. Didn’t really need it at this point but didn’t want to be rude. Throughout the meal a woman came out to tables next to us asking how the food was. I didn’t think anything of it really and assumed she’d ask us how are food was when it came out as well. She didn’t. As we were paying I saw her adjust the table next to us, as the ground was uneven so the tables rock back and forth if not propped up. I was a little annoyed, as our table also was uneven and our kids were rocking it back and forth and I literally had to get on the ground in all fours and fix it and then go wash my hands. I had to wash my hands 3 times during this meal. Once after cleaning pasta off my 2 year old, once after eating the lobster, once after fixing the table. Which is fine, I’m used to a lot of clean up at meals with 2 kids. But then as I go to leave, mind you, $186 bill with $50 tip, I heard that woman say to our server “wow, what happened here?” I felt mortified. I usually do a great job cleaning up after our kids but so much was going on, I cleaned the pasta off the table but I guess I forgot the pasta on the floor. This was our sort of “all out meal” on our Maine vacation. One I spent nearly a whole day of overtime pay on. An entire weekend day I spent away from my kids so that we could go all out on a nice meal completely ruined by one comment. Really unprofessional. Doubt we will be back even though the food was great. If you have kids, make sure you have thick skin if...

Very disappointed with our experience at Mabel’s. We had a reservation for 7 pm and arrived at 7:02. There were two ppl in line waiting to speak with the hostess so by the time we got to her it was just after 7:05. An employee next to the hostess mumbled “I was just about to call you to see if you were coming”, inferring that we were significantly late for our reservation. This is important to note as the timeline of our dinner was a bit of a joke. We brought our dog with us and called to confirm that would be ok which we were told was fine. There was a very large party of 10 that was seated and broken up between two tables so not only was our table cramped but the area we had to put our dog was also cramped. When our waitress arrived she glared at our dog and asked if he bit….why would we bring an aggressive and biting dog out to eat?

We ordered drinks probably 5 minutes after we sat. My husband tried to order a beer and was told they were out of the one he wanted. About 20-25 minutes later we still hadn’t received our drinks and had not ordered our food. If you were going to give my table away for being 2 minutes late then my drinks should not take 20 minutes. Finally our drinks came except my husband was given a taster of beer bc they were out of the one they ordered plus another….how do you run out of 3 beers? We were also told they had no chicken tenders, 2 lb lobsters as well as several other items including Pinot noir. It seemed like our waitress was trying to push what they DID have in stock to those around us since they were so limited. I don’t understand how at 7pm a restaurant that closes at 9 is out of majority of the popular items.

When our food arrived it was mediocre at best. I ordered the shrimp scampi and my shrimp were very undercooked, the pasta was stuck together like glue but the sauce was ok. My husbands fish sandwich was not crispy…again I don’t understand how an item that is supposed to be fried is not crispy.

TLDR: vibes are off, staff is rude, food is mid at best and it’s not worth the price. Many including us felt uncomfortable by the service and lack of options...

This in reply to my husband’s previous review and the general manager’s reply. I feel so sad we spent our last night in Kennebunkport at Mabels. We came up to visit the area last minute from Dallas, Texas because our daughter needs to be seen at Boston Children’s Hospital in a couple days. We have truly enjoyed this beautiful town and our family time here together. The feeling from the Mabels GM when we called to make the reservation, and when we were seated was far less than friendly. We were still looking forward to being there because of the history we had read about (apparently with the previous ownership) and so we definitely were willing to sit at the table given. The server seemed friendly initially. My husband who is 6’5” did sit uncomfortably on the end of the table and a plate was dropped in his lap. It was an accident. However he was hastily handed a small wipe, with no apology. At that point we both started feeling taken advantage of as we were spending a good amount of money on this dinner. The piece of pie we had ordered came VERY quickly and then the bill VERY quickly without apology or thank you. We left with our kids and then I called to express our bad feeling about the situation. I should not have bothered. I was asked by the GM if I wanted a pie or a gift card but with a tone that made me feel very uncomfortable, actually made me feel scared, so of course I declined. I told her I could call back later to talk to the owner and she said the new owner doesn’t have anything to do with the business. She also explained she can’t do anything if we aren’t there. So my husband went back in without me and our kids to resolve it, but got nowhere with the GM. My husband is the most polite, patient, and professional person, always. Needless to say, we won’t be returning to Mabels. Sad way to end our trip to Kennebunkport although EVERY other restaurant we visited here was absolutely lovely. I will absolutely recommend eating at the Tides Beach Club, Stripers, Roma Pizza, The Clam Shack, and The...