Portland Lobster Company — Restaurant in Portland

This place was hopping on a Wednesday evening. About a 30 minute wait for a table, and their system is disorganized and confusing. You check in at the hostess station, she tells you to go order inside get your number, then come back to be put on the wait list for a table. Really? So we did. The staff inside at the ordering counter were not very helpful. A girl shoved a menu at us and said come back when we knew what we wanted. My husband was annoyed that the checkout system automatically suggests a 20% tip.....for no service. The same girl shoved cups, lids, and straws at us and our little number stand. No direction, so we went back to the hostess stand assuming we got our beverages when we were seated. Nope. 15 minutes later we got a text for our table and were told to go see another guy at the back. We did and he walked us to a picnic bench table and said "food will be out shortly". Shortly turned out to be another 15 minutes, during which time I finally flagged down a different girl who was taking food to another table to ask her for drinks. She said, "Ohhhh, I'm sorry. You're supposed to get those inside, or you can go to the bar if that's better" and walked away. sigh My son took our cups and went back inside to find the self service fountain, which would have been nice to know was there when we were given our cups in the first place. They had obnoxiously loud, live music. The band was just awful. My teenage son said he didn't think it was possible to ruin Black Sabbath. I would have felt sorry for the people sitting right near the speakers, but they were inebriated young adults, so I don't think they really minded much. The food was just ok-We ate the fried haddock and fisherman's platters, we had better food at several other restaurants we visited in Portland. The lack of service, ambiance and just ok food made the experience disappointing. A day later we went on a lighthouse cruise and walked by the restaurant again. It was quiet and folks looked like they were enjoying themselves and their meals. Maybe we just hit it on the wrong day at the wrong time. We appreciate live music and enjoy upbeat bar/grill settings, but this particular night felt like a South Beach party for binge-drinking Spring breakers. Might visit again during the afternoon when it's less chaotic, but overall not...

This place was not it. Not sure where all the raving reviews come from. This location is over packed and no social distancing exists here. They make you order and pay first before getting your food. I worried what happens if I didn't like something? And that's exactly what happened. This was on 9/5/21 around 630pm. We ordered about 5 items. The server comes out with just one to which we asked where's the rest of it. She came back with the remainder of the food apologizing. I decided to go to the bathroom. The girl who brought our food told us good luck. She hasn't gone all shift cause she can't spend so much time on line. I'm guessing this place doesn't care about the health of their employees that a basic necessity such as a bathroom is not accessible to them. And this is where it all went downhill. You are a restaurant serving so many people WITH ONE BATHROOM. That's right. Everyone drinking beer and you only have one stall to offer for both men and women? 2 girls stayed in the bathroom together for over 15 mins while the line kept building. After slamming the door a few times they still wouldn't come out. Other women on the line were looking for the manager to get the women out the bathroom. I got off the line went back to my table and was like pack the food and let's go. We had to go to 2 different areas to get containers and there was no lid for the cup of lobster stew I ordered. Red flag. Poor organization. We took the food back to the hotel room. And then we realized the food was disgusting. The lobster stew had 2 pieces of lobster and nothing but potatoes and it had a strange taste. Lobster roll had undercooked lobster. Lobster mac and cheese was lacking flavor. Calamari was just ok. Crab cake and corn was the only good things. This place should be ashamed of themselves. It was the worst dining experience and worst overpriced food we had in Portland. Horrible quality. If we didn't pay cash you best believe we would have called our bank to void the charge at this place and get back our $90. AVOID...

I absolutely loved this place. We dropped in on a HOT Saturday afternoon and expected a long wait, but we were seated only 20 min later. We were seated at a table on the deck under a small umbrella (it was super hot still so we tucked ourselves into the corner in the little bit of shade).

Of all the places we ate at in Portland, this was my favorite ambiance bar none. On the deck along the water, smell of salt water in the air, boats rocking nearby, live music from a great band, and more. It was perfect.

The ordering system was super simple as we were told to order at the counter ourselves and they’d bring the food out to us. We ordered Fried Clams and a Lobster Roll, naturally. Washed those down with an Allagash White and a delicious local blueberry beer. I asked for water and they gave us an entire pitcher.

The customer service was fantastic. Multiple Staff members checked in on us at different points, and they all were pitching in to help out one another, doing whatever job was needed, whether it be running food, cleaning tanks, etc.

The lobster roll was outstanding, and the fried clams were everything we hoped they’d be and more. Even the fries and coleslaw hit the spot. Both beers were cold and refreshing.

Loved loved loved this place. It’s a must try in...